We Don't Need Two Metaphors

26 films that collectively took less money at the U.S. box office than Suicide Squad did in just 3 days. A majority of box-office headlines each week focuses on the big hitters, the franchise entries and sequels whose performance in the opening weekend is often taken as an indication of long-term financial success. Will film X surpass film Y? Will film X cross $1 billion gross worldwide? Has film X met box-office expectations? Discussion of box office figures has gradually found its way into more and more online discussions, with larger box office takings often used as inherently flawed evidence to claim one film is better than another. Away from the big franchises, there isn’t the same level of discussion. The reporting on smaller films is available if you want to read it but there’s less understanding as to what those figures mean. Is a $5 million opening weekend a good result? Will the film make back its budget? Does that matter? In short, how much money d...

Tales of cops and robbers have rarely been far from our cinema screens and at first glance, there’s an inherently timeworn look to David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water . It doesn’t take long however for this neo-western to reveal its cynical and unmistakeably contemporary spin on bank robbers and dusty Texan landscapes. Having cared for his mother in her final weeks, Toby Howard (Chris Pine) sets into motion a plan to secure a future for his sons by robbing the same banks that are set to foreclose on his late mother’s mortgage. Helping him is his ex-con of a brother Tanner (Ben Foster), with Texas rangers Marcus (Jeff Bridges) and Alberto (Gil Birmingham) on their tail.