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Movie Scum Episode #8 Promo!

We have a new site! Please go to the new and improved Movie Scum and watch Episode #8! Longer videos, now that they are not uploaded to YouTube! Please bear with us as we continue to make the site better and more user friendly. All new posts with be published on that site, and not this one.

You Guys are Scum!

This week's episode will be posted later tomorrow than usual. Sorry about that, but we will make sure it is worth the wait. In addition to that, we have a surprise coming...

At Least Use The Starship Song

I saw Mannequin in the theater.

They are going to reboot this film. It better have Johnathan Silverman in it. For as you can see, the first one had Andrew McCarthy, and the second had Terry Kiser. So, in order to complete the Triumvirate, a reboot, remake or sequel, it must have Johnathan Silverman. Sadly, I do not think it will. Instead, it will apparently star Zac Efron. I assume that this will mean it will be some kind of gay musical, that pre-teens will rush to see. If it is, I demand that they use "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship, which basically melted the cheese that was the first film.

If you haven't seen this movie, first, you should thank what ever deity you throw money at on your day of worship. Second, here's the basic story. Kim Cattrall is an ancient Egyptian who is cursed and turned in to a Mannequin and ends up in the future (1987) and can only come to life when Johnathan (coincidence?) Switcher is around. They work together to make the department store that Switcher works in the most successful in town. Brilliant.

I should be furious at this, but after thinking about it, it could be worse. They could remake it instead of reboot it, which would involve trying to recast the un-recastable. There is absolutely no way that anyone other than Meshach Taylor could play Hollywood. It would be a crime against humanity to have someone other than Estelle Getty play Ms. Timkin. And if anyone ever dares to recast any role played by Andrew McCarthy, they should be stoned to death. That being said, I am glad that it is a reboot, and cannot wait until they hip it up, and make a then irrelevant movie even more irrelevant to the young people, who will rub themselves to the thought of Zac Effron. You know what would be really funny? Have Kim Catrall play the mannequin again.

Best Scene: Maniac Cop 2

I was going to write a random review of Maniac Cop 2, but I figured why bother? Most people probably have never even heard of it nor will ever see the series even though it features such talent as Bruce Campbell, Robert Davi, and Tom Atkins. As I previously noted, there is no North American DVD release which is rather bothersome considering the lesser-known DTV sequel Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence has a shiny disc dedicated to it. But in the end, this is not a good movie. It has its moments but here is hands-down the best sequence in the film.



Now, I may get around to writing a full review but I would have to start with the first movie. Use this to tide you over in the meantime.

News Roundup: Week of 1/29/10

George Lucas' CG Fairy Musical Mystery: Our Theories
Will someone please take George Lucas' power and money away? For the sake for all that is holy ...

OMFG #2: Lionsgate Throws Violent Blow at Paramount: 'Saw' vs 'Paranormal Activity'... IT'S ON!
With the whole Leno/Conan thing out of the way, its time for Paramount and Lionsgate to battle via their competing horror franchises as well as torn directors.

The Sam Worthington Project Du Jour Is...DRACULA??
Sam Worthington as a vampire that actually kills people and who doesn't sparkle or mope. This could be a good thing.

DreamWorks to Show How Babies Eat, Sleep, Poop
More proof that Hollywood is plumb out of ideas.

Here Come More GREMLINS!?
I'm not sure what upsets me more: there will be another Gremlins movie or that it will be needlessly in 3D.

Bernie Returns? PBF is Going to be Mad

Now, there are not very many details at this point so it is possible that this is just an empty threat from Hollywood, but Moviehole states Bernie Lomax may be resurrected to then die and pretend to be alive in a remake to PBF's beloved ultimate comfort movie Weekend at Bernie's. Could this be the chance for Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman to relive their fame and recover their fortune from the original film? Or will we have to suffer with actors lacking in the charisma to pull off the absurd plot of the film? So many questions, so little answers. Perhaps there can be a double feature between this and the remake of Mannequin as two movies which shouldn't have been made the first time, let alone remade.

Avatar: Unfortunate Victim of the Titanic Effect

As you might have already heard, Avatar has smashed box office records, overtaking Titanic with a current worldwide gross of $1.8 billion as of this post. As it currently enjoys an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the perceived experience of seeing Avatar in an 3D screening has seemingly overpowered some of the reported flaws of the film. Even if you actively try, you won't get far on any movie site or blog without mention of the film. I even sat through a 43 minute promotion of the film on Bones, one of my favorite television shows. Yet, in spite of the good reviews and constant promotion, I have no desire to see it.

Now, I can understand its importance in the film-making industry both in critical terms and in the pop culture zeitgeist. James Cameron is an excellent director who has managed to again create a film that is appealing to many demographics of movie-goers, making the film a must-see just to be current with the times. His use of the 3D effects to create the fictional world of Pandora has been lauded as the best aspect of the film and groundbreaking for the use of CGI in film. Even though its been said by many, including our own Digger, that the plot of the film is flimsy, a mere mashup of previous films, it obviously has not hurt the film financially.

So why don't I want to see this film, likely one that will be referenced and copied for years to come? Having heard so much positive about the movie over the past several weeks, I am almost positive if I see it, the over hyped film would fall flat especially with the numerous shortcomings I have read about. While I knew of a new Cameron movie prior to its release, I did not have a concept of the story or concept until the aforementioned Bones episode. As such I was not awaiting its release breathlessly as I was with Dark Knight and that has translated to a total sense of apathy about the movie, even a month after its release.

Random Movie: Hatchet (2006)

Adam Green sure has been busy lately between the premiere of his newest film Frozen at Sundance this week as well as wrapping up filming of Hatchet 2, the sequel of today's random entry. When Hatchet first surfaced a few years ago, the biggest draw for me was the marketing for the film as a sort of callback to old-school 80s horror movies. No one (at least no one who is a friend of mine) can argue the greatness of all the cheesy, splatter-filled slasher movies of the 80s. In this manner, Hatchet somewhat succeeds as a "lost movie" from the bygone pinnacle of slasher flicks.

In the film, our heroes' venture out into a Louisiana swamp for a scary boat ride turns frighteningly real after running across Victor Crowley, a local legend who tragically died as a boy and now seeks to apparently create a bunch of amputees. The basic plot, and even backstory of Crowley, seems largely cribbed from the sub-genre classics with a deformed kid who is bullied constantly and dies at the hands of negligence. In some movies, the blatant homages would be enraging but not here. Green knows what this film owes to its predecessors and even offers cameos from genre vets of Tony Todd, Robert England, and even Kane Hodder, playing ol' Hatchet-face himself. The good thing is while the concept is similar to thousands of other movies, the execution is well-played to differentiate itself.

Unlike the source films, there was actually thought put into the casting of our leads with decent actors who can drive the story but coerce you to care whether they live or die. Joel David Moore, a hot commodity these days, was excellent as the heartbroken and socially awkward loser Ben. Deon Richmond is playing basically the same character from Scream 3 but that's cool as he was pretty funny in both. Even the final girl, Tamara Feldman is quite good as the tough chick and the damsel, depending on what was needed. We even had one of the lesser known Murray brothers!

Movie Scum Episode #7

As PBF is taking an Amish vacation for the next thirteen hours, allow me to present to you this week's episode of Movie Scum with Dana Carvey.

Random Movie: The Faculty (1998)

The mid-nineties were an interesting time to be a horror fan. Since the old franchise favorites of Freddy and Jason were long gone with Michael Myers soon following, they were replaced by direct-to-video nonsense and faux-horror such as Hideaway or The Island of Dr. Moreau. Then came along Kevin Williamson, a guy who could write a decent screenplay full of homages to past genre staples complete with clever dialogue. After exploding in Hollywood with Scream, Williamson took his talents and tweeked them over and over, resulting in films like The Faculty.

At its core, this should not be a good movie. It was stacked with current and future WB and pop culture stars, featured established actors for a bit of gravitas, and almost blatantly ripped off countless other alien invasion films from many decades before. Add to this formula a fairly well established director, an eclectic mix of music, and a corporate sponsorship with accompanying commercials, you've got yourself a blockbuster going! Now, it may seem that I dislike this movie, but be aware: I do not.

The plot is just simple enough not to lose any of the ADHD-afflicted members of the audience with an alien being attempting to take control of a small Midwestern town beginning with the local high school. Our ragtag team of unlikely friends band together to try to stop the impending invasion and wrestle control back from the extraterrestrial hell-bent on taking over Earth. Consider it The Breakfast Club meets Alien with a random dash of other horror and sci-fi conventions and you have the basic premise.

What Constitutes a Spoiler?

A few episodes ago on the awesome Movie Scum video series we discussed anti-feel-good movies. One of the films that came up was the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead where I pretty much gave away the ending, saying "Sorry if you haven't seen it, the movie's been out for five years." While we typically try to avoid important plot developments in the reviews that we write, shouldn't there be an agreed upon statute of limitations for what is considered a spoiler?

While I was stalking the message boards for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, one of the posts was about the death of a fairly important character to the franchise. Admittedly, this character's name was in the title of the post but one of the responses left me absolutely baffled.

Usually such a post would contain the word SPOILER in the title, so as not to give the plot away for people who have not yet seen the movie, like me....

Now, ignoring the fact that the movie is over twenty years old at this point, why would someone who has yet to see a film go to a board specifically for the discussion of that movie and get pissed that a plot point is discussed? By the same argument, to protect the stupid, should every movie, either new release or fifty-year-old classic have spoiler alerts for every minute detail? While I may be guilty of trolling boards for films (or even TV shows) I haven't seen, I don't get pissed because IT'S MY OWN DAMN FAULT!