Comments on: Friday movie roundup – March 2

By: Zimm

Zimm — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 23:50:25 +0000

“It was like someone set a monkey loose in a class full of retards.”

Brilliant analogy. I almost sprayed Diet Coke all over my work monitor. Though no monkey is involved, the imagery you provoke in my mind is very similar to this: [Page has some naughty language.]
http://www.wtfsrsly.com/midgets.php

By: David Manning

David Manning — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 21:16:01 +0000

While I have a general disdain for hearing the word “retard” in any negative/derrogatory light, I’m afraid I must agree with your simile in comparison with some of my less-inspiring theater trips (the trailers for “Little Man” and “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector” come to mind).

By: Steven Gardner

Steven Gardner — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 21:05:00 +0000

I won’t dispute William H. Macy’s acting skill versus John Travolta, but in your podcast you mentioned Macy’s Oscar nominations as evidence of how much better an actor he is than Travolta. I’m sure you know what’s next. Let’s not forget that Travolta was also nominated for an Oscar twice. I can’t support the first nomination, but I thought he was outstanding in “Pulp Fiction.”

By: Eric D. Snider

Eric D. Snider — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 20:00:59 +0000

Sorry if I misled you, Mr. Commentenstein. I didn’t mean to imply that subscribing would result in the current “In the Dark” immediately being mailed to you, though maybe that’s something we should look into. Right now we just mail it out once a week, and the subscription link was meant only to encourage people to sign up so as not to miss any future issues.

The “Black Snake Moan” story isn’t very interesting anyway; I just didn’t feel like rehashing it in the blog after already writing about it in “In the Dark” and talking about it in the podcast. Basically, it screened twice, and I missed it both times. The end.

By: Commenty Commentenstein

Commenty Commentenstein — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 19:22:05 +0000

So, I’m curious about the “Black Snake Moan” thing. I subscribed to “In the Dark” and completed my subscription. Was there a minty-fresh, brand-spankin’-new “In the Dark” in my e-mailbox when I finished? Alas, there was not. What gives? (Nice work, by the way, teasing something interesting that only subscribers can read about. Fine, fine, you got me.)

By: Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 18:40:09 +0000

From what I’ve observed about Hollywood, their best people are in charge of putting together movie trailers and commercials. They’re able to put the best parts of the movie together in a 30 second clip, while ignoring or glossing over the dumb stuff.

But when your trailer consists of

1.) A cow pie hitting a biker in the face
2.) A crow hitting a biker in the face
3.) Bikers trying to knock fists and one of them crashing
4.) A gay joke

AND

5.) Hint that there are racist jokes in the movie

your movie is really, really, really, really bad.

By: GWGumby

GWGumby — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:07:59 +0000

When I saw a trailer for “Littla Man” earlier this year, the audience was absolutely howling over it. I sat there scratching my head wondering how it was even the slightest bit funny. What was that missing element that separated me from the audience?

I guess it’s the same element that makes me cringe while listening to a stand-up comedian spouting off a stream of profanity-as-jokes while the audience laughs, cheers, and eats it all up with wild enthusiasm.

By: David

David — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:38:19 +0000

Eric, I’ve not seen Wild Hogs yet so I cannot comment on it, but the studios’ argument can backfire even more when their film is so bad you could hear a pin drop in theatre. I saw Epic Movie a couple of weeks ago, and you could hear people grinding their teeth and trying their best to find *something* funny. The lack of laughs somehow made it an embarrassing place to be.