comment #1

Chicago48 says ...

Does anybody know how much the BEES movie cost? I thought with all the Hudson publicity it would do better this weekend. I think her CD will get a bump up in sales because of the tragedy.

As for HSM, it's the 3rd installment, the last one, that's why the big numbers.

comment #2

LexG says ...

I have a question about this HSM phenomenon, and indeed, this whole squeaky-clean Disney resurgence of the past six or seven years:

Do you remember your fellow kids/teens being THIS LAME when you were growing up?????

I'm a Gen X'er, pushing 36, and I can't imagine AAAAAAAAAANYONE over age 10 of either gender EVER wanting to see something this cheery, goody-goody, manufactured and cheesy back in the mid-80s, except maybe a few particularly unironic glee/drama club members.

Are there really 12, 13, 14 year olds who go see this stuff? Is it the "cool kids," or the nerds who go see HSM and Miley and Jonas Brothers?

comment #3

thevisceral says ...

I know where all the pedo pervs were this weekend...

comment #4

D.Z. says ...

Chicago: That's bull. You know Disney will try to milk a college musical out of that franchise.

LexG: Well, back when I was growing up, that demo was listening to the Spice Girls and Nsync; so at least this generation has a sense of beat and rhythm, compared to the last one.

comment #5

btwnproductions says ...

HSM3 recorded the biggest opening weekend for a musical, outstripping this summer's MAMMA MIA!

I've read that Disney intends to reboot the franchise, with all-new kids starting out as high school freshmen. It may never end.

I was a teen before there were "tweens." It was a demographic no one knew to court in the late 70s/early 80s. HSM is a market-driven phenomenon.

comment #6

dixiedugan says ...

Let me assure you LexG, my thirteen year old thinks that HSM in all it's incarnations is shit. Of course, her mother raised her on real musicals like Singin' In The Rain, South Pacific, and the like.

We will be seeing that Twilight flick opening weekend though, because vampires are too cool. Anything undead is cool.

comment #7

K. Bowen says ...

"I'm a Gen X'er, pushing 36, imagine AAAAAAAAAANYONE over age 10 of either gender EVER wanting to see something this cheery, goody-goody, manufactured and cheesy back in the mid-80s, except maybe a few particularly unironic glee/drama club members.

Are there really 12, 13, 14 year olds who go see this stuff? Is it the "cool kids," or the nerds who go see HSM and Miley and Jonas Brothers?"

I heard a radio interview once with Strauss-Howe generational theory developer Neal Howe, in which he used HSM as an signpost example of Millenial Generation cultural trends. He said he once warned an Xer friend that if he was going to watch HSM, he'd better be ready to go into a diabetic coma from all the sugariness.

comment #8

scooterzz says ...

there are four new 'sophomores' introduced in 'hsm3' and all are under contract for #'s 4 & 5....

comment #9

Rich S. says ...

I seem to recall Grease being pretty popular.

This crap has been around forever. Most of us have just never been in a position to be exposed to it. A few years ago, it was N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, before that it was Bobby Sherman and David Cassidy and before that Frankie Avalon and Fabian. The only reason we see it now is the all-pervasive media....and people like Jeffrey bitching about it.

comment #10

corey3rd says ...

Don't go messin' with the Beach Party films. HSM3 will never top Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.

comment #11

dangovich says ...

I think the demo for this is much younger than commonly thought. The girls in my sons second grade class are all into this, and they're only age 7 or so.

comment #12

D.Z. says ...

Those beach flicks were only entertaining during the song-and-dance numbers. Otherwise, they're boring.

comment #13

Sabina E says ...

you can't pay me lots of money to sit through the entire HSM trilogy. It's pure crap, with bad acting, awful music, annoying actors, and generic cliched storylines.

and no, I DON'T recall my generation (I was a 90s teen) being this lame over crappy musical movies. We were excited over kiddie films that were ACTUALLY good and clever (ie: The Sandlot, Home Alone, My Girl, etc).

maybe I'm just a cranky 20something years old film snob, but whatever. I just want to rip out HSM posters. They make me so angry with their annoying singing voices. Thank god I am Deaf.

comment #14

D.Z. says ...

DeafBrownTrashPunk: "and no, I DON'T recall my generation (I was a 90s teen) being this lame over crappy musical movies."

Someone's never seen "Spice World", "Empire Records", or "That Thing You Do". I probably should throw "The Lion King", "Pocahontas", and "Hercules" in there, too. Oh, and that ending to "Magnolia", while I'm at it.

"We were excited over kiddie films that were ACTUALLY good and clever (ie: The Sandlot, Home Alone, My Girl, etc)."

No one saw Sandlot; Home Alone was neither good or clever; and My Girl wasn't exciting.

comment #15

theultimatebiu says ...

Yeah, I pretty much grew up in the John Hughes family comedies. I was a teen in the mid 90's and never got into The Spice Girls (although I wanted to screw 4/5 of them..guess which one I left out)

comment #16

LexG says ...

Sporty? Or Scary?

Yes, there's always been a Tiffany or a Spice Girls or a Jeremy Jordan or a Timmy Page or a 98 Degrees on the scene... I don't even really begrudge them that... I think Henry Rollins once had some awesome rant about it on Stern, saying he had no problem with Backstreet Boys because that stuff's always been around and it's innocuous, but Bono's earnest savior shtick was far more annoying.

But back on point, I don't remember ANY of that shit being as wack and neutered and cheesy as the recent Disney stuff. I also remember most of it appealing almost exclusively to the slightly gawky prepubescent girls, not the cool kids. But with the numbers HSM is putting up, I'd have to assume even the "cool kids" are going to see this kinda thing.

Or maybe it all really is just 7 year olds and their parents.

comment #17

D.Z. says ...

LexG: I'd imagine the "cool kids" would see HSM 3 for the same reason they endured Titanic: It's a good date flick.

comment #18

BurmaShave says ...

I can handle this shit as long as Zac Efron ages as badly as Jan Michael Vincent.

comment #19

ScottMendelson says ...

You want a recent kids movie that doesn't insult your intelligence and actually has a slight edge? Try last year's The Last Mimzy.

Everyone spent all their time complaining about the title and how it was going to be the final nail in New Line's coffin. They didn't notice that it was actually a pretty good movie. The kids are fine actors, the adults actually behave like adults, and the story maintains a slightly disturbing vibe for at least the first two acts (especially if you go in blind).

The third act falters a little (too conventional) and the last scene of an antagonist is obscenely simplistic (ironically, the extended scene on the deleted scenes segment was much better). But the film is perfect for family viewing. And, by the way, the theme music is creepy as hell. If I could get it as my ring tone, I would.

And, although I rather liked That Thing You Do (and it got rave reviews at the time), no one in the youth scene went crazy for it because no one saw it. It was a bit of a flop at the time, opening to under $7 million and ending with $25 million back in the fall of 1996.

comment #20

TheJERMSguy says ...

I would see it with a .38 jammed in my ribs as long as my ten-year-old daughter was sitting on the other side of me. She loves this franchise, and she's more of the audience. I don't think Disney sat down to greenlight this and said, "What do we have for the middle-aged blogging Francophile?" They just take another swim in their Scrooge McDuck money silo.

comment #21

Howlingman says ...

I find it more mystifying that kids these days are so happy to be sold product to, and to be wedged into a marketing demo, and pretty much embrace being good little consumers. Used to be that anything made by 40-year olds and sold to teens was subject to blistering scorn by that age group.

Now get off my lawn.

comment #22

sardine says ...

you are dumb not to see this movie, Jeff.
it's a lot of fun.

comment #23

btwnproductions says ...

THAT THING YOU DO! was more of a "youth movie" aimed at adults who came of age in the 60s, the likely cause of its failure. I never saw it as marketed toward 90s kids.

There are good kids' pictures being made today. THE WATER HORSE and MIMZY are quite charming. But unless they can compete with the marketing muscle of a Disney or a Fox (ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS) they're likely to go unseen.

comment #24

Sabina E says ...

Ok, ok, geez, we DID have crappy films back in the 90s like Spice World and That Thing You Do!

but hey!!! I didnt watch any of that stuff. I guess I WAS a film snob back then (and still am today).

comment #25

bluefugue says ...

"...saying he had no problem with Backstreet Boys because that stuff's always been around and it's innocuous, but Bono's earnest savior shtick was far more annoying."

Eh, I'm not interested in Bono for his schtick. Would Rollins really prefer to listen to Backstreet Boys tunes than "Where the Streets Have No Name" or "Mysterious Ways"?

comment #26

Chris Willman says ...

LexG: "I have a question about this HSM phenomenon, and indeed, this whole squeaky-clean Disney resurgence of the past six or seven years: Do you remember your fellow kids/teens being THIS LAME when you were growing up????? I'm a Gen X'er, pushing 36, and I can't imagine AAAAAAAAAANYONE over age 10 of either gender EVER wanting to see something this cheery, goody-goody, manufactured and cheesy back in the mid-80s, except maybe a few particularly unironic glee/drama club members. Are there really 12, 13, 14 year olds who go see this stuff? Is it the "cool kids," or the nerds who go see HSM and Miley and Jonas Brothers?"

As a 47-year-old, LexG, I have to tell you that there is nothing nerdier than a Gen-X-er complaining about the Jonas Brothers. As a veteran of almost every Lollapalooza, I find plenty of Miley Cyrus songs far preferable to anything Alice in Chains did on their best day. I also enjoyed "High School Musical 3" more than "Reality Bites."

comment #27

ketut says ...

>

Here's right where your creditablity takes a nosedive.

comment #28

ketut says ...

Sorry, It's right after, "I find plenty of Miley..."

Go no further. You're 12, right?

comment #29

Chris Willman says ...

Okay, you nailed me, ketut. I am 12.

But as a lifelong movie musicals fanatic (for all of my 12 years), I am excited to see an example of the form open with $45 million in the year 2008. Even if it is aimed at kids... I mean me.

It's also better than Blind Melon. (Just a bonus jab there for all you proud Gen-X-ers!)

comment #30

bmcintire says ...

The weirdest part about this latest iteration of the Disney Music Machine (Miley, the Jonases, HSM) is that they've effectively erased the incubation period of "growing up with" their product line. The Mickey Mouse Club of the late 80s and 90s was a factory for the creation of shiny, innocent Justin/Britney/Xtina/-types that young audiences have been listening to since they were toddlers. But now that they are semi-sexualizing their brand right out of the starting gate, it would seem that the shelf life is greatly diminished. There's little if any room left for these acts to mature, so the childhood novelty will probably stay that way as the audiences age.

I greatly look forward to the resuscitaiton of Hannah Montanna for the 2018 State Fair circuit.

comment #31

ketut says ...

Chris,

I have to apologize. I just found out a friend who brought my 12 yr old daughter to HM3 this weekend enjoyed it as well. Maybe I was too rash, but I haven't liked a musical since Rocky Horror and in my defense I was in college and you know what that means? Lots of booze and other substances were consumed.

comment #32

ketut says ...

Chris,

I have to apologize. I just found out a friend who brought my 12 yr old daughter to HM3 this weekend enjoyed it as well. Maybe I was too rash, but I haven't liked a musical since Rocky Horror and in my defense I was in college and you know what that means? Lots of booze and other substances were consumed.

comment #33

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

"As a veteran of almost every Lollapalooza, I find plenty of Miley Cyrus songs far preferable to anything Alice in Chains did on their best day."

Shut up. Yer old.

comment #34

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