Wow, it's been an interesting month or so in movieville. I live in an area of Los Angeles that probably has enough theater seats within walking distance for almost every resident of Westwood to have a place to sit if they really needed it. There are literally seven theaters within walking distance and there used to be more. However, don't think those are all multiplexes. They're actually one screen per theater. I know that seems old fashioned, but it's cooler that way. It means more turn-over of movies and fewer crowds to deal with when leaving the theater. It also allows for huge theater capacities and bigger screens.
Unfortunately, the guys who run most of the theaters here are idiots. Years ago, they got rid of PHANTOM MENACE after just a handful of weeks in favor of GENERAL'S DAUGHTER. Now, I know that PHANTOM MENACE is a sucky film, but does anyone even remember GENERAL'S DAUGHTER?? Anyway, so while turn-over means more movies, but turn-over can sometimes mean that you don't have much of a chance to see a movie you may want to see. In fact, just a few weeks ago, four to be exact, CATWOMAN opened. Now, obviously the person who programs the theaters in Westwood (Mann Theaters) is an idiot and thought Catwoman would rake in the cash. Come on, a black woman in the lead of an action adventure movie? America is just too racist and sexist still to be interested in a movie with those, er, uh, features. I mean, the TOMB RAIDER movies starred the single most beautiful woman in the business and those did relatively poorly. Add the strong female to the racial angle and then throw in the fact that the script for CATWOMAN is ten times worse than either TOMB RAIDER feature and you've got a recipe for box office disaster.
Which is just what happened.
The movie bombed and in three weeks (I think it might have been even less than that), Mann nicked it from their premiere theater in Westwood--the Village theater. This is the favorite LA theater of George Lucas. He likes it even better than the Chinese Theater. (I think he's full of crap, but then, I'm not worth millions of dollars. :rolleyes: ) Anyway, so they ditch Halle Berry and what do they replace it with? HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO THE WHITE CASTLE. I haven't seen it, but I'm excited to see it get such a prominent venue in LA. It's a film with two minorities in the lead, which is great. However, in a business sense, you have to wonder what they're smoking. They expect a dumb comedy about a couple of slackers going for fast food to do better than CATWOMAN?
Who knows... I don't. I was hoping to catch H&KGTTWC, but just today it got replaced with THE EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING. More proof that not only is Mann Theaters staffed with fools, but so is Hollywood, itself. The film is directed by Renny Harlin a man who is experienced in making crappy dumb action movies. Renny directed CLIFFHANGER and CUTTHROAT ISLAND. :crazy:
So, you can see how dumb everyone involved is, here.
Meanwhile, across the street from the Mann's Village is WITHOUT A PADDLE at the Bruin. There's another comedy classic. Sheesh... The good news is that the box office has reflected how lame THE VILLAGE causing Landmark theaters (who own one theater in Westwood) to ditch THE VILLAGE after three weeks in favor of an independent film. :laugh: The film is NICOTINA that looks good to me, but I've only seen the posters...
There are some other movies floating around, too, of course. I do wish the MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE remake had done better. It's fairly preachy, but still the best thing in theaters right now.
My advice? Rent this weekend, or better yet, read a book...
No comments:
Post a Comment