Da Vinci Code - 29.5 Million Opening Day / #1 US Film

[NoodleyAppendage]

Box Office Mojo - box office tracking

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2006-05-19&p=.htm

----------------------------

Ha...Ha. Chris Matthews, you Opus Dei-shilling, Catholic infomercial, asshole...how do like them apples?!

BTW - Over the Hedge, the christofascist movie optional selection, only made 10.9 million opening day. Too bad.

J

[Zynx]

1. It doesn't change the fact that it is a lousy movie.

It also doesn't change the fact that the "historical facts" that it is based on are a whole lot of garbage. It is a sub par fiction novel that has only achieved fame through trying to stir up controversy through the use of inaccurate information.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

5. You've seen it?

what did you think of the book? I thought it was a great story.

[Zynx]

9. I don't endorse works that spread historical BS as fact.

As a work of fiction, it is at best average. It is not particularly well written. It is produced for mass consumption, similar to a Tom Clancy novel. The captivating aspects of it, such as the idea that there is a vast conspiracy to keep the true nature of Jesus hidden from the world including his secret marriage to Mary Magdalene, are historically groundless, which would be alright if they were passed off as pure speculation, but they are presented as fact. The whole thing revolves around the idea that the Priory of Sion had this special knowledge, when in fact the documents that Brown used for the sources have since been proven to be forgeries. I could go on and on about the historical problems with the novel, but many more credible sources than I have already done that.

What's more is that these ideas aren't even that original. They have been bandied about for a long time and never with any evidence. Now, you can counter that there is no evidence for Jesus' divinity to begin with, which is a whole different matter and not that shocking of an idea as most of the world doesn't believe in it, but the idea that this huge Catholic conspiracy is some matter of historical fact, proven by documents is garbage. The whole problem with this novel and the subsequent movie is that it passes off these bits of speculation as fact when they are not.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

20. I never said it was "great fiction"

I said it was a good story.

[Raksha]

27. It's no more "historically groundless" than the Jesus story itself.

Re >>The captivating aspects of it, such as the idea that there is a vast conspiracy to keep the true nature of Jesus hidden from the world including his secret marriage to Mary Magdalene, are historically groundless, which would be alright if they were passed off as pure speculation, but they are presented as fact.<<

It is not "historical fact" that any such person as Jesus of Nazareth even existed, since all the accounts of his life were written by believers. Which doesn't necessarily make them untrue, but there is virtually *NO* evidence from outside sources.

[tocqueville]

45. it is because "the historical/ geogaphical facts" are BS beyond the fact

thar the Jesus story is dubious in itself. If you want to fuck with Jesus, do it at least scientifically.

[WinkyDink]

29. It was interesting, but not plot-wise, if that makes sense. I.e., the

details "made" the book, which, IMHO, the shallow characterizations, ridiculous "narrow escapes", and amateur conclusion do not make.

[Zen Democrat]

6. Whattsamatta You? Da Vinci is a great movie. An edge of the seater.

All you folks bringing your various dogmas and catmas should get over it. If you don't want to see it, don't go.

But this business about how boring and bad it is is just religious establishment propaganda.

I laugh my ass off everytime I hear one of these TV idiots compare it to "JFK". Like "JFK" wasn't a great movie .... sheesh!

[Zynx]

12. Rottentomatoes.com and the various critics are not part of the religious

establishment.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/da_vinci_code/

146 reviews. I doubt they all are part of some Catholic conspiracy.

[roguevalley]

23. the question was, "Did you see it?" No answer just yet. I go to

rottentomatoes too but I don't let it rule my choices. did you see it or do you depend upon others to make up your mind for you?

[Dorian Gray]

42. Well,

I saw it, and it stunk. What worked in fiction/writing didn't translate well to the screen. The dialogue was clunky, the acting was embarassing (except for Ian McKellan. He was good!), and the entire pacage was, at times, laughable. When it wasn't laughable, I was bored.

And that has absolutely nothing to do with the conspiracy or the religion. It was a bad movie. Ron Howard let his fans down.

[Reciprocity]

7. You need to get YOUR facts straight buddy...

This is a book of fiction. Why did you go and see the movie, if you hated the book so much?

I love it and will see it again.

[Zynx]

10. The problem is that Brown asserts that underlying information is factual.

It is fiction. Not well written fiction, but fiction nonetheless. Pretty much all of it is fiction which is fine so long as people take it in that way. However, Brown asserts bullshit information as fact.

[Reciprocity]

15. So have you read the book and seen the movie or not?

It's fine with me either way. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. It's all matter of taste.

[BrotherBuzz]

11. A sub par fiction novel that sold how many copies?

60.5 million copies in print (as of May 2006) and it didn't even come out in paperback until this year !

[Zynx]

14. Just because something sells a lot does not make it good.

It is a novel produced for mass consumption. It is not great literature.

By the same standard The Passion of the Christ is a great movie, which it is not. It simply made a killing by being controversial.

[Reciprocity]

16. Did you see that movie either?

[BrotherBuzz]

22. It's not great literature and will never make any list of best lit...

but it's far from sub par. It's a great page turner with a silly romance stitched in. I'd rate it a TEN for summer reading.

[magnolia]

43. Why do you care what someone else believes...

...or doesn't believe?????

Methinks Christians protest too much! Is their faith so weak that they are afraid that "doubt" will be contagious.

[WinkyDink]

31. Yes, but 10's of millions of Americans also voted for Bush. Heh.

Now,now! I bought it, too! But having read all Brown's sources, and then some, I said, "Dang, WinkyDink! Why didn't YOU string together all these bits with some one-dimensional characters, and don't forget the albino?!"

[BrotherBuzz]

34. I was to cheap to by the book.

The library is my friend. ;)

[TahitiNut]

17. Opinions are like assholes. Almost everyone's got one ...

... but some use DU as their colostomy bag. :silly:

[Spazito]

26. ROFLMAO!

One of the best zingers I have read to date!

[Mr_Spock]

35. Good one!

:rofl:

[Jigarotta]

37. another version: Opinions are just like assholes...

everyone has one
but it's everyone else's that stinks.

;)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

18. I saw it and it wasn't lousy in the least. It wasn't great either. It was

a good film and a work of fiction. No one saw National Treasure and said, Oh No! It's not historically acurate.

If I hadn't read the book, and came to it with no knowledge, I would have enjoyed it more.

One of the only real complaints I have is that it reminded me of television shows..ie CSI and Numbers in some parts.

[Cha]

39. I loved National Treasure!

I'm not going to read The Da Vinci Code but I will see it when it comes out on DVD.

[Dorian Gray]

44. National Treasure....

OmmmSweetOmmmmm said: "No one saw National Treasure......."

Exactly!

[Maiden England]

28. Well *some* of us LOVED it!

I really don't understand what part of fiction people don't get. The book wasn't sold in some non-fiction aisle, but in the fiction section. With the other stories based on FANTASY. Its not presenting itself as historical fact, any more than a multitude of books which take reality as their starting point and shoot off on some fantastical tangent. The research that Brown did for his book, just makes his tale more plausible and hence increases its abilty to enthrall you in the story.

I really, really loved the movie, and I wasn't disappointed in the adaptation (I loved the book too). I hope they also make Angels and Demons - again because that is a truly great yarn

[adarling]

30. i agree- i am seeing it for Ian McKellan

the man turns anything into gold...finest actors working and can play anything and anyone. He can play a Nazi, play a jewish mutant who can control magnetism, play a wizard in a fantasy movie. Now this....love him :)

[Mr_Spock]

33. I LOVE the book and it is my new bible.

This book of fiction certainly makes a lot more sense than the idiotic RW paternal interpretations of Jesus & Mary in the Bible put together by Kings & dictators.

You sound just like those hateful RW priests who feel the need to BASH something just because it says things that may make them have to rethink their beliefs.

I say good - we could use a little more thinking these days.

[Chemical Bill]

54. Have you read any Graham Phillips?

He has several books that examine the issues of Jesus and his marriage, his parentage, and legacy. The works are historical investigation and speculation, and if you liked TDC or HBHG, you might like them. There is one, "The Templars and The Arc of the Covenant", that I really enjoyed. The book "The Marian Conspiracy" (or "The Virgin Mary Conspiracy" here in the states) is his investigation into the mother of Jesus. He makes a case that she was buried in England. I did think "The Chalice Of Magdalene" was a little weak.

http://www.grahamphillips.net

I agree that we could use a little more thinking these days.

Bill

[Mr_Spock]

58. Thanks for the recommendations

I am interested in learning more about these theories now.

[muriel_volestrangler]

61. Here's some information on Plantard, the man behind the "Priory of Sion"

and thus your 'new bible'.

One of Plantard's fantasies was to set up right-wing, anti-Semitic organizations, similar in style to medieval orders of chivalry. But in reality these organizations existed only on paper.
...
After the war, Plantard moved to the small French town of Annemasse. In 1953 he was given a six-month sentence for fraud — but three years later, he was again setting up a new organization. Under French law, it’s necessary to deposit the statutes of every new association with the authorities. That’s how a government official there was able to give us information about it. It was called "The Priory of Sion," named not for 12th-century Jerusalem, but for the local mountain close to where he lived. Ten years later and now back in Paris, Plantard gave the Priory of Sion a fictitious pedigree by drawing up that list of Grand Masters and depositing it in the Bibliotheque Nationale. Charlot says that apart from that list, no historian has found any evidence that the Priory of Sion existed before Plantard set up his version in 1956.
...
Putnam and Wood say once again it was Plantard who was responsible for that hoax. Hearing of the story of Rennes Le Chateau, he decided to use it for his own ends and turned to a friend named Philippe de Cherisey for help in creating those parchments.
...
Chaumeil also has a document, handwritten and signed by de Cherisey in which he describes how he created the parchments to produce what he calls "a good hoax."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/27/60minutes/main1552009.shtml

I'd pick something a little more reputable, if I were you.

[TahitiNut]

2. It took 'Titanic' the whole weekend to gross that much in 1997.

That's huge for a Friday of a 2-day (non-holiday) weekend.

[Chemical Bill]

57. Have you noticed...

how they raise the ticket prices and then claim record grosses? ;)

Bill

[MuseRider]

3. Ya know

I have no interest in seeing this film but our local news showed a bunch of idiots out in front of the theater with huge *Jesus Is My Lord* signs trying to stop people from seeing it. Now I must go, sigh. The things you hafta do these days. :eyes:

I guess they did not get enough ridicule over their Passion film.

:applause: fiction people it is fiction people :applause:

[tenshi816]

8. There's not much of a stir in the UK yet,

but if there is I'll be compelled to see it just like you are. I read the book on a long-haul flight and finished it because I had nothing else to read, but my husband only got through 20 pages at home. I'm a Catholic and it didn't bother me, but the "God-botherers" (as they're called in Britain) piss me off so much that I'll go see it if only to piss them off.

Although - I also have a suspicion the studio itself it fueling the fire of controversy in order to get bums on seats in the cinemas, so I'm torn about it.

[NoodleyAppendage]

51. I think word-of-mouth will be counter to the critics, which boosts sales

There was a smattering of applause in the NC theatre, where my wife and I saw the movie last night. No one was bitching about the movie and everyone in the very crowded theatre appeared happy after it was over. The two shows after ours were sold out.

Bear in mind, this is all in a relatively conservative section of NC.

J

[nxylas]

59. Protest: picture here

[NoodleyAppendage]

60. That is so Photoshopped. Fake...

J

[nxylas]

63. Yup

Extra brownie points to anyone who recognises the source (of the picture, not the Da Vinci code posters).

[rodeodance]

4. whow. that IS a lot o people.

[Spazito]

13. That is good news! I figured that might happen...

it is good to see it confirmed! Thanks for posting.

[dogday]

19. I know swiftboating when I see it

and I have seen the M$M swiftboat the hell out of this movie...

Ron Howard is an excellent director with many oscars and Tom Hanks is an excellent actor with many oscars.

[Reciprocity]

21. That was my thought as well, when I saw Tweety's program on it.

The one I saw had two critics in Cannes, both hated it, and then things went down hill from there.

[NoodleyAppendage]

49. Tweety has probably been approached to be an Opus Dei member.

His coverage of the movie and interview with Opus Dei was so one-sided and devoid of any meaningful questions like:

"If Opus Dei is not exclusionary, then why do women have to enter a different door than men?"

"Is it (or has it been) Opus Dei doctrine or recommendation to use pain as a method to share in the suffering of Christ?"

"Will Opus Dei publish their membership roles?"

"How much money did Opus Dei raise in donations last year?"

J

[muriel_volestrangler]

62. But Tom Hanks also starred in 'Forrest Gump'

so he's quite capable of being in dross.

[fujiyama]

24. I saw it (a few spoilers follow)

with two friends of mine that are Catholic and we couldn't figure out what half the fuss is about...and while it's not a great film, it is a fairly entertaining summer flick (I like Audrey but her acting in French must be a lot better than it is in English). There were a few idiots outside the theater protesting...and we wondered had these people even seen the film?

I really don't see why it's all that controversial. It doesn't portray all of Catholicism or even Opus Dei in a bad light (the cop played by Reneu is Opus Dei but at the end he turns out to be a decent guy and was tricked by the bishop). Sure there is some stuff about Opus Dei that only the likes of Scalia could get offended, but ordinary Catholics would likely shrug it off and think 'eh...whatever'.

Anyone that cannot take any criticism (or in this case historical religious fiction) is very insecure about his/her religion.

I don't even care if the film isn't that great. I just want it to do well to piss off fundies and Opus Dei nut jobs...

[JVS]

25. Why the condemnation of over the hedge?

DreamWorks, Wanda Sykes, Gary Shandling, and William Shatner are now Christofascists?

[lastliberalintexas]

36. I wondered that too?

I've only seen one commercial for it, but it said something about the animals coming back into the suburbs since human kinds has seen fit to destroy their habitat by building houses in the forest. How int he world is that turned into a right wing movie? I kind of assumed it was a pro-environmentalist movie aimed at the kiddos. :shrug:

[Reciprocity]

38. I think it’s because of ......

a full page ad in some newspaper (I don’t recall which) that calls for so called “Christians” to boycott Da Vinci and go to Over the Hedge instead.

[NoodleyAppendage]

50. Exactly. The minions of fascism have been instructed to see "Over..."

Rather than an outright boycott, the christofascists have received marching orders to see "Over the Hedge" to reduce the overall box office of the Da Vinci Code.

J

[RagAss]

55. because they can only afford to see 1 movie.....the rest goes

to the Shrub/Cheney gas fund.....

[LizW]

32. Saw it yesterday. (no spoilers)

I liked it. It was not the best movie I ever saw, but it was a good, entertaining summer film.

As usual, a film made from a book is never as good as the book. I liked the book a lot. It was a page-turner, delightful summer fiction to read by the pool.

This movie is a thriller. A thriller, by nature, has to have an "amusement park ride" element to it to be worthy of the name. The nature of the thrill is the "what if..." factor. What if the roller coaster jumps the tracks? What if the "Tower of Terror" doesn't stop before I hit the bottom? Same thing with a book or movie. What if this were true? "The DaVinci Code" has a great "what if" factor. If the things it pretends are true ARE REALLY true, then a huge hoax has been pereptuated on millions of people over thousands of years. That's quite a thrill, if the movie succeeds in making you suspend disbelief for even a little while.

It's entertainment, and I think Dan Brown did quite well with the book, and Ron Howard with the movie.

[mmonk]

40. I don't plan to go. Keeps all the religious bigots salivating.

The main reason I am agnostic and have triouble with religion was due to growing up Catholic in the South. I was exposed to the generational hate first hand. To me, religion is another way to hate and sorry if I offend anyone. That's my experience.

[Dorian Gray]

41. Eh...

I saw the movie, thus I contributed towards this bottom line. Regardless, it stunk.

[scarletwoman]

46. My son & I saw it yesterday. Wanted to do my part to piss off the fundies.

I wanted to see it anyway, but I made sure we went on opening day so that we could add to the numbers -- glad to see it made #1!

I haven't read the book, although I did read Holy Blood, Holy Grail 23 years ago when it first came out and rather enjoyed it -- I certainly didn't buy into the entire premise, but it was very interesting in terms of mythological and symbological analysis.

I enjoyed the movie -- more for various parts than the whole -- as a mystery/thriller it was fun, and I particularily loved the visuals; the Louvre, the old churches, various interiors, etc.

I think the whole "bloodline" concept is just plain silly and rather beside the point, but I'm all for giving Mary Magdalen her due as Jesus' "companion" and disciple. I think that Christianity's suppression of the Sacred Feminine is one of the gravest disservices ever perpetrated against humanity -- but that's a whole other essay.

Anyway, not a *great* movie, but plenty fun and it was worth the ticket price as both entertainment and (especially!) political act. I'd say, go see it just to show the fundies that there are more of us open-minded folks than there are of them. That you might be entertained and intrigued as well is a bonus.

sw

[Robbins]

47. DaVinci Code

A lot of the people who say It Is a bad movie never liked the book. Those who say It Is boring are full of BS. Now my feelings on this Is the Bible should not be taken as 100 percent true gossple.
I believe It Is quite possible Mary Magdalne was Jesus' wife. Now having a bloodline Is a bit harder
to prove but It Is withen the realm of possibilty but I have my douts It lead to the kings of France. And I believe If you are a true Christian you should follow what you believe are the teachings of Jesus.

[Rainscents]

48. I'm going to see it, just because I was told by Fundies not to see it.

[Chemical Bill]

52. I love that it is so subversive. n/t

[MoonRiver]

53. Just saw it.

It was weird as was the book. Also, while I love Tom Hanks, this was not his finest cinematographic moment. It was a pretty good movie, but definitely not great. I did like how the movie kept emphasizing all the atrocities the Catholic church has committed, however.

[Moloch]

56. Dammit...

and Hoot isn't even in the Top 10.

That was a great movie with a great message for kids.