The Odyssey

[MillieDynamite]

The most positive aspect of its American release is that it accounts for 30,621,896 dollars of a 45,811,167 dollar weekend for the top 10 films. In 2002, Spider-Man made $114.8 million in its opening weekend. In today's dollars, that's roughly $213.9.

 

[StillStunned]

But still, in this country, in spite of it being John Nolan's biggest hit worldwide...

 

[MillieDynamite]

Yeah, not that John Nolan.

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[MillieDynamite]

Sorry, I just checked the take for the weekend, it is at 124 million in this country. My bad, but still well short of any guarantee of making back its budget in the US market.

 

[SimonDoom]

Sorry, I just checked the take for the weekend, it is at 124 million in this country. My bad, but still well short of any guarantee of making back its budget in the US market.

Based on its good box office take so far, and absolutely stellar Rotten Tomatoes scores, it seems like a safe bet to be profitable.

 

[BeechLeaf]

If you want to read the original... okay, that requires a good knowledge of Homeric Greek... never mind. If you want to read something that captures some of the freshness, and is exciting, I strongly recommend the Robert Fitzgerald translations. (Yes, more than Fagles.) Fitzgerald (of both Homer and Virgil) feels really exhilarating to me. I have no idea what it would have been like to be listening to blind Homer* reciting 2700 years ago, but these modern translations capture some of the excitement.

* I am convinced there was a real person, a genius, who brought together both epics, because they're both so good. I'm no expert, I've read studies about the stylistic difference between them, but that's still consistent with one genius Homer. This isn't some Milman Parry tunesmith who strung together a few popular tales. That gets you the Kalevala maybe, not the consistent literary masterpieces of Homer.

 

[AG31]

All I can say about it, in the theater in my hometown, it's doing nothing. According to my father's replacement, it sucks. But that's his opinion, not mine, but I won't go while it's in theaters; I'll wait for streaming. Since it's an Amazon production, that won't take long if it actually bombs.

It is one of those movies that I think is worth watching on the big screen.

 

[Writer61]

Have a booking at my local IMAX on Thursday. Looking forward to it.

 

[ToPleaseHim]

Anybody else stoked about seeing The Odyssey? I haven't seen it yet but am scheduled to see it with some family in a couple of weeks. I'm a fan of Nolan's movies, and a fan of the story, and I'm eager to see how he interprets it.

No spoilers, please!

We went to see it yesterday. It’s a masterpiece! I loved every second. 3 hours is a long movie for me, and I often doze off even when it’s a movie I very much want to see. At no point was I even close to nodding off.

When we were looking at showtimes, most of the showings were close to selling out. Only front row seats available, we went out a few hours and still ended up on the floor level at our theater.

 

[PennyThompson]

I'm not generally a huge Nolan fan, personally I think he's a great filmmaker but an overrated writer, to me most of his scripts just feel like this:

But that being said, I'm kind of excited to see Odyssey, specifically because he's adapting a classic and not relying on his own weird story predilections. Reviews seem promising, and a certain kind of Twitter guy seem to be really mad about it, which definitely works as a reverse anti-endorsement for me

I'm hoping to see it with a friend later this week, though I don't know if we'll bother with the iMAX-but-not-real-IMAX screen option near me, I would rather have reclining seats for a three hour movie

 

[AG31]

"even when his characters don’t stir you, his filmmaking does."

I pretty much agreed with all of this. Possibly behind a paywall. I got it in an email. NYT review

 

[SimonDoom]

I may be missing some inherent discernment.

You are.

We don't need to discuss it at length here. *

*See insult thread.

 

[SimonDoom]

If you want to read the original... okay, that requires a good knowledge of Homeric Greek... never mind. If you want to read something that captures some of the freshness, and is exciting, I strongly recommend the Robert Fitzgerald translations. (Yes, more than Fagles.) Fitzgerald (of both Homer and Virgil) feels really exhilarating to me. I have no idea what it would have been like to be listening to blind Homer* reciting 2700 years ago, but these modern translations capture some of the excitement.

* I am convinced there was a real person, a genius, who brought together both epics, because they're both so good. I'm no expert, I've read studies about the stylistic difference between them, but that's still consistent with one genius Homer. This isn't some Milman Parry tunesmith who strung together a few popular tales. That gets you the Kalevala maybe, not the consistent literary masterpieces of Homer.

Fitzgerald is the one that I read. It was a long, long time ago.

 

[sirhugs]

You are.

We don't need to discuss it at length here. *

*See insult thread.

It also might be that I just don't have the stamina for a three hour movie. These days, even two hours is a stretch for me,

 

[Writer61]

It also might be that I just don't have the stamina for a three hour movie. These days, even two hours is a stretch for me,

Book twice, leave at the interval in the first. Return after the interval in the second.

 

[PennyThompson]

Book twice, leave at the interval in the first. Return after the interval in the second.

 

[DTales]

No spoilers, please!

It was written THOUSANDS of years ago.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Not if you buy a ticket both times. And when it comes to watching movies, how do you define illegal? As I understand it, sneaking into drive-ins was a mandatory sport for trunkfuls of teens for decades.

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[Writer61]

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You reported me for that? WTAF? How can booking twice be illegal? How utterly ridiculous!

Even if it was illegal - which it isn't - what makes you a cop? Trot on!

 

[PennyThompson]

You reported me for that? WTAF? How can booking twice be illegal? How utterly ridiculous!

Even if it was illegal - which it isn't - what makes you a cop? Trot on!

Dude it's a joke, I didn't send a report, I'm being silly

 

[KittyOfSteele]

I'm waiting for the book to come out.

Are you planing to live up until at most -2800 years?

 

[Seurat]

Nah. If I wanna watch a dumpster fire, I can just drive downtown.

Live in D.C., do you?

 

[TheWritingGroup]

It was written THOUSANDS of years ago.

This is what we call a "joke" by Simon Doom.

 

[Writer61]

Dude it's a joke, I didn't send a report, I'm being silly

You need to work on your sense of humour.

 

[caleb35]

Not in this case, apparently. As bad as the movie supposedly is, I've heard a few times that the translation Nolan used as the base for his script is even worse.

I don't know where or who you heard that from but the translation he used (assuming you're referring to the Emily Watson translation) is fine. I also don't care for Nolan or am interested in watching his latest movie but there's a lot of bashing of this movie that is being done for solely political and/or "culture war" reasons. It's an adaptation of the Odyssey, period.