1/29/12 Update: So yesterday Rich & I headed to the multiplex to see 2 of the 3 films mentioned in this post (the ChickFlick & the PrickFlick). Our combine response to our colleague’s post: We thought One for the Money was cute, but The Grey was a totally waste of time & talent. Rich also instructs me to add the following comment: “Jason O’Mara is still adorable. Just look at his smile and his abs, and you’ll be fine.”
2/1/12 Update: Accordings to Rotten Tomatoes (as of today), One for the Money has a 3% Rotten score & The Grey has a 78% Fresh score. Box office to date for One for the Money is $11.5M and Box office to date for The Grey is $19.7M. If the future resembles the past, then One for the Money will likely be gone from theatres before Valentine’s Day. And so it goes 🙁
2/6/12 Final Update: So Saturday, we went to see Big Miracle. I liked it more than Rich did, but we were both pleasantly surprised to discover that it was fundamentally a story about the media & how much media attention determines what gets funded (& vice versa). Drew is fine (& actually quite dowdy) as an aggressive activist who is often her own worse enemy. The “babe” is played by Kristen Bell. One thing for sure: Audience response at the end of Big Miracle was way more positive than audience response after The Grey. And so ends this mini-case study of critic bias at the multiplex!
PENNY’S FIRST POST ON JANUARY 26:
God Bless Facebook! One day after posting my “Blue Oscar 2012” chart, I noticed this tread currently running down the right edge of my Profile page:
Post from a male colleague: This is shaping up to be a rough weekend. It will take a H-U-G-E miracle to get me through Saturday morning’s screening of Drew and the whales (my gag-reflex kicked in during the trailer) and I’ll be there opening night to cover Katherine Heigl’s latest bestowal. Can’t I just review these two sight-unseen?
Response from Friend One (male name): Drew is still adorable. Just look at her smile and her tits, and you’ll be fine.
Response from Friend Two (male name): I would rather see the whale movie that Katie Heigl. BTW, have you seen The Grey yet?
Response from my male colleague: Just got home from seeing it. Well worth your time.
Now here are the films under discussion in this thread:
Big Miracle starring Dew Barymore: Directed by Ken Kwapis (director of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) with screenplay by Jack Amiel & Michael Begler (the team behind The Prince & Me directed by Martha Coolidge)
One for the Money starring Katherine Heigl: Directed by Julie Anne Robinson (established director of successful TV series such as Grey’s Anatomy & Weeds) with screenplay by Stacy Sherman (God Sleeps in Rwanda), Liz Brixius (Nurse Jackie) & Karen Ray
The Grey starring Liam Neeson. Written & directed by Joe Carnahan (who also did Narc, The A-Team & Smokin’ Aces).
I haven’t seen these films yet, so I have no opinion on any of them, and no idea how I will compare them once I have seen them. Furthermore, these are all “genre” films none of which were ever intended to be Oscar Bait…
But here’s my point: After reading this thread, do you really believe that this particular critic will enter the screening room, watch each film objectively, and emerge with unbiased opinions on what he’s just seen???
