A special salute to those of you who spent the weekend watching every frame of the Star Wars Blu-rays. Amazing that with all the changes George Lucas made he didn't find a way to cut out Jake Lloyd. I don't want to say something out of line, but maybe, just maybe, Lucas isn't always making the best decisions.
As far as big releases this week, I gotta say on a personal level I'm most excited about. . .my mouth! That's right friends, I'm going to the dentist for the first time in years. After that, I'm heading down to Fantastic Fest in Austin (more on this below) and I guarantee I'm going to see some of the most insane action, underground, horror and whacked-out future cult films.
Now onto your questions!
William Christopher Pope from Facebook asks us "How much will the Blade Runner prequel/sequel suck?"
Putting aside grammar issues and the fact that this might be construed as a Papal Bull, I can't go through life expecting that movies will suck. I simply must keep hope alive that magic will happen on set and in the editing room and quality will emerge, even for a project that I never particularly asked for. I mean, this summer alone, I had raised eyebrows about X-Men: First Class and Rise of the Planet of the Apes and they both turned out to be terrific. (And on the other side of the coin, I was sure that Cowboys & Aliens was going to be great, and look what happened there.)
But I'm with you, Pontiff. If I was in charge of everything, I wouldn't put "a return to the world of Blade Runner" high on the production slate. It's perfect as it is. The fact that it is Ridley Scott himself doing it doesn't really change it that much. While everything the man shoots is gorgeous, if you look at the last eight movies he's made since Gladiator, I'd only call Body of Lies and Black Hawk Down good.
@ErestorSVilya asks if 3D will really make a difference to a movie like Top Gun.
To this I offer an unequivocal "Hell, no!" I don't see a financial windfall for the studio releasing this. I mean, sure, a beach volleyball scene in 3D may look cool, but the marketplace has been saturated by the 3D gimmick and it is too damn late. (See this very recent article and the accompanying graphs for what they are calling the death of 3D.)
Top Gun has also been on basic cable for decades, and while it absolutely has a cult following, it isn't from the type of audience member likely to go check out an "old movie" just for the theater experience.
Lastly, the masses hate Tom Cruise. When audiences stay away from Ghost Protocol in droves, it won't be because it doesn't look cool (cause it does), it'll be because middle America is racist against Scientologists. You know I'm right.
Jose Perez from Facebook asks "why hasn't The Human Centipede won an Oscar?"
Well, the fact remains that The Human Centipede isn't quite as good as all that. It does, though, have more nuance and humor than people who haven't seen it may think, however.
The real news is this: we're days away from The Human Centipede 2 and I know people who have seen it. And I've heard some things. And if they are true, it is going to make people vomit for months.
Remember, you too can get your questions in - either by leaving them on our Facebook wall, hitting @JHoffman6 on Twitter or sending me an old fashioned email.
