Homage in film can be a tricky proposition. Hew too close to the original, and you’re just making copies with no new toner; veer too far away and folks will wonder why you bothered. Joe Dante’s Piranha (1978) is that perfect beast then - a Jaws “rip-off” that bows to its source while winking at the audience, and yet still manages to be a wholly separate, wildly entertaining ride.
Released by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures in North America in early August (capitalizing on Jaws’ still undulating waves), Piranha was that rare New World phenomenon: It made some good coin ($16 million worldwide against a $600,000 budget) And was well received by critics. Steven Spielberg himself was so won over by Dante’s take and talent that it led to collaborations on Twilight Zone: The Movie, Gremlins, and other projects. Piranha proves that you can hug someone, slap a “Kick Me” sign on their back,...
Released by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures in North America in early August (capitalizing on Jaws’ still undulating waves), Piranha was that rare New World phenomenon: It made some good coin ($16 million worldwide against a $600,000 budget) And was well received by critics. Steven Spielberg himself was so won over by Dante’s take and talent that it led to collaborations on Twilight Zone: The Movie, Gremlins, and other projects. Piranha proves that you can hug someone, slap a “Kick Me” sign on their back,...
- 6/24/2017
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
James Franco’s death march through the American literary canon continues with In Dubious Battle, a John Steinbeck adaptation so conventionally dismal that it makes one better appreciate the artsy, dawdling garbage that is the actor turned dilettante’s usual stock in trade. Every Franco personal project—from his unintelligible, low-budget adaptations of William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying, The Sound And The Fury) and Cormac McCarthy (Child Of God) to his novels and assorted experiments in self-fellatio—is born with a “Kick Me” sign on its back, begging critics to punt it in the keister for making artistic ambition look lame. This one even comes with a freebie: It’s got “dubious” right there in the title. But instead of being sloppily miscalculated (the “Franco touch”), this attempt at a Depression-era labor drama in the vein of John Sayles just bores its way through almost two hours of screen...
- 2/15/2017
- by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
- avclub.com
Life lesson from this week’s Sleepy Hollow: Don’t put off telling your loved ones how you feel about them, because you never know when one of you might get turned into a glowing war beast summoned by a very bad man with an even worse agenda.
So I suppose we all owe Atticus Nevins some gratitude, because if it weren’t for his wild-eyed pursuit of Jenny Mills — aka the walking, talking Shard of Anubis, thanks to her touching the gem barehanded last episode — we’d never get the Joe/Jenny and Ichabod/Abbie tender moments we see in this week’s hour.
So I suppose we all owe Atticus Nevins some gratitude, because if it weren’t for his wild-eyed pursuit of Jenny Mills — aka the walking, talking Shard of Anubis, thanks to her touching the gem barehanded last episode — we’d never get the Joe/Jenny and Ichabod/Abbie tender moments we see in this week’s hour.
- 11/13/2015
- TVLine.com
A review of tonight's "Fargo" coming up just as soon as that's the wrong part of the sentence to be focusing on... "How the heck did I do that?" -Molly "'Cause you're you." -Gus "Who Shaves the Barber?" has some memorable material involving Malvo, including his trip to Reno to visit his booking agent, and especially his one-man assault on the Fargo mob's headquarters, done right under the nose of two FBI agents played by Key & Peele(*). Like last scene's gunfight in the whiteout, the tracking shot following Malvo's path through the building even as the camera remained outside was a very clever way to depict a complex action sequence despite the restrictions of a TV budget and schedule. (Also, there are times when the less we see of Malvo in action, the easier it is to buy that he's this superhuman force of destruction.) (*) The introduction of these guys...
- 5/28/2014
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
Rapper Cam'ron kicked some dude's testicles into the back of his throat Monday night in Vegas ... and it only cost him a reasonable $20.Here's how it all went down. Cam'ron ran into a ballsy street peddler who was playing let's make a deal -- his sign read, "Kick me in the nuts ... $20." Cam'ron accepted the gentleman's offer and delivered David Beckham style. The street peddler collapsed in pain, Cam'ron paid his debt and went on his merry way.
- 2/18/2014
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
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