0:00-03:40 - Intro
03:40-09:15 - In-house Stuff: Film Junk Podcast Survey, More Jay Singing
09:15-38:05 - Headlines: Fanboys Protest Bombs, Luxury Theatre Chains, Bruno Movie Update, Children of Men TV Show
38:05-57:45 - Junk Mail
57:45-1:22:10 - Stuff We Watched This Week: 21, Over The Top, The First Year, The Horror of Dracula, David Blaine: Fearless (Tangent on Magic!), The Mist, Over The Edge, Dan in Real Life, The War Room, Once
1:22:10-1:30:55 - Top 5 Gambling Movies
1:30:55-1:35:10 - This Week’s DVD Releases
1:35:10-1:38:45 - Outro
Before Fast Times at Ridgemont High, before The Outsiders, before Dazed and Confused, and before Kids, there was Over The Edge.
Throughout the U.S. in the 1970’s, planned surburban communities began springing up across the country, attracting middle-class families who wanted to get away from the overcrowding and crime of big cities. The environment they ended up creating, however, was not as idyllic as they thought it was, because it left their kids isolated and bored out of their minds. Over The Edge is based on real events that took place in Foster City, California, where at one point it had a higher percentage of juvenile crime than anywhere else in the country.
In a community called New Grenada, the teenage kids are restless and living on the verge of total anarchy. The only place they have to hang out is the local rec center, which closes at 6 pm, so they spend their evenings getting high, breaking and entering, and vandalizing city property. When a wealthy real estate tycoon comes to town, city officials realize they need to do something drastic, so they close down the rec center and try to impose a curfew. Unfortunately, this sets off a series of violent encounters with the police, and while concerned parents in the community are trying to figure things out, the kids are busy plotting their revenge.
After laying low for a while and letting all the overexposure from Borat die down, it looks like Sacha Baron Cohen is finally getting back into the swing of things with production on his next movie, Bruno. He was recently spotted at various locations in Kansas making people uncomfortable as his flamboyant Austrian fashion reporter alter-ego. But that’s not all… word on the street is that Sacha Baron Cohen may have actually scored a sit down interview for the movie with an unsuspecting Ben Affleck.
According to Mike Walker of the National Enquirer (who called The Howard Stern Show to offer up this scoop), a confused Affleck recently called up his newfound pal Sarah Silverman to tell her about a weird interview he’d just had with a famous gay fashion journalist. Of course, Silverman felt it was only fair to inform him that this was actually Sacha Baron Cohen in disguise. I don’t know if I really buy this… for one thing, Affleck doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would be so clueless. However, I could definitely see Affleck being in on the joke, perhaps in the same way that Pamela Anderson was in on the joke for Borat.
Either way, I’m starting to get very curious to see what Sacha Baron Cohen is going to do for an encore. I know there’s been a lot of Borat backlash and I wonder how receptive people will be to more of his pranks. Personally I can’t wait. I will say, however, that if the title of the movie really is Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt, then I may find myself joining the backlashers in due time. For a hint of what’s to come, check out the YouTube clip below to see Bruno and a friend causing a ruckus at the Kansas airport.
Hey look, Superhero Movie bombed! Obviously there were more Star Wars fans out there protesting “Darth Weinstein” and the cuts to Fanboys than we originally thought. Or it could just be that no one wanted to see Superhero Movie because it looked dated and unfunny, which is probably the most likely scenario, since reports indicate that no more than 20 people showed up for any of the so-called protests in New York or L.A.! However, 21 apparently did something right, bringing in $23 million to top the weekend box office charts, with Horton Hears a Who! pulling up in second and becoming the first movie in 2008 to crack $100 million. Superhero Movie earned $9.5 mil, with Meet The Browns and Drillbit Taylor rounding out the top 5. Interesting to note: Stop-Loss bombed even harder than Superhero Movie, bringing in just $4.53M.
1. 21 — $23.7M
2. Horton Hears a Who! — $17.4M
3. Superhero Movie — $9.51M
4. Meet the Browns — $7.76M
5. Drillbit Taylor — $5.8M
6. Shutter — $5.33M
7. 10,000 B.C. — $4.88M
8. Stop-Loss — $4.53M
9. College Road Trip — $3.5M
10. The Bank Job — $2.8M
Run, Fatboy, Run
Directed by: David Schwimmer
Written by: Michael Ian Black, Simon Pegg
Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria, Dylan Moran, Harish Patel
Note: This a repost of my original review from September 2007.
After the success of Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg has become a pretty big comedic hit not only in the U.K., but also in North America as well. The thing is, up until this point his following has consisted primarily of fanboys, geeks and college students. While some people can make a comfortable living catering to this demographic for their entire career, it takes some forays into slightly more broad comedy to become a bona fide movie star. Not everyone is cut out for mainstream comedy, but with this movie Pegg has proven that he can definitely win over the masses without having to compromise himself.
21
Directed by: Robert Luketic
Written by: Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb (screenplay), Ben Mezrich (book)
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira
Holy shit, check this out; two reviews in one week! So, what started out as my friend Dayna coming to my volleyball game Friday night eventually turned into the two of us having dinner afterward with Elaine and Dayna’s twin sister Ellyn and then going to see the movie 21. Did you hear that? That was the collective sound of everyone reading this saying, “Why the fuck would you see that?”
Posted by Sean on March 30th, 2008 Filed under: Contests, DVD
Congratulations to the following lucky Film Junk Junkies, who have just won themselves a copy of Walk The Line: Extended Cut on DVD:
Matthew Starchak in Vienna, VA
John Cavanagh in Spring Hill, FL
Guy Law in Erie, PA
Chris George in Parry Sound, Ontario
Thanks to all who entered, and special thanks to Derek at M80 for making the giveaway possible. Stay tuned to Film Junk for more contests in the near future!
To recap the past week in movie news, the biggest stories seem to be Ian McKellen’s confirmation that he will return to play Gandalf in The Hobbit movies, and of course the whole Fanboys boycott debacle, which has sent Star Wars fans into a Sith-like rage. There was also an exciting rumour about a Brave New World movie in development, and some intriguing casting news from Oliver Stone’s upcoming George W. Bush biopic. Hey, if you’ve got a few minutes, why not fill out our survey about the Film Junk Podcast?
