Grindhouse Dog
I actually underestimated Blades of Glory (review here, btw) though I was pretty much on target with Robinsons. The real story to me, though, is the staying power of 300. After getting surpassed by Turtles, it’s still in the top three with Turtles now dropping below it to four.
4/6
Wide
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Mr. Cube Builds His Dream House
WILL IT SUCK?
What is John C. McGinley doing up in here? I know it’s probably the last season of Scrubs, but seriously. From the writer of Saving Silverman and the director of Next Friday, Rebound and Daddy Day Care.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Ice Cube in a family-friendly comedy is kind of like Matthew McConaughey in a romanitc comedy, unstoppable for reasons beyond compreshension. $73mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino bring back the eponymous genre with two films for the price of one.
WILL IT SUCK?
Ignoring for a moment the fact that the last time these two directors got together the result was From Dusk Til Dawn, I’m actually pretty psyched. Both, on their own, are capable of tremendous filmmaking, and the little bit I saw that Rodriguez presented at SXSW left me wanting more. The cast is awesome: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Michael Biehn, Naveen Andrews, Nicky Katt, Tom Savini, Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell (Uma’s stunt double from Kill Bill and the focus of the excellent doc Double Dare) and Danny Trejo.
This is the kind of movie where Nic Cage has a cameo as a guy named Fu Manchu in a fake trailer called Werewolf Women of the SS directed by Rob Zombie and starring Sybil Danning. What’s not to love?
Early buzz is very good.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
300 proved that a hard R doesn’t necessarily mean low box office. $85mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Hilary Swank investigates modern-day Biblical plagues.
WILL IT SUCK?
Given the numerous release delays, the fact that it’s Dark Castle, the Revolution Studios of horror, and that this comes from the writer of the House of Wax remake, I’m going to say that’s a good bet.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Are they trying to bury this by opening against Grindhouse? $12mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
Big time Hollywood dog joins small town firehouse.
WILL IT SUCK?
Director Todd Holland’s feature film resume is a tad slim (remember The Wizard with Fred Savage?), but in between he’s directed a lot of good TV (everything from Malcom in the Middle to Wonderfalls). The writers have done everything from Face/Off to The Mask (I guess those are thematically similar) and one of them did the story for Curious George but I’m still convinced this is going to suck.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
Will play The Reaping to Are We Done Yet’s Grindhouse. $24mil.
Limited
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
True story of a guy who wrote a fake biography of Howard Hughes.
WILL IT SUCK?
Lasse Hallstrom has fallen on critical hard times of late, but early buzz for his latest is great. Certainly has a solid cast, with Richard Gere, Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Julie Delpy, Stanley Tucci and Zjelko Ivanek among others. The delayed release makes me a little nervous, but one theory holds that the faliure of Hollywoodland and a crowded Oscar season led Miramax to push this from last fall.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
I just don’t see that much enthusiasm out there at this point. Strangely, star-studded period indies often have a hard time in the art house. $4mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
A Dutch Jewish woman does whatever it takes to survive WWII.
WILL IT SUCK?
It looks like Paul Verhoeven has made his first film in decades that doesn’t camp itself out of existence. Not only that, but early reviews have that this goes beyond “not embarassing” to “holy crap that was good” levels of quality.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
If Verhoeven isn’t feeding soldiers to bugs or showing off Sharon Stone’s junk, it’s hard for him to draw an audience. $1mil.
WHAT’S THE PITCH?
David Duchovny tries to protect his creation from TV execs.
WILL IT SUCK?
Early buzz from critics has it that this is (a) too Inside Sports for the casual viewer and (b) has nothing new to say about the Evils of the Television Power Structure. Early buzz from audiences has this as a better film than writer/director Jake Kasdan’s previous efforts The Zero Effect and Orange County. All I know is it’s got Judy Greer in a supporting role and ain’t nothing wrong with that.
HOW WELL WILL IT DO?
I’m thinking people will stay home and watch 30 Rock for their TV satire fix. $1mil.
Next Week: If the wee screening of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force flick on Adult Swim wasn’t big enough for you, it will be shown in a slightly larger format in theaters.
April 2nd, 2007 at 6:47 pm
I’m not ashamed to admit that I got pwned by [adult swim] last night - I knew in my heart that there was no way Turner was going to give the ATHFCMFFT away for free, but I still set my TiVo to record from 10 to 11:30, the slot allocated to the movie on the [as] program grid. It was a good prank, although technically they DID deliver the movie.
“Are We Done Yet?”: The one thing that I’m not entirely clear on is whether or not this is actually a sequel of “Are We There Yet?” - the promos never mention the original by name, which is odd if it IS a sequel.
“Grindhouse”: Hell YES. HELL. YES.
“The TV Set”: I’m curious about this one, as it’s supposed to be about Judd Aptow’s travails while showrunning “Freaks & Geeks”. Sure, it might be too Inside Baseball, but so was “For Your Consideration”, and I loved that film.
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:09 am
The Philly Film Fest starts this week, but I’ve already carved out time to make sure I can still see Grindhouse.