Attack The Block! [edited title]

I’m going to sound like either a commercial or a gibbering fangirl, but oh how I love this movie. It’s the most fun I’ve had at the movies in a long time. It’s not for everybody, and the people who will hate it will REALLY hate it (saw that with Scott Pilgrim), but I loved it, seriously, so I wanted to remind people that it opens in select US cities this Friday. A good turnout could determine if the movie will be expanded to other cities, so if you live in NYC, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Chicago or Toronto, and if you think it’s the kind of movie you’ll like, please go see it this weekend. If it doesn’t do well it might not be around next week. I don’t know about other cities but in Chicago it opens at River East 21.

I’m so happy to see that it’s 92% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, with 62 reviews so far.

Attack The Block is a fun, funny, silly, exciting, often scary (the jumpy kind) alien invasion genre flick, but not like one I’d ever seen before. The alien part of it is the least interesting part. It’s the characters and their situation that made me fall in love with it. Most of the characters are, admittedly, unpleasant and unlikable at first, but that soon changes. It did for me. By the end of the movie I realized I just saw some future stars in (for many) their first movie. John Boyega as the leader Moses especially. Charisma from these characters and the actors playing them, as well as the writing/dialogue just jumps off the screen. It’s incredibly quotable. Believe!

It was produced by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim) and directed by Joe Cornish, who’s pretty famous in the UK as a comic (Adam and Joe), though not much known here. He wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Tintin so his name will soon become better-known.

I’ve found that it’s one of those movies that can be seen over and over, which means it will have a great shelf life once it comes out on DVD/streaming. I’ve seen it 3 times via sneak previews and for me, it just keeps getting better and better. I personally believe it’s an instant cult classic, so no matter how it does at the box office it’ll live on and gain more and more followers, just like Shaun of the Dead. I can’t wait to see it again, and I do plan to make up for my free screenings by paying for it several times before it leaves the theaters.

I think it’s a must for anyone who likes movies like Shaun of the Dead, Kick-Ass, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim, Super–movies that are fun as hell and have a warped sensibility. Don’t like those movies? Stay far far away. There are plenty of other great movies to see (go see the wonderful Beginners, or Another Earth, or Sarah’s Key, or Midnight in Paris, or Tree of Life, or Buck, all excellent movies IMO).

I don’t know if these will still be available for anyone, but it’s worth checking. There are several free screenings happening around the country and it looks like passes for some cities are still available. More might be coming in the next week for so for other cities. I know they’ve already had at least 5-6 free screenings in Chicago alone. At one I was lucky enough to meet the director and lead actor and felt like such a fangirl.

Here are some other links

IMDBpage
Facebook

Here’s the regular trailer
and the VERY spoilery Red Band trailer

Neither trailer conveys just how much fun the movie is, but I can still watch the Red Band trailer over and over just to relive the fun and excitement now that I know those scenes in context.

Warning: there’s a lot of profanity, violence and dope-smoking in the movie. Anyone who’d be offended by those things should stay as far away as possible.

I apologize for hijacking other threads to gush about this movie. I told myself I wasn’t going to start threads about movies anymore, but I just had to. Just because.

I liked it too and will certainly watch it again. It was written and directed by Joe Cornish, who is probably not very well known here in the UK, except for the cultish following of the Adam and Joe show (download it at itunes free!)
Not a genius movie, but really enjoyable.
MiM

I saw this a 4th time and it’s amazing how well it holds up, and gets even better. I certainly liked it more than Cowboys & Aliens, which I also saw this weekend. That one was enjoyable enough, but didn’t stick with me.

According to Box Office Mojo, Attack The Block made $130,000 in 8 theaters, for a $16,250 per screen average. Not much, but not bad for a tiny film with very little advertising budget. I think most of its money has come from people hearing about it on Twitter. Lots of “name” genre people, from Eli Roth to Spike Lee, to Duncan Jones (Source Code) to Jonah Hill and more have been singing its praises on Twitter.

It will expand next week and throughout August. All I know for sure is that it opens in Atlanta on the 19th, so I’m sure it’ll be opening in other cities too.

It’s now at 88% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with 84 Fresh reviews and 11 Rotten reviews. It went down slightly but that’s still pretty good.

You got me interested to see this movie, but it doesn’t look like it’s showing in Denver. I feel like I’ve been teased.

Is it really much better than the trailer? Because the trailer was terribly unfunny, or entertaining at all.

The Adam and Joe radio show in 6music is one of the most consistently funny radio shows on British radio. The podcasts are definitely worth checking out if you can get them. Way funnier than Gervias, if you ask me.

It’s like all limited-release films (most prominent during Oscar season) in that it starts in a few cities and rolls out slowly to others. I can’t help you with Denver, but according to Producer Edgar Wright…

so vote!

It doesn’t open in Australia until December 1, so it’ll be a summer movie there. Pity poor New Zealand, it won’t open there until next March.

Red Barchetta, I didn’t see a trailer before I saw the movie so I can’t judge the trailer except by the standards of wanting to watch it NOW to relive scenes, but if I twist my brain to try and be objective it does seem as if the trailer wouldn’t convey just how fun the movie is. There are serious parts, but I personally had a big smile on my face throughout a big chunk of the movie. You may not, but judge whether to see it based on if you like warped-sensibility movies like Shaunof the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Kick-Ass, rather than the trailer. As I said, if you like those movies you’re already halfway there to being the audience for the movie. If you hate those movies, STAY AWAY because you will hate ATB with a passion.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t be living heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!”

I can’t wait for this movie to get to Australia!

Fugazi, here’s the direct URL to the Facebook page, if you want to share it with your friends to vote. To help a fellow Doper, I just voted for Denver.

I saw it in Austin. I thought it was pretty good.

Loads of fun. Not familiar with anyone involved but Edgar Wright and Nick Frost, but have loved everything they’ve done. Plan to see it again. I think it will fall into what Quintin Tarantino (Damn! The Firefox spell checker knew both his names!) calls “hang-out movies”, ones you watch again just to hang out with the characters for a while.

Sorry Fugazi, Denver lost to Phoenix in that Facebook face off, but the results were so close that I’m sure Denver will soon be added, as they continue to add cities through August and September.

I wish the producers could afford a super-wide release with tons of advertising, but they can’t, so it has to be a gradual limited release with word-of-mouth promotion. I know it’s frustrating and could backfire on the movie, but what can they do?

So, next Friday, Aug. 19, Attack The Block will be opening in Boston, Orlando, Atlanta, Dallas, Washington, D.C and Phoenix. I’m sure more cities will be added each week thereafter.

Currently, but I don’t know for how long, it’s still playing in NYC, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, Chicago and Toronto.

I saw it a 5th time last night, as a double-feature with the excellent Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I continue to be knocked out at how well it holds up, how fun and funny it continues to be, how exciting it stays. For such a simple movie, I notice new things every time I watch it.

Sadly, it’s closing at the River East in Chicago. Tonight is the last night for regular showings - Friday and Saturday it’s midnight only, then that’s it. It’s sticking around for another week at the Webster Place, but only one show a night. But it will be opening in other cities, so that’s good.

This is how you have to do it if you don’t have a huge budget for thousands of prints and a massive publicity campaign.

Attack The Block opens in Denver and several more cities tomorrow! I don’t have a list, but off the top of my head Las Vegas, Columbus, OH, Ann Arbor and I believe Spokane. I know there’s more. It’s opening a film festival in Kansas City tonight but I don’t know if that means it’s also playing starting tomorrow.

I know it opens in Salt Lake City on Sept. 9 so more cities will be added then besides that one I’m sure.

It’s already closed in Chicago (well, tonight’s the last night) so to anyone who’s interested, I’d say see it soon everyone.

I ended up seeing it 7 times. I might get to see it again if the Brew & View or the extreme discount theater Logan brings it back.

I’m bumping this again because it opened in several more cities, including Portland, OR, Cincinnatti, Halifax & others. Here’s a list from Edgar Wright’s blog:

In the Comments someone also mentioned "Its also opening today at AMC Rosedale 16 in Roseville, MN (Twin Cities area) "
Here’s the list from last week. In a lot of places it only played a week, but it may still be in some of these cities:

Damn, I wish I’d been sending people to Wright’s blog all along. I linked to it above but should have been copying and pasting. How stupid is that? Here’s where it opened August 26. It may or may not still be in some of these theaters:

And August 19th. I know it’s already closed at most of these, but not all:

I should have put those last posts in opposite order. The most recent openings are in post #16.

I sometimes feel I’m hurting the movie by ruining its “cred” in the eyes of the very people who would like it most. Don’t worry younger folks into scifi, monster movies, alien films, genre films, it’s still cool to love Attack The Block! For those types of people who would enjoy this type of movie, it’s for all ages.

I’m still convinced this will become a major cult classic once it’s available to the (entire) world on DVD/streaming. I just wish it would be seen and supported more now when it’s in theaters. Then you too can pop randomly into a thread and say “I saw that in the theater when it was first released” and watch the envy flow. Or, not, but you’ll still have a bragging point.

Of course, a big part of the blame has to go to the fact that there’s hardly been any promotion. Some people need to be told it’s ok to see stuff like this via major ad campaigns, product tie-ins and such. It’s ok to see a movie when you’ve seen ads on billboards and the sides of busses and in magazines and on TV and on the side of your fast food cup. It’s not ok to see a low-budget indie film because it might give you indie cooties and your friends would be horrified.

If only they’d put a couple of ads in the MTV Video Music Awards.
(Edit to ad, I don’t mean “you” as in Dopers, just a general you meaning the moviegoing public. Those who would enjoy the film, that is, not those who would never watch a genre film like this. My dad, for instance. Not talking about him.)

I didn’t see New Orleans in that list – it just started here yesterday at the AMC Elmwood Palace 20 – I plan on seeing it tomorrow.

Also, The Last Circus is now playing at Chalmette Movies – not exactly on topic, but somewhat related.

Wow, you’re right, it’s not there. I’m glad you noticed that it was playing near you. I hope you like it.

I saw that in March. If at the end of the year I make a list of “Most Bizarre Movies Seen In 2011” that will be near the top of the list. I won’t spoil the storyline but if anyone wants a tip:

[spoiler]The really really really interesting movie that’s in the first 10 or so minutes seems like it was written and directed by one person. Then, it seems like another writer/director came in and made a completely different movie, 100% different. Wondering if I can do spoilers within spoilers for an actual opinion. Let me try:

I HATED the 2nd movie, though I might have liked it if I hadn’t been expecting more of the 1st movie. The 1st movie seems like it sets up an actual storyline and characters. The 2nd movie is just one long weird gory chase movie.

I think it worked. The spoiler-within-spoiler thing.[/spoiler]