The Life and Times of Kevin O'Leary

-Follow on Twitter: @ThatIrishDude- Runner-up in the Michael Moore look alike contest. Was called a Silverlake Hipster by TJ Miller. Farmer's tan. Filmmaker. Patton Oswalt once waved hello in my general vicinity.

[manfeels-park]

Your face is tanking

And now for today’s lesson in institutionalised misogyny.

Today’s news: Ghostbusters ‘tanks’, ‘stumbles’ with 53% drop in its second week.

Presumably that’s a bad performance compared to other action movies in their second week then?

Let’s check…

Captain America: Civil War: -59.5%

Dark Knight: -52%

Amazing Spider Man: -61%

Oh, and for an example of an actual ‘tanking’:

Batman vs Superman: -69%

Now, let’s examine all the reporting last week that Ghostbusters was going to struggle because of its first week multiplier against its budget…

Ghostbusters first weekend US figures: $46m It had a $144m budget, so in its first week it made 32% of that. Descriptions: ‘Lacklustre’, ‘problematic’, ‘will haunt Sony’

Star Trek Beyond first weekend US figures: $59.6m It had a $189m budget, so in its first week it made 30% of its budget. Reporting: ‘Dominates’, ‘wins big’

To be clear: there are articles describing both movies’ openings as ‘solid’. But there’s basically no one calling Beyond worrying or Ghostbusters a big win.

So. ‘Nuff said? **********EDIT**********

A few people have requested sauce for the data above. Honestly, this post was an off-the-cuff thing this morning done off the first page of Google. I’ve resisted actually providing said data because the % drop and $ profit figures are verifiable basically anywhere you like and the quotes are all over the place. I have not done a thorough corpus analysis of everything written on Ghostbusters and Beyond, nor do I plan to. However, because I’m so damn nice, here are the particular articles I happened to read for the Googley-challenged…

www.hollywoodreporter.com

deadline.com

fortune.com

www.theguardian.com

www.breitbart.com (yes, I know who/what Breitbart is, but it came up on the first page of Google so that makes it a mainstream source on this occasion)

www.forbes.com

And, to be fair, on looking for my original sources just now, I also found this, so there is at least one article that’s circumspect about Beyond’s success. I can’t find the article where I got the second week drops info, but I imagine the numbers came straight from here and here.

There were more articles all showing this basic trend, but honestly, no matter how many I list, if you don’t believe me you’re gonna have to go search for yourself anyway, and if you do believe me, well, you already believe me, so why bother?

[thekevinoleary]

I guess I have to start with a disclaimer that I don't care if Ghostbusters is an all female remake or that they're "ruining the original". I genuinely don't care about if "my childhood is being  ruined" because the original works are still there; they don't get replaced by the remake. That being said, this picture caught my  attention because I did see the numbers that Ghostbusters made and it didn't seem like it was in those films' leagues, financially speaking. Ghostbusters, in it's debut weekend, made $46,018,755 and came in second place against The Secret Life of Pets, which was already in its second week. During the second weekend of Ghostbusters, it made $21,009,831, which is the 53% drop your post talks about. 

What's interesting to me is that your post starts mentioning other movies with similar drops during the second week and calls them "tanks", when they aren't. Let's start from the top.

Civil War debuted at number one with $179,139,142 and stayed number one again the following week with $72,637,142, which results in a 59.5% drop. This drop in the second week for Civil War brings in $26,618,387 more than Ghostbusters made in its debut weekend. Civil War can't be considered a tank.

The Dark Knight debuts alongside Mamma Mia! and takes the number one spot by bringing in $158,411,483. The following week, The Dark Knight stays at number one by bringing in $75,166,466, which is the 52% drop the post talks about. That's higher than Ghostbusters' debut numbers and it would drop down to $42,664,219 during its third week which is roughly four million less than Ghosbusters debut numbers. Mamma Mia, Step Brothers, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, & Pineapple Express would be released in the first three weeks and couldn't take it down. It took a combination of Tropic Thunder, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, & Mirrors to knock it down to #2. The Dark Knight is not a tank.

Now you mention Amazing Spider-Man with a 61.2% drop, but ASM 2 had those numbers, so I'm assuming you were talking about that one and it'll be the one I'm talking about. ASM 1 dropped 44.2% in case anyone reading is curious. Alright, so ASM 2 debuts at $91,608,337, knocking off previous weeks debuts of The Other Woman & Brick Mansions. The following week, it would get knocked down to #2 by the debut of Neighbors, and ASM 2 would bring in $35,501,212, which is roughly 11 million less than Ghostbusters debut. The drop is pretty steep, but with a good debut, it's still able to be close to Ghostbusters numbers despite falling 60 plus percent. I do remember hearing that Sony was disappointed in the numbers and it's small return caused the Marvel team-up we currently have, so I don't know why you included this movie in this list since it ACTUALLY was faulted for its financial downfall.

The "actual tanking" of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is not necessarily the burning trash heap your post is making it out to be. I was not a fan of this movie when news of the characters and plot broke out, so I'm definitely not biased here. BvS debuts at number one, knocking off the 3 week winner Zootopia, with $166,007,347. The following weekend, the number does indeed drop 69.1%, but the movie still brings in a whopping $51,335,254 which is still higher than Ghostbusters debut numbers. Even with a drop that high, BvS still makes more money in its second week than Ghostbusters did in its debut.

Finally, Star Trek Beyond. Star Trek Beyond debuted at $59,253,211, taking down The Secret Life of Pets #1 spot, and beating out fellow newcomers in Lights Out and Ice Age: Collision Course. Interestingly though, Ghostbusters in its 3rd week made $21,009,831 and falls to 5th place, but only barely does so as Lights Out and Ice Age debuts to startling low  $21,688,103, & $21,373,064 respectively. For Lights Out, while it is an original horror film released in the middle of summer, it's still bad, but not nearly as bad as an animated film part of an established franchise debuting that low. Currently, the numbers for Star Trek's second weekend have yet to come out as we are currently in it, but I expect it to drop at least to the $30 Mil area as Bad Moms, Jason Bourne, & Nerve debut this week.

Now, I'm not blind. I've seen people's posts and comments about  Ghostbusters sucking because women are taking over. I've seen sexist things posted about it everywhere and I've seen racism make Leslie Jones leave Twitter. None of that is acceptable behavior. But the film did tank. It wasn't a bomb, however, because all of these  numbers are domestic and does not include the foreign numbers. It's already made back its budget as well.

The thing is, and the reason I took the time to write all of this out, is because I've seen posts like this that throw out "scary" and baseless numbers in order to propagate their idea. the reason we are seeing Ghostbusters with "lackluster", "problematic", & "will haunt Sony" articles is because this is a big remake they were hoping would be a massive hit. There were rumors for years that they wanted to do tons of new cinematic universes and Ghostbusters was one of them. For all we know, this was supposed to get a West Coast team going and bring them together down the line for an epic summer flick. But I doubt that will happen because of the fact that it debuted at #2 against a movie already in its second week. 

The reason we are seeing Star Trek receive "Dominates" & "Wins big" articles is because it did in fact win big. It debuted with two other major  movies, beat those, and knocked down the top two from the week  before. While Secret Life of Pets stayed at #2 with $29,607,210, Star  Trek Beyond made $59,253,211. When the closest competitor to you is behind $30,000,000, it's safe to say that you dominated that weekend.

It's not necessarily the film media trying to send a message against women or anything like that by saying it "tanks" or "stumbles" when it drops more than half of its already low original income. Percentages are nice, but when you look closer, those big drops from the other films still beat out Ghostbusters debut weekend and that's where the problem lies for Sony.

[thekevinoleary]

On a very special edition of Remotely Serious, I talk with fellow wrestling fanatic Jason Mills! We go on millions of tangents as we talk about our favorite wrestlers, matches, PPVs, & what wrestling means to us. Also, we give out match recommendations to those interested in joining us in the insane world of Professional Wrestling. Thanks for the support folks!

Follow the Remotely Serious page on Facebook at: Facebook.com/RemotelySerious

As always, Intro provided by The Passion HiFi www.facebook.com/thepassionhifi/

Follow me on Instagram @TheKevinOLeary

[thekevinoleary]

In our second ever episode of Remotely Serious, I talk to actor/director Katherine La' Veaux about Peaky Blinders, Sherlock, Inside Amy Schumer, & Parks and Recreation. We also talk about Tracy Morgan's return to SNL & The Flash gets featured on the first ever edition of "The Upfront". You can follow Katherine on Twitter @indie_Kat! Spoilers Time-Stamps: Sherlock & The Imitation Game (18:26 - 42:35) Inside Amy Schumer (42:35 - 59:31) Parks and Recreation (1:00:55 - 1:19:43)

Music Provided by The Passion HiFi

STALK MY STUFF:

INSTAGRAM: @thekevinoleary

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[thekevinoleary]

In the Series Premiere of Remotely Serious, I speak with a good friend of mine, Matt Austin! We covered news regarding the MCU on Netflix, American Crime Story on FX, ranted about American Horror Story, and Matt brings in his three shows of discussion: Destination Truth, Sons of Anarchy, & An Idiot Abroad! We also pitch TV Show ideas that definitely need to be made in the near future. Thanks for listening! Music Provided by The Passion HiFi

[incendiaryzine]

“Fall With It” by Kevin O’Leary

Bullets tore through the air to my left and right, blasting a path through the half-broken fountain and decaying kiosks of the abandoned mall. The floor was littered with chunks of concrete and unfortunate bodies that had clearly been there a while as the skin rotted off the bones. I maneuvered my feet between the rubble as best as one could while in full sprint. Despite it being four o'clock in the afternoon, the building was difficult to see in, with the only light seeping through the few fractures in the roof. I could hear the pounding of footsteps that weren’t mine, following close behind.

I rush around the corner to another stretch of the mall before stopping, awaiting my pursuer. I pull my crowbar from my half-open backpack, readying my grip. My fingers struggle to keep a steady handle on the crowbar as my nerves kick in and the sweat pours down my face. As soon as I see someone turn the corner, I take a heavy swing. The crack of his skull rings through the crow-bar. My assailant howls in agony as he falls to the floor, grasping at his misshapen and bloody head. His cries of pain echo amongst empty stores. “Gregory! Did you get him?! Gregory?!” I hear them running.

I sprint down the corridor, seeking shelter in an unlocked book-store. The damage within the store is considerate as shelves and brick lay scattered along the floor. I can hear the panic in their voices as they reach Gregory. “Jesus Christ man. Where did he go?” Gregory can only mumble in response. I can hear the man sigh in a slight moment of disbelief before commanding the rest of his group. “Alright, spread out guys, we need to find this guy.”

I scurry towards the back of the store, taking shelter behind an empty aisle. The adult novel section. Of course it’s empty; probably the first thing gone in the apocalypse. I settle into a crouched position, unsure how long I will be in hiding or when I will have to make a dash to safety. My thoughts halt as I hear one of the assailants knock over the cash register as he points his gun past the front desk, ensuring I’m not hiding there. Fear replaces the oxygen in my blood as my body tenses up, ready to spring into attack.

“Where are you?” He whispers. The man’s breathing speeds in anticipation as he ventures deeper into the darkness of the book-store. Time and space slows to a crawl once I see his silhouette pass the aisle I’m hiding behind. Within a second, I’m up on my feet lunging at the guy, in an attempt to get the upper-hand. We crash to the floor, sending his gun skidding across the room. I instinctually begin to punch the guy with all my might before realizing that this wasn’t a man. It was a teenager. A kid. With my fist up in the air, locked for another punch,the kid’s eyes widen in horror. “Charlie!?” Cries the commanding voice from before. His scraggly frame and pale complection gave him the appearance of a walking skeleton. The only trait that separated him from skull and bones was his unkempt hair.

Charlie looks over to the opening of the store before fixating at his dropped gun a few feet away. He quickly squirms and attempts to make a break for the weapon but is stopped as I pull him back by his leg and scramble for the gun myself. I stretch my arm out, grabbing the gun, and aiming it at Charlie’s head. Charlie looks to make a dash for the entrance, but freezes as I boom, “Don’t move one bit. I’m serious. You wouldn’t be the first to make that mistake with me.”

“Charlie! Where are you?!” The commander yells. Charlie’s body trembles in terror, unsure what to do. “Looks like you’re my ticket outta here Charlie.” I say to him. I grab Charlie by the collar and keep him at gun-point, making our way out of the store.  We make our way to the center of the mall, moving with caution as I look around each nook on the ground floor and every angle from above on the second floor. I stop us right outside of the crack of light seeping through from the roof. “Call ‘em.” I demand. “DAD, HE HAS A GUN!"Shrieks Charlie. Out of the shadows comes a pair of men aiming 9mm pistols directed at my head.

One of the men has a strong military build, greying hair, and appears to be nearing his 50’s. The other was much smaller and had no striking traits besides the uncanny resemblance to Rick Moranis. The third man could still be heard in the distance, wailing in disfigurement. I picked up pretty quickly who the commanding voice belonged to. "I’m going to give you 'till the count of 5 to let my son go. If not, things are going to get real messy.” The commander spoke in a dominating tone. I shook my head, knowing that I wouldn’t get out of here that easy. “Don’t they teach y'all no manners out here? Where’s the introduction? Where’s the background story? Why should I care whether or not I stick some lead in your kid’s head? I ain’t got much to live for man. Besides, who’s to say one of those bullets of yours doesn’t find it’s final resting place on your kid?” The man began to understand the situation a bit clearer.

With slight hesitation, he introduced himself. “A-alright. My name’s Frank. This good man next to me is Thomas. I believe you’ve already met Gregory. That’s everyone.” Frank looks back at Gregory, who is still holding his head and crying out in pain. Frank continued. “Look brother, the only reason we came after you is because you were rooting around in our supplies. You know stuff isn’t easy to come by these days. You’d do the same if you were in our boots. This doesn’t have to end in blood. Just let my son go. You’ll be free to walk. You’ll be free to fight another day.”

I smirked at the thought of them just letting me go. “Why should I believe you? Why would you let me go after I snuck through your food & supplies and roughed up on one of your guys good? Nah, I’m not walking away here just like that. Instead, how about I trade you 80 pound Charlie here for all your goods?” Frank started to get irritated. Thomas readjusted his grip on gun. “This isn’t a negotiation. You will give up my son. Or you will die.” Frank meant business. Just as Thomas readjusted his grip, I tightened my lock on Charlie as I closed the space between my arm and his throat. I gave Frank a stare of death, seeing the fear in him grow by the second. Calmly, I stated the situation. “Frank. Thomas. It seems as if y'all don’t quite understand the predicament you’re in. You think I’m playin’ games here. You think I’m walking out without something gained?You think I’m stuck in here with you guys? Nah man, you’re stuck in here with us…”

Frank looks behind him as Gregory’s whimpering snaps to silence. A figure in a black hoodie walks out towards us, holding a bleeding knife. The figure removes the hood to reveal a purple haired woman with a tactical half-mask on. She pulls a flash light out of her pocket and illuminates the second floor. Thomas and Frank look up to see multiple men and women all wearing the same jackets and masks, with various guns drawn on them. “Now, I did plan on just taking your things and lettin’ y'all go on your merry way, but things have changed now. Drop your guns and kick them over to me. Now!” I command them as I press the gun closer to Charlie’s head. Frank and Thomas do as told and kick the guns over to me, moving their gaze from their second story strangers and me. I instruct Frank. “Good. Now we’re getting somewhere. My friend Nadia here is going to place something of importance on the floor for you. When, and only when, she walks over to me may you pick it up.” Nadia walks to the side of Frank, places down the bloody knife, and walks over to my side of the stand-off.

“Frank. I want you to pick up that knife. Right now.” I nod my head in the direction of knife. Unsure of what’s to come, Frank is slow to grab the knife, but eventually does so, giving a look of uncertainty. “Now Frank, it’s time to prove how much you truly love your son. How much wouldja give to save little Charlie’s life? How far wouldja go?” Frank began to lose his commanding tone. “You can take it all. Take all the supplies. They’re in the security room. It’s unlocked. Just let us go.” I smiled at Nadia, who decided to respond to Frank. “Oh Frank, don’t worry about the supplies. We already have that covered. I believe my good friend has something else in mind for you.” Frank looks back from Nadia to me, unsure what’s going on. “Frank. If you wish to keep your boy breathin’, then I suggest you do as I say. Take that there knife and show Thomas how sharp it is.” Frank looks confused. “What do you want me to do with the kni-” “Use the sharp side of the knife and stick it through Thomas’ chest 'till he ain’t breathin’ no more! That make sense to you Frank?!” Thomas’ looked over frightened at Frank, as Frank looked down towards the knife in his hand, near tears. “I’m sorry Thomas.”

Frank knocks Thomas down to the floor and plunges the knife repeatedly in his chest. “I’m Sorry! I’m Sorry!” Thomas flailed his arms in Frank’s face, trying to push him away to no avail. Charlie screamed to his father to stop it, but the noise of Thomas gargling on his blood was the sure sign that it would be over soon. And it was. Frank stayed kneeled over Thomas’ body, hands still on the stuck knife, blood splattered on his face. He weakly looked over to Charlie and I. “Please… please let Charlie go. I’ve done what you asked.” I looked at Charlie who was drained of emotion; looking even more morbid than ever. “You know Frank. If I’ve ever learned anything in the two years since the event, it’s that you never let people go. It just comes back to haunt ya, ya know?” I pull trigger. Charlie falls to the floor.

Frank looks defeated, no longer putting a fight and merely looking at the blood ridden tile below him. I glance up to the second story at the rest of the gang. “Alright guys, you know the drill. Grab everything you can and let’s get outta here. There’s one of them gated neighborhoods a few blocks away. Figure we can find some fun there, right?” Once I finish speaking, the group heads down towards Frank’s supplies. As I start to walk away, pause and give Nadia her instructions. “Shoot Frank in the head. No need to cause him misery. We’re not monsters after all.” Nadia places the end of her gun to Frank’s head, but is postponed when Frank speaks. “Hey man. Why? Why do you do what you do?” I stopped in my tracks and turned back to Frank. “It’s just like you said Frank. Supplies are hard to come by these days and in these days it’s you or them. Now when you have to ensure the survival of a pack of people like I do, you’ll stop at nothing to get what you want. Now my actions may seem extreme, but I see it as a way to ensure we stay as ruthless as everyone else out there. Those that give others 'till the count of five aren’t long for this world, because those who make it to six love to make things messy. Society is no longer part of our world. You either adapt or perish.That is why I do what I do, Frank. When the world fell to madness, I realized that the only route of survival was to fall in with it.” Bang.

[bradpitts-deactivated20151122]

[kristenwiiggle]

“I don’t know what it is about this girl.” “I think I know what it is.”

[lovefortv]

[kcajnigdug-deactivated20171206]

[ssnnrr-deactivated20180113]

Russell Brand Messiah Complex

[in-love-with-movies]

In Bruges (UK - USA, 2007)

[azizisbored]

Random scenes from a movie Harris Wittels and I worked on together. I found this in my files and just opened random pages and always found something to make me laugh (and in this reading, cry). Premise was me and some other guy get famous when a video of us saving a bunch of kids from a fire takes...

[azizisbored]

There are so few people that you meet in life that give you that feeling that you’ve found a real unique, original person. Harris Wittels was one of those and we lost him yesterday. He was 30 years old. I’ve been devastated.

I’m still waiting for the other phone call to let me know that Harris...

[elwood-lfc]

[mirrortraffic]

[rhaegare-deactivated20150522]

I know you don’t like to talk, but you gotta do it for her.

[madmanwithsomesocks]

This arc took a total of three scenes in the season (four if you count the scene where she’s not in the visiting room) and it still carried more weight than everything Larry’s dealt with the entire series.

[d0nn0-deactivated20150125]

people who say the n word and the f word make me angry

[clestroying]

ned flanders

[d0nn0-deactivated20150125]

[mexicofifa-deactivated20141019]

It’s so infuriating how Michael Brown, a seventeen year old boy who was brutally murdered, gets “he was no angel” in his fucking obituary but joan rivers who literally wished an entire group of people death gets a week of mourning and footage of her working at soup kitchens a billion years ago