Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with Negative Nancy Frosty Skywalker... Hehehe... In all seriousness, he could very well be justified in his views. I haven't seen any of the below flicks yet, so I can't say. I hope he's wrong. The early word from CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK has up to now been very good and I just love Spielberg flicks... Can't defend AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, though. I can smell that one from here...
Before we get on with Frosty, I must bring up something that disturbed me about Harry's JUNE DVD post... He did a great job, don't get me wrong... but how can you leave out the genius of BACK TO THE BEACH? Frankie, Annette, Pee-Wee, Stevie Ray, Dick Dale, Gilligan, The Skipper, Don Adams... Classic stuff! Available June 1st!!!
Just had to get that off my chest... Now on with Mr. Skywalker's words of doom and gloom!
Hey Harry/Drew,
Frosty Skywalker here with a few quick things...
First about Riddick. I have heard from a great source working on the project that Universal is making wholesale cuts to the film to make it a popcorn summer action flick, and they are cutting the deep subtext that the film apparently had. From what I heard the film is now straight action and later this year we will get a DVD that is the theatrical cut and a short time after they are already prepping the directors cut with over 30 minutes of cut footage. These wholesale cuts are the direct result of poor test screenings where the audience was confused. Thank you NRG for reducing a plot driven summer action flick to typical fast food entertainment. Actually it is not NRG but just dumb people who are the cause...but it still bothers me.... Also a little off the subject I heard they have done some digital work to Judi Dench's face....
Around the World in 80 Days. I saw this flick forever and a day ago and I do not even want to write about it. The film is awful. Dreadful. Whatever other word describes a waste of time. Yet I have to make a quick point. If you are 12 years old or under, you will probably like the film. I am past the demographic the film is trying to reach. As I have gotten older I am starting to realize I am moving past the ability to enjoy even high school flicks. I just do not care anymore about the trials and tribulations of high school, or the drama that goes with it. But getting back to Around the World, if you have a kid brother, or if you are 12 or under, you will have some fun. But unlike some films that have some adult enjoyment, even with a cameo by our governor, nothing can save this waste of celluloid.
Now onto The Terminal. I know a lot of people have been saying the film is good and the test audiences and critics have loved the film....let me say they are lying. The film is a shocking disappointment. I have to declare that The Terminal is Terminal. Let me start out by saying I enjoy sappy and romantic films, and I also like candy coated entertainment. But this film could make a diabetic go into a coma. I have seen on the site that people have summed up the film so lets not waste anytime on the plot. We know Tom Hanks lives in an airport and this is his story. Well I went in thinking with all the people involved this had to be worth my time. I was wrong. Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta Jones have NO chemistry. The film is completely unrealistic (I know it is a movie, but when it is based in reality you have obey those laws). I found scenes had no motivation. In the film there is a dinner scene between Tom and Catherine, and in that scene (which I have to begrudgingly say was quite funny) they both toss their pager's onto the runway. Why?! He says nothing, and she rambles on about things that I did not care about. Her character is awful, and she looks like she mailed in the performance. Not that the script made it easy to do anything. It felt like Spielberg said okay Tom is in the airport so we need a love interest...and make her really undesirable...but we'll cast a really attractive woman so no one will care about her....
I know you probably think I have it in for Spielberg or even Tom Hanks. I don't. I think Tom is a great actor, and Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest popcorn entertainment directors of all time. I am just frustrated by their actions. Spielberg has a freedom that almost everyone who is involved with film covets. He can greenlight his own projects and decide on just about everything involved in their production. Many artists will die never knowing that freedom. Therefore with that freedom I really think he should be making films that make you think, films that others cannot make, films that are about the human condition. This does not have to be all the time, but to make a huge summer film, and for the film to be a big scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream...well anyone can do it. I just expect more from the people involved.
You remember when you were a teenager and an adult film came on cable (not porn), or you went to the theater and saw something your parents liked and you were ashamed to say you enjoyed it. This is not that film. I saw it for free, and I want my time back.
I would like to mention that this summer thus far has been one huge letdown, I have seen some of the other big guns of the summer, and rest assured, the best is yet to come.
Frosty Skywalker
