Word of thumb for a movie that is the only new movie in wide release for a week is that it doesn't have to finish first, but it should probably finish second, especially if it is on 3,000 screens. Playing For Keeps starring Jessica Biel and Gerard Butler finished 6th. It also scored a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yep, it is ties for the worst Rotten Tomato movie in history with In The Army Now. I'm not sure what producers expected. Jessica Biel has never had a hit where she is the star. Ever. Ever. Never ever to borrow from Taylor Swift. Gerard Butler has never had a hit except for 300 where he was the star. Ever. never ever. The movie made just $6M and if Jessica Biel gets a chance at any movie again the near future outside of an ensemble movie, then the producers are insane. The only way she could make a worse movie would be to star with Justin Timberlake in one. As for Gerard Butler, a romantic comedy? Again? You know some people don't have their jobs today.
Color me stunned. Jessica Biel. Yuck.
ReplyDeleteThat explains the Groupon, they were offering 2 tickets for $24, but you got $15 in Groupon bucks to spend on the site. So basically 2 for $9. It didn't seem like anyone was buying it anyway.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think this takes Biel down a notch. Miss "Don't you know who I am?!"
ReplyDelete"Word of thumb"??? Entwardo, put down the bacon-flavored vodka.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm way late, but that made me laugh so loud! Oh Entwardo darling!
Deleteforget biel. i hope it takes BUTLER down a notch. he's a douche and not a very good actor, to boot.
ReplyDeleteI still want to see this. It looks like a great way to pass some time on cold rainy day.
ReplyDeleteWonder how long it will take to show up on Netflix?
Judging by the comments here and other outlets not very long at all JoElla.
DeleteI saw a few of Biel's promotional spots and she just comes off un-likeable. Nothing relatable about her. Maybe other people felt it to, because she was everywhere promoting this mess.
ReplyDeleteSadly, there are so many talented and unknown people who might make more money for the studios than these two if they were only given the chance. I'm tired of the nepotism in Hollywood. It's giving us less than mediocre talent.
ReplyDeleteWhat does word of thumb mean? I guess something written in a newspaper? It's funny with these kinds of things you can actually see the palpable embarassment on their faces in the poster, Gerard's kind of like "Well here goes another one, sorry everyone, bye bye career," with the half smile. Timberbiel is a pottery barn vanilla bean half caf light foam soy latte snore. Gerard is a furry overly tan smarmfest that looks like he smells like Brandi Glanville's cooch and desperation. All of their movies bomb, why would anyone spend any money that could go towards Xmas presents on another tired romcom? I swear Gerard Butler and Jennifer Anniston are dual handedly keeping that genre afloat, though barely. It used to be a nice genre. The Wedding Singer, 50 first dates, Pretty Woman, I know there's a bunch more, just can't think of them.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't get is how Uma Thurman and CZJ even agreed to be in this movie!
ReplyDeleteWord of Thumb = Thumbs Down.
ReplyDeleteIn this case, many thumbs down.
I did my part by seeing Skyfall this weekend instead of this drivel.
rule of thumb + word of mouth = word of thumb! :)
ReplyDeleteHey, it's Monday. . .
"Word of thumb"? *cringe* It's RULE of thumb, Enty, FFS. You know, I don't tend to choose what movies I'll see based on who's in them so much as what the movie itself is about. And rom-coms just do not do it for me. So yeah, basically I'm saying Jessica Biel could star in something else and I might actually see it. Probably not, based on her choices so far, but it COULD happen.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure Word of Thumb is referring to the Thumbs Up / Thumbs Down method of rating movies.
ReplyDeleteSame thing when people say, 'it's all the rave'. It's all the RAGE, not rave. Drives me crazy. Or 'irregardless'. That one drives me crazy, too.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me sad bc finally the people who control Americans entertainment are finally realizing that we do love soccer and they're trying to make it more mainstream. Maybe I should pay the $10 just to show support but sit in the back on my iphone. Or in the front bc it's not like anyone else will be there annoyed by my iphone
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend forced me to watch the reboot of Total Recall last week so my Jessica Biel movie quota is met forever.
ReplyDeleteMy thought was that "word of thumb" refers to people texting/tweeting/etc., esp. if they're doing it in the movie theatre while watching the movie in question, and contributing their $.02 worth on whether or not the movie is any good. (Aren't some theatre chains trying to crack down on people doing that precisely because it hurts their business when the text reviews indicate the movie sucks?)
ReplyDeleteIt just occurred to me that perhaps the problem w/a lot of rom-coms these days is the fact that the producers keep hiring from the same pool of mostly B-list, so-so actors with whom audiences are already bored. A friend and I were discussing how the casting in the various Marvel movies, especially The Avengers (which has at least 5 actors and 1 writer/director who are all Oscar winners/nominees), is not only raising the profile of comic-book movies, but is also involving a higher calibre of people with this type of movie, both in front of and behind the camera.
Perhaps what's needed are good, funny, well-written rom-coms with smart, talented actors to help drag these kinds of movie out of the genre purgatory in which they've ended up over the past 5-10 years or so. If you keep churning out formulaic flicks that pretty much insult the audience's intelligence, all the while assuming that you'll get butts in seats because what else are women, etc. going to want to watch, you shouldn't be surprised if your prospective audiences start to recognize the contempt in which you hold them, and react accordingly by not seeing your crappy movies.
Or "I could care less"...that one bugs me too.
ReplyDeletehar dee har har, maybe Butler won't have the chance to be quite such a man-whore anymore. Or at least it will be with even more desperate, pathetic women.
Uma? CZJ? What were they thinking? Quaid? Yeah, I can see that one, speaking of disgusting man-whores.
Gerard Bulter movies make me think of that Tootsie Roll commercial, "How many bombs does it take to end my career?"
ReplyDeleteJessica is just not that good of an actress. She should focus on getting back on TV as part of an ensemble cast.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching Butler and Heigel tear into eachother in 'Awful Truth'!
ReplyDeleteGuilty pleasure.
Leonard Maltin's sort of slightly positive review bumped this up to 2% on Rotten Tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if he got fellated by Uma?
I have heard "word of thumb" too -- in terms of texting/tweeting.
ReplyDeleteBut there needs to be a mixed metaphor for a bad movie starring two people about to become irrelevant. . . "They are skating on thin eggs" or something!
Officially have a blind spot. I watched two Bradley Cooper movies this week, then looked at this and thought Butler was him.
ReplyDeleteCan a TV series be far behind...? Biel will just have a baby and promote that...
ReplyDeleteButler well he likes all the extra's that come with being A STAR...this will be interesting..
It only failed because she is beautiful. Oh wait, that's why she doesn't get the big and serious roles.
ReplyDeleteIt failed because she is boring and no one wants to spend money on boring, if they can help it.
Not surprising in the least! I also need to voice this because it has annoyed me for years.... to all graphic designers of Romantic Comedy poster art!!!! Please step away from the frickin four square concept!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'll say what I said last week. Both Gerard and Jessica look ugly inthe previews. Whoever approved the preview needs to be fired.
ReplyDeleteJessi! That is exactly what I came here to say! I saw the billboard for this and the photoshopped, overly white tooth smiles of the grab bag of stars just screamed "bomb".
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing...she really is a poor actress, isn't she? Also, in comparison to the beauty of other actresses, she's really kinda ordinary. I know she thinks she's a beauty, but no. Not movie star beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI used to think Gerard was cute...during his 300 days. But now, he's just disgusting to me.
To be fair it's actually at 2% on Rotten Tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteNetflix!
ReplyDeleteSilly Girl - "Irregardless" drives me crazy, too. "ATM machine" and "should of" do the same.
ReplyDeleteThe one that bothers me most is when people start a new sentence but don't end the first one maybe this movie will do better on DVD that poster looks like a page from a highschool yearbook in the 80's there was a "Playing for Keeps" movie it had Jimmy Baio in it.
The rom-coms of today are so forgettable. Honestly, my standard is "When Harry Met Sally." Name me one romantic comedy of today that matches the genius of that film and I'll shut my trap, but they just don't make them like they used to. And let's face it, a girl needs a good romantic comedy to watch when The Husband is away on business and the kid is asleep. (OK. This was my scenario last night and I settled for Everybody Loves Raymond and Sex and the City reruns.) I watched The Descendants the night before and that shit was the most depressing two hours I spent watching a movie since the last George Clooney movie I watched - Up in Air. Seriously, that dude makes some Debbie Downers.
ReplyDeleteSay something nice- we saw "Hitchcock" over the weekend and Jessica Biel was good in that (it was a small part)
ReplyDelete@Patty You made me snort laugh!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many times she'll be cast because she's now officially Mrs. Timberbeard.
ReplyDeleteShe's signed onto some movie with my love Chloe Moretz, called The Devil In The Deep Blue Sea, and surprise surprise shes a lead. UGH. She taints every production shes in. I hate her face.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Time magazine article below, Gerard Butler's last three films — Machine Gun Preacher, Coriolanus and Chasing Mavericks — have grossed a TOTAL of $7.1 million in the U.S. and Canada.
ReplyDelete$7.1 million TOTAL.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...!
http://entertainment.time.com/2012/12/09/bond-holds-butler-bombs-on-a-sleepy-weekend/#ixzz2EfveY1IA
laugh all you want Enty but Friends With Benefits was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteIt's the only movie with JT worth watching.
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ReplyDelete@Susan..."Bridget Jones Diary" is a great romantic comedy. It's comparable to When Harry Met Sally (though different style and director) in the sense that it's a classic. I love both movies and can watch either over and over again. Also love "Love Actually". That's another great movie...though maybe not as comparable...it's still up there.
ReplyDeleteITA Crila 16, I love Bridget Jones and Love Actually. Another good one is Definetely Maybe with Ryan Reynolds.
DeleteMaybe my fav romantic comedy is Play It Again Sam. I love all Woody Allen movies but that one was so romantic to me. And so funny. I also LOVE Love, Actually. Every single thing about it. Every actor is perfect, Emma Thompson always makes me love her, oh Godiva where I fell in love with, lol what's his name on Walking Dead? And back when Keira Knightly was so new that she hadn't been ruined by Hollywood yet. And THE SONG!!! Oh god and Liam Neeson pretty much lived the character he played after Natasha Richardson died.
ReplyDeletecrilla - Yes, I love both Bridget Jones and Love Actually. But even those two are old now, right? Have they made a good one in the past 3-5 years?
ReplyDeleteTo be more accurate, Gerry was the star of Phantom of the Opera and that made $70m, so I think that qualifies as a hit.
ReplyDeleteGerry's problem is, since he and his longtime manager set up their own production company, they've chosen horrible hits. I don't know why, but they have. Gerry needs someone better in charge of his career. (And I lust/love the dude!)
shocker. Biel has never been one I would want to spent my money on any movie she is in. Never understood why she's a *star*, blah
ReplyDeleteAt least GB was super hot before the drinking and drugging started to show on his face. Now he's got an ick factor I can't get past.
@Susan, When Harry Met Sally is what I was just going to say!! Remember when RomCom's were great?! You've got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle (hmmm, Meg Ryan theme...). She was truly the queen of RomCom's, NOT Julia Roberts (can't stand her), nor Jennifer Aniston. Aniston is a poor man's Goldie Hawn or Meg Ryan. Those two are awesome in the RomCom genre. I may be dating myself with mentioning Goldie Hawn in RomCom's...
ReplyDeleteI feel sorry for Catherine Zita Jones or whatever her name is. An Oscar win 10 years ago and now this!? Oh, and Uma too. Oscar nom in '95 - now this shit.
ReplyDeleteThe Ugly Truth made 88 million on a 38 million budget in 2009. So I would give that as his last hit movie. But that was when everyone was still so in love with Katherine Heigle. So who's to say who put the asses in the seats for that one.
ReplyDeleteMy God that Ugly Truth movie was soooo awful. Just hateful and ugly (so I guess, well named?). All of these 'actors' need to stop being hired- give some good ones a chance! (although I did like Heigl in that Apatow movie).
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is Only You, love it in a it's cheesiness! But I can't do ranting comedies now, I rarely last past the first scene. And obviously that's on DVD, I never pay theatre price for them.
ReplyDeleteI still have a bit of a weakness for Butler in action flicks, even if he is a slut.
Ok seriously I am getting a new phone today, ranting = romantic. This keyboard is awful
DeleteWhen Harry Met Sally is my gold standard, too. Honestly, I went for everything Meg Ryan did before she ruined her face. Totally killed Kate and Leopold for me.
ReplyDeleteGoing way back, you guys should watch Marty. Sweetest romcom ever. Who knew Ernest Borgnine could be so lovable?
"Yep, it is ties for the worst Rotten Tomato movie in history with In The Army Now."
How dare you! Troll 2 is the worst. Everybody knows that!
I saw Jessica filming a movie way back when in my hood and found out it also starred Forrest Whitaker. Even he couldn't get it to the big screen. DVD.
ReplyDeleteI totally forgot she was in Total Recall. I love the original and love the book, it was gone from theaters fast. will have to see it someday, I suppose.
Butler was great in Law Abiding Citizen. He needs to play villains instead of trying to do rom coms.
ReplyDeleteApril, Troll 2 was released before Rotten Tomatoes was created, wasn't it?
ReplyDeleteIt's not surprising the Rom-Com genre has gone downhill. When Hollywood will spend $200,000,000 on "Battleship", a movie based on a toy, what chance does the lower budget films have?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, the "battleshits" scene in "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" was better than "Battleship" and it involved a pooping contest!
I think a Justin/Jessica film is a great idea. Justin did great in The Time movie.
ReplyDeleteNo one is checking for Gerard. He looks like he stinks. Its a wrap for him in this part of the world.