Why is BASEketball bombing in theaters?

It seems like it's totally bombed so far, which is a fucking shame. This is one of the funniest films I've seen in a while. With South Park being in its prime, I'd think that this movie would do very well...at least on it's openning weekend. Perhaps most South Park fans aren't old enough to get into R rated films....or perhaps people didn't like the trailers (which don't even begin to show how funny the movie is).....hmmmm.....any other thoughts? If it continues to bomb in the theaters, I hope that it becomes a home video classic of sorts.

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                               THE FLAPPER!!!!!!!
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"...it's offensive to short deformed   ||  "Cram it with walnuts, ugly!"
    people who look like testicles."   ||                -Homer Simpson
          -Tom Stern discussing E.T.   ||
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????? I know it's sometimes difficult to tell by this day care center of a ng but I would say most SP fans are college age or older. If indeed SP is doing poorly, it could be regional or it could be that word of mouth feedback says it sucks. That's the word I'm getting from people who go to everything. Word of mouth for Mafia was poor but it was overwhelming positive for Something About Mary, so thats the one I went to. So I can vouch that SAM is extremely over the top & extremely funny as well.

An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit. -Gaius Plinius

	I also went to see "Mary" due to the critics and the two previous films
the guys had made ('Dumb & Dumber' and 'Kingpin' - which were great).
But "Mary" was the worst film I have seen in the last five years. I
laughed more in "Godzilla". All the funny stuff was in the trailers and
the only laugh it got out of me was the "hair gel" (oh, and Brett F.
trying to act). I have no idea why the critics liked it unless they were
just ga-ga over Cameron Diaz (who did do a good job). I was so pissed
when I left I forgot to ask for my money back - I just wanted to go home
and watch an SP video so I could actually see something funny.
	BASEketball was hilarious. I missed some stuff because I was laughing
so hard, so they are going to get another $7.00 out of me. If anyone
misses this movie - it's their own damn fault.

[email] (MOWBIE) wrote:

It would seem that you're the one making this place into a day care center - He didn't say SP was doing poorly - he said the film BASEketball was doing poorly!

Read carefully next ime!

I TOTALLY ADORED BASEketball. In fact, I've been devoting my part of my web site to that movie! I think a lot has to do with the fact that if you don't follow south park, AND read all the articles, you probably don't know who Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Dian Bachar are, but even so, I think we've all learned to trust David Zucker in that he makes HILARIOUS movies! Don'tch'all think?

Thanks, Giz

Visit the Corruption Factory at http://www.geocities.com/researchtriangle/lab/6649/index.html

Peter Thomas wrote in message ...

ng

doing

All except Airplane II ... they should have known better. But I maintain that Airplane! is one of the funniest movies ever made. I also adored Kentucky Fried Movie and Top Secret, especially the Elvis movie take-off.

Rabbit

what is pan and scan?

Beavis-n-Butthead wrote:

Movies in the theatre are "rectangular" to fit the size of the screen. Your television set is square, so if you just showed the rectangular movie on the square screen, you would lose the outside edges of the rectangle. (There's actually a formula for this, but it escapes me right now.)

There are two ways of dealing with this problem. One is "letterboxing" the movie. The top and bottom portions of the square screen are filled in with black bands, so that the entire "rectangle" of the movie can be seen between them. You get the entire movie, but it's also smaller, and some people don't like watching a letterboxed movie because of the black bands.

The other solution is "pan and scan", where the movie is shown as a square, with the edges missing, but if there's action in those missing areas, the camera scans over to cover them. It'll really be noticeable if two characters are sitting far apart and talking -- you'll notice that the camera seems to swing to the one character, then it swings back over to the other. If you were watching the movie in the theatre, it would just be a still shot, with both characters in it since they'd fit.

Hope this explains it.

Rabbit

In article , Rabbit writes:

Wow, all this time, I thought panning the camera between people, etc., was just a filming style used in old films!

Rabbit wrote in message ...

Don'tch'all

that

Fried

Rabbit..

David Zucker didn't make Airplane II. Kentucy Friend Movie is FAB! You'll love it! :)

Christy

I know! I went the OPENING day, and there were, like, maybe 20 people in the theatre!

Until next time, goodbye to all you wacky people out there in PC land!

~Lindsay :)

I saw BASEketball on Friday and there were only 3 other people besides myself in the theater! I went to see Saving Ryan's Privates (I mean Saving Private Ryan) that same night and the theater was nearly sold out. I just read that BASEketball didn't even reach the top ten box office list for this weekend (Mafia! was #10). Sad, dude! By the way, why did they edit out that scene with the Clinton lookalike staring at the Felon Girls and falling out of his seat which was used in the commercials promoting the film? Did Zucker and company face pressure from their Democrat Clinton-loving friends in the Hollywood community? To quote Eric Cartman, "Democrats piss me off!"

Everywhere I look BASEketball is getting bad reviews. I hate critics. I *loathe* critics. They wind up making people feel like jackasses for liking a movie that all the critics seemed to hate, and vice versa. Either I'm a very strange person, or we have very strange film critics, or maybe I'm biased since the movie stars Trey and Matt and a lot was ad-libbed by them, but I've never seen higher than a 2 1/2 starred review on BASEketball. And I'd give it 3 1/2-4 (then again, I like nearly every movie I see, but..)

Marguerrite, Hunter of the Infamous Matt and Trey (they call me Kim, but I know better) Aka Crabtree-Norn "Sit down and shut up!" "&^*$ Censorship!"-originated on alt.tv.southpark

GUMPELS wrote:

Well, Canada's largest newspaper loved it:

http://www2.thestar.com/thestar/back_issues/ED19980731/entertainment/index.html

Rabbit

they only acted in it. Baseketball is an actual game invented by director and co-writer Zucker. It resembles a movie he was making several years ago starring comedian Bob Nelson, which had to do with basket-shooting; apparently that film was never released. If this new movie is a failure it's not directly the fault of Matt and Trey, although it may reflect on them for a long time.

abe hornberg

"If you fancy it, there it is, in your eye. If not, be it his that finds it."

It was mentioned a bunch of times that Trey and Matt ad-libbed a lot. I mean, just look at the Cartman impression. Zucker didn't say 'Ok, let's make fun of the fact that they're the creators of South Park now.' And the 'dude' scene was them, all the way.

Marguerrite, Hunter of the Infamous Matt and Trey (they call me Kim, but I know better) Aka Crabtree-Norn "Sit down and shut up!" "&^*$ Censorship!"-originated on alt.tv.southpark

GUMPELS wrote:

An article on the movie in our local newspaper said that the finished product was nowhere near the script, and Trey and Matt "should" have received co-writing credits!

Rabbit

Shows how smart they really are NOT to have taken official credit for any of the writing.

An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit. -Gaius Plinius

In article ,

The answer is simple: people are idiots. I could go on and on about the stupid things people do. (yes, including myself) A good movie comes along, and they see Titanic for the 50th time. Blarrrg. Really, is the movie good? I haven't seen it yet but it looks pretty funny.

-----> the davester: nirvanasongs @ yahoo.com SPAM BAIT: [email] A nice place to enter a quote.

Nirvana Song Encyclopedia: http://nirvanasongs.home.ml.org alt.tv.southpark.fanfic FAQ: http://www.geocities.com/~dgisoft/faq/

Happiness is finding a simple answer for everything.

I usually have a 'if I could go back to any moment to stop myself from doing a stupid thing' wish every week.

Forgive me, everyone, but I *liked* Titanic.

Damn straight! And the previews don't even *begin* to show how funny it is. For example, there's a *bit* more to the underwear scene. And a certain simple action made me go from 'awww..' to 'aaah!' in .3 seconds, and through the moment I was thinking "Only Trey and Matt can come up with..and actually go through with...something like that." And of course, there's the impressions..I won't tell you which or when, it's best you're suprised. GO...SEE....BASEKETBALL....NOW!!! <calms down> I must have forgotten my pills, exucse me...

Marguerrite, Hunter of the Infamous Matt and Trey (they call me Kim, but I know better) Aka Crabtree-Norn "Sit down and shut up!" "&^*$ Censorship!"-originated on alt.tv.southpark

GUMPELS wrote in message ...

is.

simple

impressions..I

pills,

It is good. personally I expected it to be completely stupid. Lot's of it was but in the situations of Baseketball it worked and wasn'y so stupid. It was a lot better than I expected.

And I know what you mean when only those two could go through with that. Hilariously funny but sick and twisted. I like it.

The thing I love most about Zucker films is that you have to watch for the little jokes. They bombard you with bad puns and gross jokes, but the really funny stuff is in the details -- like the garage fronts that changed with the stadiums.

And the Kareem Abdul Jabbar sight gag was priceless.

Rabbit

[email] wrote:

I don't think people are idiots, but I had this discussion over in alt.movies.terry-gilliam back when "Fear and Loathing..." bombed, and I don't feel like getting into it again just now.

But here's my assessment of "Titanic":

All the acting was very strong, except for the two leads. The music was very good at first, but ultimately far too repetitive. The actions scenes were VERY well done, except that one bit where Leo runs back to save a little boy. I expected him to run back for a puppy-dog next. The characterizations were all one-dimensional, without exception. Overall the movie was never boring, but ultimately felt pretty insubstantial.

I think it's worth seeing.

I think it's worth seeing *once*.

I think anyone who sees it twice should have eyes rolled at them.

I think anyone who sees it three times should be harshly scolded.

I think anyone who sees it more than three times should be shot.

Not lethally-- just, like, in the foot or something.

--C. S.

In article , [email] (Keith M. Kurzman) writes:

Plus, as I recall hearing, the girl engaged in some VERY unwoman-like behavior... OK, so did Leo's character, for that matter.

You mean the spitting scene? Yeah, I forget to mention that. Arrgh, how I hated that....

--C. S.

Same here! They go along with the Razzies (those awards who go out to the worst movies) and Mr. Blackwell (that guy who says whose the worst dressed). Why do we need these people? I mean, it wont hurt if we locked them in a storm shelter without any food and didn't know about these things, would it?

In article ,

I didn't really think that critics were idiots until now, but I'm pretty sure of it after seeing all of the reviews that have been slamming Baseketball. I laughed a LOT more during Baseketball than I did during There's Something About Mary (which I liked).

[email] (GUMPELS) wrote:

Those critics are pretty fucked up IMHO, dude. Yasmine Bleeth was a dick riser though. ============================o

REMOVE THE YAHOO TO RESPOND

If you like a movie it shouldn't matter to you what the critics opinions are. You shouldn't take it personally that BASEketball is bombing in theaters unless you have a financial interest in the movie. A movie that prominently Jenny McCarthy will probably sink like a rock.(yes, she's good looking but incredibly annoying and unfunny). In fairness to the critcs, they review a multitude of movies. They don't just attend movies they find interesting. The gross out level of humor is more appreciated by the pubesecent crowd than adults. I'm sure the South Park movie will be a big hit.

Shut up!!!

On Mon, 3 Aug 1998 07:51:19 -0400 (EDT), [email] (mr.macky @webtv.net) wrote:

I couldn't believe it. That piece of crap Mafia! is #10, and BASEketball isn't evn in the top ten? This is pure shite, I tell you!

Mafia! sucked. I liked There's Something About Mary, but not as much as BASEketball. Maybe there are just too many parody movies out right now.

skull

I know this is a *bit* off-topic, but did anyone else find it hilariously ironic when Cooper (Trey) said to Reemer (Matt) "Oh, so now that you're a big star, you're going to make a movie?" God I love irony..I wonder if they meant to do that. Anyway, back to wondering why BASEketball is bombing. I think...well, I don't know. I can speak for the people I know, and not the thousands of others in the country.

Marguerrite, Hunter of the Infamous Matt and Trey (they call me Kim, but I know better) Aka Crabtree-Norn "Sit down and shut up!" "&^*$ Censorship!"-originated on alt.tv.southpark

Here's my theory on that (yes, I'm still alive-- I just have a new job for which I'm ridiculously underqualified and overpayed and that will probably blow up in my face in a month or two that's sucking up most of my time):

Here in NYC, I've noticed that we've already started in on the "South Park" backlash. People are starting to feel like Matt and Trey's ego has expanded beyond their talent, and even though they may like "South Park", they decide not to see "BASEketball" out of spite. Spite, I tell you. (Please no comments about spite not being an acceptable reason. This *isn't* alt.tv.seinfeld, got it?!)

Also, the posters with Matt and Trey holding the balls as mock testicles are pretty lame, and turned me off to the movie the first time I saw them. I'm sure plenty of average, red-blooded non-South Park fans saw them and thought, "Hmm... I think I'll not see this movie. Now I'll go home and shake that groove thing with my bitch-whore. Hacoochie--raaoooooowww!!"

Not to mention the fact that their are several HUGE-type movies going on right now that are sucking up all the audience. It's bad timing.

And, to tell the truth, there really hasn't been a succesful purebred screwball comedy in a long time. The USA, at least, doesn't appear to be in that kind of a mood, moviewise.

Hence, "BASEketball" bombs.

--C. S.

P.S. "Cannibal: The Musical"'s been rereleased in NYC for a little while and I'm seeing it this weekend. Envy me! Envy me!

Why should I envy you? I OWN a copy.PS If you thought seeing Trey's fine naked body in BASEketball was nice, picture seeing that beautiful site while he is singing "When I Was on Top of You." Sweet. But, then I am the one who has the major Trey fantasy.

was on Top of you" the first time I saw it.

Spazley<--is aware that everyone thinks she's a Trey Teenie...and she is. Member of IA, and Moldy Pudding. Co-official Jarrod Teenie. "This love will open our world

In article , [email] says...

Well in my case I'm waiting for it to come out on video. I can't be bothered to take the effort to go out and see a movie when it doesn't have things that get any real benefit from the big screen and the badass stereo. Anything that doesn't include big explosions and stuff I just wait for the video. I'm dying to see it all the same, don't get me wrong, I'm just too lazy to run out and see it just now. I know several people who treat movies this way.

Just curious (and a bit off-topic, sorry), how many people here partially rate a movie in advance by judging how they will or wont see it, based on the promos? Ie: Gotta see THAT in the theatre; I'll wait for video for this one; I'll wait for the movie channel to get it; I'll wait till I happen to be over at somebody's house and it's on; etc..

I have 2 friends, 1 male & 1 female, that are real film addicts. They go to everything! As it turns out their tastes are pretty close to mine. I wait for their input. As a result of their reviews I didn't go to Mafia or BASEketball, but did see Something About Mary and loved it. They said BASEketball was very disappointing so I'm gonna pass til video time. Then I'll see if they were wrong. The last time we disagreed was 5th Element, they loved it. I thot it was a waste of money. Also they didn't like Godzilla but I REALLY had to see that movie, I wished I had listened.

An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit. -Gaius Plinius

I just go out and see the movies that are playing in theatres when I get a chance.

Godzilla was a bomb ready to explode. I will *never* see Godzilla.

Marguerrite, Hunter of the Infamous Matt and Trey (they call me Kim, but I know better) Aka Crabtree-Norn "Sit down and shut up!" "&^*$ Censorship!"-originated on alt.tv.southpark

That's why I listen to people but form my own opinion. I loved "The Fifth Element". And everyone raved about "Stargate" and I just about fell asleep from boredom.

Rabbit

Usually, if it's something that I want to see, I'll always make a point of seeing it in the theater....occasionally I'll miss something and I'll go rent the Laserdisc of it....I usually won't watch stuff on VHS or cable because of the attrocious Pan&Scan, but that's me. I'm sure BASEketball won't suffer from the usual video cropping...it will most likely be an open matte movie.

==============================================================================
                               THE FLAPPER!!!!!!!
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"...it's offensive to short deformed   ||  "Cram it with walnuts, ugly!"
    people who look like testicles."   ||                -Homer Simpson
          -Tom Stern discussing E.T.   ||
==============================================================================

Oh, I definitely do that. "Titanic" was big-screen, Jackie Chan movies (much as I love him) are video.

I saw BASEketball in the theatre, though, because I wanted to see it now.

I think part of the reason it's bombing is because we've been burned by too many similar movies. One of the reasons I don't go to the movies is because I see a trailer with half a dozen super jokes in it, and then when I see the movie, I discover that these are, indeed, the only six jokes the movie actually contains. The last Leslie Neilsen I went to see -- I don't even remember the name of it, but it was a takeoff on action movies -- looked like the funniest movie since Airplane! in the trailers. I cursed the fact that I spent $8.00 going to see the turkey.

Alas, because of movies like that, and now Mafia! and a few others, people think that the jokes on the BASEketball trailer are all that's in the movie. That's a shame -- I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I went by myself, and I'll gladly go back next week so my husband can see it.

Rabbit

I hope you're at least watching your Jackie Chan movies in widescreen.....Panned & Scanned they're completely horrendous.

==============================================================================
                               THE FLAPPER!!!!!!!
==============================================================================
"...it's offensive to short deformed   ||  "Cram it with walnuts, ugly!"
    people who look like testicles."   ||                -Homer Simpson
          -Tom Stern discussing E.T.   ||
==============================================================================

I feel strongly about a movie like this failing because I think Matt and Trey are really funny guys, the movies is very funny, and people should be seeing it because it's a good movie! It seems like every movie that I found really enjoyable this year was a total failure financially...maybe I'm just some kinda goofy retard....but here are the movies I really liked that bombed:

The Big Lebowski Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas Dirty Work Deep Rising BASEketball

These, in my opinion, are all very good, entertaining films (though I will admit that Norm MacDonald is an aquired taste...I think he's funny as fuck!)

I don't like her either, but her role was quite small in this film.

==============================================================================
                               THE FLAPPER!!!!!!!
==============================================================================
"...it's offensive to short deformed   ||  "Cram it with walnuts, ugly!"
    people who look like testicles."   ||                -Homer Simpson
          -Tom Stern discussing E.T.   ||
==============================================================================

FitNFeisty wrote:

I could watch the "Blues Brothers" (the original one) a hundred times over and never tire of it -- I love that flick. And every critic loathed it.

Rabbit

Rabbit, I agree that "The Blues Brothers" was hillarious, and I don't tire of seeing it. It's a classic comedy which you don't see too many of nowadays.

FitNFeisty wrote:

Whenever my friend and I go out for lunch, we get in the truck, look at each other, and do the 260 miles from Chicago full tank of gas half a pack of cigarettes we're wearing sunglasses HIT IT shtick.

And then I tell him to fix the lighter ...

Rabbit

Yes, and a couple of others that I never tire of are Animal House and Caddyshack. Don't know what critics thot of them & really don't care.

An object in possession seldom retains the same charm that it had in pursuit. -Gaius Plinius

There was one quick scene in the commercials where Matt's head pops up into frame, and he's got this giant pompador hairdo....I don't recall seeing that in the film either.

==============================================================================
                               THE FLAPPER!!!!!!!
==============================================================================
"...it's offensive to short deformed   ||  "Cram it with walnuts, ugly!"
    people who look like testicles."   ||                -Homer Simpson
          -Tom Stern discussing E.T.   ||
==============================================================================

It's not unusual for cuts made in the film (for time restrictions, plot or whatever) to make their way to the trailers. I remember when "Twister" came out the trailers had a shot of a truck tire coming through the window, but it wasn't in the movie.

Of course, that was around the time someone got killed by a truck tire on an Ontario highway, which may have been why it was removed ...

Filmmakers often cut things out of movies when real life mimics what they've filmed. In the movie "Small Soldiers" a shot of a soldier pointing a gun at Phil Hartmann was cut.

Rabbit

In article , [email] (Jerry Roche) writes:

Comnsidering the representative of the "Party of Corruption" they've got as president, and knowing that "Bullseye the cat"* is still missing, do you really need to ask?

* Shortly before Linda Trip was to testify, her car tires were mysteriously slashed and her cat vanished. The next day, she was approached by a stranger who commneted on her misfortune and how it'd be a shame if she testified afgainst The Creep �...

On 16 Aug 1998 08:35:26 GMT, [email] (BRaines000) wrote:

"LINDA TRIP IS A MAN, BABY!" - Craig Kilborn

----- Lone Wolf AKA Powerslave My Kung-Fu is the best.

"It was as if the lights dimmed just for him." - Steve Buscemi, Desperado

"Into the flood again... same old trip it was back then... so I made a big mistake... try to see it once my way..." - Alice in Chains, "Would"

"Just because you ARE a character doesn't mean that you HAVE character." - Winston Wolf (Harvey Keitel), Pulp Fiction

Ok..hold on for a moment..I just need to release a few very strong emotions...

AAAAUGH! WILL THE WORLD SHUT *UP* ALREADY?!!

There, I feel much better now.

Marguerrite, Hunter of the Infamous Matt and Trey (they call me Kim, but I know better) Aka Crabtree-Norn "Sit down and shut up!" "&^*$ Censorship!"-originated on alt.tv.southpark