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Cameron Diaz's magic swirling underoos end up in Richard Kelly's BOX!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Now, I've read the script for Richard Kelly's THE BOX and it's strong. Really strong. If you're not familiar with the project, it's based on a Richard Matheson scripted episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE about a box concealing a button. It is given to a couple that is told they will be paid life-changing money if they press the button, but with the knowledge that if the button is pressed then someone will die. The presser of the button will not know the person killed, but by pressing the button they are in fact killing someone.
Cameron Diaz has just joined the project, playing the wife of the couple given the box.
Kelly originally wrote it for Eli Roth to direct, but then Roth got caught up with HOSTEL 2 and CELL and left it for Kelly to direct once SOUTHLAND TALES was finally finished.
We're starting to see some press now talking about how audiences don't want R-rated horror anymore because 1408 did well and HOSTEL 2 didn't and I'd like to address this now. In the trade story announcing Diaz, they talk about how Kelly is aiming for a PG-13... Having read the script, it's pretty obvious that a PG-13 is the way to go. This story isn't dependent on gore or sex or language. I don't believe for a second that Kelly is afraid of the R, but I do think he sees that this story can be told PG-13 without losing any of the suspense he wants.
I think the rating has nothing or almost nothing to do with the recent performance of horror. I liked HOSTEL 2 and I liked 1408, but we haven't seen a horror movie like 1408 in a long while whereas the type of horror HOSTEL 2 is has been dominant in the genre for the last few years.
I don't think the horror audience wants tame horror, I think they want a better variety. I don't think I've ever met a horror fan that said, "Man... I'm tired of R-rated horror movies. Why can't we get more PG-13 stuff?"
All the press will just go away whenever the next R-rated horror movie comes out and sweeps up. Every time something fails it's always the death of whatever type of film that was and whenever something succeeds, it's always the beginning of a new trend. That's just how things are reported. Maybe you'll disagree, but I don't believe the audience only wants PG-13 horror.
But like I said above about Richard Kelly's script, I think he's making the movie he wants, a movie that can fit in a PG-13 rating, not paring it down because he's afraid of a harsher rating. On the whole, THE BOX is Kelly's most mainstream script. It still has his quirks, of course. His voice is clearly there, but I think it has a wider appeal than his previous work. Now if he can just get the final cut of SOUTHLAND TALES to come out...
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suck it
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CASINO ROYALE and 1408 are proof. Bring the action, bring the scares, and let the story dictate how graphic it gets. All those politics make me sick to my stomach. I want me some quality entertainment, is all.
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On all the other sites, usually just cut-and-pasting from the trades, there's no mention of Eli. Wierd considering he's been attached to this thing for about 5 years. Is he laying low, or do the producers not want his name associated with it.
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Anyway, you had me at Richard Kelly. I'm there.
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It's not about R Rated Horror. It's about sick twisted torture porn that has no excuse being on screen other than for psychopaths to jack off to. It's also about fat idiots who write glowing reviews about perverted trash just because their buddy directed it. But that's another story. This sounds like a decent concept, although it may not be enough to support a 2 hour movie. Anyway, it's got fuck all to do with the rating. It doesn't have to be PG-13. It just has to be good, and not evil perverted trash.
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but i liked Southland Tales as it was. Saw in Cannes in 2006 and sure it was kind of an insane mess but it had real charm and was filled with wonderful characters and moments. I'll admit the through narrative was bizarre - it was kind of like ten, 15-minute shorts strung together in a random order, but a lot of the shorts in and of themselves were gold. So glad I fought to see it despite what the critics were saying about it all that day because it doesn't seem like we'll ever see it released, and certainly not in that form. Can't believe there's no more word on this and it's been over a year now.
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A closeup of Diaz's box will double the gross.
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The way she smoked in the 1980s version of Button,Button was classic.She played "The C.U.N.T" TO PERFECTION.
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I'm still itching to find out whether Kelly has any actual talent, since it seemed liked Donnie Darko (a decent film) was good in spite of Kelly and not because of him. This Southland Tales sounded like it had a bunch of interesting ideas in it, which I'm still curious to see. Plus, it has a Buffy cast member in it, which means I am obsessionally obliged to watch it no matter what.Anyone know if it's ever coming out?
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In order for people to enjoy it. Personally, I like horror films that build suspense and make you jump at the right moments with the gore used sparingly like in The Shining. Really, I think just a well made horror film is enough to get me to see it, regardless of the gore used but all the horror movies I own don't involve chainsaws and don't spell out every gory act.
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Let's not forget though the man did write Domino!
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My opinion can be inconsistent with your opinion, but all I can say is that my recent reviews are completely consistent with my own opinion. I think there are a lot of people who have made up their minds on Hostel 2 before they saw it. It's not THE SHINING, it won't change the genre, but it's a fun watch despite the fact that the torture based horror seems to be winding down. I can't believe someone would consider the amount of crap we got in the '90s and say that the Hostel films compare with shit like Valentine and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.I know this is an uphill battle in the talkbacks, but that's fine. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind. I just say it like I see it. I caught a lot of shit for my DIE HARD 4 review, but I just didn't like it. I gave my reasons and some people didn't agree. That's how things work and the reason why movies are so amazing. I can watch a movie and take away something completely different than you... or Harry... or Vern... or your parents... We each bring our entire life in with us, all our experiences, every time we see a movie.But no matter what, I think the mainstream press is wrong when they say the audiences that go to horror movies want PG-13. They just want good movies and to be entertained. If there's a rating that brings people into a horror movie, it sure as hell isn't PG-13.
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http://www.indianajones.com/community/news/mov/firstday.mov
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Sorry, wrong link
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That's per IMDb.
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... but I don't know that it needs a feature length version. Not that it couldn't be done but the existing episode does the job. Get in, crank up the tension, make with the freaky twists and out in under half an hour. I just get nervous when folks lengthen things out to feature length. Half the bad Steven King movies are bad because they try and take a short story that has just enough material for a short piece and then they try and drag it out for an hour and a half.
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Is is able to be rescued? Thats the question. Plus Darko looked good, but was total pretentious used underpants storywise. Lame, lame time-travel story that made no sense. Still, it gave DJ Yoda a chance to use footage to devestating effect at his recent gig at Glastonbury festival.
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This is what has become of the so called future of creative, original film making; an adaptation of an old Twilight Zone episode. Okay; I'm sorry for my cycical derisiveness, but still it makes me wonder. Incidentally; am I right in thinking it was an episode of the (much under valued) 80 TZ revival series rather than the original?
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Actress Cameron Diaz has created controversy in Peru for a fashion faux pas concerning a Maoist slogan imprinted on her bag. She carried an olive green bag adorned with a red star and the words "Serve the People" printed in Chinese characters.
The phrase is considered one of the most famous political slogans of Mao Zedong, the former leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
The words have particular resonance in Peru, where the Maoist Shining Path movement terrorized citizens during the 1980s to early 1990s with a deadly campaign of bombings and massacres. Nearly 70,000 people died during that period. -
Gore has replaced suspense. I went to see BUG recently thinking it might be a good scare. Turned out to be ridiculous. I am bored with gore fests (unless they're funny), but I'm still hungry for seriously intense horror. There have been a few good films lately that ratcheted things up. Both of the 28 films are a step in the right direction.
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Audiences don't want R horror because Hostel2 bombed. Nothing to do with it being an unnecessary sequel to a shit original then?
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And Diaz is a moron. But then again, I'm typing this in my Josef Stalin boxer shorts and Adolf Hitler flip flops.
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That's a classic TZ episode - but I only saw it on the 80's series, not the original, if my memory is correct. Not sure if the two episodes were all the same. So how do you stretch it out to full length? Doesn't it end with .... 'SPOILER!' .... the couple is told if they press the button it will kill "someone they don't know," but the press the button, they get the $, but then they ask where the box is going next, and as the person takes the box away he says "to someone you don't know." And that's it. Is there more to this story that needs 90 minutes? Doesn't it just take 22 at most?
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and start making 'PG-13' rated Die Hards.
OH...wait...
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That was my exact thought on reading this. Unfortunately, the story didn't really go anywhere in a book that didn't go anywhere. I thought it was the best of a bad bunch of loosely connected short stories. The fact that this is coming from the pen that wrote "I Am Legend" means I'll be there with bells on. Matheson actually wrote a script for one of the Superman films which was turned down. He died shortly afterwards. And how do they honour his memory? By turning Will fucking Smith on the best Horror?Sci Fi book ever written. Awww, HELL no!
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Give me a J-Lo style booty any day.
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I think you may have missed the point about the rating debate... I didn't read any of the press mentioned, so this is my opinion, but I find it hard to believe anyone would think horror fans would prefer PG-13 to R. But I do think a PG-13 would attract far more mainstream fans, the non-horror fans, like me. I like a good scare, but not watching someone saw off their own arm with a hacksaw. I'm much more likely to go see something like The Sixth Sense than SAW III or Hostel. (As a matter of fact, I've never watched any of the SAW or Hostel movies, and probably never will.)
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I'm only familiar with this story from the 1985 TZ episode. But, it was called, "Button, Button", not "The Box". Was there a similar story from the original series in the 60's? Anyone?
Great episode, but I also wonder how it will play out from 22 minutes into 2 hours. -
It cost $10 million to make and made $17 million domestic. This doesn't include internation sales or DVD. Yeah, it's not enough to warrant financing a Hostel: Part III, but it's also not the failure of R rated horror that people are predicting. It just opened on a bad date for the kind of movie that it is (I'm sure the leak didn't effect it that much).Love or hate Hostel and Roth, the movie did alright at the box-office. Now, I hate the Saw franchise, but come this October Saw IV will probably do what Saws I - III did and clean up in ticket sales and people will stop worrying about the immediate future of R rated horror.
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So, based upon two movies, they've decided the way the entire genre is going? They really believe people are paying that much attention to a movie's rating. I've seen many movies over the past year, and some I probably didn't even notice the rating. They honestly do not believe quality of a film has anything to do with it. I believe Hostel 2 got mostly negative reviews, while 1408 got generally positive ones. That's based on the quality of the film, not its ticket sales! 1408 is some kind of supernatural horror thriller, while Hostel 2 is about people being tortured. What's the connection between them? Idiots. Personally, I hate any of those brutal, so-called "torture porn" movies, but the executives' thinking here is idiotic. As I said once before in other talkbacks, it's like Disney's stupid belief for years that Pixar movies doing much better than their 2D cartoons was because everyone just wants computer animation. Never once did they consider it was the story! God, they think their audiences are so brainless.
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Is a neuter.
I don't know how Diaz can be considered a moron for not stringing together such a bizare set of coincidences that led to her offending some peruvians. It's a hell of a stretch on their part. Think about it...Mao expression equals anger in Peru? -
a studio marketing exec dies. Mind you these fuckers are like the Hydra- so we'll need a team of people round the clock pressing the button to clean out a good 2 or 3 thousand of them.
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it bombed because it sucked, as did Hostel 1 , as did Cabin Fever, as does Eli Roth as a director. Boll>Roth
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okay people-I dont want to be the bearer of bad news but PG 13 movies arent scary. They just arent. Im all for movies that dont depend on gore or violence but PG 13 films dont actually provide the necessary scares of a horror movie even though people will try and convince you they do. The Others? Not scarey. The Shining? Fucking scary...and The Shining isnt that violent or gorey. Sure it has an elevator full of blood thats seen briefly, but you dont see the people bleeding the blood do you?the presence of blood doesnt mean violence. and beyong that it was a scary ass movie based on atmosphere-and do you ever think that it would be an PG 13? Not a chance in hell. And I do agree we need to get away from those grimey dungeon set, badly lit gore fests-cos they aint scary either. But anyone who thinks that a PG 13 horror film is not a watered down horror film is diluding themselves...or maybe Im not easily cared...anyway Im probabaly talking balls here-what was this movie called again?
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okay people-I dont want to be the bearer of bad news but PG 13 movies arent scary. They just arent. Im all for movies that dont depend on gore or violence but PG 13 films dont actually provide the necessary scares of a horror movie even though people will try and convince you they do. The Others? Not scarey. The Shining? Fucking scary...and The Shining isnt that violent or gorey. Sure it has an elevator full of blood thats seen briefly, but you dont see the people bleeding the blood do you?the presence of blood doesnt mean violence. and beyong that it was a scary ass movie based on atmosphere-and do you ever think that it would be an PG 13? Not a chance in hell. And I do agree we need to get away from those grimey dungeon set, badly lit gore fests-cos they aint scary either. But anyone who thinks that a PG 13 horror film is not a watered down horror film is diluding themselves...or maybe Im not easily cared...anyway Im probabaly talking balls here-what was this movie called again?
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Sorry. The bitch blue-balled me last night.
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Yeah it had loads of atmosphere that I'm sure could fit into a PG13 film.But it was that naked old,laughing chick that creeped me out as a kid.Plus that film used the word fuck quite well.
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read the three prequel graphic novels! they're really well done, and have gotten me stoked for the movie (Kelly said that you'll have a better time with the film if you read the prequels). Quint and the like should pick them up before they get a chance to see the final cut. From what I've heard the cannes cut wasn't even close to done (shots of the pier, which were supposed to have a huge karma factory superimposed were just blank, no megazeppelins, etc.). Anyways, I'm really looking forward to ST, and it's one of my most anticipated of the year. Domino was a trainwreck however.
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Or at least it's going that way. This is the age where they pussify Terminator, Alien and Predator, Die Hard, Harry Potter (remember how they had to remove the Hermione Gryffindor dorm solo sex scene (seriously, what girl with a wand wouldn't consider it? 'Expecto Orgasmo!')) Fuck the studios. Fuck the MPAA. And most importantly - fuck you.
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We just need more original films and let the chips fall where they may.
Hollywood freaks me out. -
Everything Cameron Diaz ends up in turns to crap.
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Contained 3 short stories that were in order about a magical box, that if you looked inside it when it stopped ticking, it would show you something that changed your view of the world. The reason it worked, and was scary, was because of his overused but effective gimmick of not telling us what it is. We don't know the culling song in Lullaby, we don't see the painting in Diary, and we don't know what the box shows you. That's the key different between the two, and the reason the story stays with you. In The Box, were given the cause, and then the effect. You press the button, it's the cause, you get money and someone dies, it's the effect. In the Haunted stories, you see how ruined and lifeless and mechanical the people who look in the box become, but you don't know why. That's why it's terrifying. Those 3 stories were the highlight of the book, what happened to the daughter, what the mother did, wow. Great stuff in Haunted.
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Yeah, you're right-bad example there. A better one would be a Lynch film. I mean if you take the masturbation and sex scenes in Muholland Drive its a scary as fook flick with no gore and I doubt even with those scenes taken out it would make Pg13.Im kinda frazzled-all Im trying to say basically trying to say is that I have yet to find a PG 3 film I could find scary by virtue that they woyuld have to tone it down for kids. Whats wrong with kids sneaking into r-rated flicks anyway? Isnt that whats being a kid is all about?I saw the Shining when I was a kid and it scared me shitless-because it was supposed to be scary! It didnt do any permanent damage-I mean I couldnt sleep after I saw The Fly (Cronenberg version naturally) but I wouldnt change that fact cos it means the flick dod its job in scaring the shit outa me. Both scary flicks, both seen by me underage, both R-rated (or 18 certificate as we have). But I watched Pg 13 horror at that age and walked away unscathed-they just arent scary, therefore in my opinion dont do their job consarnit!
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Yeah, you're right-bad example there. A better one would be a Lynch film. I mean if you take the masturbation and sex scenes in Muholland Drive its a scary as fook flick with no gore and I doubt even with those scenes taken out it would make Pg13.Im kinda frazzled-all Im trying to say basically trying to say is that I have yet to find a PG 3 film I could find scary by virtue that they woyuld have to tone it down for kids. Whats wrong with kids sneaking into r-rated flicks anyway? Isnt that whats being a kid is all about?I saw the Shining when I was a kid and it scared me shitless-because it was supposed to be scary! It didnt do any permanent damage-I mean I couldnt sleep after I saw The Fly (Cronenberg version naturally) but I wouldnt change that fact cos it means the flick dod its job in scaring the shit outa me. Both scary flicks, both seen by me underage, both R-rated (or 18 certificate as we have). But I watched Pg 13 horror at that age and walked away unscathed-they just arent scary, therefore in my opinion dont do their job consarnit!
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Nothing against you, PVIII, but fuck all that. I would like to see Mr Kelly make a film that can stand on its own two feet and not require a website or a series of comic books to explain whatever it is the writer/director wasn't capable of conveying in his film. I don't think that's too much to ask.I'm looking forward to seeing Southland Tales, because I'd like to know whether the guy is talented. I enjoyed Donnie Darko, but when I listened to Kelly's commentary it was clear that the bulk of his ideas were not onscreen at all. The story he thinks he told and the story the film presents are not the same thing. Hence, my feeeling that Darko is an accidentally good film.I was worried when I heard about the terrible reception it got at Cannes, but now I hear I have to read some comics to make sense of this film... gak. Not a good omen for this one, I think.
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creepy. Both PG 13. But I wish that execs would get their filthy paws off these damn films. Make the film then deal with the rating you are given. If your film comes out as an R rated film, well sorry to break it to ya, but that's your friggen demographic.
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Remember when you could see boobs in PG films. Even the occasional bush shot. Dragonslayer anyone?
Yet that has gone the way of the dodo and what is it replaced by? Massive amounts of PG 13 violence. -
it's made this more of a business than an art form. How much are the willing to throw out because of money. I, for one, don't like Hostel, but I appriciate the fact that Roth didn't trim it down to make more money. I think directors should push to make the movie they want and not the studios. Lots of people knock on Mel Gibson, but I give that guy lots of credit. He went above the studio and made his movies with his money and distrubited them by himself pretty much. He didn't care what they wanted, he made the movies that he envisioned. More people need those kind of balls
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to see another script by this moron adapted to film. He lost it right after releasing the THEATRICAL cut of DONNIE DARKO. The director's cut of that was an abomination, DOMINO was an abomination, SOUTHLAND TALES is an abomination by all accounts I have heard and read. Somebody put Richard Kelly out of his misery already before he can sodomize us with that talking cow movie Harry talked about years ago when he read the script.
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Problem is, more people don't have Gibson's money. Films are obscenely expensive to make, and - much as people don't like to accept this fact - film making has ALWAYS been more of a business than an art form. You get some art if you're lucky, but mostly it's just business. Cinemas all around the world these days are dominated by teens, which is why the PG-13 (or the 12A we have in England) has become so prevalent. I don't much like it, but that's the way it is.We can talk about being gutless and lacking in balls all we want (it's so safe here on the internets), but you have to ask yourself this question - if you had made a $50million + investment in something, how many real chances would you be willing to make?This is the main reason I watch more and more films from outside the studios these days. They're made for less money and therefore the people involved are more likely to gamble or try something more unique or challenging. Studios rarely do that anymore because there's too much money on the line and it doesn't make good business sense.Phew, that went on longer than I expected. Have a good weekend, everybody!
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Of course you'll never meet any horror fan who clamors for more PG-13 flicks. Duh! What you are forgetting is that there are not enough horror fans to make a film profitable. A ton of really great R-Rated horror films fail at the box office despite every single horror website or message board blowing their ecstatic man-seed all over it. Mainstream audiences are much more likely to randomly check out a PG-13 ghost story than they are likely to even consider walking into the latest torture porno or Rob Fucking Zombie movie. That's why PG-13 will always be more financially successful than anything with an R. Hell, even horror fans stays home from R-Rated flicks because they (correctly) assume that in 3-4 months they can rent an unrated DVD with a shitload more guts, gore and maybe even some tits.
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This movie will be a huge hit if Cameron stumbles though it carrying her Mao purse.
Also, what ever happened to Southland Tales? Is this thing going direct to HD-DVD?? -
Cusack was great and the first 20 minutes setting up his night in the room was really well done and then ... nothing. Not one good scare. The part where he went out of the ledge of the building was kind of scary for me because I dont like heights.
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I think (and this has probably been pointed out before me) the biggest factor in the bombing of Hostel 2 was the decision to open it in early June rather than in October.
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When reading about this movie, does any one else hear Elmer Fudd in their head saying " What ever you do, don't press the red button!"
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No second chances for this pretentious douchebag. Fuck em. And shove that PG-13 "variety horror" up your ass as well, fucko.
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Easily in the top 5, even including Rod Sterling's work. But I really can't see it being made into a movie. Like most good TZ stories, it sets you up for that one big punch to the gut at the end. Even with the 22 minute episode, the set up seemed a little long in The Box. I can only assume that they're going to rehash the episode and then spend at least an hour showing 'what happen's next'. But not knowing for certain what is going to happen next is what makes the episode so effective. Still, if Quint says it's well written, I guess I'll have to see it.
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Anyway's I can't wait to see another film directed by Kelly. Really dug Johnny Darko although the directors cut started to feel like the game Myst.
But there was brilliance in that film. Very curious to see what evolves from him.
On a side note. I think Domino is a fun rental. -
Thats retarded on so many levels. I guess those people haven't seen The Others (brilliant film), Poltirgiest, Halloween, and I could go on and on. Your right its certianly not the script that makes a horror film memorable its seeing that blood spurt. Please.
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where a man killed his uncle and buried him in the back yard. And there was this picture of the back yard and it kept changing showing the uncle coming from the grave up to the house?
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*SPOILER*
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is for the original couple to then frantically spend their new-found wealth trying to find where the box is now, and keep it from being used.
Oh, and Kamala, that was Daffy Duck. Elmer Fudd was the prospective buyer. -
Hee hee. Had Point Break playing in the background and well...
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If they decide water that down to a PG-13 I'll never see a film again!! It had better be a hard 18/R!
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Yeah, that episode rocked. Wasn't back of the movie that launched the series? The other tales was the guy who wished himself into the painting.
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more likely disgusting rather than scary. I've never seen Hostel, Cabin Fever or any other "blood and gore dependant horror movies" because they all seems generic to me, they seemed to be just about how much blood you can spill onto the screen rather than a smart and atmospheric ones
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That way, it's all or nothing.
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The Night Stalker and the Night Stangler, and...... Gargoyles. featuring make up by a young Stan Winston.
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Sure, it didn't clean up like the first one did, but it made more than its budget back and it'll go crazy on DVD and PPV. But honestly, I think it suffered from the same trouble that GRINDHOUSE did... poor choice in release date. I contend that unless the timing is just right, releasing a hard core horror film during the summer months is a bad idea. First, you're competiting with every big summer movie that has just come out, or is about to come out. Second, you're not catching the audience in the right MOOD. I'm a huge horror fan, but I'd still like to see my horror flicks in the fall or winter because that's when everything is dead and cold and that's when I'm thinking to myself, yeah, now I want to see something fucked up and scary. General audiences are like women, you have to catch them in the right mood to talk them into the darker kinkier stuff. I bet you anything that if GRINDHOUSE and HOSTEL II were released later this year in the fall, they would have made millions more.
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miss both of those series. Just classic examples of EC comics moral tales of horror that just fuck with you. It's what made Creepshow so classic
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will have to wait, I think. The studio gave Kelly some extra dough to add some more CGI effects just a month or three ago so a direct to Harry's HD-DVD shelf release seems unlikely. My guess is it'll at least get an arthouse run,
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It's not the rating its the substance.
Exorcist is one of my favorite films in general. That movie scared the living shitake outta me. What's interesting is the televised version still creeps me out. -
you are dead on man. Summer is when people want happy, mindless explosions and romance. But when you reach the emotional pull of the colder months. The time where day ends around 5 and you shiver when you step out side. It just breeds that terror when you walk out of a theater. Think of the nights in winter where you walk outside by yourself in the snow and the world has that eerie silence. It's a perfect time for a crazy pic to screw with your head.
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just a test
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talking about a real minority, box office-wise. (When I hear "horror fans", I think of mad-at-the-world, intensely lonely, morose, hopeless types on lots of medication, the vast majority of which seem to frequent AICN.) Generally, there's just a vast moviegoing public who will see most any movie of any genre, so long as it looks like it will deliver what it promises to deliver. Scary movies that are actually scary, action movies that are exciting, comedies that are actually funny. If 1408 is doing well, it's because of the regular people who think it will be genuinely scary, not because of massive waves of horror connoisseurs flocking to the theaters. Just sayin'.
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I don't care if a film os R or PG-13 or G for that matter - if the movie is GOOD and original, I'll watch it. Hostel 2 was neither GOOD or ORIGINAL! There is a ton of torture porn movies out lately. 1408 did better because it was a creepy, scary flick. These things all go in cycles anyway. For studio execs to speculate the future of cinema because of two movies in little ol' 2007 is idiotit - but then that is what studio execs are best known for.
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at least someone said it
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I'M THERE! After a p.r. trail of disastrous interviews (one scribe described Roth as "a lousy filmmaker and an even worse interview...think Ted Knight of C-movies"), and the HOSTEL 2 flop, Roth may be directing you to a table at Burger King.
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Around 20 yrs ago this was done. Either on the then-"new" version of "The Twilight Zone" (not the UPN redo, the CBS redo that premiered with Bruce Willis in "Shatterday"), or on "Tales From The Darkside".
It starred Mare Winningham as the wife.
It's a great little short story, especially if you can't see the ending coming.
It also made a good TV show (at least it did when I was a kid).
BUT it's not really enough to make a full-length feature out of.
Maybe Kelly's going to pad it out by having Justin Timberlake lipsync a Killers song. -
Who is the idiot that insists HOSTEL 2 made a profit? Yeah, tell that to the poor saps at Lionsgate who have been pink-slipped. That lousy movie hasn't even recouped its budget (the film would have to clear $20 million to break even, what with TV commercials, newspaper ads and other media appendages). Allow me to burst your bubble: the movie tanked. Writing on his blog, Roth was shamelessly begged his fans (all 10 of them) to see the film twice...three times, "bring your friends." What a loser...and a what a truly pathetic exit from the limelight. He's the High Pitch Eric of Z-movies.
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Hostel 2 isn't the type of movie people want to see in theatres. They'd rather watch it in the privacy of their home where they can freak out over the gore and rub one out for the sex... so I hear. Rental will be huge.
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Donnie Darko was great because the studio cut it up and it became this unintentional cryptic masterpiece. When you see the Director's Cut and see what Kelly intended you realize just how off the mark he was. Domino was absolute shit. Southland Tales will be a straight to DVD bomb. This guy will be directing tampon commercials in a year or two. And fuck the prequel cartoons and websites with tangental universes. How about putting it all up there on the fucking screen?
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Is being remade with Nick Cage and Tara Reid and Christian Slayter, directed by Tim Story. THe haunted wheel chair and bouncing ball are now going to be 100% CGI!!! Sweet!
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They are both incredibly annoying guys but I tolerate Tarentino because he is talented and has made influential movies. Eli Roth is a nobody.
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Haven't seen this mentioned.
The Twilight Zone episode is based on a short story also called "Button, Button", but the ending is different.
At the end of the short story, the wife pushes the button, and at that moment her husband is hit by a car. She receives a large amount of money from an insurance policy.
She never really knew her husband, you see... -
refrain, you know the movie died a horrible death at the box office. HOSTEL II didn't die, it crashed and burned (some moron claims it made $17 million domestically. Uh-uh, it tanked at a little over $9 million). I agree with the talkbackers above: the public wants a scary roller coaster ride, not an untalented fratboy-chimp who equates torture porn with horror. I'm pretty sick of remakes though I'd make one concession...a Neil Marshall remake of THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (when the original film was scripted, the content of Richard Matheson's book was compromised for a PG rating).
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that maybe people just don't have any money? Last summer and this one they're looking for all kinds of reasons why people aren't going to the movies and last summer and this summer people have to spend $60 to fill their gas tank. So they cut back on unnecessary things like going to the movies. Duh. I wish they'd just stop blaming the movies when there are other reasons. And I know some movies do very well but it's because people are planning ahead for the POTCs and Spider-mans. They know they have to take their brats to those so when it comes down to movies for the adults to see, it's tough luck.
I don't know about this movie. If Richard Kelly still doesn't understand the very obvious plot of Donnie Darko, I don't know how he's going to handle a TZ episode. -
...It was the worst film I've ever seen - simply put. and yes Roth was going to direct this but thank fuck the studio SAID NO! Stop bringing cash in sequal of the year up - it will make it's $ back - almost every film does but the studio will still be pissed cos' the amount of advertising put foward! ANYWAY!!!! IMO Richard Kelly is pretty cool - I loved Donnie Darko (both cuts) even if i don't quite know what the fuck happened and Southland Tales sounds pretty fun from what I've heard - I like multi-format stories. DOMINO was infact a shitty film but it really wasn't the script more tony scott going fucking nuts with 6 cameras for every scene AND MORE SO...Kiera Knightly's hourrendous and I mean hourrendous portrayal of Domino Harvey - It made me care so little about the character I actually wanted one of those ese's to blow her fucking brains out over three of the six cameras and then dine on her entrails. Som blame KK for Domino's shittyness not RK!
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She is not funny, she is not cute, she is not a good actress. She is annoying though.
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with several big movies out, movie prices going up all the time, and theatres becoming more unbearable - i just dont go and see anything except the biggest, popcorn movie releases at the theater anymore. transformers, spider-man, yeah, i'll go watch on the bigscreen, but hostel 2, evan almighty, 1408 are wait for DVD - heck first week of DVD release they cost less than 2 movie tickets to buy...
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of Kermit the Frog when he flaps his arms around. She's just awkward looking. Another thing, why does Hollywood think that the most attractive part of a woman is her skeleton? Eat something.
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The guy made 3 movies. Actually the other 2 were one movie with 2 endings. I don't know why he has a "following" or gathers such hatred. He's like Kelly. Both I feel still need to prove themselves worthy of such fandom.
The only thing that annoyed me is in Hostel he tried to associate himself with Takashi Miike. Puuuuhlease.(Did I just type that?)
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Roth would be like Miike if he added depth, atmosphere, mood, character, horror, suspense, mindfuck, and a couple other qualities of a good director. I think Roth should just stick to directing fake trailers. Even thanksgiving wouldn't work as a full movie
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I looked at Box-Office Mojo, it said $20 million. I'm sorry if quoting a number and a source for the number "makes me a moron", because that's obviously the first sign of intelligence, but the movie cost $10 million, according to the most popular box office tracker made a little over $17 million (much better ratio than Grindhouse) and still hasn't opened internationally or on DVD. Yes, it will still have to make some more money to recoup it's marketing, but that won't be any problem.
There are so many people rooting for the movie to do well, and they tend to say that the movie did great in the theaters and then there are people who wanted it to tank and they say it bombed. Truth is it did OK, not great, but it certainly didn't do tank. -
I obviously didn't proof read and then said the wrong number in the first sentence.
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Cameron Diaz, Sharon Stone, Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie...the media still identifies them as "movie" stars even though their films have played to empty theatres. Jolie's latest was a mighty flop and does anyone even remember Lohan's JUST MY LUCK? (her recent film, GEORGIA RULE. died on delivery). And Stone's BASIC INSTINCT 2 is an almost legendary failure (she hasn't had a hit in over 10 years). Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz are also handicapped with a record of b.o. flops. So why does Hollywood pamper these overage starlets? Jesus, remember when Heather Graham was a "movie star"? She now cranks out direct-to-video commerce. They all function as tabloid filler. How about some hottys with talent? Maybe Katherine Heigl is the "wave" of the future.
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Doesn't give a shit. Maybe they just want to be scared. Hostel II flopped because Hostel I wasn't scary. People weren't going to drop 10 more dollars to not get scared again.1408 promised to be scary, so people showed up. Rating has zero to do with it. Most people don't pay any attention to the rating. If the trailer looks scary, asses will be in seats. Rated G or XXX.Why does this remain so fucking mysterious?
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TheHorror is right...HOSTEL 2 is no longer worthy of discussion. It's dead, it's forgotten and Roth's career has followed suit. The correct b.o. figures are posted on IMdB, the site which nailed HOSTEL 2 as--I quote--"a total flop, commercially and critically." And those plum gigs that Roth recurrently boasted about have been withdrawn. It's not only the film's failure that corroded his career but a series of TV interviews that reaffirmed the obvious--he's a dick. I remember, on the heels of CABIN FEVER (a derivative piece of shit, thank God for Cerina Vincent), Roth was invited on a panel of veteran filmmakers (Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Stuart Gordon, et al). Roth immediately showboated, prompting the experienced directors to camouflage their disgust with "What an asshole" grins. Roth killed his own career though he insists on foisting the blame on everyone else. Anyway, I pledge to never again write about HOSTEL 2--like everyone else (including surviving Lionsgate brass), I consider it forgotten.
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...Quint's review of "Die Hard 4" is dead-on if you've already proclaimed on the boards that you refuse to see it? I'm confused.
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...it was one of my favorite episodes from the 80s incarnation of the show. It will be interesting to see how Kelly has stretched it beyond the 30-minute version, though, as the element that made that episode so effective was that final beat. Has he crafted two other entire acts?
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Yet I never get tired of him. I may not watch all his stuff, but I'm always excited to here what he has lined up. As for Roth, I'm already tired of him. He doesn't seem to offer anything but shock.
Who knows. Maybe his next film will change all that. -
You could have a man get split to threads in a fan-Live Free
But you can't have a topless woman smoking.
Odd indeed. -
Live Free or Die hard PG 13
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true true
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What happened?
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and that was rated PG-13
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Jaws
Dragonslayer
Sixteen Candles
The Deep
,br>
,br>
I remember there being more. -
cpr boob
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To anyone that has seen the original video for this concept: Does pushing the button result in the death of the last person that pushed the button?
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I feel like you've stolen my copyrighted moniker! I don't think the ending where the couple who pushed the button then died soon was shown, I think it was just implied. You never knew. That makes it freaky. Thus, a Twilight Zone episode! And those freaks who say a PG-13 film can't be scary, if you think "The Sixth Sense," "The Others," or "The Ring" weren't scary, then you have no imagination and you need everything up there on the screen to scare you! By the way, Poltergeist was rated PG - that was before the PG-13 days.
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Can anybody get me this script? Will generously return the favor. Can trade loads of scripts from upcoming films, press access passwords etc. etc.
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Jun 29, 2007 2:00:46 PM CDT
Palahnuik DID tell you what was in the nightmare box!
by s0nicdeathmonkey
It was...*SPOILERS* the "heaven" place on Venus that the astronauts saw. Notice how the daughters reaction was identical to the astronauts.
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a loaf of wet bread.
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It's rated R cause we should all feel ashamed of liking the boobs.
Dirty. Sinful. Boobs! -
That is some funny shit.
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theBigE is right on the money. A horror film can survive a PG-13 if the talent is valid (THE RING and THE SIXTH SENSE are sterling examples). It's all about being scared--not repulsed. I do recall the visibility of tits in PG-13 product, however the ratings board appears more charitable about violence over T&A.
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...and just two comments about Cameron Diaz's box? You guys are slacking.
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It used to be all Airplane! style. There was no denying what was on screen. I remember seeing "Com'n At Ya" in the theater. I'm surprised that film didn't get more acknowledgment. Yes it was a mindless 3D romp, but I bet it's the only film with a boob scene in 3D!
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Jun 29, 2007 4:09:10 PM CDT
Let's give a big hand to the Brits for foiling the Fuck
by lanemyersclassic
out of the cowardly, terrorist cunts plans! Way to go! Have a pint on me!
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The episode "Butto Button" of the new 1985 Twilight Zone series was a clever little morality play with a dark punchline. How they're going to stretch this out to a feature length film is beyond me. I'm sure they will add absurd chase scenes and a happy ending including a pointless explanation of the button makers that was better left ambiguous.
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is the fucking man and he got completely dicked over with regard to Southland. Love the concept for The Box and think Diaz's casting shows that this project isn't being taken lately. There were people wondering if we'd ever hear from Richard again after the Cannes Southland debacle but that's absurd. As for the rating, I'm all for it. I believe a little movie called The Sixth Sense was rated PG-13. Who cares about the rating. There are good horror movies and there are bad horror movies. Like Quint, I think that a lot of people judged Hostel II before they saw it. I know I really liked it and even though the kills weren't as memorable as the original, I thought it was a huge step forward thematically. But unlike Quint (and many other critics) I simply did not like 1408 AT ALL. It started off strong and devolved into utter shit in its second half. A CGI extravaganza of bullshit. As always, I liked Cusack and wanted more Sam, but the second half of 1408 was painful, along the lines of Number 23 pain. Predictable, nonsensical garbage. I guess the next ones we have to look forward to are Halloween and Trick 'r Treat.
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Everyone read his books.
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just saw the words "Cameron Diaz" and "box" and clicked on the thread for no other reason.
Of course, I clicked for literature. -
Seriously, name ONE Stephen King feature film since The Green Mile that didn't end in a CGI extravaganza of bullshit.
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I liked Haunted, but mostly because it's the only book I've read that's been close to reaching an American Psycho level of grotesqueness. It had some memorable moments, but Chuck can do a whole lot better.
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I have an old episode from the 80s on VHS directed by Wes Craven that has pretty much exactly the same premise as Act 1 of the first Matrix movie.
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Jun 29, 2007 5:31:21 PM CDT
to harry and crew ( and talkbackers with good memory)
by the_man_from_rio
wasn´t THE BOX a movie based on the premise of a teacher that finds a time-capsule (or BOX) buried containing news of bad things that happened and some others that may happen, depending whether or not this teacher finds the kid....
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http://www.hfm2.com/photopost1/showphoto.php/photo/6130
http://www.hfm2.com/photopost1/showphoto.php/photo/6128
http://www.hfm2.com/photopost1/showphoto.php/photo/6131/limit/recent -
Very Fonzie, those shia pics.
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I have lots of scripts for upcoming films, press access passwords etc. etc. for the person who can get me this script. Contact me at maichi3@gmail.com if you want to trade.
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A good story doesn't need rated R - something Eli has to learn. And after watching Cabin Fever and Hostel then thank god he isn't directing. Those films are just bad and the less he is attached to the better flms will be
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there's an author roth should be forced to read but never allowed to adapt. chuck is how you do scary and funny (lullabye, rant, haunted). roth is smart but if he doesn't get his shit together he'll be hosting 'scarred' on mtv by next summer.
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Nice idea - just not sure the chump can read
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that's pretty ridiculous. I don't think you can judge how horror movies will perform in the future on the performance of 2 movies alone. Hostel's underwhelming performance and 1408's good performance could be the result of other factors and not because people are over torture porn or they want a more psychological horror movie.
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I love this guy's comments.
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I hear he's giving lectures or something.
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Just disgusting. Maybe? Did any of you come home and worry about Richard Burgi jumping out of your closet and power-tooling you? Oooh, double entendre! Eli Roth is played out.
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soaked in booze.....why do you think Justin dropped her like 3rd period french.....damn lush, what a waste
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and strangely didn't find it disgusting. I just found it really fake. So fake it didn't arouse any emotion in me. I just thought it was crap. Writing, effects, characters . . .you name it and it was bad. I don't get why this site champions the film and Roth so much
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Anyone wanna cough up funding? Because I've had a movie of this in my head for like two freakin' years now. It is told in the story that when you look into the box you see the realization that everything you do in your life will amount to nothing and there's nothing you can do to change it. Imagining how the box drove it home so well as to turn everyone who looked in it into lethargic zombies is part of what makes it so creepy.
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A PG-13 horror film that takes place entirely in a hotel room, sounds boring! I'll take Hostel anyday, at least the premise is intriguing, and the potential for violence is exciting.
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can we please just see it already??? even direct to dvd would suffice at this point.
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Anyone who talks about scary TV movies without mentioning "Trilogy of Terror" and that motherfucking little Zuni Doll should seriously look it up.
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or whatever planet it was. Jesus, don't you people notice subtext? I got that after my first reading of the book.
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There's a device like that in The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's called the Total Perspective Vortex.
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Eli spit the bit, so now it's time to pimp out Kelly. We'll have about 50 stories about Kelly's Box between now and the release date all telling us how he's reinvented a genre and this is the most looked forward to movie of the year. Then it will play at the Butt-numb-a-thon and it will rock the room and everyone will be melted into pools of warm butter....and then it will get released and die a slow death because it will suck....and then the reviews from the "Friends of Kelly" will all mention how he was hamstrung by PG-13 and was screwed by the studio and if we saw the cut of this they all saw, we'd know this was the best movie since Hostel 2. If the AICN guys need to learn anything it's to not pimp your friends on the site. Give Kelly a chance and let him go off and make this movie with no AICN reports. All you do is set your friends up for major failure when the end product doesn't live up to the hype you start here. If I was Kelly, I would ban AICN from the set of his film and pretend they don't exist. You screwed him on Southland Tales and when the negative buzz hit after the Cannes debacle, it hit hard. A lot of that disappointment had to do with all the praise and can't miss buzz that was going on here at this site. Learn from your mistakes and cut the filmmakers off and judge them not on their friendships with you but on their art.
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Didn't really see the movie, but that's still giving you more credibility. Care to apologize for calling me a "fuck face" when I mentioned that the girl on "Smallville" season 3 was not Supergirl, then you said it was, then one talkback later just said "oops"? Just seeing what more I can get out of you.
And yes, watch "Donnie Darko." You'll have plenty to talk about, even if you don't like it. I wish your friend wouldn't have tried to explain it, though. That kind of takes the fun out of it. I'm not the biggest fan of the film, but I love the discussions I have as a result. -
Cameron Diaz Does NOT.
Dreamworks Animation is getting really sad... Pixar just gets better. -
Her ass is lost in the Twilight Zone. In the words of Will Ferell concerning J-Lo's booty " I wanna make friends with it" and "I'm in love with your jungle rump". Diaz is hot but kind of flat in most area's.
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Go figure
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I know It's Alive wasn't a tv movie, but if we are talking small creepy things that will fuck your day up, the comparison is a valid one,
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Saw it last night. It was great. If it had stared someone like Josh Harnett is would have sucked. But John Cussack knocked that one out of the park.
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...but I saw 1408 because that particular movie didn't need any of the objectionable content that would have given it an R rating. Hell, I was just glad to have a new haunted house/evil room type movie. I'm fucking sick of serial killers and zombies. They are not scary, they are not interesting, and they're predominantly rated R. It's not the death of a rating at all, it's that audiences are sick and fucking tired of their R-rated horror movies being about the same shit over and over and over. Give me some R-rated monster movies, give me R-rated ghost/poltergeist/demon movies... give me some freaky, weird, unexplainable horror shit... and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD don't make any of them "mindgame" type movies. Nothing is worse than a horror movie where the end reveals that it's all just in the protagonists head. I'd really like to see a big budget R-rated Call of Cthulhu movie. Make it like Indiana Jones, but really fucking scary. That's the ticket.
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I'm not going to see "1408" because it's another predictable 'skeptic gets his ass handed to him' story. I HATE these films. Know why? Because in real life, the skeptic is always right. There are NO ghosts. In real life or in the movies.
I understand most people who've been brainwashed through societal groupthink will enjoy "1408" for its false conceit. But I won't. Those skeptical of the existence of ghosts have ALWAYS been proven right. Always. I'm sure John Cusack gave a great performance, but I'm tired of rational-thinking skeptics in films being upended by irrational-thinking, ghost-believing shitheads.
This entire rant is off topic, I realize, so I'll quell it now. I hope Kelly gives us something interesting with "The Box". -
The R rating isn't just about "gore" either, its about MATURE content. I actually have a great deal of respect for PG-13 horror movies that are actually frightening (few as they are), because when a movie can't even utter more than one nonsexual f-word, its pretty hard to imagine them conceiving of something truly disturbing.
Quint is so dead-on when he says he doesn't know a single "horror fan" who's calling for more PG-13 horror films.
So who is?
Clueless half-wits like Jeffrey Lyons...that's who. Yes, Lyons, the man who derided Bug by saying "uh, this was a little creepy, I didn't like this...". He then went on to praise Shrek 3 by saying "my wife didn't see the first two and she loved it!" High praise indeed!
Don't let middlebrow schmucks like Jeffrey Lyons dictate what goes into our horror films. This isn't about gore either, it's about a filmmaker getting to make the movie he/she wants to make, regardless of whether or not Jeffrey Lyons' wife wants to watch it.
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