Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

variety.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 201 posts

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#171

Post by insane_dreamer »

mrandish wrote: post #122
prvc wrote: post #65

The new Star Wars movie grossed $81.6 million at its debut last weekend, for comparison.

The Mandalorian TV series wasn't bad but the Star Wars franchise has been in reset/turnaround for ~7 YEARS (since the last movie). It's incomprehensible that Disney bet their relaunch on a spin-off streaming series based on a tertiary character miraculously swimming back upstream from online to cinema. The two leads are a guy you never see and a small puppet (with the big reveal new character being a CGI alien). As g…

The Mandalorian and Andor shows are the best of the SW universe. As for movies, Rogue One also stands above the others.

I'd love to see a serious live-action show based on the idea of the Bad Batch (not copying the same story as the animated series, of course).

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#172

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

mrandish wrote: post #163
bluefirebrand wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Mando season 1 is what Star Wars should be. A space themed throwback to old pulp novels, cowboys and samurai and pirates, with a veneer of lasers and spaceships painted on top. Andor is great, don't get me wrong. But Star Wars is best when it's pulp adventure stuff.

> But Star Wars is best when it's pulp adventure stuff. This is the way. I saw the first Star Wars the week it opened as a tween and it rocked my world. Both SW and Raiders of the Lost Ark had a clear vision of building on the proven structure of the old B&W movie serials like Flash Gordon but updating them with modern storytelling tools and larger budgets. It was a truly great concept and then Empire raised the stak…

> Andor is unique in being a spin-off that is actually very good but I'd argue none of the things that make it so good require being set in the Star Wars universe.

I think it shows the potential of using the Star Wars setting to tell a wide variety of stories. However, although I loved the original trilogy, I wouldn't class myself as a huge Star Wars fan - probably more of a Trekkie.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#173

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

triceratops wrote: post #166
ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Andor is the now the gold standard for Star Wars productions - serious themes, adult oriented, great writing and top tier acting. The Mandalorian was definitely aimed at a younger audience.

But Star Wars was never about serious, adult themes, and great writing. It was about amazing space battles, laser swords, witty one-liners, adventure, and slapstick comedy, in a fun, kid-friendly package. Andor is a fine production. It isn't really Star Wars though. My opinion: the closest movie, in spirit, to A New Hope is The Mummy (the 1999 one with Brendan Fraser).

Star Wars did also include a fair amount of politics as you can't have rebels without something to rebel against.

I find your Mummy/New Hope idea intriguing and maybe raise you Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#174

Post by peteforde »

SSLy wrote: post #135
cheschire wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I must be the weirdo for not wanting to feel unsettled like that. Doesn’t reality have enough unsettling stuff? Why pile onto that? Give me comedy. Oh how I miss the 90 minute comedy movie.

Backrooms does have comedy, or at least comedic moments in it.

... I'm genuinely intrigued to hear what you found funny.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#175

Post by righthand »

extra88 wrote: post #159
righthand wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No you’re ignoring the criteria for why someone would want Steam for Movies. It’s not for the pleasant thought that they can stream movies from Apple and download it when they want through specific hardware. People back up their games from Steam and actually do own a copy of the installer and game files. That is a huge difference. The DRM in Steam is not one of ownership. It’s one of needing a Steam account to buy an…

That's not what your original message was about and please don't invent quotes that are not what I wrote or anything like what I wrote. You wrote: > The iTunes movie store is not friendly outside of the Apple ecosystem. Making the entire idea not really affordable since you need a expensive electronic device to utilize it sanely. Might as well find another way to get to it at that point. I pointed out that buying a m…

No I’m not arguing about the specifics of the Apple ecosystem, you are. And you’re still ignoring what a Steam for Movies would be. That’s the conversation, not “iTunes Movie store can stream movies”.

And I am providing factual information on what a Steam for movies is.

Also when I write things in “quotes”, does not mean someone is quoting you or inventing things you said. Quotes have many uses and contexts. Perhaps if you cannot stay on topic or focus on the criteria of what is being discussed and dont understand how quotes work, this forum is not for you.

Steam for Movies and how iTunes store does not fit that description is exactly what my original message was about. Please stop pretending otherwise.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#176

Post by triceratops »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #173
triceratops wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But Star Wars was never about serious, adult themes, and great writing. It was about amazing space battles, laser swords, witty one-liners, adventure, and slapstick comedy, in a fun, kid-friendly package. Andor is a fine production. It isn't really Star Wars though. My opinion: the closest movie, in spirit, to A New Hope is The Mummy (the 1999 one with Brendan Fraser).

Star Wars did also include a fair amount of politics as you can't have rebels without something to rebel against. I find your Mummy/New Hope idea intriguing and maybe raise you Raiders of the Lost Ark.

> Star Wars did also a fair amount of politics

You might be thinking of The Phantom Menace with its trade negotiations. The movie that Red Letter Media panned because of its focus on this plot point.

The feeble nod to politics in A New Hope mostly went over my head as a kid. It was already obvious the Empire was evil. They had a guy who choked people at a whim and another who blew up planets. The scene telling us the Emperor had dissolved the Senate meant nothing to me.

> maybe raise you Raiders of the Lost Ark

Fair point.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#177

Post by squidsoup »

deadbabe wrote: post #30

Now that Backrooms has been a hit, I wonder if we’ll ever get a House of Leaves movie, which was somewhat of an inspiration for the original backrooms lore.

House of Leaves form of hypertextual academic satire is so firmly bound to the written word that it would be un-filmable, but you could make a film from the Navidson Record (and it would potentially be much more interesting than Backrooms).

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#178

Post by schlauerfox »

kev009 wrote: post #109

I wonder how much of this is a kind of alternate nostalgia like Vaporwave. Similar to the aesthetic draw of Severance. Wandering around the halls of some functional institution was definitely a childhood past time of mine. Now still wondering how our parents and grandparents enjoyed private office space, lounge furniture designed by professional celebrities like Eames, and time, doing more with less. Now stuck at hom…

I'm convinced it's from the old JCPenny/Sears/mall back hallways that were minimally decorated that housed the photo studio and layaway filtered through the eyes of a 5 year old.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#179

Post by deadbabe »

squidsoup wrote: post #177
deadbabe wrote: post #30

Now that Backrooms has been a hit, I wonder if we’ll ever get a House of Leaves movie, which was somewhat of an inspiration for the original backrooms lore.

House of Leaves form of hypertextual academic satire is so firmly bound to the written word that it would be un-filmable, but you could make a film from the Navidson Record (and it would potentially be much more interesting than Backrooms).

The Navidson Record is the most interesting part of House of Leaves. Everything else is pretentious literary indulgence.

Re: 'Backrooms' Stuns with $81M Debut

#180

Post by Triphibian »

jtokoph wrote: post #87
Triphibian wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw a Youtuber recently make a compelling argument that one of the features Hollywood has been missing is the pipeline of young, imaginative talent that music video direction used to provide. Backrooms, Iron Lung, etc. make a good case that YouTube can be that new pipeline.

My first thought is that it would be the very successful YouTubers that get approached by hollywood. And those people are already doing well for themselves independently and would most likely not want to move to the corporate culture without creative control.

The Backrooms kid got to spend three years working on a project he was clearly passionate about. He wasn't chasing clicks, creating daily content to keep the algorithm happy or worrying about ever mysterious ebb and flow of Google's payouts. He had an agent and manager that got him a deal and probably points on profit and who will make sure he gets paid. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.
Post reply on HN