I’m not going lie, this kind of shocked me. Having lived along the Wasatch range, I’d see Mormon cinema billboards on occasion, but I didn’t see any for this film (I may have miss one, though). My hunch is had it been broadly promoted via traditional means I think they could’ve doubled their take, because it’s not actually a terrible film as far as these films go. Whatever the case may be, I think there’s a LOT of interesting historical and mythological material that comes with Mormonism, and I do think there’s a niche market where the church could see a sort of strengthening the core membership with movie media done right. Basically, the could Netflix/Prime Video it up, and then run all their inventory on BYUtv, and that in of itself would serve as a inoculation tool against the broader influence of social media.
- Doc
Me, too. I thought the niche market would be much stronger. Last week, SeN advertised theatres in Provo showing the film to accompany Education Week, but BYU's ed week site was absolutely silent about it. Their site even had a tab for "evening activities," where I was positive it would be listed, but it wasn't. It was surprising, considering the film website says there is a contract with BYU to show it in religion classes. Maybe Ed Week didn't want to compete with regular BYU classes.
I didn't see it nor would I ever want to, but it seems to me from what's been posted here about "Witnesses" is that it isn't a particularly rousing movie. Those types of shows seem to basically be the only religious films that make a big impression with potential audiences.
This movie was probably not exciting or emotional enough to motivate more casual Mormons to go watch it. Compare that to fare like "God Is Not Dead" and I think it's easy to see why it wasn't getting lots of butts in the seats.
Social distancing has likely already begun to flatten the curve...Continue to research good antivirals and vaccine candidates. Make everyone wear masks. -- J.D. Vance
no. Are going to go all 'no true Scotsman' on me now?
And why was it you get to have an opinion on Marvel's movies but we can't have an opinion on some indie thing?
Social distancing has likely already begun to flatten the curve...Continue to research good antivirals and vaccine candidates. Make everyone wear masks. -- J.D. Vance
no. Are going to go all 'no true Scotsman' on me now?
And why was it you get to have an opinion on Marvel's movies but we can't have an opinion on some indie thing?
I think you misunderstood, or I miscommunicated. I didn’t mean to imply that no one could speak on a subject in which they are not an expert. So comment away, but realize that it’s like yelling at the referees on TV when you’ve never actually played the sport.
If you know enough about the sport to see the refs made a bad call, then why not? If the point is that having an opinion when no one can hear you express it is futile, OK. In this case the “ref” watches the board pretty regularly.
"I have learned with what evils tyranny infects a state. For it frustrates all the virtues, robs freedom of its lofty mood, and opens a school of fawning and terror, inasmuch as it leaves matters not to the wisdom of the laws, but to the angry whim of those who are in authority.”
no. Are going to go all 'no true Scotsman' on me now?
And why was it you get to have an opinion on Marvel's movies but we can't have an opinion on some indie thing?
I think you misunderstood, or I miscommunicated. I didn’t mean to imply that no one could speak on a subject in which they are not an expert. So comment away, but realize that it’s like yelling at the referees on TV when you’ve never actually played the sport.
You didn't have to be a soldier to know the fall of Saigon was a defeat for the United States...
You also don't need to know more than 2nd grade math to figure the revenue/cost ratio for any particular film. A ratio less than 1 is by definition a flop.
For products like movies the viewer is the definitive judge of success, no matter how little they know about making movies, because success for a movie is pleasing the viewer. A bad movie that everyone likes is not a bad movie; a good movie that nobody likes isn't good.
For products like movies the viewer is the definitive judge of success, no matter how little they know about making movies, because success for a movie is pleasing the viewer. A bad movie that everyone likes is not a bad movie; a good movie that nobody likes isn't good.
In this regard, I think that Witnesses did not really hit the mark. A generic TBM isn't going to want to know about Fanny Alger or any of the other stories. It just makes them uncomfortable. I actually think if DP and friends had been more willing to engage in fabrication that this is what the audience wanted.
