Opening in Dallas, Weekend of 11/24
by Brian
The Fountain (trailer): I want to see this so bad I can hardly wait until tomorrow night. All praise and glory be to The Fountain!
Deja Vu (trailer): I hope this doesn’t suck. Tony Scott’s Domino was one of the worst movies that I saw last year, and two sucks in a row would be a very bad sign for a guy who’s not all that great to begin with.
Bobby (trailer): I know I should see it, and I certainly will, but everything I’ve seen and read about it leads me to believe that I’ll hate it.
Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny (trailer): Noted without comment, because I honestly don’t know what to say.
Unknown (trailer): Rule #1 of independent movies: Beware the movie with a large, well-known cast, that appears out of nowhere and without advance buzz.
Deck the Halls (trailer): I don’t know if I’ve ever formalized the Matthew Broderick Rule, so here goes: There’s only 2 reasons that Matthew Broderick appears in movies. Either it’s because other, better actors said no, or it’s because the filmmakers actually wanted Matthew Broderick in their movie. Both reasons are a giant, red blinking warning light. With accompanying siren. And a man on a megaphone yelling, “Stay away! Stay away, for the love of your souls!”
Deja Vu (trailer): I hope this doesn’t suck. Tony Scott’s Domino was one of the worst movies that I saw last year, and two sucks in a row would be a very bad sign for a guy who’s not all that great to begin with.
Bobby (trailer): I know I should see it, and I certainly will, but everything I’ve seen and read about it leads me to believe that I’ll hate it.
Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny (trailer): Noted without comment, because I honestly don’t know what to say.
Unknown (trailer): Rule #1 of independent movies: Beware the movie with a large, well-known cast, that appears out of nowhere and without advance buzz.
Deck the Halls (trailer): I don’t know if I’ve ever formalized the Matthew Broderick Rule, so here goes: There’s only 2 reasons that Matthew Broderick appears in movies. Either it’s because other, better actors said no, or it’s because the filmmakers actually wanted Matthew Broderick in their movie. Both reasons are a giant, red blinking warning light. With accompanying siren. And a man on a megaphone yelling, “Stay away! Stay away, for the love of your souls!”
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19 Comments:
Bobby: when I saw the trailer for this, I thought, oh, this must be that Bobby Kennedy pic that Mark Valley is starring in. Then all I saw was archive footage of Kennedy, so I thought, oh, this must be another Bobby Kennedy movie (Hollywood seems to love to double up on ideas). Now I think I've realized that this was the movie Mark Valley was going to play Kennedy in, but didn't, and I must have missed that news somewhere....
I want to see this so bad I can hardly wait until tomorrow night. All praise and glory be to The Fountain!
Setting yourself up for a mighty big fall there, buddy. But this is one film you just have to write a proper review for. This one doesn't even have a release date here yet.
a guy who’s not all that great to begin with.
Whaddaya mean? He's made True Romance, Crimson Tide, Man On Fire, Enemy of the State and, for chrissakes, TOP GUN. The guy's made some of the most entertaining action-thrillers of the last two decades. Cut him some slack.
I know I should see it
No, why? It's the Weinsteins that's got you fooled again. I'm avoiding this one. It smells bad.
Rule #1 of independent movies: Beware the movie with a large, well-known cast, that appears out of nowhere and without advance buzz.
My thoughts exactly on seeing the trailer suddenly pop up on Apple.
Whaddaya mean? He's made True Romance, Crimson Tide, Man On Fire, Enemy of the State and, for chrissakes, TOP GUN. The guy's made some of the most entertaining action-thrillers of the last two decades. Cut him some slack.
Yes, yes. Well aware of all that, of course. I never said that he's a hack, but he can pretty much do one thing, and only one thing, well: make entertaining action thrillers. And two bad action thrillers in a row probably means he's lost it.
I mean, did you see Domino?
Setting yourself up for a mighty big fall there, buddy.
Not at all. Whatever problems arise in the world, The Fountain will make better. That includes the problem of The Fountain being disappointing.
But this is one film you just have to write a proper review for. This one doesn't even have a release date here yet.
OK, I will if I can.
No, why? It's the Weinsteins that's got you fooled again.
Probably so. In retrospect, I'm amazed that I got through a post featuring two Weinstein movies without taking a shot at those guys.
But, I'll see it, because that's what I do. 127 movies and counting this year.
I mean, did you see Domino?
Hey, check out the three films he made before True Romance.
OK, I will if I can.
And I'll try and get back to that review of Volver. Man, that is a hard film to review.
I tried really, really, hard to fool myself into thinking True Romance was a great film. I even owned it for a while. Watched it many times.
But I've finally come to the conclusion that it just isn't. I'm not going to call it bad, but if there's ever a movie that is less than the sum of its parts, that's it.
I'm not sure I even need to dig into that one.
Besides, the parts that are good are pretty great. The Dennis Hopper Sicilian speech alone makes the film 'not bad.'
Well, fine. Again, sum of its parts.
No big hurry on the Volver review, by the way. I'm looking forward to reading it, of course, but it turns out it's not actually opening here - and I assume everywhere else that's not NY/LA - until 12/22. So it will still be timely for another month.
Wait a minute: I'm getting a little confused. I thought Brian's effusive praise for The Fountain was meant to be mocking, but now you're almost convincing me that you really are that excited about it....
127 movies a year? That's prompted some thinking that should probably go into a standalone post....
Wait a minute: I'm getting a little confused. I thought Brian's effusive praise for The Fountain was meant to be mocking
I, as well, get confused when Brian is in non-mocking mode.
No big hurry on the Volver review, by the way.
I just want to get it over and done with, so I can do other reviews.
And by the way, Brian, is that 127 movies in theaters, or does that include DVDs etc., too? Just working on that post....
In theaters. Not counting reperatory shows (midnight show of A Clockwork Orange, special screening of The Godfather, maybe one or two others).
If it makes a difference, I see a majority of those for free. I'm not sure how much that matters, as I've always seen a lot of movies, but it's worth a mention.
Also, 128 now.
It doesn't make much difference to me--what would make a big difference would be if you got paid to see them.
what would make a big difference would be if you got paid to see them
OK, OK, you found me out. I'm really Jeffrey Lyons. That's why I have trouble writing real reviews - I so rarely have to write anything more than "The summer's ultimate thrill ride!" or "The funniest movie of the decade!"
Ha, ha. Anyway, wanted to make it 129 this afternoon, but Fur was only playing matinees and I got bogged down by the Wii. Zelda is cool.
Jeffrey--my main man! Remember me? I was in Coliseum Books in the city back before New Year's '95, and I was telling my friend that the audiotape version of Bogdanovich's interviews with Orson Welles was great, and you overheard and said yes in agreement. One of my better celebrity encounters, though I didn't recognize you and it was only later that I realized when my friend told me that the great Jeffrey Lyons was actually agreeing with me.
Bobby--you will probably hate it, because the writing is amateurish, like out of a college creative writing class. Characters stop and make big speeches every five or ten minutes. Estevez has modeled this film after Grand Hotel, and even has the temerity to mention that film early on. It also reminded me of the disaster films of the 1970s--introduce a bunch of characters (whether on a cruise ship that's about to turn over, or a building about to catch on fire) and then unite them in the last act. The only saving grace in this film is the last ten minutes, which I found very moving, but only because I have a Kennedy-loving gene in my DNA. Worst moment--Laurence Fishburne's speech to busboy referenceing Once and Future King. Talk about clumsy Camelot references.
Oh, and I wanted to step up and defend Matthew Broderick, just a little bit. He can be very good--I liked him in Biloxi Blues, and in Election, which is one of my favorite films of the last ten years, I think he's great, superbly portraying a man who spirals from mediocrity to complete despair. And while I'm sure Deck the Halls is complete dreck, I do have a soft spot for "tit for tat" movies, going back to Laurel and Hardy, who made the best of them (Big Business, Them Thar Hills, and uh, Tit for Tat).
Fact is that the only warranting Broderick's existence is Election. Reason he was born probably.
I think he was born to play Ferris Bueller.
Glad someone finally mentioned that. I recall I accidentally saw it in the theater when I went to see Big Trouble in Little China (which became one of my all-time favorite films, incidentally) only to find that BTiLC had been yanked and Ferris Bueller's Day Off was the only thing playing that I remotely had any desire at all to see. And I liked it.
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