Uma Thurman’s Motherhood takes a licking in the United Kingdom, grossing under $200 during its opening weekend run at a single theater, as detailed in The Guardian by Amelia Hill. Still, does anyone really think this is actually a lasting qualitative indictment, even on the glossiest surface? Epic face-plants like this are always the result, in significant terms, of distributor/exhibitor/producer behind-the-scenes drama. Not saying that’s totally why Uwe Boll’s Bloodrayne tanked, no, but it sure was a pain in the ass for me to find a theater in North Carolina (I was traveling at the time) that was screening the film for review.
Daily Archives: March 27, 2010
Luke Y. Thompson on Kevin Smith and Film Critics
For those interested, Luke Y. Thompson drops a response to Kevin Smith’s diatribe against film critics, unleashed on Twitter over the past 48 hours. And he makes some good points, namely regarding the validity of opinion, which is what armchair pundits always invoke when they want to get all Sarah Palin on folks and paint film critics as effete elitists. Also, he’s right — there is (and should be) a certain stigma or price paid for films/studios when they don’t screen a film for review. It’s no big deal in the grand scheme of things, I agree, and totally well within a studio/filmmaker’s rights to do this, but it’s also certainly fair game to write about that fact, and let savvy moviegoers know. If that informs their opinion of said product, so be it.