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The Interview Bombs In US, Kills In China, Threatens N. Korea

Posted by timothy on from the spoiler-alert dept.

First time accepted submitter twitnutttt (2958183) writes "While it has been broadly panned in the U.S. as not very funny, The Interview is surprisingly getting good reviews in China. And the North Korean government's fears of the threat posed by this movie are apparently merited: "It is powerful because it depicts Kim Jong-un as a vain, buffoonish despot, alternating between threats and weeping that he's been misunderstood. The people around him have all the signs of fear you might expect with a despot — they second-guess his likes and dislikes. Maybe he — and they — were right to fear the film. North Korean defectors sometimes smuggle USB sticks with films and soaps into the closed-off country, and there is a view in the south that these are a particularly powerful means of undermining the regime in Pyongyang. If that's so, The Interview might be a good candidate for inclusion." If you've seen the movie, and have your own reactions, please label any real spoilers out of courtesy.

8 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. Bombs in the US? by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Informative

    It may be an unfunny movie, but reports are that in the limited number of theatres it has been relieased in, the shows are sold out.

    That's hardly "bombing".

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    1. Re:Bombs in the US? by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'm more curious about how North Korean defectors are smuggling things into the country.

      The same way they got out? A little help on the inside? Helium-filled balloons are all the rage:

      South Korea’s military said North Korean firing was first heard Friday afternoon, directed at balloons carrying anti-North Korean regime propaganda launched by South Korean activists.

      Activists frequently launch helium-filled balloons carrying thousands of leaflets with pro-democracy, anti-North Korea messages, as well as DVDs and other items. Many North Korean refugees say access to outside media motivated their escape from the country, but critics say the balloons contribute to inter-Korean frictions.

      North Korea has repeatedly demanded that South Korea prevent the launches and threatened to fire at the balloons, but it had never previously done so.

      "The leaflet-scattering operation, part of the psychological warfare targeting [North Korea], can never be overlooked as it is a deliberate and premeditated provocation," North Korea’s state media said Thursday.

      South Korea sometimes intervenes to prevent launches when there are complaints from local residents worried about the North’s retaliation.

      The North’s firing appeared to be aimed at balloons launched by a group headed by North Korean defector Lee Min-bok, who said no one in the group was hurt. Late Friday, Mr. Lee said he was looking for new locations to launch more balloons.

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    2. Re:Bombs in the US? by Threni · · Score: 3, Informative

      Bombing relates to how much money a movie takes, not how well it does in n cinemas. It can sell out in 100 cinemas for weeks but still bomb.

  2. Oh yeah, it's "bombing" in the US alright... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Informative

    'The Interview,' Greeted By Sold-Out Shows, May Net Millions This Weekend
    'The Interview' Opens to Singing, Sold-Out Crowds as Sony CEO Explains His Decision to Show Film
    'The Interview' Draws Sell-Out Crowds After Sony Flips On Release Cancellation
    New York showings of âThe Interviewâ(TM) sell out

    Oh yeah, it's "bombing" in the US alright...

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    1. Re:Oh yeah, it's "bombing" in the US alright... by Microlith · · Score: 4, Informative

      That doesn't mean it's a good movie. Most of the sold out showings are because of the hype surrounding this incident. The reviews are pretty uniformly bad.

      People aren't flocking to it because it looked good, or because it is good. They're going mostly to spite the group that hacked Sony and North Korea.

  3. Why? by skam240 · · Score: 1, Informative

    Why do I keep seeing news agencies and the like reporting that The Interview is being "broadly panned" when it's not?

    http://www.metacritic.com/movi...
    http://www.rottentomatoes.com/...

    The consensus seems to be that while it's a mediocre film it's good for a few laughs.

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  4. Re:The only negative reviews are coming from... by Copid · · Score: 4, Informative

    I think he's saying that a restaurant reviewer who goes into a burger joint and shits all over it in his review because they didn't have sushi is probably not adding much useful information to the review-o-sphere.

    I don't like most childrens movies because I'm an adult and I find them childish. But if somebody was paying me to write informative reviews and I had to review a kids' movie, I wouldn't spend a lot of time bemoaning the simplistic plot line, limited charater development or overly bright color pallette. Complaining that the latest Disney Princess movie didn't have the same set of elements that made No Country for Old Men appealing sort of misses the point. It's not even sensible enough to be considered wrong.

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  5. Re:It had some funny bits by excelsior_gr · · Score: 3, Informative

    You might want to reconsider Jim Carrey. The Truman Show, Man On The Moon and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spottless Mind are quite good movies.