Sometimes Hollywood can have major tragedy. Death of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and depending on how much of a conformist idiot you are, Michael Jackson. But sadder than any of these events, is when a horrible movie does well, and a fantastic movie does poorly.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was awesome. If you haven't seen it yet, go see it, or at least add it to your Netflix queue. However, audiences didn't seem interested, and it's something of a bomb.
Vampires Suck was terrible. I haven't seen it, but I know that. I know because the film-makers haven't made anything remotely watchable. However, audiences were interested, and it's something of a hit.
Okay, not really a hit, it made about 12 million opening weekend, but it cost so little that it'll make it's money back. Scott Pilgrim on the other hand won't, here's why.
1. Marketing
Vampires Suck was marketed to Twilight Haters, of which there are many, promising to lampoon the much hated series. The advertisements were all clear about this. Scott Pilgrim was marketed as...well a movie...I guess. It set up a clear premise, but didn't give very compelling reasons to see it. Among its failings was the lack of inclusion of Edgar Wright's name in its ads. People respect his work, Hot Fuzz and Shawn of the Dead. If they had been mentioned, it would have done better. But the real problem is they came off as a typical hipster flick, and while not generic, certainly less than amazing.
2. Timing
Vampires Suck came out less than two months after Twilight Eclipse. That means, people have seen it and had a chance to hate it, but haven't yet forgotten it. Perfect timing. Scott Pilgrim, well...perfect timing was hard to find, and it probably would have been killed due to marketing anyway. But opening in mid-August against a film fueled by action stars didn't help anything. If they'd gone for a Fall release, like Zombieland it could have done much better, or maybe a spring 2011 release like Kick-A
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Big Fat Liar
Sometimes a movie is so bad it's good. Sometimes I movie is so bad it's bad. Sometimes, albeit rarely a movie is so good it's bad. Sometimes a movie is bad on purpose, trying to be "so bad it's good" that it's bad. And than there's Big Fat Liar.
This movie is, fantasy. Logic and reason do not apply here, and that's a good thing.
The film stars Frankie "oh my gosh I hate this kid" Muniz. Oh my gosh I hate this kid. He's just creepy, whiny and weird. It also stars Amanda Bynes. She's pretty awesome, and I'm quite saddened that she has quit acting. However, the real star here is Paul Giamatti. More on that later.
So our film begins with Jason Shepherd (Muniz) lying to people. The lies all seem inconsequential. Except one. He somehow forgot to do a paper that, guess what, counts for a third of his grade. Oh no, how will he get out of this one? Well long story short his teacher gives him three hours to write the paper, or he will face summer school. He manages to come up with something, but on his way to turn it in, he gets hit by a limousine. Inside is famed movie producer Marty Wolf (Giamatti) who reluctantly gives Jason a ride the rest of the way, when Jason threatens to sue him. However, Jason accidentally leaves his story, entitled "Big Fat Liar" in the limo! OH NOES! So of course, Jason ends up in summer school, which sucks. Oh, and Amanda Bynes is the movie too, playing Jason's best friend Kaylee. She hasn't really done much yet, and honestly she serves much the same purpose of a house plant. So Jason and Kaylee go to see a movie, and they see the trailer for a film entitled "Big Fat Liar". That's right, Wolf stole his thousand word story, and decided to turn it into a movie, and got a trailer out, all in a matter of days. Like I said, logic and reason don't apply here.
So Jason decides to go to LA to have a talk with Mr. Wolf. His parents are conveniently going away for a few days leaving him alone with his older sister. She, of course takes off with her boyfriend and is never seen again in the movie. Even more conveniently, Kaylee's parents are going away too! But uh oh! Kaylee was supposed to stay with her Grandma Pearl! So they hatch a genius plan to have one of the "bullies" that Kaylee tutors pretend to be her. He does this because...hey I guess it's kind of funny.
So when they get to LA Jason basically waltzes right into Wolf's office and asks him to call his Dad and tell him he did the assignment. Instead of simply saying no, Wolf pretends that he's going too, gets out the story, and "accidentally" burns it up with a cigarette. This is what I really like about the movie. Giamatti overdoes it so much, and quite literally becomes the meanest man alive.
That's enough of a synopsis, but needless to say it gets better from there. Donald Faison and John Cho turn in great and funny performances. Cho (before he was famous) plays a film director clearly modeled after Chinese director John Woo, which leads to some of the movie's funnier sequences.
All in all, this is a great example of a movie throwing logic and reason to the wind and being all the better for it. I give Big Fat Liar 3/4 stars.
This movie is, fantasy. Logic and reason do not apply here, and that's a good thing.
The film stars Frankie "oh my gosh I hate this kid" Muniz. Oh my gosh I hate this kid. He's just creepy, whiny and weird. It also stars Amanda Bynes. She's pretty awesome, and I'm quite saddened that she has quit acting. However, the real star here is Paul Giamatti. More on that later.
So our film begins with Jason Shepherd (Muniz) lying to people. The lies all seem inconsequential. Except one. He somehow forgot to do a paper that, guess what, counts for a third of his grade. Oh no, how will he get out of this one? Well long story short his teacher gives him three hours to write the paper, or he will face summer school. He manages to come up with something, but on his way to turn it in, he gets hit by a limousine. Inside is famed movie producer Marty Wolf (Giamatti) who reluctantly gives Jason a ride the rest of the way, when Jason threatens to sue him. However, Jason accidentally leaves his story, entitled "Big Fat Liar" in the limo! OH NOES! So of course, Jason ends up in summer school, which sucks. Oh, and Amanda Bynes is the movie too, playing Jason's best friend Kaylee. She hasn't really done much yet, and honestly she serves much the same purpose of a house plant. So Jason and Kaylee go to see a movie, and they see the trailer for a film entitled "Big Fat Liar". That's right, Wolf stole his thousand word story, and decided to turn it into a movie, and got a trailer out, all in a matter of days. Like I said, logic and reason don't apply here.
So Jason decides to go to LA to have a talk with Mr. Wolf. His parents are conveniently going away for a few days leaving him alone with his older sister. She, of course takes off with her boyfriend and is never seen again in the movie. Even more conveniently, Kaylee's parents are going away too! But uh oh! Kaylee was supposed to stay with her Grandma Pearl! So they hatch a genius plan to have one of the "bullies" that Kaylee tutors pretend to be her. He does this because...hey I guess it's kind of funny.
So when they get to LA Jason basically waltzes right into Wolf's office and asks him to call his Dad and tell him he did the assignment. Instead of simply saying no, Wolf pretends that he's going too, gets out the story, and "accidentally" burns it up with a cigarette. This is what I really like about the movie. Giamatti overdoes it so much, and quite literally becomes the meanest man alive.
That's enough of a synopsis, but needless to say it gets better from there. Donald Faison and John Cho turn in great and funny performances. Cho (before he was famous) plays a film director clearly modeled after Chinese director John Woo, which leads to some of the movie's funnier sequences.
All in all, this is a great example of a movie throwing logic and reason to the wind and being all the better for it. I give Big Fat Liar 3/4 stars.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Giving Credit Where Credit's Due.
All right, I've talked about this before, but it needs to be said. Something's rotten in the state of Hollywood. Writers are run-over. Few people even know what a producer does anymore. Stars are receiving credit for the writing of films. Directors are receiving credit, only when you know there names, otherwise they may as well be writers (which many of them are).
So now, I will examine a few innocent, albeit insipid comments your average movie-goer may make after a film.
"That movie was really funny! Will Ferrell is so funny!"
Who's Getting Credit: Actor
Who Deserves It: Writer, Director, Editor, and lastly, Actor
Let's take a look at how a comedy gets made, shall we? First, our writer (or writers) hash out a screenplay, revise it and rethink it, until it's ready for shooting. At this point, the production may already be doomed if the script sucks. Now, the producer sets up the film and well, produces. This has little effect on the ultimate outcome of most comedies, it can be fairly inept or completely immaculate, and it will make little difference. Now, it's our director's job to get the best performance possible out of our actor. Of course, there has to be a good actor in there in the first, place, who can deliver lines as required, and pull proper facial expressions. Now it falls to the director again to pick the best take. It then goes to the editor, who can end up mucking things up if he messes up the timing by cutting too much out, or leaving to much in. This is typically overseen by the director though. Another giant responsibility also falls to the director, deciding which portions of the film will end up on the cutting room floor, and which ones will make it to the silver screen. However, he doesn't get the final say. Usually, a film will be test-screened with audiences, and if there's a particular portion they don't like, it may well be cut. This, along with bogus money grabs, is the reason for all the "Director's Cuts" floating around these days. So, let's recap. Writer writes good script, director gets it done well, actors act well (funnily), director picks best stuff, editor keeps mojo, director cuts fluff, audience shove their stupid faces in it.
"That movie was lame. Michael Bay is a hack."
Blametaker: Director
Responsible: WRITERS, Director, Actors, Producer
All that really fell to Michael Bay was getting the good performances, setting up interesting shots, pacing the film, and cutting the fluff. Even if he failed at all of these (which he has done before) most of the responsibility still falls to the writers.
So now, I will examine a few innocent, albeit insipid comments your average movie-goer may make after a film.
"That movie was really funny! Will Ferrell is so funny!"
Who's Getting Credit: Actor
Who Deserves It: Writer, Director, Editor, and lastly, Actor
Let's take a look at how a comedy gets made, shall we? First, our writer (or writers) hash out a screenplay, revise it and rethink it, until it's ready for shooting. At this point, the production may already be doomed if the script sucks. Now, the producer sets up the film and well, produces. This has little effect on the ultimate outcome of most comedies, it can be fairly inept or completely immaculate, and it will make little difference. Now, it's our director's job to get the best performance possible out of our actor. Of course, there has to be a good actor in there in the first, place, who can deliver lines as required, and pull proper facial expressions. Now it falls to the director again to pick the best take. It then goes to the editor, who can end up mucking things up if he messes up the timing by cutting too much out, or leaving to much in. This is typically overseen by the director though. Another giant responsibility also falls to the director, deciding which portions of the film will end up on the cutting room floor, and which ones will make it to the silver screen. However, he doesn't get the final say. Usually, a film will be test-screened with audiences, and if there's a particular portion they don't like, it may well be cut. This, along with bogus money grabs, is the reason for all the "Director's Cuts" floating around these days. So, let's recap. Writer writes good script, director gets it done well, actors act well (funnily), director picks best stuff, editor keeps mojo, director cuts fluff, audience shove their stupid faces in it.
"That movie was lame. Michael Bay is a hack."
Blametaker: Director
Responsible: WRITERS, Director, Actors, Producer
All that really fell to Michael Bay was getting the good performances, setting up interesting shots, pacing the film, and cutting the fluff. Even if he failed at all of these (which he has done before) most of the responsibility still falls to the writers.
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