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Dakota Johnson on ‘Madame Web’ Blowback: “I’ll Never Do Anything Like It Again” (www.hollywoodreporter.com)
submitted 6 months ago by ZeroCool@slrpnk.net to c/moviesandtv@lemm.ee
24 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

“It’s so hard to get movies made, and in these big movies that get made — and it’s even starting to happen with the little ones, which is what’s really freaking me out — decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it’s made by committee,” she added. “Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms. My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not. Audiences will always be able to sniff out bullshit. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to fucking want to see those.”

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[–] MargotRobbie@lemm.ee 57 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Well, making a good superhero movie is harder than people think. At the end of the day, studios are risk adverse, and making a woman focused superhero movie is seen as riskier as it is more niche, which means they are more prone to interventions and design by committee, so it is a self perpetuating problem.

Speaking of which, Lemmy plug "Birds of Prey" (also starring some crazy clown woman) here today, in my humble and totally unbiased opinion, it's a pretty fun superhero movie that more people should watch.

[–] 1simpletailer@startrek.website 15 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Birds of Prey remains the best film to come out of the DCEU and it's a damn shame it's been slept on.

[–] MargotRobbie@lemm.ee 15 points 6 months ago

Birds of Prey remains the best film to come out of the DCEU

Starring the best (and also the most humble) actress in the DCEU, too.

[–] DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 6 months ago

I'll have to check that one out. I enjoyed the second Suicide Squad that lead to the John Cena Peacemaker series. That was peak silly superhero to me.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

https://youtu.be/0Uq_5bYGYoY

While we're on the topic of female driven action movies. This one got lost at the box office because it was released in early 2020. Shame, because it's smart and exciting and doesn't follow all the 'revenge' tropes people are used to.

[–] survivalmachine 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Thanks for sharing. That looks awesome and I'm going to check it out! Crappy name, though. I'd have instantly given it a pass assuming it was a musical centered around a high school band.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 2 points 6 months ago

I've noticed that sometimes, somehow, the coolest movies have the blandest sounding titles.

Marathon Man as a case in point.

[–] WanderingVentra@lemm.ee 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I like that one, too! It's no dramatic piece, like Dark Knight or Winter Soldier, but it's a rocking good time. It knows what it's trying to be, a silly Harley Quinn and company movie. I wish the little kid was less annoying in the movie, though lol.

[–] MargotRobbie@lemm.ee 6 points 6 months ago

It’s no dramatic piece, like Dark Knight or Winter Soldier, but it’s a rocking good time.

You get it.

But I still wish it did a bit better at the box office though...

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca 33 points 6 months ago (3 children)

My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart

Wow that's funny because my feeling has always been exactly the opposite. It's why quippy, vapid bullshit like the Avengers and star wars is so popular.

[–] CylustheVirus@lemm.ee 27 points 6 months ago

Fine art only people are so goddamn exhausting.

[–] sexual_tomato@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 6 months ago

Bruh sometimes you need to feed the caveman part of your brain. Smart people know that. The unga bunga spectacle is why you go.

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I think there's different audiences. You're referring to a general, mainstream audience, while I think she's referring to an audience that would be interested in an artsy film going into it.

[–] EssentialCoffee@midwest.social 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I don't think anyone believes Madame Web was supposed to be an artsy film.

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 3 points 6 months ago

I honestly haven't seen it but I think the point still stands that there can be different types of audiences with different tastes. It seems like she's afraid everything is going to go the route of Star Wars and Marvel.

[–] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.ml 15 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Cassie died on the way back to her home planet.

[–] natecox@programming.dev 4 points 6 months ago

I’m poochy the rockin’ dog!

[–] demesisx@infosec.pub 14 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I worked on that movie. I can tell you that the crew knew it was going to be a stinker for the entire time it was being made.

It was GREAT money while it lasted even though Sony was unbelievably stingy at times. We (the crew) quickly came to look at it as a box office writeoff.

As we always say,

I don't write em. I just light em.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 12 points 6 months ago

Well, this is the second bad franchise she has been in.

[–] Mac@mander.xyz 9 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Sad to say but she's wrong. The general populace doesn't give a shit about authenticity in film. They want brainless films with lame, repetitive jokes and Minions and/or Groots.
People will trip over eachother to watch a film by their favorite superhero company before even considering whether the last one they saw was worth watching or not.

Just like car enthusiasts, keyboard enthusiasts, FOSS enthisiasts, et al. mainstream films are not made for the enthusiasts—they are made for the average consumer to make a profit.

[–] Perfide@reddthat.com 15 points 6 months ago

I mean... Madame Web is doing worse than Morbius. Clearly even the average consumer isn't interested anymore.

[–] ursakhiin 12 points 6 months ago

Starting by saying, I haven't seen this movie so this is an outsiders opinion.

This appears to be completely different than your standard super hero fatigue. Some movies are just bad.

That said, the Groots things you're expressing aren't new. Action movies have always had dumb plots filmed with one liners all over. The feelings you're expressing is that Super Hero movies are just also action movies. Personally, I find them more engaging and entertaining than non-super hero action movies specifically because they aren't trying to be realistic but also have a continuity that I enjoy. That's not a general populace thing. That's a specific reason I enjoy them.

The minions complaint is just super weird, though. Those movies are tailored to kids. Literally zero adults should be taking them as more than a kids movie.

[–] Vespair@lemm.ee 7 points 6 months ago

How many more of her films do we have to criticize before she agrees to quit the industry entirely?

Because I'm willing to put in the work.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 5 points 6 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

As she’s previously hinted during the movie’s publicity tour, Johnson said the project’s script about a paramedic with psychic powers was radically changed from what she originally read.

But sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it’s one thing and then as you’re making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you’re like, ‘Wait, what?’ But it was a real learning experience, and of course it’s not nice to be a part of something that’s ripped to shreds, but I can’t say that I don’t understand.

My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not.

Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to fucking want to see those.”

“Like, ‘Dakota Johnson Breaks Her Silence On Madame Web’s Fucking Box Office Failure,’” the actress said with a laugh.

Over the weekend, Johnson’s co-star Sydney Sweeney likewise commented about the film’s reaction while hosting NBC’s Saturday Night Live, quipping in her monologue, “You have seen me in Anyone but You and Euphoria.

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