Another Movie remake of the Grinch... really?

[Drtooth]

I read that Tim Allen was supposed to be the Cat in the Hat. I shudder to think if that would be better or worse.

Martin Short does a great job with the character. Too bad the project he's playing him in is so meh.

As for the movie, it's not every day you see critics wish everyone involved with the production of a movie grievous bodily harm. I'm not making it up. One review wanted to personally neuter everyone involved with the film. That's saying something.

 

[SuperGzilla12]

My friend liked it OK but I literally wanted to walk out of the theater, I couldn't believe how bad it was.

Man, I was so upset when I saw that thing, I felt obligated to see Looney Tunes Back in Action that same day just to make up for it. Thankfully, it did just that.

I read that Tim Allen was supposed to be the Cat in the Hat. I shudder to think if that would be better or worse.

I believe that he turned it down so he could do The Santa Claus 2 instead.

 

[Drtooth]

Man, I was so upset when I saw that thing, I felt obligated to see Looney Tunes Back in Action that same day just to make up for it. Thankfully, it did just that.

Funny thing is, I absolutely HATE that movie for stealing LTBIA's thunder. Elf did the same too, I tried to give it a chance and I can't get past the part with Bob Newhart (and I love Bob Newhart)... but I can't believe people chose CITH over LTBIA. It wasn't a perfect movie by any means. There was a LOT of screwing around no thanks to Warner Bros (we almost had Yakko, Wakko, and Dot ON FILM!) that made the film less than what it was. And because it underperformed, long story short, we got Loonatics Unleashed which was an even bigger failure and didn't even generate a Happy Meal let alone the big toyetic merchandising sweep they were going for.

So yeah. Cat in the Hat created Loonatics Unleashed. ANOTHER reason to hate the film.

 

[D'Snowth]

I still can't get past people hating Elf, that's like the ONLY Will Ferrell movie that's actually good, because for once, Ferrell plays against type (bland, one-dimensional, unlikable, sketch-show-type character) and actually plays a sympathetic, fish-out-of-water character, who only has the best intentions but ends up screwing things up in the process. Not to mention the movie has shout outs to the type of classic Christmas specials you used to see on TV back in the day.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I beg to differ. Megamind is the only good Will Ferrell movie

 

[Drtooth]

Will works best in cerebral scripts. The Good Guys was brilliant. I highly recommend it. But Megamind was all over one of the most brilliant super hero satires I've seen, and we've been bombarded with them for quite some time. It found the one tiny angle that was overlooked, and ran with it.

But the thing is, if Will plays a competent adult, or at least a slightly incompetent adult and he has a script where capering around is at a minimal, that's his best stuff right there. That and a good fraction of his SNL stuff, especially Celebrity Jeopardy. But that was all because of chemistry (especially especially with "Sean Connery"). He's really good if he plays off someone that gets his humor.

Still, I find Elf too cartoonish to be satirical and trying too hard to be satirical in places where it doesn't need satire. It's a kids movie that wants to be grown up, and that's where some of the stuff doesn't quite work. But then again, you know... biased in hindsight because, as missed of an opportunity LT:BIA was, the failing of it derailed a franchise they put too much stock into a movie for.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

Funny thing is, I absolutely HATE that movie for stealing LTBIA's thunder. Elf did the same too, I tried to give it a chance and I can't get past the part with Bob Newhart (and I love Bob Newhart)... but I can't believe people chose CITH over LTBIA. It wasn't a perfect movie by any means. There was a LOT of screwing around no thanks to Warner Bros (we almost had Yakko, Wakko, and Dot ON FILM!) that made the film less than what it was. And because it underperformed, long story short, we got Loonatics Unleashed which was an even bigger failure and didn't even generate a Happy Meal let alone the big toyetic merchandising sweep they were going for.

So yeah. Cat in the Hat created Loonatics Unleashed. ANOTHER reason to hate the film.

I really think Warner Brothers is every bit to blame for Looney Tunes: Back in Action's failure as moviegoers. WB made just about no effort to promote it as a must-see movie. The movie itself, even though it absolutely has it's moments and looks awesome when you're watching it on a nice big TV (I'd buy a Blu-ray of it just for that alone), is a very Flanderized take on Bugs and crew, again, WB's fault. Aspects of Joe Dante's vision certainly made it into the finished product, but not enough. I liked the first time I saw it, then again, I was 11 the first time I saw it and loved anything that involved the Looney Tunes (yes, even the late 60s era shorts and Space Jam I have since come to my senses regarding those). And from another point, didn't this movie come out between the last Matrix and the last Lord of the Rings? Both of which are Warner Brothers releases as well? I guess that's where all of Looney Tunes: Back in Action's marketing money went.

Though we did get the excellant Golden Collections out of the film's promotion, even if those have been made obsolete by the Blu-ray collections.

I never saw The Cat in the Hat and most likely never will. (Don't get any ideas, SG...)

 

[Drtooth]

I really think Warner Brothers is every bit to blame for Looney Tunes: Back in Action's failure as moviegoers. WB made just about no effort to promote it as a must-see movie. The movie itself, even though it absolutely has it's moments and looks awesome when you're watching it on a nice big TV (I'd buy a Blu-ray of it just for that alone), is a very Flanderized take on Bugs and crew, again, WB's fault. Aspects of Joe Dante's vision certainly made it into the finished product, but not enough. I liked the first time I saw it, then again, I was 11 the first time I saw it and loved anything that involved the Looney Tunes (yes, even the late 60s era shorts and Space Jam I have since come to my senses regarding those). And from another point, didn't this movie come out between the last Matrix and the last Lord of the Rings? Both of which are Warner Brothers releases as well? I guess that's where all of Looney Tunes: Back in Action's marketing money went.

This is why I hate the fact that franchises of television programs and cartoons have to hinge on a movie's success. They rush out a film and we either get the LT:BIA/Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle treatment where the films are flops and we never see the characters again or Chipmunks/Smurfs where the film is a hit, but you only see the movie versions of the characters.

Looney Tunes could have been a better film, sure... but Cat in the Hat couldn't have been good if they tried (SuperGzilla has an excellent point). WB making the movie less than great and their bad marketing should have overshadowed that career killing abomination. Elf, I'll throw a bone to because it was the last successful theatrical Christmas movie and there are those who genuinely like it as such. But honestly, Elf scared me because of Arthur Christmas being released opposite The Muppets. It's not hard to see that analogy, considering that TM was basically LT:BIA done right.

Still, I wish they made the film Joe wanted them to make. It would have been more coherent, and probably a little less human focused. The only human in the film I really think gets it is Steve Martin who successfully channeled his younger self for the role.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

I still don't quite get the hate Space Jam gets. I thought it was better than Back in Action. BIA had its moments, but I've only watched it once and have no desire to ever watch it again. Though, the DVD release is HORRIBLE and you have to sit through a really long intro that you can't skip, so that could have turned me off from it also...

I did think the whole monkey thing was kind of stupid...

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

Though, the DVD release is HORRIBLE and you have to sit through a really long intro that you can't skip, so that could have turned me off from it also...

Little tip I learned out of boredom: press the "menu" button instead of the "skip" button, you can skip that annoying intro.

That said, regarding Space Jam. I dislike it because it's a bad movie. Very little of it makes much sense, the characters are beyond Flanderized, the animation is only a notch above TV quality. I just find it hard to believe that Warner Brothers spent $80 million, had it planned to be their big 1996 movie, marketed the heck out of it and the finished product was, well, the finished product. There are some good aspects to it, Wayne Knight is pretty funny and Bill Murray just being Bill Murray and that even the film is self-aware enough to acknowledge that is very funny, too. But that's really all I can say positive about it. If you have legitimate reasons for liking it, keep on liking it. The nostalgia factor is there.

That said, what I can't stand is people my age who make fun of me for liking the original Looney Tunes yet love Space Jam. Once in senior year English class, our teacher showed us Duck Amuck because it apparently had something to do with marketing and instead of being excited to watch an excellent cartoon, everyone just kept asking our teacher if he had ever seen Space Jam and if we could watch that instead. Then during the actual showing of the cartoon, the room was dead silent. Not a single reaction out of the class. Then once a friend of mine raised his eyebrow at me spending my New Year's Day watching a Looney Tunes marathon, then a week later I overhear him reminiscing about his Space Jam bathtub toys with someone. Granted, he was a good friend of mine in those days but don't you think that's the pot calling the kettle black? Then at the pool I work at during the summer, it's a tradition to watch Space Jam during the first rainstorm that we have to close the pool during. Ironically, the person who started that tradition got fired mid-summer last year so hopefully that tradition will die.