Wednesday, January 6, 2021 Game Recap and Discussion (SPOILERS)

[Leander]

I briefly thought of Warhorse for FJ, then went “duh, of course it’s Wonder Woman”. The publicity around the sequel probably helped.

[MarkBarrett]

...
It was one of those "you had to see the movie" clues - I can't see how anyone could get WWI from the previews or movie reviews alone unless you were really paying attention, but maybe I'm wrong.
...

The poll will have various options about seeing/getting/missing.

The only reason I watched WW during Christmas week was wanting to take advantage of having HBO Max to see the sequel. I would not have cared about the new movie except taking place in 1984 intrigued me to see the mall and hear some music.

Your previews comment made me laugh as I never cared enough to see the trailer, but did catch unavoidable promos on TV. It was eye opening to find out when watching WW84 that what I mistook for some kind of time machine device springing Steve & Diana to 1984 turned out to be a fighter jet scene.

I'll go ahead and embarrass myself: How did Wonder Woman get to 1984? Did I miss something by not watching Justice League and/or Batman v Superman or WW just kept on living until she got to the "present day 1984"?

The sequel has me going against the grain again as I liked it better than the original and back in the day I liked Temple of Doom better than Raiders. Easier to find company is there is no question that Superman II is better than the first one.

[Robert K S]

WW just kept on living until she got to the "present day 1984"?

They showed that at the end of the first movie. Just doesn't age so she just stayed in hiding until present day 2010s. The continuity error/plot hole is that she obviously wasn't in hiding since she made something of an appearance in 1984.

[Sherm]

A wheelhouse catagory for me would be Blockbusters prior to 2010. In looking 22 of the 25 highest grossing movies have occured since 2010.

Hated that FJ the second the clue came up. During the break, I'm going through the blockbusters going back to Gone with the wind, Sound of Music, Jaws, Star Wars, ET, Titanic, Avatar. In my head its like just stay away from the marvel universe. I know Endgame has brought in more money than any other, but after that, I have seen some of them, and its basically just make up a wild story around whatever real or fake war you want.

I knew the minute I saw it it was likely a marvel movie. At least I was right on that. Shame is, I've seen Wonder Woman and could not have told you the the war was WW1, just a lot of crazy green screen (CGI) stuff that could never happen in a bazillion years. I do admire the people who write that stuff because I could never dream that crap up.

Obviously, these films really don't hold my interest very well and are a real hole in my trivia knowledge. They always will be.

[DBear]

runs: Adam & Eve, "GQ", 19th C America
Daily Doubles: (Switzerland & Italy),
trash: chief of staff DD, Rockies (I would have to move if I missed that), The Atlantic DD, Macarena
FJ: Remembered the Wondy promotions and thought it was odd that the first movie would be set in WW1

judges: record player for turntable?
guessed pardon for parole.

[jeff6286]

For whoever said War Horse, it would seem that with 177 million, it was the highest-grossing WW I film by far when it was released in 2011.

As for WW II, Dunkirk indeed seems to be on top. This is just someone's reddit post so I can't claim any particular authority but it seems about right.
https://www.reddit.com/r/boxoffice/comm ... _ii_films/

Dunkirk-527m

Saving Private Ryan-482m

Pearl Harbor-449m

Captain America: The First Avenger-371m

Schindler’s List-322m

Inglorious Bastards-321m

The Imitation Game-234m

Life is Beautiful-229m

Fury-212m

Australia-211m

Some arguments could probably be made about other films' inclusion. Raiders of the Lost Ark certainly takes place during WW II but is it a WW II movie? Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Raiders has $389 million so would be 4th on this list. I'm sure there are other similar cases.

[davey]

I'm glad to learn so many missed this FJ and flabbergasted that some have not heard of it. As an avid reader of The New York Times, the relentless coverage left me feeling at the time it came out that it was practically my patriotic duty to see it, as a beacon of progressive values... Yet I still managed not to...
I'm sure I read in the coverage that it took place in WWI, and really BLOCKBUSTER should have narrowed it to a gettable range, though I'm never good at release years. I did know 1917 was too recent, and I thought Alex's "hint" was suggesting that it didn't have to be about the war, so I ended up with an outlier choice of another film I never saw, Mary Poppins Returns. A year later, no blockbuster, and takes place in the '30s...

[econgator]

For whoever said War Horse, it would seem that with 177 million, it was the highest-grossing WW I film by far when it was released in 2011.

As for WW II, Dunkirk indeed seems to be on top. This is just someone's reddit post so I can't claim any particular authority but it seems about right.
https://www.reddit.com/r/boxoffice/comm ... _ii_films/

And if you just want any war movie, American Sniper seems to be the winner ($547M).




And yes, Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

[davey]

Some arguments could probably be made about other films' inclusion. Raiders of the Lost Ark certainly takes place during WW II but is it a WW II movie? Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Raiders has $389 million so would be 4th on this list. I'm sure there are other similar cases.

Raiders takes place prior to the war. 1936. Die Hard is a great Christmas movie...!

[bluejaylink]

I was reminded of Yoshie's contestant interview just a minute ago as I was doing today's LA Times crossword.

A familiar answer came up in "Air Pod"

[Leander]

I knew the minute I saw it it was likely a marvel movie. At least I was right on that. Shame is, I've seen Wonder Woman and could not have told you the the war was WW1, just a lot of crazy green screen (CGI) stuff that could never happen in a bazillion years. I do admire the people who write that stuff because I could never dream that crap up.

Actually, not a Marvel movie. WW is part of the competing “DC Universe”

[jeff6286]

Some arguments could probably be made about other films' inclusion. Raiders of the Lost Ark certainly takes place during WW II but is it a WW II movie? Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Raiders has $389 million so would be 4th on this list. I'm sure there are other similar cases.

Raiders takes place prior to the war. 1936. Die Hard is a great Christmas movie...!

Ha! good point, that would be why it wasn't on the list. I should have checked to be sure before posting, was definitely thinking of the quote from Red Skull in the Captain America movie, "While the Fuhrer digs for trinkets in the desert," clearly referencing Raiders, but I guess the timelines don't quite match up!

[cthulhu]

I think superhero movies are the worst form of entertainment possible

Amen, brother!!! (Yeah, I’m atheist, but sometimes my Bible Belt upbringing provides just the right over-the-top-ness...)

[trainman]

The recently released sequel, officially titled "Wonder Woman 1984," was being advertised as "WW84"... so I've recently seen some people on social media referring to the first film as "WW17."

[floridagator]

I said that Mount Mitchell is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Judges?

[Volante]

Well that was one heck of an ironic category...

Spoiler

YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK

Heck, WW may have grossed more than every other WWI film combined.

Since J! specified US box office...

WW: $412,815,408
War Horse: $79,884,879 , 1917: $159,227,644

So now we have to come up with another $173,702,885...and I'm having a damn difficult time of it. I mean, Gallipoli and Flyboys barely make dents and it's downhill from there. Even Lawrence of Arabia only tacks on another $45M

(1917 here... I've barely touched the DCEU. I remember in retrospect WW is set in WW1 but wasn't coming.)

[Robert K S]

So now we have to come up with another $173,702,885...

My personal favorite WWI film is the Pitt/Hopkins starrer Legends of the Fall, which grossed $160.6 million. Adjusted for inflation, that would be over $280 million today.

Unclear how much Kubrick's Paths of Glory made but it wasn't a smash hit. Still, adjusted for inflation, it would probably make another big dent in your number.

[jeff6286]

So now we have to come up with another $173,702,885...

My personal favorite WWI film is the Pitt/Hopkins starrer Legends of the Fall, which grossed $160.6 million. Adjusted for inflation, that would be over $280 million today.

Unclear how much Kubrick's Paths of Glory made but it wasn't a smash hit. Still, adjusted for inflation, it would probably make another big dent in your number.

Inflation adjusted makes this a pointless exercise. Lawrence of Arabia on its own would be over $500 million adjusted.

[This Is Kirk!]

I'm glad to learn so many missed this FJ and flabbergasted that some have not heard of it.

Yeah, me too. I don't follow movies at all, but I remember the hoopla over Wonder Woman.

I wrote down Dunkirk immediately and almost as quickly realized it was wrong because that happened in WWII, but I still couldn't come up with any better alternatives in the remaining 25 seconds.

Also I could have sworn I heard Yoshie say "Borglun" instead of "Borglum," but no one else has mentioned it, so I must have heard it wrong.

[LucarioSnooperVixey]

55 R (Dead To Me was my only miss.)
DD: 3/3
FJ:
LT: (Chief of Staff), Rockies, (The Atlantic), Macarena

Saw Wonder Woman with my Mom and sister a couple years ago. One of few superhero movies I actually enjoyed.

Few stumpers, but they still only got through ONE clue in Inspector.