The Bad German
by jaydro
Well, somehow it has happened. I always eagerly look forward to any new Steven Soderbergh film, and early buzz on The Good German had me psyched. Of course, as I saw clips for it I got a sinking feeling--they looked like everyone was trying way too hard, too caught up in an homage to The Third Man etc. The Good German came here two weeks ago, with an "exclusive engagement" at a multiplex I've never visited, because I've heard that it's the worst of the three from that chain in this area, and while their best one is okay, the middle one is detestable, so.... But I still meant to go see it, even though the theater was bad and out-of-the-way for me, and now, well, now it's gone. After just two weeks.I think Bubble had a longer run here than that (at an arthouse cinema). Given the investment in it, I would say that The Good German has to be a pretty big flop. Guess that's why they've got Ocean's 13 up next. *sigh*
Labels: soderbergh
|Link|10:52 AM
9 Comments:
Wow. I don't remember how long it played here, but it was longer than two weeks.
Thought it was OK. As an exercise in style it was amusing, but as a movie it was pretty bad. It was better than Full Frontal, but the experience wasn't altogether different from that film. It just felt like a con job, know what I mean?
As far as I know, it hasn't played in New Jersey yet. It was in two theaters in Manhattan around New Year's. I wonder if it will ever get here now.
You aren't missing out on much, really. It's an okay DVD at most. Film looks nice, luscious black and white, if that makes sense, and Cate Blanchett is at least interesting, but that's about it.
Like I said before, mostly it wasn't so much an homage as a lame rip-off.
It still hasn't opened in Connecticut, either.
I thought Little Children had the strangest/weakest platform release in recent memory, but German's is actually a little worse. Considering the A-list talent involved and major studio backing, I can't explain it...
Hey, I liked Full Frontal!
But it does seem like they've really dumped The Good German. The biggest promotion of it I've seen have been the prominent displays of the novel with the movie tie-in cover in Borders.
Didn't mean to sound as if I were knocking Full Frontal. It falls in the "OK" category too, just less OK than Good German.
Well, somehow it has happened. Again. I always eagerly look forward to any new David Lynch film, and early buzz on Inland Empire had me, well, who cares--it's a David Lynch film. I've barely seen any clips or reviews of it, and that doesn't matter. It came here two weeks ago, and bounced between a trio of arthouse theaters where it was getting one show a night (the one most convenient to me played it the full two weeks, but pre-empted it several nights for special screenings). I was going to play hooky to go see a matinee of it at a distant theater on Wednesday, but, damn, the weather was so nice it was too hard to play hooky to go sit in a theater. Then I planned to go last night, and it didn't work out. And now, well, it's gone. After just two weeks.
The Good German redux. And Inland Empire had even less promotion than German, but that shouldn't surprise given its nature. It's just....
I'm still a bit distressed that I have yet to see any DVD release details (like when and whether there's going to be Soderbergh commentary) for German, which makes going down to the virtual Canal Street all the more tempting.
Well, jaydro, don't know if anyone else will see this. But I am the all-seeing eye...
I think Empire is opening here sometime in April. For a while, it didn't look like we'd get it at all, though, as it seemed to be bouncing around smaller college towns.
Yeah, I forgot how old this post was. I'm bumping my comment into a new post....
Post a Comment
<< Home