From its early trailers, The Water Horse just looked like a clever take on the Loch Ness Monster legend. In it, a young boy finds a little sea creature and raises it lovingly, until it becomes too large – then it must be secreted away into a lake. Lake Ness, in particular.

The Water HorseStarring Emily Watson (Red Dragon), Alex Etel (Millions), and David Morrissey (Basic Instict 2), The Water Horse appears to be a charming children’s fantasy tale. But recently, a little campaign of viral marketing has begun.

Read more

Popularity: 3% [?]

Everyone knows that the secret to a successful theatrical release is to rebrand a direct-to-video movie featuring a once-great action star in the decline of his career.

88 MinutesNo, wait, that’s the secret to a successful theatrical release in Bizarro World.

While it seems nobody can confirm that 88 Minutes, starring Al Pacino and Al Pacino’s hair gel, was ever released on DVD in the U.S., anecdotal reports indicate that it’s been available for rental and purchase before. Those who have seen it mostly report that it’s awful. Luckily, this is the information age and you get to decide for yourself. Tick tock, doc.

Read more

Popularity: 4% [?]

New Line Cinema used to be the brainchild of Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, and it rose from relative obscurity to become the name behind projects like Austin Powers and Lord of the Rings. But oddly enough, one of Shaye and Lynne’s most successful ventures ended up being their downfall.

Peter Jackson Says ByeThat’s right – the two former heads of studio recently had their contracts re-evaluated, and, as pretty much everyone suspected, they were sacked. New Line Cinema is now owned by Time Warner, which tolerates failure about as much as your typical Bond villain.

Read more

Popularity: 3% [?]

Michael Moore’s undying appetite for documentary features is rivaled only by his appetite for…

Michael MooreNo, that’s too easy. I won’t make fun of his weight. Hold me to that, won’t you? I promise I’ll try really hard for the rest of this article.

With the possible exception of Al Gore, Moore is the only documentary filmmaker with a widespread appeal. From his first big hit, Bowling for Columbine, to the infamous Fahrenheit 9/11, to the recent indictment of the health-care crisis in Sicko, he has produced a series of highly successful propaganda pieces.

Read more

Popularity: 3% [?]

One of T.V.’s most legendary programs, The X-Files still has a devoted fan base. After years of silence, there’s finally good news: we have a new X-Files movie.

The X-FilesFor a long time, all we knew was that David Duchovny and nerd pinup Gillian Anderson would be returning. Hooray! Then she wasn’t coming back. Boo! Then she WAS coming back. Hooray! Now, more news has leaked, including a spoiler photo from the set that apparently means a lot to long-time fan of the show (or “philes”).

As someone whose sum total of X-Files experience is the occasional episode in syndication, I’m not sure what to think. Should I get the entire series from Netflix and try to catch up? Maybe not – it appears that this new film, casually dubbed X-Files 2, has nothing to do with aliens or with the show’s mythology. (Apparently “the show’s mythology” is another thing that means something to philes.) It’s not intended as a sequel to the first X-Files movie, either. Which is good, because I’ve only seen about a minute of The X-Files Movie in the context of the Mystery Science Theater Summer Blockbuster Review.

Read more

Popularity: 13% [?]