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Usenet Posted 19 years ago
Screenwriting
Trailer Trash
I went to see 'Ratatouille' yesterday, which means - yes, you guessed it: more previews of duds to come.The first trailer is for a movie called 'No Reservations' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481141/). Starring Abigail Breslin ('Little Miss Sunshine'), Aaron Eckart, and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the role of a top chef whose life is upset when she gets custody of her niece. Now, I already know what you're thinking: tough-as-nails adult has to take care of cutesy kid; hasn't that been done to death five times over? Well yes, it has. But this is totally different, because she's a CHEF! You know, like on Emeril and the Iron chef and Hell's Kitchen and those countless other cooking shows that are all the rage right now and that cause people to rush out and spend $40,000 to redesign their gourmet kitchen with all the neat stuff they saw in magazines, only so they can heat up pop tarts in the microwave...
and go see movies like 'No Reservations' that make them feel like they're also great chefs by osmosis.
The point is, the movie feels like crass pandering. It's a warmed-over paint-by-numbers plot served on a bed of trend-du- jour. There seems to be absolutely no justification for making CZJ's character a chef, unless it's to tack on some hastily- drawn metaphor about food as personal growth - but the trailer didn't give any indication of that. It did, however, show plenty of shots of CZJ whipping up masterpieces in the kitchen while caught in the throes of feverish inspiration, with close-ups of exotic dishes people love to flip through in magazines.
I'm predicting mediocre box office sales.
Our last little gem (only two previews, the rest were Pixar shorts) is the ominously titled 'Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457419/). Starring Dustin Hoffman as a kind of septuagenarian Willy Wonka who bequeaths his magical toy store to Natalie Portman.
This is 'Toys' all over again, folks, but no one's learned *** from that former disaster. During the whole trailer I stared in disbelief with my mouth open at the magical whimsy, the child-like wonderment and the fairy-dust sprinkled across the screen that all spell F-L-O-P. The title alone is like a Hollywood inside joke, but no one seems to get it.
I'm going to stop blinking altogether when it comes out so I don't miss one instant of this spectacular train wreck. I may be wrong, perhaps the trailer does not do the film justice, but you be the judge:
http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=534&item=1
jaybee
and go see movies like 'No Reservations' that make them feel like they're also great chefs by osmosis.
The point is, the movie feels like crass pandering. It's a warmed-over paint-by-numbers plot served on a bed of trend-du- jour. There seems to be absolutely no justification for making CZJ's character a chef, unless it's to tack on some hastily- drawn metaphor about food as personal growth - but the trailer didn't give any indication of that. It did, however, show plenty of shots of CZJ whipping up masterpieces in the kitchen while caught in the throes of feverish inspiration, with close-ups of exotic dishes people love to flip through in magazines.
I'm predicting mediocre box office sales.
Our last little gem (only two previews, the rest were Pixar shorts) is the ominously titled 'Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457419/). Starring Dustin Hoffman as a kind of septuagenarian Willy Wonka who bequeaths his magical toy store to Natalie Portman.
This is 'Toys' all over again, folks, but no one's learned *** from that former disaster. During the whole trailer I stared in disbelief with my mouth open at the magical whimsy, the child-like wonderment and the fairy-dust sprinkled across the screen that all spell F-L-O-P. The title alone is like a Hollywood inside joke, but no one seems to get it.
I'm going to stop blinking altogether when it comes out so I don't miss one instant of this spectacular train wreck. I may be wrong, perhaps the trailer does not do the film justice, but you be the judge:
http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=534&item=1
jaybee
Top answer
[nq:1]I went to see 'Ratatouille' yesterday, which means - yes, you guessed it: more previews of duds to come. The ... id=534&item=1 jaybee[/nq] Any indication whether CZJ or Natalie get naked?
- [nq:1]I went to see 'Ratatouille' yesterday, which means - yes, you guessed it: more previews of duds to come.
- The ...
- id=534&item=1 jaybee[/nq] Any indication whether CZJ or Natalie get naked?
- If so, I'm there.
- Otherwise, phooey.
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37 Answers
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[nq:1]I went to see 'Ratatouille' yesterday, which means - yes, you guessed it: more previews of duds to come. The ... I may be wrong, perhaps the trailer does not do the film justice, but you be the judge: http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=534&item=1 jaybee[/nq]
Any indication whethe
Any indication whethe
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I'm mildly curious about "No Reservations" because it's a remake of a surprisingly good German comedy called Mostly Martha. The original was one of those odd films in which every moment was, in retrospect, both cliched and obvious, and yet it never felt anything less than real as it played out. I have a sneaking suspicion that the American version won't manage to pull that off, but it's got an int
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[nq:1]I'm mildly curious about "No Reservations" because it's a remake of a surprisingly good German comedy called Mostly Martha. The ... won't manage to pull that off, but it's got an interesting, not- obvious director in Scott Hicks, so who knows?[/nq]
You certainly can't tel about a movie from its trailer anymore, but let's hope it's more than what it seemed.
jaybee
You certainly can't tel about a movie from its trailer anymore, but let's hope it's more than what it seemed.
jaybee
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[nq:1]I'm mildly curious about "No Reservations" because it's a remake of a surprisingly good German comedy called Mostly Martha. The ... won't manage to pull that off, but it's got an interesting, not- obvious director in Scott Hicks, so who knows?[/nq]
BTW, I just took another look at Imbd. 'Reservations' was written by Sandra Nettelbeck, the screenwriter/director of 'Mostly Martha', but she
BTW, I just took another look at Imbd. 'Reservations' was written by Sandra Nettelbeck, the screenwriter/director of 'Mostly Martha', but she
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[nq:1]From my experience with the WGA credits system, I'd guess that Carol Fuchs was the primary American writer brought in ... days, I'd guess there were probably six or seven hundred other writers hired to fix the script along the way...[/nq]
That's strange, because Fuchs has *no* writing credits on Imdb. On Hollywood.com she's listed as having produced 'Alaska' in 1996 and provided legal se
That's strange, because Fuchs has *no* writing credits on Imdb. On Hollywood.com she's listed as having produced 'Alaska' in 1996 and provided legal se
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[nq:2]I'm mildly curious about "No Reservations" because it's a remake ... interesting, not- obvious director in Scott Hicks, so who knows?[/nq]
[nq:1]BTW, I just took another look at Imbd. 'Reservations' was written by Sandra Nettelbeck, the screenwriter/director of 'Mostly Martha', but ... the order of the credited writers means, but it could be that Fuchs "fixed" Nettelbeck's scripts by ada
[nq:1]BTW, I just took another look at Imbd. 'Reservations' was written by Sandra Nettelbeck, the screenwriter/director of 'Mostly Martha', but ... the order of the credited writers means, but it could be that Fuchs "fixed" Nettelbeck's scripts by ada
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[nq:1]Maybe she has tons of excellent scripts that were never produced. Or maybe she's just a lawyer with good connections.[/nq]
I'm willing to bet on the former.
It pretty much s.o.p. in Hollywood for a writer to be lucky to get one film produced with his name on it for ever 5-10 projects they work on.
I'm willing to bet on the former.
It pretty much s.o.p. in Hollywood for a writer to be lucky to get one film produced with his name on it for ever 5-10 projects they work on.
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[nq:2]Maybe she has tons of excellent scripts that were never produced. Or maybe she's just a lawyer with good connections.[/nq]
[nq:1]I'm willing to bet on the former. It pretty much s.o.p. in Hollywood for a writer to be lucky to get one film produced with his name on it for ever 5-10 projects they work on.[/nq]
But she doesn't seem to be a screenwriter. Her credits go from doing legal w
[nq:1]I'm willing to bet on the former. It pretty much s.o.p. in Hollywood for a writer to be lucky to get one film produced with his name on it for ever 5-10 projects they work on.[/nq]
But she doesn't seem to be a screenwriter. Her credits go from doing legal w
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[nq:2]I'm mildly curious about "No Reservations" because it's a remake ... interesting, not- obvious director in Scott Hicks, so who knows?[/nq]
[nq:1]You certainly can't tel about a movie from its trailer anymore, but let's hope it's more than what it seemed.[/nq]
I just read to day about a trailer playing before either "Harry Potter" or 'Transformers' that has no lead in, just people eat
[nq:1]You certainly can't tel about a movie from its trailer anymore, but let's hope it's more than what it seemed.[/nq]
I just read to day about a trailer playing before either "Harry Potter" or 'Transformers' that has no lead in, just people eat
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[nq:1]This is 'Toys' all over again, folks, but no one's learned *** from that former disaster. During the whole trailer ... that all spell F-L-O-P. The title alone is like a Hollywood inside joke, but no one seems to get it.[/nq]
Yeah, but, you know, it's coming out at Thanksgiving so the producers probably think they have a lock. OTOH, neither Jason Bateman nor the V for Vendetta actress see
Yeah, but, you know, it's coming out at Thanksgiving so the producers probably think they have a lock. OTOH, neither Jason Bateman nor the V for Vendetta actress see
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