Well, January & February are the traditional dumping ground for studio turkeys or low brow fare. One scheduled to open Friday I believe stars Cedric the Entertainer. I've seen previews and it looks like it is being marketed to the double-digit IQ brigade. It is a shame because the lovely Lucy Liu is co-starring and that is usually enough to send me running to the multi-plex, but I predict I'll be sitting this one out. I wonder if this film will break 30 on the metacritics' scorecard?

Another one that has stinker written all over it is a new one that stars two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank where she is a teacher in a New York City high school.

It looks awful. I think it opens tomorrow.

Can't Swank, based on her Oscars, get better roles than this?

Boy they must really be desperate in Hollywoodland. One of the sausage factories is remaking THE HITCHER. The original HITCHER film was a stinker.

Hey. I don't mean to call you on everything, but did you actually see the original The Hitcher? It might not have the greatest rep, but it's a solid suspense film with excellent photography, direction and a particularly sinister performance from Rutger Hauer. The new one, based on the coming attraction, changes things around and does seem pretty pointless. Maybe they should just reissue movies instead of remaking them. It worked in the past. They might make more money and accidentally turn on younger film fans to some film history and underappreciated earlier films.

I liked the original The Hitcher too.

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
Hey. I don't mean to call you on everything, but did you actually see the original The Hitcher? It might not have the greatest rep, but it's a solid suspense film with excellent photography, direction and a particularly sinister performance from Rutger Hauer. The new one, based on the coming attraction, changes things around and does seem pretty pointless. Maybe they should just reissue movies instead of remaking them. It worked in the past. They might make more money and accidentally turn on younger film fans to some film history and underappreciated earlier films.

I can't fathom why THE HITCHER has such a cult reputation. I don't even remember when it was originally released, but someone recommended it and I gave it a shot albeit on video, but I thought it was just another tacky genre film. I like Rutger Hauer, who hasn't had as good of a career as he should have, but as far as I'm concerned THE HITCHER is a real dud.

I think what I liked about the original The Hitcher, was that it was great for what it was - essentially a low budget horror movie. But it was unlike any other horror film you're likely to find from 1986. At a time when slasher films were king, The Hitcher relies on good, old-fashioned Hitchcockian suspense, and there's little gore. Also, the performances by Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, and Jennifer Jason Leigh are better than you're likely to find in a standard genre film, and as Mark pointed out, it's beautifully shot.

Screenwriter Eric Red also went on to write the excellent vampire flick, Near Dark.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
I think what I liked about the original The Hitcher, was that it was great for what it was - essentially a low budget horror movie. But it was unlike any other horror film you're likely to find from 1986. At a time when slasher films were king, The Hitcher relies on good, old-fashioned Hitchcockian suspense, and there's little gore. Also, the performances by Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, and Jennifer Jason Leigh are better than you're likely to find in a standard genre film, and as Mark pointed out, it's beautifully shot.

I saw THE HITCHER on video, taped off TV, with commercials, so I missed out on any beautiful cinematography. I thought the film was poorly directed, particularly the action scenes. I didn't find them particularly suspenseful or scary.

I just watched Factory Girl and was very disappointed for two reasons.

1. The cinematography was way overdone and tried too hard to get an artsy feel.

2. I don't like how they made Andy Warhol seem. I hold him in a very high respect and they made him seem like the scum of the earth with no talent, they didn't take the time to delve into his psyche and show why he was the way he was. Just very one-sided.

I was reading today's "Village Voice" and noticed that THE FACTORY opens on Friday, but there is no review in the VV. That means it wasn't screened for the critics with a longer lead time than the daily critics which usually means the film is a stinker. We'll see when the reviews come out on Friday.

And I guess BREAKING & ENTERING, Anthony Minghella's new film, is a dud. Its release date was pushed back from late in '06 to early in '07 so there are a couple of red flags. First, that the release was pushed back. Second, that the release occurred in January, a time when studios release their mistakes.

I'm a big Minghella fan -- I loved THE ENGLISH PATIENT & THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY -- but if B&E is as bad as I expect that will be two stinkers in a row with B&E following COLD MOUNTAIN.

That is dissapointing. I am also a huge Minghella fan (English Patient is sublime, with Talented Mr. Ripley being only slightly less accomplished), but of course I will be first in line to see Breaking and Entering.

Epic Movie is definitely the worst movie released so far this year. It's literally unwatchable, even on a purely graphic-visual level. My friend saw "Because I Said So" and told me that was incredibly dull and awful as well. 2007 is not really off to a good start.

But it is really the dog days. Even the art house fliks are getting panned. Check out the metacritic.com scores for the films that opened today.

GHOST RIDER opened today and the studio didn't screen it for the press. Reportedly this one has been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years and is finally getting dumped into theatres in February, a traditional dead period for films. You would think a star of Nicholas Cage's magnitude would have better taste or could get better roles.

Do you know why all of these horror films are being remade? Because these stupid ass directors have a SEVERE lack of imagination and creativity!

Too bad nicholas cage is a terrible actor. He bugs the shit outta me

You guys are insane! "Ghost Rider" was great! I've been to see it twice & everyone in the theater seemed to enjoy it. I don't understand why a person who doesn't like a particular subject or actor anyway, would go to see it. No, it's not a "masterpiece". No, it won't get any Oscars. It's a popcorn movie made for the fans of the comic book! I HAD to go see it again to see if maybe I was just in awe of the fact they made this movie & maybe my judgment had been off but, no, it wasn't. I still enjoyed it as much as I did the last time.

I can imagine "Resident Evil: Extinction" to be even worse. The first was cool but, then the second just destroyed the franchise for me. I mean, did the second even do well enough for another sequel? I'm going to go out on a limb & say THIS movie will be the worst of 2007!

hey, the original HITCHER was good, Rutger Hauer is awesome in that movie.

hey, boarder753, i also hate nicholas cage, he always acts the same. and i also like kool keith (your signature). there is a new ultramagnetic mc's album out now.

quote:

Originally posted by branestorm:
hey, boarder753, i also hate nicholas cage, he always acts the same. and i also like kool keith (your signature). there is a new ultramagnetic mc's album out now.

*high five* haha

Well there are now 2 movies that I am predicting to make their marks as "Stinkers of the Year": "Resident Evil: Ex"stink"tion" & "28 Weeks Later". What is going on in Hollywood? Really, do we need sequels this bad?

As I said before, the second "Resident Evil" was AWFUL & mostly made NO sense. Take the "Church Sequence", Alice comes crashing through the window taking out the monsters in a single sweep, thus saving Jill. However, the question is never raised as to HOW Alice knew anyone was in trouble within the walls of this building! Why do we need another after this train wreck of a movie?!

Then you have "28 Days Later", which I enjoyed. I loved the thought of the insane basically taking over an entire country. (Yes, they were insane, violent people infected with RAGE, NOT zombies as everyone seems to believe.) Everyone should have seen this by now, but if you haven't, SPOILER ALERT! By the end of the movie, the infected began dying off & there was a glimmer of hope as jets flew overhead to look for survivors. Now, in the sequel, we find Americans are coming over to help put England back together again, but there are STILL infected people running around in order to cause more chaos. WHAT A LOAD!

Yes, 2 movies I won't be wasting money on at the theater & will only watch if a buddy brings the DVD over.