TNMC
This site’s design is only visible in a graphical browser that supports web standards, but its content is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
Psychotic Reactions
-- John Shea
6 August, 2003
Some days I really wonder about the motivations of other writers. I do this all the time when reading about politics. It's so hard to separate personal politics from reporting that I naturally assume some level of bias. That's fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, right or wrong. Politics affects big things in life. Personal politics are built on an individual's idea of how the world should work. Something that important is going to be very difficult to divorce from reporting on politics. But what about reporting on entertainment?
Here is a field where the industry produces distractions from life and yet you can find many who cover it with the same seriousness and intensity as a reporter embedded with the 101rst Airborne. Take for example the recent negative buzz over Gigli. I can understand taking some perverse pleasure in watching big celebrities fall flat on their faces. What's more American than rooting for someone on their way up and then rooting for their subsequent failure? But where is the line between snickering at a celebrity's bad fortune and simple abuse? Let's use the New York Daily News as an example. Early in the week before Gigli was relleased, the News ran a story hinting that the movie was awful and then going on to give away the movie's details. Okay that's a little undisciplined but the tone of the story was playful so we'll allow it. On Friday, the traditional day to print reviews, the News neglected to review or comment on the film, but provided reviews of most indie films out that week as well as the other studio release, American Wedding. Then on Sunday they ran a story trumpeted on the front page entitled 'Audiences Agree Gigli Stinks.' So before the movie opened they spoiled the hell out of it, said nothing when it hit theaters and then kicked it when it was down after a bad weekend. Is this reporting or a smear job? Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending the movie. It's bad. It's just not torches and pitchforks bad.
Guessing by the opening weekend's box office, not many of you saw the film although I've heard many indicate that they want to see it to find out if it's as bad as they heard. That the film opened to less than $4 million in eighth place in a flurry of publicity would seem to indicate that the entertainment media has some power after all. Now it can't be easy to get them to all line up like this for or against a movie but clearly when they do, something significant happens. This isn't a case of conspiracy but laziness. It's easy to just parrot what other people are saying if it makes a bit of sense. How else would you explain people describing The Matrix Reloaded as a flop or a disappointment when it ranks as the highest grossing R rated movie of all time? The media talked about how much it dropped the second week, seeming to ignore the sky high first week. We're talking about a movie bringing in $277 million so far. Not too shabby.
What I'm saying here is that we need to demand better of our entertainment media. It's time for them to start thinking and to get down off their high horse. We're being paid to talk about entertainment. Let's put it in some perspective and try to do a better job.
News
The Dukes of Hazzard: What the hell is it with casting singers in movies? Has no one learned anything from Madonna? The woman's acting gets steadily worse with age and yet they keep hiring her. Now we've got Britney Spears, whose first film Crossroads was nothing short of awful and yet she keeps getting offers. According to The Hollywood Reporter she's being considered for the role of Daisy Duke in a big screen adaptation of the TV show The Dukes of Hazzard. This likely won't be a particularly demanding role and she'll certainly look good in the short shorts but couldn't an actual actress have been found who would look as good? History tells us that the presence of music stars in films is unlikely to have much impact on the film's earnings, so why bother with them? Probably because Hollywood loves a star more than anything and will fall all over itself to include them where ever possible, logic be damned.
Doom: The Movie Could be there's a little life left in this one after all. According to Sony's press kit on S.W.A.T., writers Ron Mita and Jim McClain have been hired to adapt the video game into a movie.
Hellboy: The movie has moved out of the summer 2004 period for a release date of April 2, 2004. Kind of makes you wonder why. It couldn't be because nobody outside of regular comic readers have ever heard of Hellboy could it?
Cursed: Wes Craven's latest directorial effort is stuck in hell. With four weeks of production left to go, Dimension Films put the project on indefinite hiatus. Apparently nobody was happy with this update of the werewolf story's ending or the design of the creature. The official cause of the hiatus was to provide time for more special effects to be worked on. Now apparently shooting won't resume until September at the earliest. That could have a lot to do with the schedules of stars Skeet Ulrich and Christina Ricci. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Casting Couch
Smallville: Rutger Hauer has signed on to join the cast of the WB's Smallville. He will be playing a mob kingpin in two episodes during the show's third season. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Hide & Seek: Robert De Niro is close to taking the lead role in Albert Hughes' first solo project Hide & Seek. He would play the father of a young girl who has developed a frightening method of dealing with the death of her mother. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Saving Jessica Lynch: Laura Regan (They) has been chosen to play the title role in NBC's planned TV movie about the Iraq War POW Jessica Lynch. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Trailers
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Yes they remade the classic horror flick. No I don't think that's a good idea. Yes, I think it's a pretty damn good trailer anyway.
- Email Me
What do you think? Talk about it on the Forums