This summer has actually been kind of disappointing to me movie-wise when you consider how excited I've been for all this year has had to offer. Most of the movies so far just haven't been as good as expected and I've been left disappointed, or uninterested. There have been a few gems, but on the whole I've been disappointed.
This weekend of July the third, there are a few releases to consider when deciding whether or not it's time to make a trip down to your local theater. Total Recall, the 200 million dollar remake that doesn't want to be called a remake makes its way to theaters, as well as the second or third Diary of a Wimpy Kid (lost track already), and Celeste and Jesse Forever.
Just two days ago I decided to re-watch Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall to get geared up for Len Wiseman's version. I know they tried to at least say that they were making something different, but even in the trailer they use several of the same cheesy lines, and they rely heavily on a computer generated world to create their story. While Verhoeven's Total Recall is campy as hell, it knows it's identity entirely and plays upon it. The movie knows it's cheesy and it relishes it openly, whereas this new version looks like it takes itself all to seriously just from the trailers.
I was very disappointed to hear they were making a remake of this film originally because it's literally my second favorite Arnold Scwarzenegger movie. I'm a DIE-HARD Schwarzenegger fan so that's a pretty bold statement to make, but it's true, I think Verhoeven's version is terrific. Once I heard the cast, and that B Cranston was playing Vilos Cohaggen I kind of started to have an open mind about it. Since I've seen the trailers, and watched all the spots on television I've gone back to my original assessment, that it's unnecessary, and that I'm disappointed it was made. Not even the presence of Heisenberg can make me endorse it.
Yeah I still haven't seen it, and I probably will at some point, but even if I like it marginally, which I probably will, I will think the movie isn't worthwhile. Regardless of the fact it certainly isn't worth 200 million dollars to produce. That's just an exorbitant amount of money to spend on a story that literally has been done before, and damn well I might add. It will take a lot to justify the means of production of this movie, and from what it's got so far on the rottentomatoes tomatometer (a mere 31% @ 68 reviews), it looks like it just wont cut it.
I wont write about Diary of a Wimpy Kid (insert sequel name here) because if you're reading this you probably don't have children, but I will take the time to discuss Celeste and Jesse Forever.
Celeste and Jesse Forever is about a relationship between a guy and a girl that ends but they decide to continue being best friends. Eventually one ends up finding another relationship and the other person has to try and cope with the fact that the person they want to be with is now taken. It's an interesting perspective on modern relationships and has the potential to be something special. It's a very indie comedy and it has a solid cast of Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg and Elijah Wood. This one will be hard to view this weekend because it will probably only premiere in LA and NY. I have a feeling you wont want to miss it once it makes its way to your local indie theater (if it does) but that's only if you like indie comedies.
Another film that makes it to theaters in select cities this weekend is 360. From what I've seen trailer wise it looks like a complex film filled with interesting ideas, and lots of characters. The cast is absolutely stacked, leading me to believe that it will fail because it is not going to be a wide release, and if it's not a wide release with a cast that big, then it will most certainly not do well. Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins and Ben Foster round out the cast. I recommend waiting for this movie to make it to redbox, or netflix because it doesn't look like it will be worth more than a dollar of your money.
Really though, if you haven't seen The Dark Knight Rises then I suggest you remedy that. I'd write you my full analysis of the last of the franchise, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I'm going to wait until the time is right. What I will tell you is that it's a really god damn good movie, and that you should try and see it in an IMAX theater to get the full experience. About half of the two hour and forty-five minute movie is filmed with IMAX cameras. So far I've seen it twice at the Providence Place IMAX theater, and it's absolutely glorious seeing the full six story screen filled from top to bottom. If you're on the fence about going to see it after that scumbag in Aurora shot the shit out of dozens of people and would rather wait to see it at home, then you're an asshole. This movie is meant to be seen on the big screen. Don't let that asshole from Aurora win by being scared out of going to see it.
That Aurora shooting definitely altered what would of been the highest grossing first weekend of all time. To put into perspective of how highly anticipated this film was, I bought my tickets online the first possible minute they became available, on June 11th. I was sitting in my apartment in California at 845 am with a cup of coffee, waiting for them to go on sale at 12 eastern time. When the clock struck 9, the IMAX website crashed... And then movietickets.com crashed... And then fandango.com crashed... I knew I was going to be on the East Coast so I wanted to get tickets to Providence Place and see it where I saw The Dark Knight in IMAX. After two and a half hours of hitting the refresh button finally I got through to the movietickets.com website and could finally pick my seats. By the time I navigated the menu and decided the amount of tickets I wanted to get (8 for some reason), literally three quarters of the theater was already full. More than a month before the movie was hitting theaters I bought my tickets after spending hours trying to get to the menu, and three quarters was full. Absolutely crazy.
A few weeks after I got my tickets I saw an article online that said tickets to midnight screenings were being thrown up on stubhub and craigslist at over 100 bucks a pop. If you sold your tickets and the movie theater found out then the tickets would be voided and those people who bought them off of other people would be screwed. Still it didn't stop people from paying others to see it in their favorite movie theater, with the optimal viewing experience.
It's funny because the day before the movie came out a funny meme of Liam Neeson holding his phone from Taken was circling the web and appearing all over my facebook newsfeed.
Just a few days before that I was constantly checking rottentomatoes to see where the movie was going on the tomatometer and to see the different reviews coming in. The first negative reviews came in and so came a slough of death threats to the authors of these reviews. Of course these authors have faced criticism from fans in the past but the death threats were so harsh and plentiful, that they had to disable the commenting function on reviews on the website as a whole. This was before the movie even came out and any fans had actually seen it, and they were threatening the lives of people. While I don't agree with the negative reviews of these asshole critics, they are entitled to their stupid opinions. Just don't let it bother you if you enjoy the movies and somebody else is disappointed, or doesn't like good things. Don't fucking threaten their lives because they don't like the movie you really want to see.
The hostility of the fanbase as a whole is pretty astonishing. Some people have argued that the themes in the movie mirror the James Holmes shooting all the people in Aurora and that he may have been influenced by the themes in these Batman films. I mean the guy dyed his hair orange and called himself the Joker... You could argue that it is true because, yes he was influenced. When looking at it rationally though, the guy was a fucking psychopath who would've used some other excuse to shoot up a large amount of people. What it comes down to is the guy wanted attention. He knew he would have plenty of it if he shot up dozens of people. Not only did he hurt the people in the theater but he actually manged to damage an entire industry. Sure TDKR still made over 160 million in it's first weekend, but it would've easily passed The Avengers for highest grossing first weekend ever. I know some people who are still afraid to go and see it because of the incident, and probably never will for that matter.
Not only did James Holmes affect the status of TDKR, and the people in that movie theater, but he also damaged the movie theater experience for a long time. Over the last few years the growing interest to see a movie at a midnight screening has become a integral part of the industry. People line up around the corner to see these movies at the first possible minute because it's fun to see a movie at midnight. It's fun to see it with all the die hard fans who dress up like Catwoman, or Katniss Everdeen, or Harry Potter. Now people will always have that in the back of their minds when they go to a theater, and it's terrible.
The movie theater has been a sacred place to leave the harsh realities of our world and get enveloped in these stories. We feel like we're part of something bigger than us every time we sit in the audience and immerse ourselves with these worlds. When you bring the harsh realities of our world into these theaters by shooting dozens of people, you have ruined that experience for them for the rest of their lives. I'm sure a lot of the victims who survived will never be able to go to a movie ever again. Their experience has forever been tarnished by an scumbag with orange hair and a machine gun.
All we can hope is that he gets the death penalty. If he pleads insanity and manages to stay alive then I will lose all hope in our justice system. James Holmes doesn't deserve to live another day and have another hour in the limelight. It's what he wanted so why let him win? Bring the death penalty to him, or put him in a hole to rot and let people forget about him. So far all he's gotten since then is attention, and doesn't deserve the satisfaction.
Don't let James Holmes' actions alter your movie experience. Like I said, the theater is a sacred place that deserves to be celebrated. When working in the industry and seeing the work that is put into these productions you come to appreciate just how special these things are. The spectacle they create is something that can't really be replicated so don't let that asshole ruin it for you. Go out and see a movie, and appreciate it even more. Even the shittiest movies have things you can appreciate. But if you want to see a movie that isn't shitty, then go see The Dark Knight Rises. It may not be as good as The Dark Knight, but it is a really god damn enjoyable movie. It has probably the best story out of any of the films, but it falls short of The Dark Knight only because of Heath Ledger's monumental performance. If you haven't seen it yet go see it before anything else. If you have seen it, then see Total Recall, or just stay at home and watch something with Mel Gibson.
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