Monthly Archives: September 2004

MMM – Shark Tale

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You can read my full recap of the marketing for Shark Tale at Film Threat.

So Dreamworks now shows up to the CGI-animated underwater story an hour and a half into the party and, to make matters worse, they forgot to bring the beer. Dreamworks’ philosophy seems to be to make movies that are “edgy” and “hip” but which come off as “lame” and “not worth our time”. Shrek was funny for about 15 minutes after it stopped playing in theaters and Shrek 2 seemed to have rehashed the jokes from the first one without even putting any extra gravy on to mask the leftover taste. Since “Shark Tale” doesn’t appear on the surface to be much different, my expectations aren’t great that this will be a breakout hit.

And the best part is it saves gas!

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Beginning a couple weeks ago I decided to try out Blockbuster’s online rental service. I’d like to say I chose Blockbuster over Netflix based on some residual company loyalty from the eight or nine months I worked for them, but the honest truth is that it came down to $19.99 a month over $21.99 a month. Two bucks can sometimes make all the difference.

So how is it working out? Wonderfully from my perspective. The best part about it is that online Blockbuster carries so many titles that they just don’t realistically have room for in their stores. As much as they should, it’s impractical from them to carry all of Kurosawa’s films in the Chicago suburbs, where only 12% of the population would be interested in them. Being online, though, I can load up my queue with Godard, Truffaut, Peckinpah and Altman movies that I have not yet seen and they will be mailed to my doorstep when I get to them.

Yes, I still have a mix of new releases in there, but that’s not any different from what I would be renting at a brick and mortar location anyway (think Coen Bros., Punisher, etc). It hasn’t really changed my renting habits as given me more elbow room to rent what I would like.

It’s about a three day turn-around from when I mail a movie back to when I get the next one from my queue, which to my mind is perfectly reasonable. If there happens to be a gap of a day or two (as just recently happened) that just gives me an excuse to pull something out of my own collection that I may not have watched in a while. All in all, I’m loving this system.

MMM – Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow

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You can read my full recap of the marketing of Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow at Film Threat.

So when I began seeing the first posters for “Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow” I was intrigued. It seemed to have a similar aesthetic sense and nostalgic feel. Then I realized it co-starred Angelina Jolie and the feeling in the pit of my stomach began to grow. After all, this is the woman who is such a bad actor she actually made Lara Croft look un-sexy. Quite an accomplishment. It also looked like a terrific CGI mess and, most confounding, looked like a black-and-white movie that had been colorized. I’ve slowly lost all but a little desire to see it.

MMM – Resident Evil: Apocalypse

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You can read my full recap of the marketing of Resident Evil: Apocalypse at Film Threat.

So I am only passingly familiar with the “Resident Evil” franchise. I kind of know it’s a game or series of games in the “Tomb Raider” mold, with one badass chick fighting all sorts of demony types (a genre which reached its pinnacle with “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer”, a show which ironically spawned what I understand to be mediocre video games).

MMM – Wicker Park

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You can read my full recap of the marketing for Wicker Park at Film Threat.

Anyway, Josh Harnett stars in some sort of psychological drama involving mistaken identities and ill-advised romances. How is it Hartnett has a career? Is he really considered a “movie star”? The guy got his start in Halloween: H20 and went on to Pearl Harbor and 40 Days and 40 Nights? When you can’t act to begin with and then go on to prove it in a succession of crappy films it’s time for the authorities to get involved.