Category: movie franchises

The Razzies: Worst Movies of the Year

February 23rd, 2009

From the sort-of sublime (the Oscars) to the ridiculous …

Bad movies deserve a little love, or faux love, too. That’s the motivation behind the Razzies, formally known as the Golden Raspberry Awards.

Ceremonies for the dubious honors — honoring the year’s worst achievements in film — were held on Saturday at the Barnsdall Theatre in Hollywood.

The genuinely stinky Mike Myers “comedy” The Love Guru was named worst picture, and the star took home the award for worst actor.

Paris Hilton, who may or may not be as funny as Jerry Lewis, in France, scored other top honors. She was named the year’s worst actress, for The Hottie and the Nottie (to call the movie “execrable” would be redundant), and the worst supporting actress for “slasher musical” Repo: The Genetic Opera. Hilton made it a triple play as part of the worst screen couple (with either Christine Lakin or Joel David Moore), also for The Hottie and the Nottie.

More “winners”:

Worst director: Uwe Boll, 1968: Tunnel Rats & In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale & Postal

Worst supporting actor: Pierce Brosnan, Mamma Mia!

Worst prequel, remake, rip-off or sequel: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:

Worst screenplay: Mike Myers & Graham Gordy, The Love Guru

Worst career achievement: Uwe Boll (“Germany’s answer to Ed Wood”)

For more info, go to the Razzies site.
Tampa Movie Weekend – 2.13.09

February 13th, 2009

Opening this weekend:

The International – Global banking and murder make natural bedfellows in Tom Tykwer’s thriller, with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. Read my review.

Friday the 13th – The long-running horror franchise gets a reboot, in a slasher flick directed by Marcus Nispel (2006’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake). See my blog post on horror remakes. Nathan Lee (NY Times) writes, “Fun? Granted, most people’s notion of entertainment doesn’t involve watching sexed-up, beer-guzzling morons impaled, decapitated or burnt alive. But there’s an itch for this kind of material, and here it is scratched — to the bone.”

Confessions of a Shopaholic – A chick-flick antidote to the recession blues? Stars Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers). Writes Betsy Sharkey, in the L.A. Times: “If you’re looking for a serious examination of the staggering credit-card debt so many in this nation carry and the families and lives destroyed by it, watch the nightly news . . . don’t look here. But if a knockabout farce of a thousand ways to outwit that persistent, pesky and downright unpleasant debt collector, played by a decidedly annoying Robert Stanton, while falling in love might amuse you, then feel free to indulge.”

Under the Sea – Jim Carrey narrates an IMAX documentary on ocean critters.

I’ve Loved You So Long – The French drama stars Kristin Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein as sisters reunited afte 15 years apart. Tampa Theatre only, through Thursday, Feb. 19.

Hell Walks the Earth – The off-brand zombie movie was directed by Terrence Muncy III, who recently relocated to Pinellas Park from Indiana, according to a story by St. Pete Times film critic Steve Persall. The Southeastern premiere of the movie, to be presented by Muncy, plays the Beach Theatre in St. Pete Beach on Friday, Feb. 13 at 11 p.m. For more information, check out the theater’s web site.
Friday the 13th — Another Horror Reboot

February 11th, 2009

What happens to horror-film franchises that seem to have run their course?

D’oh! They reboot.

No need to come up with an original concept when an old idea means instant brand recognition and — thanks to low overhead on script and talent — a really impressive ROI (return on investment).

That’s the thinking, one guesses, behind Friday the 13th, opening this weekend (Fri, 2/13, naturally), the latest in a series of new horror films boasting familiar titles and tried-and-bloody plots.

Why start all over with the tale of Jason, the killer wearing a hockey mask, and the pretty but promiscuous teens he murders at Camp Crystal Lake?

Because the zig-zagging direction and creative dead ends of the existing franchise left filmmakers no other sensible options, as horror specialist Devin Faraci (Chud.com) told the New York Times.

“These films have a ridiculously convoluted history,” Faraci said. “Jason barely appears in Part 1. He shows up in Part 2, gets killed in Part 4. There’s an impostor in a Jason mask in Part 5. Jason comes back as a zombie in Part 6. Toxic sludge turns him back into a child at the end of Part 8. He gets blown up in the opening minutes of Part 9 and then becomes a body-hopping force of evil that gets sucked into hell. In Part 10 the earth is destroyed, Jason becomes a cyborg and lands on an alien planet. Where could the series possibly go at that point? A reboot is the only sane answer.”

The reborn Friday the 13th was preceded by 2001’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and 2006 prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, which together reaped about $120 million at the U.S. box office; 2005’s Amityville Horror, which scored $65 million; and 2007’s remake of The Hitcher ($16 million).

Just around the corner, due on March 13, is The Last House on the Left, a remake of Wes Craven’s chilling horror thriller of the same name, released 37 years ago. Craven is a producer of the new film, along with Sean Cunningham, director of the original Friday the 13th, released in 1980 and a producer of several more in the series, including the remake.

Toby Emmerich, head of New Line Cinema, home to the new Friday the 13th, said his studio also plans to remake Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, released in 1984.

Category: movie franchises

The Razzies: Worst Movies of the Year

Tampa Movie Weekend – 2.13.09

Friday the 13th — Another Horror Reboot