Kyle Smith Wonders if ‘J. Edgar’ Is the Disappointment of the Year
Kyle and I may share a similar political philosophy but we rarely agree on films. I sense we might agree on this one:
…but as “J.Edgar” sits at an astonishing 39 percent it would be disingenuous not to notice that this film is getting hammered by critics. Despite its Oscar-winning director, writer (Dustin Lance Black) and Oscar-nominated star Leo DiCaprio, it is at the same approval level as “Immortals.” This is a disaster for a serious, highbrow, historical drama. The thought of critical reception didn’t occur to anyone on the set of “Immortals” but “J.Edgar” was made to win critical hosannas and Oscars.
[…]
Oh, and “J.Edgar” is terrible and I predict pitiful box office and zero Oscar nominations.
Ouch.
Kyle’s a superb writer. His blog is here.
My policy regarding Blu-ray purchases has shifted… again.
It started with “No freakin’ way am I replacing DVDs with Blu-rays.” to “Well, if they’re cheap enough I can always sell the old DVDs on Ebay.” But after they wouldn’t sell on Ebay I went back to, “No freakin’ way.”
What I’m discovering now, however, is that not all DVDs are alike. The ones I purchased when the format was first released 15 or so years ago look like crap, not much better than VHS. A perfect example was Kubrick’s “The Shining,” which looked so awful I had to shut it off after 15 minutes. The picture was blurry and not even in widescreen. So picking up the Blu-ray for $8.00 made sense.
Thankfully, most of my DVDs look perfectly fine. This includes copies nearly a decade old. Even the hundreds of black and white films I recorded on DVD off of TCM (before TCM installed the blocking device) look good. Any new films I purchase will obviously be in the Blu-ray format but only from the five-for-$20 previously-viewed bin at Blockbuste — not that there’s much to choose from these days even at that low price.
I miss buying films. I used to buy them sight unseen just because I had faith they were good, and being disappointed was the exception, not the norm.
Those days are long, long gone.
Hollywood Gives Up On Young Male Moviegoers
The Wrap:
One veteran box office analyst said that Hollywood has stopped making movies for the young male demographic, noting that few movies have been aimed at that audience in the past year. Instead, Hollywood is making R-rated movies like “Hangover 2” that young men under 17 can’t easily attend on their own even if they want to.
OTX research has found a drop of 7-8 percent in attendance by young males in the past year, about the same percentage of increase for the number of R-rated movies that were released.
That analyst suggested that Hollywood has “abandoned” the young male.
If so, the videogame industry has certainly figured out how to find them.
Did Hollywood “abandon” young men or did young men abandon Hollywood?
Video games offer something most Hollywood films don’t: a metrosexual-free zone with plenty of brawny action and opportunities to be The Hero. Movies today seem to be under the absurd impression that living vicariously through Ashton Kutcher is what people want. Hopefully, young men still want to be John Wayne and Robert Mitchum; confident, masculine, and not within a country mile of skinny jeans, bicycle helmets, or where one gets in touch with their feelings.
Netflix Launches New Interface for Android Tablets
Other than on an airplane, do people really watch movies on their computers and notebooks? How about iPhones?
Seems ridiculous to me.
Discovery’s ‘Gold Rush’ #1 Program In All Of Television Friday Night Among Men
More proof that the return of the working class hero who works the politically incorrect job that involves cutting down trees and “wounding” Mother Earth in search of her riches is good for ratings and even better for America.
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Last Night’s Screening
Now that Blockbuster’s Movie Pass is sending us the correct discs, we’re back on the “Closer” train and well into season three.
The show is really starting to gel, especially the way in which the cast interacts. “The Round File” was a memorable episode. A strong, intriguing mystery that kept you guessing throughout and anchored by Big Hollywood’s own Orson Bean who’s superb in a guest-starring role as a nursing home resident who may or may not be a serial killer.
Overall, what I like about the show is that the protagonist Brenda Leigh Johnson (played by Kyra Sedgwick) is absolutely determined to put the bad guys away. She can be a little too neurotic at times in that way that telegraphs that the producers want to give the actress actor-y stuff to do, but that’s a small complaint.
This is very much a good vs. evil program that shows how difficult it can be to do the right thing.
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SCOTTD’S EPIC LINK-TACULAR
THE LATEST ON M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN’S NEXT FILM, ‘ONE THOUSAND A.E.‘
RANKED: RICHARD LINKLATER FILMS FROM WORST TO BEST
STEVE CARRELL ATTACHED TO STAR IN ‘LUNATICS,’ BASED ON THE DAVE BARRY/ALAN ZWEIBEL NOVEL
DOMAIN REGISTRATION RUMORS: ‘STAR WARS: IDENTITIES’ BY LUCASFILM
PRODUCER GAVIN POLONE: WHY THE STUDIOS NEED TO SLASH EXTRAVAGANT STAR PERKS
MILLA JOVOVICH DONS SKINTIGHT LEATHER FOR ‘RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION‘
‘MAD MEN’ CREATOR REVEALS SHOCKING SERIES ENDING
‘THE HOBBIT’ TEASER COMING BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR
IS ‘DR. WHO’ GETTING THE BIG-SCREEN TREATMENT?
BILL NIGHY REASSURES: ‘TOTAL RECALL’ REMAKE IN GOOD HANDS
11 FAMOUS FACES WHO SERVED IN THE MILITARY
‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — GHOST PROTOCOL’ BMW TRAILER
RICKY GERVAIS ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AMERICAN AND BRITISH HUMOR
WHAT’S THE RIGHT ORDER TO WATCH THE ‘STAR WARS’ FILMS IN?
BRUCE CAMPBELL MAKES A REASONABLE ARGUMENT FOR AN ASH-LESS ‘EVIL DEAD’ REMAKE
CELEBRATING 60 YEARS OF ‘A PLACE IN THE SUN‘
‘PRIME SUSPECT,’ ‘COMMUNITY’ CANCELLED
21 GREAT MOMENTS OF SUPERHEROES KICKING THE $#@! OUT OF HITLER
‘TREK NATION’ CELEBRATES 45 YEARS OF ‘STAR TREK’ LEGACY
FOR NEW VIEWERS: THE ESSENTIAL ‘FARSCAPE’ EPISODES
‘STAR TREK 2′ RELEASE DATE; ‘TRANSFORMERS 4′ & ‘PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4′ UPDATE
THE LOST ROLES OF ‘ANIMAL HOUSE‘
10 MOVIE MILESTONES OF PORTLAND, OR
THE 10 BEST ‘STAR TREK’ VILLAINS
ROLLING STONES CELEBRATE FIFTY YEARS TOGETHER
SHORT SEQUEL ‘TANGLED EVER AFTER’ TO PLAY WITH ‘BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 3D’
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CLASSIC PICK FOR WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16
8:00PM EST: Nothing Sacred (1937) — When a small-town girl is diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease, an ambitious newspaper man turns her into a national heroine. Dir: William A. Wellman Cast: Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Charles Winninger. C-74 mins, TV-PG, CC.
74-minutes of pure genius and one of those rare early films that actually was filmed in color (not colorized). Man or woman, if you don’t fall in love with Carole Lombard after this you’re lacking a pulse.
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