Six Days in August D.O.A.?

[Everybody Wang Chung]

I’m about to see it! I shall return and report.

May God have mercy on your soul. I just called and put your name on the temple prayer roll.

[Moksha]

This board needs a new safety certificate.

[drumdude]

I took a bunch of notes during the film. The main takeaways are similar to what others thought.

The score is pleasant, the cinematography is pleasant. The last 30 minutes of the film are the eponymous six days in August. They fly by so fast that they even skip day 3!

I found the last 20 minutes of the film to be the most engaging, so much so that I stopped taking notes.

I also found myself at the end wishing for a film that had begun with the last 20 minutes and continued on to tell the frontier tale of the Mormons heading west. The rest of the film was essentially Witnesses part 2, and I found it fairly boring.

[drumdude]

candidly, turnout for Six Days in August has been quite disappointing, and (to me) surprisingly so. UEA and two BYU home games in an increasingly exciting season probably haven’t helped us, but I’m still puzzled. I’m very close to Six Days, of course, but I think it a good and worthwhile movie that tells an interesting and important story quite well. Moreover, we’ve had good publicity (at least in the “Mormon corridor”), and the overwhelming majority of those who have seen the film have reported liking it very, very much. There simply haven’t been enough of them in the first place. I’ve been hoping that word-of-mouth would give Six Days the boost that it needs. And maybe, just maybe, that will still happen. Maybe it will turn out the way last night’s game did. As of right now, though, and for whatever reason, it is what it is.

A poor financial return on the film will make the creation of future movie projects (such as Witnesses [2021], Undaunted Witnesses of the Book of Mormon [2022], and Six Days in August itself) much more difficult, if it doesn’t put them altogether beyond reach. Moreover, I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to keep Six Days in August in theaters if it continues to underperform. So, if you’re interested at all in seeing Six Days on a big screen — where its beautiful cinematography is shown to best effect — you’ll need to go sooner rather than later.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... r-not.html

BS: "My ideological commitment is to carefully look at the totality of the evidence, do my best to avoid cognitive biases, and make a good faith effort to follow where it leads. "

Amazing! That's my commitment, too!

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... 6573379213

It would seem the evidence indicates that a movie about this obscure issue in the history of an obscure religion is not appealing enough to pay $10 to sit in a room for 2 hours and view it.

Or, as DCP suggests, maybe the issue is ignorance. Most people don't reject DCP's religion or DCP's movie - no they're just ignorant of their existence. I guess that helps DCP sleep at night and avoid wondering if perhaps he's wrong about his religion and his films.

[Tom]

I've fallen behind on the numbers. Here's the latest:

Thursday, October 17

Gross: $19,838
Theaters: 82
Average per theater: $241
Total domestic gross to date: $176,919
Days: 7

Friday, October 18

Gross: $27,535
Theaters: 56
Average per theater: $491
Total domestic gross to date: $204,454
Days: 8

Saturday, October 19

Gross: $27,408
Theaters: 56
Average per theater: $489
Total domestic gross to date: $231,862
Days: 9

Sunday, October 20

Gross: $2,078
Theaters: 56
Average per theater: $37
Total domestic gross to date: $233,940
Days: 10

[Tom]

I took a bunch of notes during the film. The main takeaways are similar to what others thought.

The score is pleasant, the cinematography is pleasant. The last 30 minutes of the film are the eponymous six days in August. They fly by so fast that they even skip day 3!

I found the last 20 minutes of the film to be the most engaging, so much so that I stopped taking notes.

I also found myself at the end wishing for a film that had begun with the last 20 minutes and continued on to tell the frontier tale of the Mormons heading west. The rest of the film was essentially Witnesses part 2, and I found it fairly boring.

Thank you for the report. I'm quite surprised that day three was skipped. (Incidentally, I haven't read or heard an explanation of the film's title. Was it simply taken from the title of Ron Walker's article?)

Would you agree with the Proprietor that the film is a "major step forward for Mormon [sic] movie-making," is "not afraid to tackle difficult topics or to depict disagreement and even strife," and is "quite funny at points"?

The Proprietor recently made the puzzling claim that "the last time that a positive view of Brigham Young was offered on a commercial theatrical screen was in 1940." I assume that the Proprietor is unfamiliar with Brigham (1977).

As with the Church’s Joseph project, a core of Latter-day Saints, this time principally David R. Yeaman at Sunset Films, looked outside the Church for their principal personnel, including writer/producer Philip Yordan and director Thomas McGown. The film attempts to be a faithful biopic, an answer to the doubtful prophet portrayed in Fox’s 1940 Brigham Young. Ironically, much of the plot copied that film, particularly in the depiction of a doubting outsider accompanying the Mormons throughout their journeys; this time, however, the film climaxed with this character’s conversion.

Brigham premiered in Salt Lake City on November 19, 1977, and immediately ran into trouble. Although some reviews were good, many Latter-day Saints reacted negatively to its low production values (including stock footage lifted from films like Brigham Young itself), its corny humor, and its unsophisticated aesthetic. Eventually the film was withdrawn, reworked, and re-released in January 1978 as the “new” Brigham. In 1983 its name was again temporarily changed to Savage Journey for a television release. While Brigham is therefore often considered a black sheep of LDS cinema, it must be noted that the film has many strong points, particularly the relationship between Joseph and Brigham, and was the first major American theatrical film spearheaded by Mormons and dealing with Mormonism since Corianton, which had suffered an even worse fate.

https://byustudies.BYU.edu/article/a-hi ... ourth-wave

[drumdude]

I’ve pasted my quick notes here, I may come back to them later and clean them up.

Force powers moving ox, good cgi. Let Brigham work his magic. Speaking in tongues part 1

Thomas sharp incited the mob

Joseph smiths death isn’t shown, probably because he fought back. Confusing to non members

Critics of Mormons are punched after throwing tomatoes

Fly in the scene where Joseph’s death is announced


Counting “years to Carthage” is completely confusing


The first wife gets about 30 seconds of screen time

Speaking in tongues part 2 when he says the prayer and is sad about the death of his first wife. His voice comes from the surround speakers

Dialogue is stilted when they meet Joseph. Frontier music but they don’t speak the frontier slang that Joseph would have spoken.


Wife laughing and the trees cutting race, she said the movie is a little homoerotic

3rd speaking in tongues this time singing

Weird audio mixing like karaoke reverb.


Joseph is shown as very knowledgeable of the Bible

20 years to Carthage

12 years to Carthage

10 years to Carthage - weird way to frame the time jumps.


2nd marriage, out of necessity, not excited. Reluctant polygamist.


Why is he spending so much time with heber?



Score and cinematography are really good

Music has a unoffensice but unmemerabke theme

Dialogue doesn’t really advance the plot, feels like the film isn’t anchored to anything


The anti Mormons are cartoonishly evil, there motivations are 2 dimensional

Wife squeamish of tar and feathering of Joseph and Sidney

Prosecuted because different, because land, because they claim to be chosen people


Joseph complaining about being a persecuted majority

Joseph says he will restrain saints from retribution (danites?)


Need temple completed and “endowment of power”

Kirkland temple dedication

Kirtland miracle is just some bright lights

5 years to Carthage


Heber and Brigham going to England

Weird adventure motif “hurrah for Israel”

Jumps from place to place but they all look the same

Still don’t remember who the other 3 men that keep showing up are

Fulfilling some prophets about Joseph and the stone of the far west temple

Sailing and then England, setting still looks the same


Back to navoo, 3 years to Carthage


What happened to the six days in August? This should have just been titled “the Brigham young movie.”

Adventure motif again marching back and singing


Should have been framed as a heroes journey, Brigham meets Joseph and rises to the challenge

But Joseph and Brigham are one dimensional, with no faults

Joseph and sharp meet

“Not a man of faith”

What do you think?

General Joseph and navoo legion threaten sharp

Messy doctrine of marriage

Asks Joseph is he’s polygamist. Joseph says god has commanded it. Joseph frames sealing as just tying people together eternally, not multiple wives

Gods truth is higher than man’s truth

Emma struggles with polygamy


Joseph “I would never choose this” the reluctant polygamist

Polygamy framed as sealing to both wives after the first dies with hyrum and his second wife

Big distraction from the real purpose of multiple living wives

Plot isn’t moving forward. Yawn.


Endowment emergency. Can’t be sealed without it

Joseph says the lord is going to let me rest a while and leave the church to Brigham

Reading navoo expositor doesn’t mention polygamy, just generic straying from Jesus


Fight with me to the death and sustain the laws of our country

Joseph the reluctant general, decides to be a martyr rather than go to war

Over half way through the film and still not to the six days

“Newspaper was full of lies” - Emma - we just want to live in peace


The Joseph smith story, Brigham becomes a side character

Joseph yells he loves you Emma, how many wives does he have at this point??

Joseph still looks young, not aged at all. Doesn’t look anything like the drogotype

Noticeable that the orchestral theme is kind of generic now, no theme discernible

One month after Carthage

30 minutes left in the film. We finally get to the six days


Day one
Lyman wants to go to Texas. The apostles aren’t all there
Day two
Apostles are still late.
Sidney doing his own thing preaching gathering support
Brigham is late. Sidney is plotting, has no authority
There is no first presidency now that Joseph and hyrum are dead. Sidney and Marx are portrayed as knowing they’re wrong

Where are Emma and Joseph smith Jr??

Day 3 - skipped!

Day 4- Brigham strolls in, Heber comic relief

Day 5 - Brigham meets

Day 6- 10 mins left of film

[Tom]

candidly, turnout for Six Days in August has been quite disappointing, and (to me) surprisingly so. UEA and two BYU home games in an increasingly exciting season probably haven’t helped us, but I’m still puzzled. I’m very close to Six Days, of course, but I think it a good and worthwhile movie that tells an interesting and important story quite well. Moreover, we’ve had good publicity (at least in the “Mormon corridor”), and the overwhelming majority of those who have seen the film have reported liking it very, very much. There simply haven’t been enough of them in the first place. I’ve been hoping that word-of-mouth would give Six Days the boost that it needs. And maybe, just maybe, that will still happen. Maybe it will turn out the way last night’s game did. As of right now, though, and for whatever reason, it is what it is.

A poor financial return on the film will make the creation of future movie projects (such as Witnesses [2021], Undaunted Witnesses of the Book of Mormon [2022], and Six Days in August itself) much more difficult, if it doesn’t put them altogether beyond reach. Moreover, I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to keep Six Days in August in theaters if it continues to underperform. So, if you’re interested at all in seeing Six Days on a big screen — where its beautiful cinematography is shown to best effect — you’ll need to go sooner rather than later.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... r-not.html

What’s UEA and how would it harm the film’s success?

“The overwhelming majority of those who have seen the film have reported liking it very, very much.” How would the Proprietor know that? Exit polling?

[Doctor Scratch]

I wonder how instructive/useful it would be to compare “Six Days in August” to films from other American religious sects? For example, are there Calvinist or Watchtower films that we might compare it to? Well, I suppose the obvious comparison is with Scientology…lol.

In any case, it looks like the movie will surpass that 1/8 mark, but may have to wait for video/streaming to hit the 1/4 mark (if it ever does). I can’t help but see this as a triumph for the forces of good—a form of karmic justice. The Mopologists have been behaving like vindictive bullies for decades, so to see them laid low by this spectacular failure is richly, richly satisfying.

[I Have Questions]

I've fallen behind on the numbers. Here's the latest:

Thursday, October 17

Gross: $19,838
Theaters: 82
Average per theater: $241
Total domestic gross to date: $176,919
Days: 7

Friday, October 18

Gross: $27,535
Theaters: 56
Average per theater: $491
Total domestic gross to date: $204,454
Days: 8

Saturday, October 19

Gross: $27,408
Theaters: 56
Average per theater: $489
Total domestic gross to date: $231,862
Days: 9

Sunday, October 20

Gross: $2,078
Theaters: 56
Average per theater: $37
Total domestic gross to date: $233,940
Days: 10

That’s $53,000 less than Witnesses at the same point. And Witnesses was screened in a pandemic impacted year.