Thank you for voting in the - Which of these films do you
plan on seeing in September of 2012 – poll! The results to this month’s poll
were pretty lack luster as only seven of you voted. I’m not sure if this
reflects the quality of the films or the fact that fewer people go to the
theater once the summer is over. There was a tie for first place with 5 votes (71%)
for Resident Evil: Retribution and 5 votes (71%) for Looper. In second place
was Dredd with just 3 votes (42%) and just making last place was House at the
End of the Street with 2 votes (28%).
I saw three of the four genre films in this month’s
September poll. I liked Resident Evil: Retribution better than most, but I will
admit that it was not as good as the third or fourth entries in this series. Resident Evil: Retribution has grossed just
$38 million in the US in three weeks, but has done considerably better worldwide
grossing $175 million, so I think it’s a safe
bet that there will be a sixth and final film in the Resident Evil film series.
I thought Looper was the overall best film of the three this month, as it
worked well on many different levels, including – most importantly to me – as a
science fiction film. Looper took in just under $21 million in its opening
weekend and with a budget of only $30 million it should more than make a profit
domestically – which the studios really like. This means Looper director Rian
Johnson will be given even more money and creative freedom with his next film
and I for one hope it is a genre film. Dredd was somewhat disappointing for me,
as it had all the elements to make an excellent adaptation of the comic book,
but the simplistic story just didn’t engage me. Despite generally good to
excellent reviews, Dredd has made just under $11 million in this country in two
weeks. It has performed slightly better worldwide making $21 million, but with
a budget of $50 million, it looks uncertain if there will be a sequel – which I’d
actually like to see.
Thank you all for voting on this month’s poll! There are now
seven of you who may consider yourselves Genre Guardian Generals! Anyone who
has seen Resident Evil: Retribution, Looper, Dredd or House at the End of the
Street at the theater, please leave a quick comment here and let me know what
you thought of it.
THE OCTOBER POLL!
Once again on the right column of this page, you will see at
the top of the column the next poll that I've posted. As always, this poll
includes the titles and release dates of all the major SF, Fantasy or Horror
films that are being distributed to movie theaters in the month of October for
2012. They are: V/H/S (October 5), Sinister (October 12), Paranormal Activity 4
(October 19), and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (October 26). I have left Cloud Atlas
off the poll, because on the surface it appears to have the visual trappings of
a science fiction film (aka: future setting and some sort of time travel).
However, it is based on a 2004 book by British author David Mitchell, which is definitely
not sci-fi, but a series of six stories interwoven by characters reading the tale
that is revealed to be a story that is read (or observed) by the main character
in the next story. Even though one of these stories takes place in a post-apocalyptic
future, I don’t think Cloud Atlas is science fiction and could only be regarded
as moderately genre – at least by my definition.
I
think V/H/S looks like it could be a good scary movie, despite my dislike for
the “found footage” format and a general dislike for anthology films. However,
this is definitely a rental for me, as I’m the only one in my small group who
is up for this type of terror trip. Sinister has an intriguing premise, a
decent cast and an interesting look, but still seems like it is only worth a
rental. I have only seen the first Paranormal Activity film and was bored to
tears, so I won’t even waste my time with a rental of Paranormal Activity 4. I
enjoyed the first Silent Hill film well enough - although I admired it more for
its look than its less-than-frightening story - so I’ll also be renting Silent
Hill: Revelation 3D.
As always, I’d appreciate anyone who reads GUARDIANS OF THE
GENRE! to place a vote for any of these films that you plan on seeing at the
theater.
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