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Jan 18, 2008

TGITDNMAR (1/18/08)

It's that time again for TGITDNMAR, which (obviously) stands for Thank God It's The Day New Movies Are Released.

January = dumping grounds? No way, says J.J. Abrams, who unleashes one of the more anticipated films of the last year with Cloverfield. The question is: will there be any moviegoers left for the rest of this week's slate?

Cloverfield
J.J. Abrams. Lost. Monster. Shaky-cam. Monster. Statue of Liberty decapitated. Shaky cam. Party. Monster. J.J. Abrams. Lost. Monster. Shaky-cam. Monster. Statue of Liberty decapitated. Shaky cam. Party. Monster. J.J. Abrams. Lost. Monster. Shaky-cam. Monster. Statue of Liberty decapitated. Shaky cam. Party. Monster. J.J. Abrams. Lost. Monster. Shaky-cam. Monster. Statue of Liberty decapitated. Shaky cam. Party. Monster.

That about sums it up, right?

To be honest, thought I still planned on seeing it, I was starting to get a bit "meh" on Cloverfield - that is, up until both Adam and Shea praise it after having seen a preview. My interest is piqued again...
Fletch's Chance of Viewing (in the theater): 100%

Cassandra's Dream
Though I've seen this poster plastered about for at least a month, I've yet to see a trailer or commercial for this. Are Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell not big enough stars? Is Woody Allen not a big-name director? You'd think the combination of all three would be worth at least a mention somewhere. As such, I can't say that I have much of an opinion one way or the other on this, though I will say that Match Point was slightly overrated and Scoop was downright awful. Also, Colin Farrell's next film, In Bruges (co-starring Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes) looks like a lot of fun.
Fletch's Chance of Viewing: TBD

27 Dresses
Daniel over at Box Office Report is predicting a 30 million dollar weekend for the Katherine Heigl starring romantic comedy. Though Daniel is right a lot (and is worlds smarter than I when it comes to predicting the box office), I think he's off his rocker here. For the record, Knocked Up's opening weekend was $30.6 million, and there were actually people looking forward to that - does anyone care about this one??

For the record: for what appears to be a poorly reviewed, run-of-the-mill romantic comedy, I love the poster for this. Sure, it's expectedly girly (not that that's a bad thing - just not my style), but the concept is brilliant and the creative use of the credits makes it stand out from every other movie poster out there.
Fletch's Chance of Viewing: 1%

Mad Money
On the other side of the coin, there's just something about recent Diane Keaton movies that leads to awful posters (do a Google Image Search for "diane keaton posters" for examples like Because I Said So, The First Wives Club, and Hanging Up).

Mad Money follows in the tradition. And I will follow in my own tradition - of not seeing these.
Fletch's Chance of Viewing: 0%

Teeth
Sure, it definitely sounds like a gimmicky movie. But after reading "The Buzz" on IMDb, you might think differently:

"When our boss saw this film nearly a year ago, he said: '... perhaps the biggest discovery is Jess Weixler as Dawn, the young woman with a set of radulated teeth in her vagina in Mitchell Lichtenstein's funny, scary, smart Teeth. Weixler is a great comedienne, able to convey much with just her eyes but whose delivery is pitch-perfect. She pulls off moments of great despair, disgust, lust, duplicity and hope, reminding me of a young Reese Witherspoon. The film, as tacky and lurid as it sounds (and is!), is a daring blend of comedy and horror, something that almost never works. It's anchored by Lichtenstein's direction and his ability to never let the scenarios get too broad while nodding ever so slightly to the horror genre he's tampering with. Dawn's innocence gives way to world-weary experience as she is propelled into the world of her own sexuality and Weixler makes the transformation both tender and horrible, much like most initiations into sexuality. It's a crackerjack film which transcends the horror film genre and is sure to be a staple of college courses on feminism and cinema for decades to come.'"
Fletch's Chance of Viewing: 50%


8 people have chosen wisely: on "TGITDNMAR (1/18/08)"

Anonymous said...

Diane Keaton... meh.

She used to be a feminist, now she just makes stupid movies like "Because I Said So" where all she wants to do is get her daughter married off.

Nayana Anthony said...

I've seen the trailer for Cassandra's Dream. It looks like it might be ok. Not a huge priority, but I'll probably get to it eventually (mostly because Ewan McG is sex-on-a-stick). I'll see Cloverfield tomorrow.... but no mention of Persepolis, Fletch?

Fletch said...

Can't say Ewan does much for me sexually, but I am a fan. Farrell's good, too, when not being starring in crap.

Though Persepolis is just hitting theaters in Phoenix this week, it was "released" 3 weeks ago, and was on the TGITDNMAR from then:

http://blogcabins.blogspot.com/2007/12/tgitdnmar-122807.html

Anonymous said...

Vaginal Dentata has been a running theme in several japanese hentai films. If "Teeth" somehow makes a breakthrough into feminist courses then it just shows, yet again, how clueless modern feminism has become.

I expect Cloverfield to be just as silly and ambiguous as Lost is.

Matt said...

I saw a clip of Cassandra's Dream a couple weeks ago at work while watching Extra! (Seriously.) I think it hasn't gotten the buzz you'd expect because it looks like a much, much darker film than Woody Allen's usual schtick although I haven't seen Scoop or Match Point so maybe he's been doing these dramas for a couple years now.

joen05 said...

See Cloverfield... it's good but... you'll see. It was awesome for what it was. Also stay all the way till the end. I'll let you know how 27 dresses is. It's likely that I will see it this weekend at some point.

Anonymous said...

Recommendation: Take 2 Dramamine before you see Cloverfield.

Martha Elaine Belden said...

i sort of want to see teeth... but then i feel all icky for wanting to see it, so i don't know if i'll actually see it. haha... oh well.