So I found out early yesterday afternoon that my theatrical pick this week, Fears of the Dark, was dropped from the release schedule. According to our buyer the film might still be released in December, but for now it is totally off the booking sheet, which is an ominous sign.

Evidently the film simply didn’t do very well in other markets (ie New York and Los Angeles) so the decision was made to ax the film instead of releasing it. This in spite of the heavy promotion it has received at all three Landmark Theatres (The Uptown, Lagoon and The Edina) over the past few months. It is pretty rare that a film that has been this heavily invested in by our company will be so unceremoniously dropped. It has happened before, but Fears of the Dark is the first one that I can recall that was dropped after being promoted at all three theatres.

But what really got my goat was when I discovered what Fears of the Dark was being replaced with at The Lagoon, that being Quantum of Solace. Now the decision to play Quantum of Solace at The Lagoon had been made several months ago, and one that has plenty of regulars irked ever since Landmark decided to have both The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia play on two screens this past summer.

Now The Dark Knight is at least defensible, as it made massive amounts of money all across the land and The Lagoon was relatively slow at the time, but Mamma Mia? But bunlike the rest of the world, both ended up doing rather mediocre business at The Lagoon, even the vaunted Dark Knight, and early signs are that Quantum of Solace won’t meet expectations either.

But what is most frustrating, is that Quantum of Solace is on two screens. That means the largest theatre chain in the US that is dedicated to Independent film simply dropped a foreign Independent film for a second screen of the massively mainstream James Bond. It was strictly financial decision, and one that had already backfired at this location in the past, to ax a film that had been garnering decent buzz from their regular clientel just so they could possibly draw in crowds for a film that is decidedly different from the rest of their yearly fare.

Do the expect those customers who come to see Quantum of Solace to return for other films?

Do they expect their regulars to be excited about losing an impressive looking Independent film just so Quantum of Solace can be shown every hour?

I know what my decision is. I won’t be watching Quantum of Solace. Not at The Lagoon, or anywhere else for that matter.

And if anyone else is as bothered by this as I am, feel free to visit landmarktheatres.com and let them know what you think.

I dare you.

This is going to be a quick post as my router has been incredibly passive aggressive with me all day, cutting in and out whenever it is most inconvenient, causing me to lose the hundreds, nay, thousands of hours of work I did this morning. And now as we speak the network has completely vanished, leaving me to run off the overloaded connection being dispersed by the local library.

So yes, even though it is evidently Liv Tyler week (The Incredible Hulk, The Strangers) when it comes to new DVD releases, I am going with something completely different. Primarily because The Strangers was stupid and The Incredible Hulk looks stupid. So, in honor of on screen stupidity I am picking a Paul Walker flick, The Lazarus Project. Surely it can’t be any dumber then the previous films mentioned.

As for theatrical releases, even though W is being released and Rachel Getting Married is garnering some rather surprising critical acclaim, my selection this week is The Pool. From director Chris Smith, best know for the amazing documentary American Movie, comes his first fiction film about a poor boy living in India who becomes obsessed with a swimming pool in one of the richest neighborhoods in his city.

As always trailers are after the break!

(more…)

I can understand why you might not head over to Film Junk for enlightenment. Sure they run a great site and have the best film related podcast on the Internerd, so I understand that you might not realize they have a slumbering giant just beginning to awaken in Cantankerous. With only three episodes produced to date Cantankerous is a podcast still trying to discover just what it will cover, but what it has delved into is outstanding.

The duo behind Cantankerous is Jay Cheel, the sardonic film snob who just might be suffering from Munchausen syndrome, and Reed Farrington, the Star Trek uber-nerd who engages completism at warp factor 9. Apart they are capable of entertaining you, but together they form an intoxicating mix that will thrill and mystify you with each passing episode.

And while Jay typically dominates most of Film Junk’s podcast, it is Reed that makes Cantankerous destination radio. In episode one you discover his Kermit the Frog impression that only works when no one else is around, or marvel at his learning of the space shuttle Columbia disaster four years after it occurred.

But that would be outdone in episode two when Reed admits that his life is incomplete because he has never suffered from food poisoning. He then follows this up with a lecture on his disappointment at how people are not attempting to become more intelligent and uses his love of the film Soylent Green, which he views as a piece of high brow science fiction that will challenge people, as the basis for his argument.

But both episodes pale in comparison to the third, where we learn that the last hardcover book Reed purchased was the Joan Collins biography simply because she talks about her experiences guest starring on Star Trek. From there we learn about how Reed becomes confused at why white actors shouldn’t play other races in films, his short lived attempt at making his own cooking show entitled Cooking with Gerry, and Reed’s frustration with Dawson’s Creek inconsistent use of theme songs on the various DVD sets. But the true apex of the show is when we learn of Reed’s ongoing attempts to archive the Internet by using a video camera to tape it.

That Cantankerous continues to top its own style of unbridled brilliance in every show, drawing the listener ever closer to understanding the complex world Reed Farrington lives in, it quickly becomes evident that this podcast offers up the possibility of a window into a fantasy world that you never would have dreamed existed.

So go on, what are you waiting for?

You probably haven’t noticed since the ad campaign hasn’t quite started up yet, but Picturehouse is releasing a remake of The Women, the 1939 film about a group of wealthy Manhattan socialites who have nothing better to do then talk about the men all the live long day. The remake is directed by Diane English and stars Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Candice Bergen, Cloris Leachmen, Bette Midler, Carrie Fisher and seemingly every person in Hollywood who has a vagina. Hold on a minute Larry Wachowski and Eddie Izzard. It seems you still have some luggage that isn’t allowed to be carried on this set.

You see The Women is a movie that doesn’t have a single male in its cast, and when it was originally made in 1939 this was viewed as pretty progressive stuff. But with a plot that is entirely dependent on these women talking about the men in their lives as if they can’t do anything or go anywhere or talk about anything else except men, it now has the detrimental effect of making women look like shallow idiots who are incapable of being independent from the male members of their lives. And that isn’t all.

In a stunning display of idiocy that I can scarcely comprehend, who should play the role of Mary Haines, a woman who is struggling to recover from the news her husband is having an affair as her friends rush to her aid in a time of crisis, but none other then Meg Ryan. A woman who was publicly vilified for … wait for it … cheating on her husband Dennis Quaid with saucey Aussie Russell Crowe on the set of Proof of Life.

But it’s not like anyone will remember that right? Sure Meg Ryan utterly sunk her career as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood with that collosal blunder, and yes she totally fled the Hollywood scene in an attempt to not have to continually hear about her adulterous ways but I’m sure women have totally forgot about it by now. I mean, it is not like women are known for remembering such betrayal, and they certainly wouldn’t remind you over and over and over again about it to make sure you know that they know that you know that they know that Meg Ryan is a slut.

I mean, even the slightest measure of due diligence should have come to the conclusion that remaking The Women may not only not be a very good idea, but is just plain stupid.

The Women trailer

Now I am probably one of the small handful of people who enjoyed Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. I was there opening night and saw it with a few friends and all of us liked it to varying degrees. Don’t get me wrong, I am perfectly capable of admitting that there are major flaws with the film, and that those flaws make Book of Shadows a difficult film to appreciate on a surface level. And it was that bitter pill that ended up sinking a potentially fascinating franchise. But lurking beneath the surface were characteristics and themes that I wish more sequels would aspire to. (more…)

“The Walking Dead will be the zombie movie that never ends.”

-Robert Kirkman

So you like zombies do you? You watch every new Romero film that comes out. You have even tracked down a bootleg copy of [Rec] so you don’t have to sit through an American remake. And you just might be the type of person who keeps their copies of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z in the Nonfiction section of their book case.

Or maybe you are one of those avid readers who still shuns comics because you think it is a medium only for kids and post-adolescent fanboys? You selectively ignore the number of critically acclaimed authors working in comics, or the numerous literary awards being won simply because it is easier to classify comics as something beneath you, and thus a waste of your time.

Or maybe you have one of a thousand other perfectly legitimate reasons for not reading The Walking Dead. (more…)