Fighting, Channing Tatum, Terrance Howard, street fighting, economy, brainstorming, titles, nephew, unpaid intern, hostage negotiator, talking, period drama, Victorian England, Keira Knightly, boring, The Fat White Movie Producer, Lawrence

Discussion (27) ¬

  1. Stefan
    Stefan

    I’ve actually been seeing a lot of spots on tv for Fighting. And those are pretty much my thoughts when the title popped up the first time I saw the spot. “Wow, Fighting? Care to elaborate? šŸ˜› “

  2. Noneek

    You forgot about another horribly named and horrible in it’s self movie; Happening. Also, conveniently starring Mark Wahlberg too. I mean how vague can you get

    • Tom
      Tom

      Oh, you’re right! I totally forgot about The Happening!

      Maybe they only pitch movies to Wahlberg in the most general terms to get him on board. “Shooter? Yeah, I get that. The Happening. Okay, something happens. Sign me up.”

  3. Shawn Robare

    All I know is that there better be all kinds of fighting in the movie. I mean, I want parents getting bitterly divorced, altercations after traffic accidents, kid on playgrounds ninja spin kicking each other, bosses and subordinates having it out, I want to see boxing and dance wars, cats chasing mice, dogs chasing cats, old ladies chasing both cats and dogs, just everything fighting. And there better be some manly big guys with Rollie-Fingers-style mustaches pugilisting all over this thing. Seriously though, it’s pretty easy to guess what the porn version of this flick would be titled…

  4. Shawn Robare

    Oh yeah, and I really dig the beat of the joke pacing in the third panel. I can so hear the excitement of Lawrence pitch perfect in my head.

  5. Atomsk
    Atomsk

    I think your comments on the title are a bit unfair. While I doubt the movie will be anything mindblowing, they could be trying to use “Fighting” to show that the character has battles beyond the physical. Seems there is some classism and love, life on the streets and survival, all things that you have to fight for or against. I believe they had more insight making up the title than writing the script.

  6. Kieran

    The Fat White Movie producer makes my day every time.

  7. Zero
    Zero

    You also missed “Taken”. However, “Taken” was an awesome movie.

  8. tyler h
    tyler h

    because “Ironman” leaves a lot to the imagination?

    • Tom
      Tom

      Tyler, Iron Man is a person. Like I pointed out using Shooter for an example, at least it references something or someone specific.

      Fighting, to me, feels very general.

  9. Steve
    Steve

    I’m glad someone brought up “The Happening”. When a friend and I first saw the trailer for that, we developed this little bit we do now and then together, still to this day.
    “Wha happen?!”
    “Da Happening happen!”
    “AHHH Whas happening?! Maak Waaburg, wha happen?!”
    “Its happening! AHH!”
    For some reason we do it with really bad stereotypical Chinese accents… dunno how that became a part of it, but that’s what it is. We never saw the movie, and never will… and all we know is that SOMETHING Happens. Not so sure if there’s a cause though.

    Anyways, I agree Tom. Even though Atomsk has a good point, it’s still a title that poorly communicates to the audience. So I share Stefan’s feeling here: “Wow, fighting? So what.” Having a simple verb as your title takes away any emotional connection, where as a noun form “fighter” may connect you to that mug on the poster. I know I’m repeating Tom, but man… I couldn’t have said it better myself!

  10. Orpheus

    Have we already forgotten “Knowing”?

  11. vaguelee
    vaguelee

    I honestly prefer movies with a short to the point title. and If I see “Fighting” on a poster or marquee i pretty much know what I am getting. Others have listed “Taken” and “Knowing”. And Knowing certainly takes the vagueness prize. To the uninitiated movie patron that or “Watchmen” would be way more misleading than “Fighting.”

    I also favor short titles as a theater emplyoee who changes marquees in the rain. šŸ˜‰

  12. Kevin I

    Seeing the ads for “Fighting” I keep thinking “Well it looks like it’ll deliver what it promises…”

  13. Zach
    Zach

    I was just on my way to come point out “The Happening”, but I guess someone beat me to the punch. In a similar vein, this season of Lost has their finale entitled “The Incident” which makes sense to Lost fans as a title, but even the producers were making fun of it with “Here’s why it’s called The Incident: because something is going to happen, perhaps.”

  14. Alcibiades
    Alcibiades

    The problem is that “Fighting” is a gerund: the weak-willed noun version of a verb.

    The gerund of “Taken” would be “Taking” (or possibly “Takening” if the writers were really stupid).

  15. Liz
    Liz

    So the title is bad. I don’t want to completely condemn the movie because of it. However…this is one I’ll wait to rent…particularly since if it’s bad, I can just mute it and watch Channing Tatum.

    *shrug* I’m a girl.

    • Tom
      Tom

      Liz, I’m not trying to condemn the movie. For all I know, it could be great. But I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” If the title is our first impression, the rest of the movie has some ground to cover!

  16. JoshM

    And let’s not forget “Haunting in Connecticut”. It fits so perfectly into the premise of this comic too!

    “Okay, next we have a movie about a family moving into a house in Connecticut where they’re terrorized by ghosts …”

    “Haunting!”

    “Um, I think there’s already a movie with that title…”

    “Okay … Haunting in Connecticut!”

  17. Wayne
    Wayne

    You are not alone. When I first saw that title I thought that Hollywood had become so unoriginal that they couldn’t even make up decent titles anymore. It’s bad enough that theaters are flooded with remakes and adaptions.

  18. Andre
    Andre

    I think the title makes sense. If it was called The Fighter, it would lead me to believe that this is a guy that’s been a fighter all of his life, that fighting has become his life, that HE is a fighter (like The Wrestler). By being called Fighting, it makes me think more about WHY the guy is fighting, what led him to fight to claw his way out of problems. It’s more something he does than something he is. That’s my perception at least.

  19. Orion
    Orion

    Not again…. it’s KEIRA!!! How can everybody get it wrong? It’s not funny even when deliberate!

  20. Saint Stryfe
    Saint Stryfe

    What about John Cena’s tour-de-force playing a Marine in… “The Marine”?

  21. totalmoviefreak
    totalmoviefreak

    I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought the title was stupid.

    I never liked these movies were it condones fighting just as the answer to everything or as sport, like “Never back Down”. “Fight Club” is the only good one because it had actual substance and amazing actors.

    • Tom
      Tom

      Fight Club really isn’t about fighting, though. It’s about emotionally neutered men trying to find meaning in their materialistic lives by tapping into something primal. The clubs are then just a set up for the twist of destabilizing conformity while illustrating that non-conformity is itself a form of conformity.

  22. nick
    nick

    Every time I see trailers and TV spots for this movie I cringe. But my local alternative newspaper printed a rather favorable review of the movie that almost makes me want to see it. Almost.

    http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/on-screen/Content?oid=1473755

    Then again, they liken it to the first Fast & Furious movie. Which I can’t even come close to tolerating anymore. I mean, I love Vin Diesel (for some ungodly reason), but anything that contains a Paul Walker instantly loses my attention.

  23. vaguelee
    vaguelee

    So I watched the movie Fighting last night and lo and behold, the fighting going on wasn’t primarily fisticuffs ( tho the fights that were there were brutal and intriguing if poorly shot). BUt it is primarily about Terrance Howard and Channing Tatum’s characters fighting for respect and closure of old wounds, respectively. Interesting, not great. but not a waste of time. catch it on cable in a few months.

Reply to Kevin I ¬

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