Not surprisingly, people went with the sorcerer.
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Not surprisingly, people went with the sorcerer.
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[…] John Cole, who points out that, in choosing between the witch and the sorcerer, the audience chose the […]
Villago Delenda Est
Please. Palin isn’t a witch.
She’s more like a squib.
BGinCHI
The Liar (Gingrich), the Witch (Palin), and the Wardrobe (Marcus Bachmann).
Coming soon to an election near you.
PaulW
You see the problem was, the guy went to the midnight showing. And anyone who’s been following the teabagger crowd ought to know that seniors get to bed by 11 pm… tsk tsk.
Loneoak
I particularly liked this line: “Shortly before the end of the film, a young couple entered, walked to the back row, started making out, then interrupted their session and left (spoiler alert) as Andrew Breitbart, who made one of several guest appearances, started talking about eunuchs.”
Young Conner does the dry humor well.
Davis X. Machina
@BGinCHI: Here’s your receipt. Around back, at Customer Service, they’ll deliver your internet.
ruemara
We prefer our fantasy more grounded in reality.
Hunter Gathers
Why anyone would pay money to see Andrew Brietbart talk about eunuchs?
Mike Goetz
And Rick Santorum has collected a grand total of $600,000 for his ineluctible march to the White House.
Ah the free market, voting with it’s cheddar again. Ass-faced, liberally-biased free market.
Culture of Truth
That was totally unfair because you can’t expect anyone to go to a movie at midnight.
I mean, except for 10 year olds reading an 800 page book.
Loneoak
@Hunter Gathers: Not sure who would pay for it, but the sample we have indicates that it is not an aphrodisiac.
fasteddie9318
There’s a joke here about how one of these movies is about one of the most despicable super-villains ever put on screen, while the other is about Lord Voldemort, but I can’t pull it off.
Davis X. Machina
@Hunter Gathers: There are more than 300 million of us. There’s got to be somebody….. and Mike Goetz just found them.
Once again, our politics is enriched, and made more entertaining, by the law of large numbers.
Violet
@Hunter Gathers:
Fxd.
The Palin Witch Project? Mere hype, all prattle.
JGabriel
If Friedersdorf really wanted to interview Palin fans, why did he go to a midnight showing? Wouldn’t her fans mostly be among the matinee/early evening viewers?
.
Yutsano
OT but in the same magazine: McSuderman actually comes up with a decent idea. I think there’s issues here but it sounds workable.
fasteddie9318
Well, for all we know it might be his one area of expertise.
c u n d gulag
How sad…
“The Undefeated” went ‘Unattended.’
Loneoak
OT, or perhaps oddly topical, this Regretsy post has perhaps the greatest pun in human history. (NSFW)
slag
As enthralling as the topic of Sarah Palin is, I thought Kay might enjoy this article on why Rhode Island needs a Voter ID Law:
Kids these days!
Omnes Omnibus
@ Yutsano: So, inevitably, “McMegan is always wrong” runs into “Even a blind squirrel….” Interesting.
Villago Delenda Est
The reason he went to the midnight showing is that is where you’ll find the RFO’s (Real Frantic Ones…refreshing fizzy beverage to those who get the reference).
There are apparently are no Sarah Palin RFOs. Compare and contrast with the Potter crowd…
artem1s
@Davis X. Machina:
there’s an old joke … ‘how do you tell the difference between Limbaugh and the Hindenburg’
one’s a N@zi gas bag, the other is a dirigible.
Davis X. Machina
@slag: The Rhode Island-elections-sleazebag issue is a serious one, but it’s almost always on the ballot, not in the booth. (Mandatory Buddy Cianci Jr. marinara sauce shout-out).
Mike Goetz
So, is the movie going to quit halfway through its theatrical run?
JGabriel
@fasteddie9318:
[Sigh]
Apologies to John Rogers (yes, he of Leverage-producing fame):
One advocates for belief in a world ruled by magic and superstition leading to a stunted adulthood marked by the inability to deal with a rational reality, and the other is about Death Eaters.
.
Mike Goetz
The Hindenburg smelled better when its gas erupted?
El Cid
This too is evidence of the liberal Hollywood elite’s hatred for Sarah Palin, and it will turn out that a number of decisions made by the librul elites made people stay away and also misreported how enthusiastic the turnout was.
Sarah will show you libruals how strong she is and she will withstand your elite attacks and emerge even stronger and someday you will be forced to admit what a success this film was over the long term.
Martin
They showed it at The Block? Yeah, I’m sure all the 17 year-olds were eager to rush out of the Vans Skate Park to go pay $11.50 to see grandma talk about herself for 100 minutes.
They need to put it at the Big Newport at 3PM on a weekday, and serve a buffet dinner in the lobby. Then they’ll get people to show up. Lead in with an episode of Death Valley Days.
El Cid
Of course, ‘box office flop’ is always a relative standard.
Take for example Uma Thurman’s movie “Motherhood” upon its UK premiere in March of last year.
Those aren’t the figures for one theater or one district or London. Those are the box office receipts for the entire UK.
I’m pretty sure the Palin bio-fapic made more than $200 its premiere weekend.
JGabriel
JGabriel:
P.S. That’s also the same John Rogers who brought us the 27% Crazification Factor via his friend Tyrone.
.
Slink
OT, but this F&F clip “covering” the Murdoch collapse must be seen
slag
@Davis X. Machina:
See also: Barry Hinckley Campaign for US Senate. Apparently.
Martin
Only after her
money laundering operationPAC buys $1M in tickets so that Palin can receive enough from her box office cut to buy some new fuck-me boots.JGabriel
@El Cid:
In ten theaters? Let’s check again on Monday, just to be sure.
Remember, we’ll need to look at receipts, not attendance. No telling how many complimentary tickets may have been given away to various wingnut organizations.
.
Davis X. Machina
@slag: Rhode Island politics is what you get when you cross the Palliser novels with the Godfather saga.
Judas Escargot
I haven’t met any actual witches who were Sarah Palin fans.
Her style always seemed more Asatru to me.
Lawnguylander
@Loneoak
That may indeed be the best pun ever. Do you have plans to use that pun as a pseudonym or is it free for the taking? Asking for a friend, you understand.
Violet
@El Cid:
Well of course it will. Palin’s got fans who have made it their mission to buy multiple tickets and drag their friends and families to see it. Several of today’s primetime showings are sold out, like in Grapevine, Texas and Highland Ranch, Colorado. Just like Palin’s bots voted their fingers to the bone for Bristol on DWTS, they’re buying up all the tickets to make it look like the movie is having a big opening.
I’m not making this stuff up. You can read all about it over on Conservatives4Palin. They’re boasting in comments how they’re dragging their friends to see it and how they’re “converting” people, etc.
Brachiator
The Palin movie opened at midnight. Somebody thought that there might be Palin supporters who would be hot to see it.
But yeah, somebody should go to a later screening as well.
Thoughtcrime
Does the movie quit halfway through every screening?
JGabriel
Violet:
Heh. There’s a reliable source.
.
A Farmer
Here’s some DougJ bait, Garry Wills pummeling Grover Norquist with an Edmund Burke quote.
Chris
I gotta say, “I’m not making this stuff up. You can read all about it over on Conservatives4Palin” is a Stephen Colbert line waiting to be delivered with a big grin at the audience.
Violet
@JGabriel:
It’s reliable if you’re looking for what Palin fans are thinking. It’s also got some kind of connection with Sarah herself. Her chief spokesmouth (until Twittergate), Rebecca Mansour came from C4P. She either founded it or was one of its main writers until she left to work for Palin.
Brachiator
I love April Winchell. I miss the radio show she used to do here in Southern California.
And can I resist a Harry Potter/Equus pun? Neigh.
Violet
@Chris:
Heh. True enough. But it’s definitely got some kind of inside connection to Sarah. See my comment above. And selling out showings of her movie is a verifiable fact. Whether people actually show up to see it is another thing entirely.
kd bart
I can see straight to dvd from my house.
piratedan
well msn.com is dutifully posting that the Palin film is showing to sold out audiences somewhere in Texas…..granted many of those seats are probably just place holders for all of those books that she sold
Jay in Oregon
I dunno, the part where Molly Weasley fights Sarah Palin in a duel to the death was pretty bad-ass.
Violet
@piratedan:
Her fans have made a point of selling out the shows. They’ve been working on it for weeks. C4P has been “encouraging” their bots to buy as many tickets as they can afford, that “it’s essential to show people that Sarah can sell out theaters!”
And the Palinbots have been dutifully doing as told. They’ll comment how they’ve bought ten tickets to such and such showing, and they’re dragging their family members and neighbors along. “I’m bringing my three neighbors to the show on Friday. They’re not Palin fans, but I know they’ll be converted by the time the movie ends. Can’t wait!” Rinse, lather, repeat.
Same folks who voted Bristol into the DWTS finals are buying up these tickets. They’re sure that if the movie has a strong opening it’ll encourage Sarah to run for President.
Tonal Crow
First the Free Market (sm) Goes Galt (sm) on Atlas Shrugged (S&M), and then compounds the lieberalism by Going Galt (sm) on Palin’s movie. Why does the free market hate the Free Market (sm)?
quannlace
Oh, gulag, thank you. You just gave me a great idea for a cartoon.
JGabriel
Anon Palinite via Vi:
Yes, they’ll be converted to rabid socia1ist Democrats.
.
Felinious Wench
We have a crop of “Republicans for Voldemort” stickers around here. A favorite of mine.
slag
Cat-lover bait: Snow Leopards in Afghanistan!
Chris
“Not my Social Security, you bitch”?
El Cid
According to the Google box thingy, I may be the first to have used the term bio-fapic.
You’re welcome.
Mike in NC
Awesome! This flick is going to be an even bigger blockbuster than “An American Carol”.
Southern Beale
Once again it appears facts have a liberal bias, and crime along our border with Mexico is not, in fact, worse than anywhere else in the country:
Ah yes, that pesky “conventional speculation,” it always bites you on the ass. …
Woodrowfan
well, to be fair, I would not expect a lot of Palin fans to go to midnight movies, but you’d think in Orange County(!!) there would be at least a handful of true-believers who wanted to see it…
PTirebiter
I’d say the report of paying butts in seats over in Grapevine, TX is credible. Mel Gibson’s Passion was SRO there for months before they moved it to Church
bombsheltersbasements, where it may be still running.Lawnguylander
The headline to the article is a lie because if the reporter was in the theater how could it have been empty? I wonder if he pulled the popcorn trick on the Invisible Hand.
scav
oh joy joy joy joy joy. M. Bachmann’s defense is that children are barbarians, not gays. I really can’t take much more of this period of triumphs in PR.
ET
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
gasp gasp gasp
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Southern Beale
@Mike in NC
Or Atlas Shrugged Part 1…. or the Red Dawn remake … etc. etc. etc.
Does anyone else find it amusing that conservatives are sinking so much cash into that evil bastion of liberalism known as Hollywood? And coming up with very little to show for their efforts, save getting laughed at by the rest of us?
geisha gurl
I would have thought there’d be a dozen or so middle-aged men in raincoats scattered around the theatre.
oh, wait it ain’t the 70’s….
Elliecat
@42
Love it. (Though I’d rather see Norquist pummeled with something a lot more painful.)
Garry Wills on Congress members who sign Norquist’s no tax pledge:
Davis X. Machina
@Elliecat: That second oath they take — the one to the Constitution — they take perjuring themselves in the process, but that’s ok. The law is just a congeries of bourgeois norms.
It’s only an oath to defend the foundational law of a state. The State exists to serve the Party; it, not the State, is the Vanguard of the Revolution; in fact the State is fated to wither away.
The GOP — the last major Leninist parliamentary party in the West.
Jay in Oregon
Isn’t “conventional speculation” just a fancy term for making shit up?
Martin
The Block isn’t where the true believers would go. Yeah, there’s a Nieman Marcus closeout store there, but it’s much more geared toward young people. Like I said, if they show it in Newport Beach, seats will fill better.
But I’m not really sure how well she resonates here. OC has quite a lot of upscale big-money conservatism going on, and I don’t really know how well the gun-totin knocked-up daughter schtick plays in an area where doing your own nails is an example of ‘shared sacrifice’. It’s a bit anecdotal but I live in a quite modest suburban neighborhood – 3BR house, 2 car garage, yard the size of a 2 car garage, and the wingnut across the street from me has a brand new Lamborghini Gallardo in his garage. There’s a new Bentley the block over also at a wingnut household. That doesn’t really seem to align so well with the Palin image.
Chris
@ Southern Beale,
They’ve had a Cunning Plan to retake pop culture for decades now. The fact that conservatism doesn’t really lend itself to quality entertainment isn’t something they want to hear, so the money-wasting will continue until profits improve, it seems.
stuckinred
Martin
I used to love Huntington Beach State Park when I was a kid. And the old man in Laguna that would greet everyone on 101.
hilts
Sarah Palin is melting, melting…
Tonight Show Audience Cheers the Demise of Sarah Palin to Bristol’s Face
h/t http://gawker.com/5821469/tonight-show-audience-cheers-the-demise-of-sarah-palin-to-bristols-face
Internet Dragons
In response to those who think the Palin
debaclemovie might have stronger attendance at a daytime showing…if I remember correctly, there was a preview screening in Houston that attracted 50 viewers.50. Haha
Now, I’m a Left-coast Californian type who isn’t familiar with the wilds of Texas, but it seems to me that Houston might be able to cough up more than 50 Palin fans.
Chris
@ Elliecat,
Pile onto that the Kansas GOP’s decision to demand loyalty oaths a few years back; “I solemnly pledge to always be a Republican, no matter what promises are made by external forces seeking only to undermine the Republican values I stand for. I can have reasonable disagreement with members of the Republican Party; however, at no point will ‘Party switching’ or quitting of the Party be tolerable.”
Yeah, groupthink and Party first have completely taken over the GOP. But hey, lots of people are still fine with that. It’s not like we’ve ever had problems with people putting ideology and party loyalty ahead of everything.
stuckinred
Eiler Larsen The Laguna Greeter
PTirebiter
Ah… but where you around when it was called Tin Can Beach by one and all?
Southern Beale
@Chris:
Oddly, this is their cunning plan for America, too.
Gaardian
Can I just say that the bestest thing ever about this article is that the only person there was a member of the national media. Is there anything else more symbollic of Sarah Palin than that?
If she’d been treated like a similarly emabarassing Dan Quayle who after 92 just kinda dissappeared from the news, she would have gone away, and my prayers would have been answered. But no, she’ll likely stick around for two frickin decades like Newt Gingrich. Kill me now.
stuckinred
PTirebiter
I think that was Balsa Chica just north of the Huntington State Beach that is right across from the power station. We used to take big burlap bags and collect pop bottles for the deposit.
artem1s
@Chris:
yea, and its working. how many TV shows/movies about liberal/progressive themes? anti-war? civil rights? the economy anyone? chirp, chirp, chirp….OK, so each TV show also has a token gay character as well as a minority now.
but we also have 24, The Unit, Cops on the
law enforcementpolice state side. a plethora of reality TV shows about everything except reality. And a slew of God Bothering themes, Medium, Ghost Whisperer, Joan of Arcadia, Touched by an Angel. And movies are nothing but comic book remakes now.and don’t get me started on NPR’s decent into ‘both sides do it’ and Democrats are just as bad as Republicans.
It’s not all bad but there has been a shift I think.
Chris
THAT’s why it seemed so familiar…
Cheer up. If your analogy’s right, fifteen years from now you get to watch her go off and die reviled and forsaken by her own party, their newest RINO target.
TooManyJens
@Chris: Jesus Christ, I was really hoping you were making up that Kansas GOP pledge. Unwillingness to think flexibly and consider new evidence really is a core value with these people.
PurpleGirl
AMC theaters signed an exclusive distribution deal with the Victory Movie Group (distributors of The Undefeated). This opening weekend it’s at 10 screens nationwide — 10 screens! Harry Potter is at several THOUSAND screens. No way The Undefeated comes anywhere Potter in ticket sales, not even at theaters showing both films. And if anybody at Victory Movie had ideas that somehow Sarah Palin could be a big draw in all markets… I’ll have a double dosage of whatever they’re taking.
hilts
@Chris, @artem1s
If you’re in need of a good laugh, check out Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV by Ben Shapiro
CNN Keeping Mum About Piers Morgan Hacking Allegations
h/t http://www.adweek.com/news/press/cnn-keeping-mum-about-piers-morgan-hacking-allegations-133435
RossInDetroit
Not since Battlefield Earth has a celebrity so misjudged their appeal.
Sorry for bringing that movie up. The nausea will fade by dinner time.
ETA: speling
Flugelhorn
What an asinine piece and even more asinine posting. 12am midnight on a Thursday night?
“Gee, lets get a sampling of opinion from Sarah Palin movie goers and at the same time gauge how popular the movie is. Why don’t I go see it at midnight on a weeknight! I’m smart!”
You guys are so easy.
PTirebiter
@stuckinred
You’re absolutely right. For some reason, I hadn’t thought of Bolsa Chica in years. I do remember that homemade boogie boards and up-to-date tetanus shots were essentials for the full experience.
stuckinred
PTirebiter
I’m so old we didn’t have boogie boards, they rented inflatable mats, about 3 footers. They worked pretty well but your nipples go really chaffed after a few hours.
I’ll be damned a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsDhEhWhkJQ&feature=related
Chyron HR
Time for Flugelhorn to go to Wikipedia and edit the box office receipts for every movie ever to prove that opening night sales are always low.
Joel
This would be an opportune time for Plinkett to weigh in on this latest release.
Martin
I don’t see any onions on his belt. Are you sure that’s the right video?
Tonal Crow
@Flugelhorn: Reading is fundamental. From the article:
And the reason for that turned out to be that
In other words, hordes of people descended on the theater to see Harry Potter at midnight, but only a reporter and 4 others bothered to see The Underbrained at the very same theater at the very same time. And that, you contend, says nothing about The Underbrained’s popularity.
Right. And cutting taxes always increases tax revenue.
stuckinred
Martin
?
Ash Can
@Chyron HR: And to edit the entry on the movie itself to claim that the whole idea to screen the movie at midnight originated with liberals seeking to sabotage its box office receipts.
Flugelhorn
Don’t you folks get tired of being treated like a large-mouthed bass whenever John or The Atlantic clearly panders to you? Do your pants get all happy when you see stories like this? “Ooo. Palin. He make fun of!”
No clear thinking, objective or fair-minded person would think to go to a midnight showing of The Undefeated and expect to get a turn-out representative of the number of people who will see this movie. Only a moron would call himself a journalist after doing such a thing. This is so OBVIOUSLY a hit-piece designed and contrived to put the subject in the worst light possible so that he can stroke your lizard-brain and kowtow to his readers basest schadenfreude.
The fact that you cannot see that speaks VOLUMES. You will believe anything you read and not exercise one ounce of critical thinking on the subject because it fits so neatly into your narrow perception of things that it must be true. So sad.
MaryRC
No, just the audience.
Martin
I was poking fun at your retrospective. Good naturedly, of course.
AR
Flugelhorn, the showing the reporter went to was a midnight premiere of the film. You generally go to a premiere of a film if you want to interview those who are the most excited about the film.
But keep believing that liberals are out to get you if that’s what gets you through the day.
Tonal Crow
I’ll be back when http://boxofficemojo.com/ has the stats. Popcorn anyone?
Gravenstone
@Flugelhorn:
Ya know, fucknuts, theaters typically don’t bother with midnight showings unless they have a reasonable expectation they’ll be successful. So yeah, grand failure all around. Just like your inbred ideology.
Caz
Thank god you are keeping us informed about this! I’ve been wondering all week how many people would show up to the movie debut in Orange County, California.
And congrats on extending your Dimaggio-esque irrelevant post streak.
I look forward to your upcoming dinner, dogs, and calling [insert conservative entity here] assholes posts in the next several days. Keep up the good work, BJ Clipper!
gelfling545
@AR: Although it does cause one to wonder who the bright star in marketing was who decided that releasing it at the same time as Potter 7.2 was a great strategy. Did they entertain some illusion that they could somehow compete with the long awaited Potter film or that people who couldn’t get Potter tickets would settle for fantasy of a less entertaining sort?
iriedc
After it goes to DVd: “Don’t Reload, Retreat!”
James E. Powell
I have to believe that the timing is neither a mistake nor unintentional.
The theaters may have only agreed to run the film opposite the Harry Potter opening with the understanding that no one with a decent movie would take that spot anyhow. It may be that the theaters would not otherwise have agreed to run it. They will refuse to run something if the test screenings don’t show promise.
PTirebiter
@stuckinred
I remember the rental mats well, heavy canvas, blue on one side and yellow on the reverse. I misspoke, we actually called our homemade boards, belly boards. At the time, the name Boogie Board was probably roiling around in some ten year old’s head, waiting for him to get a marketing degree. Lot of fun, I too recall the Laguna greeter with great affection. I haven’t been back in years, but I believe Laguna erected a statue of him on his spot there on PCH.
ExurbanMom
OMG, regretsy.com! hilarious! Why did I not know about this before now?
Tonal Crow
As promised, I have checked BoxOfficeMojo.com for the gross on Palin’s movie. As of 7/17, it had grossed the OMG-ginormous Soros-bankrupting figure of…wait for it…$65,132.00. Meanwhile, that lieberal flop (and fop) Harry Potter grossed only $592,483,000 as of 7/19.
Stick that in your Flugelhorn and smoke it.