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.

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…)

Growing up during the Eighties I was a first hand witness to the bitter battle between VHS and Betamax for supremacy of the budding home video market. My family carefully avoided this format war for years, predominantly because of my father’s educated unease with buying anything during the early adoption phase. You see my father is an engineer and he has taken the rational, methodical and utterly boorish position that new technologies should be avoided on early release, to allow the engineers ample time to work the kinks out.

So it was several years after VHS had scored a decisive victory before we finally owned our very own VCR. It was so long after the Beta/VS battle had been decided that not soon after acquiring our VCR that Laserdisc became the new leap forward in technology for home theater enthusiasts. Needless to say, Laserdisc never wrestled away a big enough foothold from VHS for us to ever purchase a player. (more…)

I’m proud to announce my newest feature, Dare to be Stupid. The goal is for this to be my forum for posting general editorial rants, musings, or even just odd things that I find on the Web that just might be movie related. The goal is to post this feature regularly, though how regularly I do not know. Some of the editorials I am actually going to attempt to show a bit of journalistic integrity and actually research my subjects. Novel I know.

As for the title of the feature, I’m sure some of you are wondering just what I mean by it. It basically is a philosophy that I do not live by, but wish more often that I did. Their is something to be said for people and events that take risks to be great, knowing full when that in hindsight they could look utterly stupid. It’s to those who will risk everything for the opportunity to look stupid that is the inspiration for this feature. And with that I give you my first foray into the unknown, thanks to legendary guitarist Nigel Tufnel of the in-famous (i.e. more then famous) rock band Spinal Tap who recently sat down with National Geographic to discuss his expertise on Stonehenge.

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