Now that Oscar season has ended, the fabulous American blockbusters are taking over. Being a sixteen year old in High School, I am forced to deal with the excruciating reality that the movie buisness' oh so exciting advertising is corrupting my fellow teens minds.
Some classmates and I were discussing some of the recent movies being released in theaters. Titles like Cloverfield, Fool's Gold and Meet the Spartans were brought up. I was disgusted with the fact of how low our entertainment buisness has come. I enter the theaters as I catch a wiff of the overwhelming stench of bad acting and the high budget special effects overrulling what an actual movie is about....the plot!
The reviews:
Jumper: 1 out of 4 stars (Rolling Stone)
Talk about disappointing. Director Doug Liman exuded style and cool in Swingers, Go and The Bourne Identity. He lost his way in the star bloat of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and now his mojo is buried in this amped-up sci-fi chase flick. It took three screenwriters to turn Steven Gould's novel into an unholy mess. Hayden Christensen, the kiss of death in movies since giving us the nightmare wimp version of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels, does a lot of posing as David Rice, called Rice Bowl by the bullies of his neighborhood in Ann Arbor, Michigan. David can jump (teleport) himself anywhere in the world, which allows Christensen to pose on the clock face of Big Ben, have lunch on top of a pyramid and rob a bank for quick cash. Hey, he leaves IOUs. Samuel L. Jackson, in scary white hair, wants to kill him. His girlfriend (Rachel Bilson, looking eager to jump back to The O.C.) wants to screw him between jumps. And Jamie Bell, the film's saving grace as a fellow jumper, wants to save him. Got that? It's not worth getting. Everything goes by in a blur. After eighty-eight incomprehensible minutes, all I wanted was for Liman to jump back in time and make Jumper go away.
How much the film grossed:
56.2 Million in 2 weeks.
Fool's Gold: 0 out of 4 stars (Rolling Stone)
It's early in the year, but I defy any 2008 comedy to be as stupid, slack and sexless as Fool's Gold. And I'm counting Paris Hilton's appalling The Hottie and the Nottie, which is marginally better. You want plot? Fool's Gold steals a few pages from, of all misbegotten things, the National Treasure franchise. A topless (brain included) Matthew McConaughey plays Ben "Finn" Finnegan, a treasure hunter who is totally convinced he has found a map to a Spanish galleon that sunk off the coast of Florida in 1715. His about-to-be ex-wife Tess, played by Kate Hudson with the woebegone expression of an actress who knows she's made another bad career decision, thinks he's nuts. But, damn, she still loves the guy, even though they fight. For the record, you're more likely to discover treasure under your multiplex seat than detect any chemistry between McConaughey and Hudson. Clumsily directed by Andy Tenant (Hitch), from a script he co-wrote with John Clafin and Daniel Zelman while presumably incapacitated on umbrella drinks, Fool's Gold is anchored only by idiocy. It's sad to see such excellent actors as Donald Sutherland and Ray Winstone trading audience goodwill for a paycheck. I could swear that Sutherland, as a tycoon with an heirhead daughter (Alexis Dziena), is trying to disguise his voice so audiences will forget it's him. Not so fast. Fool's Gold bores you so breathless you want to take names and exact punishment.
How much it grossed:
52.4 Million
These are just two examples, and I will never forget Transformers huge success. I am scared for the future of movies in America. Although, 2007 did have some pretty impressive releases, (No Country, There Will Be Blood, The Savages.....) the movies didn't come anywhere near the gross of the tragedies. I want to live in the days of great movie making, with popular movies by Scorsese, Kubrick, Lumet.
R.I.P Heath Ledger:
