Smokin' Joe Carnahan: ONE WEEK! PLUS! DVD GIVEAWAY! AND! THOUGHTS ON THE DEVOLVING MOVIE-GOER!

ONE WEEK! PLUS! DVD GIVEAWAY! AND! THOUGHTS ON THE DEVOLVING MOVIE-GOER!

04/10/2007 at 08:02 AM

'Smokin' Aces' is out on DVD and HD-DVD in one week. We hit the street
April 17th. Very Excited. The DVD is pretty packed with extras including the
original scripted ending which some of you have read. I'm looking forward
to it because I have yet to see the whole thing. I don't even own one yet.

In regards to the robbery guys, thanks a lot for all the well-wishing. This
blog certainly has its hardcore habitutes and I deeply appreciate each and
every one of you. You guys fu*king rock. And as a token of my esteem, we will
be giving a number of free DVD's out to you folks, my loyalists. Don't know
how we're going to do it but we are, so standby.

Now. The box-office: How in the hell does a Rodriguez-Tarantino movie do that
poorly? I'm going to see it tonight. Those guys, Tarantino especially, deserve a
helluva lot more love than f*cking 11.6 million. What is wrong with American
moviegoers? Is there nothing NEW that they're willing to embrace? Jesus, it's
the worst kind of erosion. We're making dumber and dumber films and they're
becoming cash cows. God Bless '300', at least it's got balls and the director WENT
for it. THAT movie is good for the business, it's good for everybody. But
some of these other flicks don't even TRY because they know in the end,
EXACTLY the age range and demographic driving ticket prices these days. Those
monstrosities (the names of which I won't mention) are pure pieces of commerce,
marketed to perfection.

I hope 'Grindhouse' recovers. It's an audacious idea that I wish would've been
given a bigger break. Maybe as they separate the two films, they'll pry some
sunshine out of the situation and the Weinsteins will save the day. It bums me
the f*ck out though when something like that, a really cool idea that looks like
a great time at the movies, made by real talent-- can't push past.

It's just dead wrong kids...and we ALL pay the price when those don't work.

Comments

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Posted by: Kevin 04/10/2007 at 09:50 AM

Saw Grindhouse a few weeks ago and have to agree, it is a great time to be had at the movies.

Just the idea of two directors combining forces for a film like this is something quite special. Why didn't people go see it? To be honest, I don't know. Both directors have a strong enough fanbase to at least secure a number one slot for it's opening weekend but in this case, it seems their fanbase stayed away.

Was it the length of the film? In my opinion, the film's running time never seemed to be an issue. Granted Rodriguez's Planet Terror zips along at a speedier pace than Tarantino's Death Proof, you never really "feel" that three hour running time. I have heard the running time is hindering it's performance...what a crock of shit. Lord of the Rings and the two other films in that series had a three hour running time and proved to be quite lucrative. This is one of those rare examples of a film just not finding it's audience.

For the Weinsteins, it's an expensive failure. I hope by seperating the two films, they find an audience. With the film's double feature gimmick, the audience was really getting an experience as opposed to just renting a seat in a theater for a couple of hours. Guess people would rather see one film than two for the same price. American moviegoers are incredibly fucking stupid sometimes and right now with Grindhouse, this is one of those times.

Joe, you'll love it. After you see it, post a review if you could.

Kevin

ps Snyder really went for it with 300 and it paid off in spades.

Posted by: Justin 04/10/2007 at 10:12 AM

Totally agree with you about Grindhouse, Joe. I guess the fact that it was 3 hours was too much for some people...I definitely plan to see it. It's amazing that such crap like Wild Hogs and Norbit thrives while risky and innovative flicks like Grindhouse don't.

Can't wait to see the DVD, definitely wanted to see the original ending. Really shocked me when I read the script!

	Posted by: Eric S. 04/10/2007 at 10:35 AM
Grindhouse was great. Entertaining from the minute Machete came on the screen to the end when there was flashes of random people in the credits.

Posted by: Rachelle 04/10/2007 at 10:57 AM

I don't think it was the three plus hours that had 'Grindhouse' coming in behind 'Are We Done Yet?' LOL!...Maybe it had more to do with the fact that it was Easter weekend and Spring Break in most States for the kiddies...Bloody horror film 'Black Christmas' didn't do so well opening Xmas weekend either...People were taking their families to films without an R-rating. Maybe out of some Jesus guilt. LOL! Or maybe kids sneaked into the R-rated film after paying for a PG-rated one. I saw 'Grindhouse' and preferred Tarantino's piece to Rodriguez's. It was less predictable. :) I thought for sure the film was gonna be a box office blow-out...But then I thought the same thing about 'Smokin' Aces.'...so i don't feel bad for the 'Grindhouse' guys. Hopefully it'll do better this week.

Posted by: Shalimar 04/10/2007 at 11:13 AM

Living in the UK I don't get to see Grindhouse till June 1st, however I thought it was a dead cert for the number one spot in the US. There aren't that many three hour+ R rated movies that spring to mind which I can compare it to though. Maybe it'll improve on its second week? Hopefully word of mouth will spread?

It's already in the Top 250 on the imdb!

It's just a shame that some audiences won't give originality a chance (something which this year's summer blockbusters appear to be lacking).

What I want to know is will you (or any of the other people that come to this blog) be out in force when Hot Fuzz is released in the US on April 20th???

	Posted by: Rachelle 04/10/2007 at 11:30 AM
LOLOL! 'Hot Fuzz' looks like fun. LOL! It may do better than you'd expect. :)

Posted by: Kevin 04/10/2007 at 11:58 AM

Shalimar,

Saw Hot Fuzz last week and completely, unabashedly loved it. I will support Fuzz like I did for Aces, saw it in theater 3 times/ will buy the DVD for a few friends of mine as well, and Grindhouse.

Whether or not I found it better than Shaun? They are two wildly different movies yet have a similar tone. I think I love them the same.

I completely agree with you in regards to people shuning the original films of late and latching on to the tit of some half cocked, undercooked studio regurgitation otherwise dubbed as movies. Like I stated above, American audiences seem quite stupid of late.

Kevin

ps Eric, are you Quint?

Posted by: Jeffrey Wright 04/10/2007 at 12:05 PM

Yeah, I hear ya Joe.

Met with and individual who will go "nameless" from a very large agency in LA the other day and spent a few hours going over pitches and such and the jist is basically that any "new" screenwriter should be writing the next Wedding Crashers, instead of anything remotely original or thought-provoking. I gave him my story about a man whose faced with the decision to pull the plug on his comatose wife and donate her organs to save the life of a little girl he doesn't know. Obviously the response was, that'll never sell. Now, I agree with him because it's not overtly commercial and probably stands a better chance in a competition, in order to gain momentum out in public, but that is what up-and-coming screenwriters are hearing these days and it really has to affect what is being produced through their screenplay software!

Thanks,

Posted by: Kirk 04/10/2007 at 12:16 PM

Hey Joe,

Srry i haven't been online in such a long time tons of work and Family things have taken up most of my time. i just wanna send you and your family the best, it sucks bad getting your house robbed it has happened to numerous people i know, but im happy to hear none of you family got hurt.

I saw Grindhouse in one of the first showing's in my city and thought it was amazing. I wasn't around when Grindhouse films were being made and it gave me some insight to what these movies were and how they functioned. Like you said, im dissapointed this movie didn't get what it deserved. The movie was an experience well worth over ten bucks, it was pure creativity and balls out action. Also like you said, it pains me to see movies that are so poorly developed make a killing at the box office.
Maybe the timing for Grindhouse was off, which personally i do think it was, too many people are taking time with their families i guess (even though that doesn't explain how other movies raped at the box office last weekend), so i dunno, but i deffinitaly recommend going to see Grindhouse, it really is an experience like no other.
Anyways, it's good news that your dvd is coming out ever so soon, ill be picking that up the Tuesday it comes out, i gotta say im looking forward to the "Cowboy" type ending and the extended and deleted scenes.

Looking forward to the answers to all the questions.

Kirk

Posted by: Dane 04/10/2007 at 12:19 PM

Yeah, I agree totally. I can't believe that Grindhouse got beat out by "Are We Done Yet?" Seriously? A sequel to a shitty Ice Cube movie? Oh well, I guess that's just the way it is. I saw Grindhouse on Friday and liked it overall, it was a bit long, so it's understandable I guess that some people may not want to sit through a 3 hour movie like that. It's just sad. I was thrilled to see 300 hundred do so well, so at least that's the light at the end of the tunnel. In the end, box office has nothing to do with quality of films, it just helps keep good directors employed. Good luck with the DVD release next week Joe, I'll be picking it up first chance I get!

Dane