If you haven’t heard the NY Times has reviewed the new M. Night Shamma-lamma-ding-dong movie, “The Happening,” and they have also provided information as to the ending. You can check out the article here:
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/05/early_review_of_the_happening.html
Click on the link, come back and chat. Thanks!
You’re sitting in a theatre, or maybe at home, and see a preview for a movie that you’re not sure about. It could be good, it could be funny, it could be great, but you just don’t know. Few if any of your friends go see it. Then it comes out on video.
And it becomes a huge hit.
In honor of these occasions, I give to you my Top 5 Favorite Second Wind / Comeback Movies.
“Airplane!” (1980) – The big-budget debut of the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker writing/directing trifecta. When the spoof of movies such as “Zero Hour!” and “Airport,” with a few classics thrown in, hit the theatres it was a certified box office dud. Once it hit video, it became the #1 rental of the 1980’s. I’m not joking, and don’t call me Shirley.
“Austin Powers” (1997) – The world was almost James Bond-ed out when ex-SNL member Mike Myers made this spoof of the spy genre, including the Bond franchise, “Flint” movies, and just about every spy-related movie you ever saw in your lifetime. The only person I know who went to see it told me it was okay. Within 6 months it went to video and became the #1 rental for an entire month across the U.S. Sales and rentals did so well spawned 2 sequels which, while funny, lacked the story or the heart of the first. It also gave people a reason to go around saying, “Yeah baby, yeah.”
“Office Space” (1999) – From “Beavis and Butthead” and “King of the Hill” creator Mike Judge came this ode to workplace drudgery. Whether you’re having a “case of the Mondays” or you got memos from 8 different bosses because you forgot the cover on your TPS report, “Office Space” spoke on a level that you and everyone in your cubicle neighborhood empathized with. After hitting video a generation of just graduating high school and/or leaving college to enter the workplace can now recite it on command. Useless trivia: Swingline did NOT offer a red stapler until increasing demands from customers who had seen the movie.
“Stir of Echoes” (1999) – Based on the Richard Matheson novel, Kevin Bacon is a construction worker who becomes hypnotized by his sister-in-law and “receives” mental messages from a dead girl and begins to unravel her death. This movie came out around the same time as “The Sixth Sense,” and in my opinion was the better choice between the two. Useless trivia: Kevin Bacon’s character in the movie plays guitar. In real life he and his brother put out albums under the “Bacon Brothers.”
“Shanghai Noon” (2000) – Following his team-up with Chris Tucker in “Rush Hour,” Jackie Chan teamed up with Owen Wilson in the Western Comedy about an outlaw and a Chinese guard “reject” who are in search of a kidnapped Princess. This movie is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the sequel was less-inspired.
Chas Andrews' Movie Blog 