Monday, July 01, 2013

White House Down Bombs

I admit it. I wanted to see White House Down. I'm not a guy who makes it a habit to see Channing Tatum movies, but I needed a good action flick, and after seeing the million ads during the NBA playoffs, decided to go see it. I understand how it got an A- on Cinemascore and I liked it. The public did not though as it bombed. It bombed huge. Like Battleship bombing. Yeah, remember that one? And that had Rihanna in it. This one had Channing Tatum and an Academy Award winner in Jamie Foxx. The problem is that the marketing people couldn't decide how to market it and they should have just tried to show it as a thriller and not try and market it as a buddy cop movie. The second one of the dual movies also always loses. Gerard Butler just did this movie and just like the summer of the earth getting blown up by an asteroid while volcanoes rained down their lava on LA, when you have two of the same movie, one gets killed, even it is the better of the two.

32 comments:

Cathy said...

To be fair, the public didn't actually dislike it, since you'd need to see it to dislike it.

FSP said...

"I'm not a guy" Hahahaha

Marieeee said...

I just can't with Channing Tatum and genuinely don't see why people think he is attractive. He's charming, and funny, yes. But physically attractive? Pass.

auntliddy said...

And Janie Foxx as wisecracking president? Hard to accept after years if us seeing him as comedian.

Anonymous said...

I like his waffle skit on Kimmel, he really committed. From what little I've seen of his dance moves in gif's, he needs to stick with dancing, and pelvic thrusting. ;)

Tempestuous Grape said...

This entire post is mumno jumbo

Cathy said...

The thing I like about Channing Tatum is that he doesn't take himself seriously. Even he admits that he's not a good actor. I don't find him attractive, but he seems like a decent guy.

Sean said...

There a lot of reasons why this flopped. The main one being that the exact same movie came out 3 months ago. The other being that it was released in a too crowded time. There are lots of other movies that have things exploding in it right now. They should have released this in August. Or September after all the other big movies have come and gone.

Snootches said...

Everytime I saw the trailer for this movie, I thought, "I wonder if Jamie hit on Channing?" Bad casting choice for this one. Channing only" works" with certain actors. Good pairings: Channing and Vin Diesel, Channing and melissa mccarthy, Chan and Cam D. Theyre trying to make him into a BCoop and it won't work that way. I'd like to see him in a dark Indie as the "other man" or something controversial. If they ever put him in a movie w Chris Tucker, consider him tapped out ....

FreudianSlip said...

I like Channing Tatum. He comes across as fairly down to earth and funny. That was not enough of a reason to go see this movie. Pass.

Ari said...

I knew this concept was used before. Olympus Has Fallen vs. White House Down. Just like, No Strings Attached vs. Friends with Benefits. Unbelievable, the waste of money these studios go through.

Bailey Quarters said...

Too many action movies. I'm tired of tires screeching, bombs being thrown, and guns. Where are the romantic comedies and intelligent dramas? Oh, that's right, they come out in December for possible Oscar action.

JoElla said...

I still want to see it when it comes on cable or netflix. And I liked Batttleship. If you haven't seen it, it really isn't nearly as bad as everyone said it was.

4th isn't that bad, but with the new crop of Disney movies out now.. it is going to take a really good movie to knock one of them off the top spot.

Unknown said...

Agree with Sean - same movie came out 3 months ago.

sandybrook said...

I agree with Snootches this bomb was miscast. Tatum isn't that kind of actorbut he plays a male stripped well and Foxx is miscast as a leader of the world but he can play comedy somewhat.

Andy said...

You guys are missing the point on Foxx. He was supposed to be Obama. Found this with a Google search.

----------

“White House Down” is pure, 100% Obama porn. It was written to appeal to those who want a romanticized version of the president they thought Obama would be. It’s porn for Obama supporters in the way that romance novels are porn for women. Just as the fans of those “sexy pirate kidnapper” novels want to be whisked away by handsome, romantic, tough-yet-caring pirates, “White House Down” was intended for those who want a dreamy two-hours in a movie theater being swept away by the Obama they want so badly to love (you know, the one who consistently fails to appear in real life).

The Obama character in “White House Down,” President Sawyer (portrayed by Jamie Foxx, who has admitted in interviews that the character is based on Obama) is the Obama “ideal.” He wants peace. Peace, peace, peace! He so badly wants peace that as soon as he came into office, he disbanded all drone attacks and other violent U.S. military activities on the Pakistan border, thus angering the evil white right-winger who leads the operation to seize the White House.

“President Sawyer” even put the evil drone-attackers in prison for daring to commit violence against Pakistanis.

“Sawyer” loves Abe Lincoln, and he’s a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge about American history. He has lofty thoughts, he cares about his countrymen, and he acts in the nation’s, and the world’s, best interest. What a guy!

But he can also be cute and loveable, as when the invasion of the White House forces him to fight bad guys. Oh, that cutie-pie. He doesn’t want to fight, and he’s adorably clumsy at it. But when called upon to save the world, dammit, he’ll fight!

miss Z said...

I loved Battleship..and so did my kids.

miss Z said...

I loved Battleship..and so did my kids.

The Real Dragon said...

Too Much Competition for this movie to compete.

MadamChef said...

Andy, just because Fox says it doesn't mean it's true. Did you know Obama was Lauryn Hill's lawyer?! It's true! The reason this movie failed was because Pres Obama didn't like the way Jamie Foxx wore Obama hair! It's TRUE!

My guy (who really is a guy) loves movies and was excited about Battleship. I haven't seen it but he said it seriously sucked and he was very disappointed.

@Snootches, right on!

caydian said...

White House Down was so much better than Olympus Has Fallen. I enjoyed the movie from start to finish. Still not an Obama supporter but I was entertained.

Anonymous said...

ditto x 1K

califblondy said...

I wanted to see it, still do, but I had the little ones so Monsters University was our Saturday movie. Lots of people were going to World War Z, which surprised me. It was damn near 120 degrees so maybe they just wanted a cool place?

Sherry said...

Well I think Andy just 'splained why it tanked. The plot and characters are stupid. And what good is a movie without either of those being credible?

Come on H'wd. Stop treating us like idiots.

Pip said...

I think Foxx used Obama as "inspiration", I don't think the character was written as an Obama Jr. Jamie Foxx's acting ability is highly overrated. Oscars don't mean much anymore.

Robert said...

I thought the whole concept was pretty ludicrous. I mean, come on! A bunch of liberals/progressives taking down a bunch of heavily-armed right-wing nut-job fanatics? Where would the "good guys" even get guns? It isn't like they own any, and even if they got their hands on some, they wouldn't have a clue how to use them.

Unknown said...

The weather was too nice this weekend. I'm going to see it sometime this week. The commercials were really bad - they made it look cheesy instead of exciting. The person in charge of promotions deserves to be dumped in the same hole with the person who did the commercials for John Carter. Another decent movie that shouldn't have bombed as badly as it did.

Jason Blue Eyes said...

No, this movie did not fail because it "romanticized President Obama." It failed because it wasn't a good movie!! 'Air Force One' presented a heroic, kick-ass romanticized Bill Clinton. It earned over $400 million. The reason: It was a damn good movie. Independence Day - did the same thing in 1996 (election year too)- young, hip president who saves the world - $800 million. Although I thought ID really wasn't even that great of a movie. The thing is, sometimes movies bomb. Sony chairman Mike Medavoy wrote a book about all his bombs and successes. Sometimes bombs happen. Just the nature of the industry. As for Jamie Foxx - not the first actor to play a black president. Won't be the last. Fine actor - he's just not Box Office. Will Smith in this role - that would have been BIG box office. Yes, even after 'After Earth.'

The Raving Badger said...

Fox was also distasteful in his comments and behavior regarding Django and turned off white middle America movie goers. The Trayvon shirt last night won't help 2nd week returns either.

lazyday603 said...

I'll have to go see this. I always seem to like the big dumb action movies that bomb. Battleship, John Carter, The Island, Tron Legacy, all decent enough dumb movies. If nothing else it's fun to see what spectacle 200 million dollars buys these days.

Jenn said...

Battleship was a good movie, pretty much the game Battleship, with aliens. I liked it better than I thought I would.

They should've delayed the release of White House Down after that Gerard Butler crap faded from the publics' collective memories.

Amartel said...

Thanks Andy

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