Stop-Loss failed to make much money this weekend and I'm sure we'll hear, once again, how Iraq movies don't do well and how America is sick of war movies.  Of course, this isn't really true. The problem isn't that America doesn't want to see Iraq war movies, it's that Hollywood doesn't make Iraq war movies.

Stop-Loss, like Rendition, Lions for Lambs, and even non-iraq films like Flags of our Fathers and Charlie Wilson's War are bureaucracy movies. Most of them have more in common with films like All the President's Men and Network than the golden era war films. The older war films were essentially updated Westerns. The new war films are more like off-Broadway morality plays. Most of them are lectures, written by non-experts, about a subject that most everyone has heard enough about. To act like Americans don't realize what our soldiers are sacrificing for us is ridiculous (and is, ironically, probably only true in Hollywood). While Hollywood thinks Stop-Loss is a rule that is somehow stunning and needs to be discussed, it's probably a fact of life for most people in America's Heartland. Hollywood is making films that lecture the people who actually are living with these issues.

On top of all this, Stop-Loss was made by MTV films, starred Ryan Phillipe, and had a marketing campaign that relied heavily on Snow Patrol music and shirtless men. It's almost like they were trying to get guys not to want to see them film.

In the end, I ended up seeing "21" this weekend. I knew it wasn't going to be great and that I'd probably forget most of it as soon as the lights came up in the theater, but I also knew that I would be entertained. And that's the key. Even if Stop-Loss was effective, the best case scenario is that I'd leave the theater depressed about a situation that I really have no way of changing and is, outside of a vote for Barack Obama, completely out of my control. If I'm already so bored on the weekend that I am willing to choose between Stop-Loss, 21, and Superhero Movie, then odds are that I don't need something that makes me even more depressed. 

Posted by SoulHonky at 05:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem. Jean Claude Van Damme apparently took that to heart when choosing his next movie. in it he plays a struggling ex-action star who is running out of money. Oh, and the character is Jean Claude Van Damme and the movie is called JCVD. It looks interesting and I'm sure if it does well we won't be far from Seagal: The Movie. Although personally, I think Billy Zabka: The Movie might be more fun.

Posted by SoulHonky at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Variety.com has a piece about a new luxury theater chain which immediately get filed in the "As Rome Burns..." file but it got me to thinking about the one chance I wish all theaters would make. It might not be plausible because of space and plumbing but I'd love for their to be a way to not miss the movie if you need to go to the bathroom. Ideally, you'd have the bathroom be right behind your theater. Over the urinals would be a window (tinted on th outside so people can't see in) and the movie audio would be pumped in.  Granted, you're still out of luck if you have to drop a deuce but at least you'll be able to hear the film.

Unfortunately, I can't see this happening any time soon so until then I'll have to just keep wearing diapers to the theater. 

Posted by SoulHonky at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by SoulHonky at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by SoulHonky at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For a while now I've been disappointed with Hollywood's remake craze because rarely, if ever, does it make sense. In most cases, the films or TV shows being remade are so old that the kids today don't know about them while the adults have outgrown them. I always thought the more successful "remake" strategy was The Ripoff. Just take a film that people loved back in the day and revamp it. "Disturbia" did that with "Rear Window". Rather than remake the movie and suddenly get people up in arms over Shia LeBeof taking over Jimmy Stewart's role, they simply altered it enough so that they could say it was an original film. "The Fast and The Furious" was nothing more than "Point Break" with cars.

Two new films have recaptured the glory of The Ripoff. The first, coming out this week, is "Never Back Down".

The film is pretty much a remake of "The Karate Kid" with underground MMA fighting replacing organized karate. The film earns extra points for getting Djimon Honsou to play the Pat Morita Mr. Miyagi role.

The other ripoff is the new Robert DeNiro/Al Pacino film "The Righeous Kill". It's basically "Magnum Force" but with the Corleone's replacing one Dirty Harry. Now some might think this is a stretch but there's one thing in the trailer that tips the scales.

The tipoff? The final line of the trailer "Nothing wrong with shooting, as long as the right people get shot" is lifted straight from "Magnum Force".

Now, Hollywood doesn't always get it right, hence the asterik in the tile. They've tapped the writers of internet site Ask A Ninja to remake the cult film "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes". This makes no sense to me. If you have faith in the guys from "Ask a Ninja" produce a new script. Don't have them remake a bad movie. In the end, this might actually be the Hollywood execs trying to get back at the Ninja clan for reviews like this.

Posted by SoulHonky at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This month's SoulMix is a bunch of instrumentals from film soundtracks and one ambient song from Brightback Morning Light. I usually listen to ambient stuff like this when I write and since this year is supposed to be dedicated to actually getting off my ass and getting back on my ass in front of my computer to write, I thought this mix would be a good reminder.

Posted by SoulHonky at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)