Posted by jackman at d53-64-29-179.nap.wideopenwest.com on August 09, 2003 at 16:49:28:
In Reply to: Jersey Girl is gonna flop... no doubt after Gigli posted by lou!!! on August 09, 2003 at 15:40:52:
I strongly believe very few people want to see J-Ho and her little bitch Benny (from the block!) in a movie, myself included. The only type of movie I'd pay to see these two "star" in is (perhaps) a remake of Bonny and Clyde...except in my version the cops use real bullets. Hey, if anyone can swing that one, you've got my 8.50! I believe Mr. Smith totally fucked up when he cast these two worthless hacks who embody everything bad about Hollywood. I love Kevin's work and own every movie on DVD, however, I can't see myself putting another dime in the pocket of Jennifer Lopez and her little lap-dog bitch, Ben-Lo. If I'm wrong, I'll be the first to admit it, however, I'm not too worried about this one.
Kevin's example (on the link attached to the home page of this site) about how an actor's previous movie's box-office success has no relevance in this instance. In fact, it's bullshit, lame and illogical. I believe Kevin Spacey was used as an example, however, any non-universally-hated actor will do. Here is why the example was bullshit: Kevin Spacey is a good actor, however, not every movie he is in does well at the box office. Heck, not every movie he is in is actually good. The big difference between Kevin Spacey and the Ben-J-Ho example is that most people do NOT avoid a movie because they dislike Kevin Spacey or because his acting sucks, or because he is an irritating fuck who lives his excessively opulent life in the public eye. The same cannot be said about Benny and Jenny. Ben's acting is marginally acceptable (he's been good in the K'Smith movies) but he's made very questionable role choices that have turned off many former fans. J-Ho is another story, she simply CANNOT act. She makes Madonna look like Merrill Streep (spelling?). Worst of all, together they are box-office poison. IMO, Gigli was no coincidence.
To say Gigli didn't do well because its plot sucked would be correct, however it doesn't capture the full reason this movie did poorly at the box-office. I believe several people, like me, avoided the movie because we couldn't stomach Ben-Jen. Most hyped movies (even ones that wind up sucking) with big promotional budgets can at least draw people for the first week. Usually, if the movie sucks, poor word of mouth kicks in and the movie will see a precipitous drop-off in sales after the first week. You can probably think of several recent examples of this. Conversely, movies that are good (or at least well-received by viewers) don't have the drop-off in subsequent weeks. They may even do better in the ensuing weeks as more people go to see them and more screens open to them. Word of mouth by people who have seen and enjoyed a picture (and positive reviewer feedback) plays a role in this growth. Gigli had a horrendous opening week and it only got worse from there...despite more advance publicity than most of the movies that came out at the same time. I attribute this to what will be called (from now on) the Ben-J-Lo=Box-office Poison phenomenon.
That's why! Next question?
Jman