Writer/director Kevin Smith must be just as fed up with modern romantic comedies as the rest of us.
So he implodes the formula with his latest raunch-fest, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”
The results aren’t pretty.
From the monthly archives:
October 2008
Did you kill my son?”
“That’s not my child!!”
“What did you do to my boy??”
Sound like a fun way to pass two laborious hours? Then step right up and see “Changeling,” Clint Eastwood’s mopey melodrama that bungles an amazing true story.
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I wish every one of the actors involved in the insipid “Don’t Vote” PSA could watch this (thanks, Dirty Harry)
Here’s the original abomination:
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Does horror have a future?
Scott Glosserman, who wrote and directed “Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon,” a snarky takedown of horror movies, thinks so. Here, Glosserman looks to the young guns of horror … and his own immediate future.
WWTW: Which young horror directors do you see as the future of the horror genre?
SG: As in, 35-and-under, young? Juan Antonio Bayona (”The Orphanage”). I await his next film with as much anticipation as just about any other director out there.
I think Lucky McKee got a bad shake on his follow-up to MAY, so I’m really psyched to see RED, which I missed in August. But, he’s a guy who was thinking outside the box.
The world is pretty much Darren Bousman’s oyster after three ultra-successful SAW movies. If he chose to, he could do whatever he wanted in horror, I’m sure. He’s not even 30, I don’t think. He’s probably the youngest horror director who’s going to have access to the best quality horror material in town. So, he’s the horse to bet on, by default. (Same goes for James Wan, naturally).
WWTW: Do you have plans to write or direct any horror movies in the future?
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- My Washington Times feature on director Kevin Smith and mainstream movie culture. Never the twain shall meet? Not quite.
- My Wash Times buddy Sonny Bunch examines the differences between U.S. and International horror approaches.
- Entertainment Weekly’s holiday movie preview
- Variety’s Anne Thompson sketches out early Oscar predictions.
- Moviefone’s Editor in Chief spoke to me over at Movies in Toto about the 31 scariest horror movie moments … ever.
- Film scribe Dan Webster explores the fears tapped by films through the years.
- The often riotous Movie Juice takes down “Saw V.”
- The End of Journalism by Victor Davis Hanson a.k.a. why Sen. Obama will likely win come Tuesday. The journalism community should hang its collective head in shame, but it won’t.
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The Stephen King thriller “1408″ earned its sleeper status the easy way - the film’s title is about as uninspring as any horror film could have.
Look past the generic name and you’ll find a surprisingly taut thriller with a star-affirming turn by John Cusack.
The actor plays a cynical author who writes about haunted hotels. He doesn’t believe a word of what he writes, but it’s a living.
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Tomorrow night I’m putting on my tube top socks and jogging shorts to portray Paulie Bleeker from “Juno.”
It’s Halloween, and I’m a movie guy. What else can I say?
I’ll be posting pix of my ensemble over the weekend, along with a very pregger Mrs. WWTW as Juno herself.
But I’d be happy to post any pictures of WWTW readers in their movie-inspired costumes.
So if you’re trickin’ and treatin’ this weekend as a famous, or not so famous, movie character, send me the pictures. I’ll post them here.
(Photo: Ellen Page and Michael Cera star in last year’s indie smash “Juno.”)
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Scott Glosserman made sure the “Scream” trilogy wasn’t the final word on deconstructing horror films.
Glosserman wrote and directed “Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon,” one of my Halloween sleeper pics and a loving tweak of modern horror conventions. He’s hard at work on two psychological horror films, but he took time out to answer a few questions regarding horror movies.
WWTW: What’s your take on the current state of the horror genre?
SG: Honestly, I think the quality-side of horror films is as unpredictable as the stock market right now. What is for certain is that horror movies are continuing to be churned out. The consolidation of the movie business means far fewer films are going to be made.
Generally, when budgets tighten and commodity movies are sought after, movie execs look for genre films that can be made on small budgets and that don’t need big stars. Present circumstances, therefore, favor horror films. And, horror films tend to be best when they’re lean and mean.
The question is, will this demand for horror film output exceed supply of quality material and/or directors who know what to do with it. Well, let’s take Richard Kelly. Really interesting director – DONNIE DARKO was brilliant (or pointless and he completely fooled us) — either way, he’s adapting one of my favorite “Twilight Zone” episodes, THE BOX, into a feature for Warner Bros.. There’s a quality director with a superb piece of material.
Frank Darabont optioned my favorite Stephen King novella, THE LONG WALK. ‘Nuff said.
I’m glad we finally seem to be emerging from the torture/porn era. There was, indeed, a post-9/11 time and place for that, but we have hope on the horizon (hopefully).
So, brutality displayed through hopelessness, grounded in realistic despair as a conscious or subconscious form of social commentary in horror films should subside. I believe gross-out, not-so-serious, tongue-and-cheek horror, on the one hand, and serious horror movies as social commentary for Populism (fighting for Joe-the-whatever) are on their way. That’s my prognostication.
WWTW: What modern factors are helping/hurting the genre?
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You never forget the first time you’re called a fascist.
I was at a party thrown by one of my wife’s friends (her social circle is almost entirely liberal), and I made the mistake of telling a stranger in conversation that I worked for The Washington Times.
A few seconds later, he called me a fascist.
The memory came back to me tonight when I read about someone else getting hit with the F word - far-left filmmaker Oliver Stone.
Richard Dreyfuss, who plays Vice President Cheney in Stone’s new film, “W.,” indirectly called Stone a fascist during a visit to the liberal talk show “The View:”
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Avery Ludlow is a simple man living in complex times.
His house lacks cable television, or even any TV set for that matter. He fishes when it pleases him, always acts neighborly to friends and strangers alike, and he wouldn’t hurt a soul.
But someone just shot his dog, and Avery won’t rest until justice is served - or he gets a heartfelt apology.
“Red,” just released on DVD, isn’t your typical vigilante flick.
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