Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Resident Evil films. I never worried about how the films broke away from the spirit of the games. If you think about it, the games would be boring as a film. Claire run up the stairs, solves a puzzle and gains a key, then runs back down the stairs to solve another puzzle, then repeats the action yet again. Hell, I had a hard time making that last sentence interesting, so I can’t even think of how to make it fun in a movie.

Maybe George Romero would have made a decent horror film out of the franchise, had he been allowed to shoot his script. But survival horror games often rely on providing players with a very limited amount of ammo and weaponry, so one spends a lot of time avoiding the zombie theat. It makes for a great game, but I don’t know of any director who could translate the chills of playing Resident Evil in a darkened room with the more passive act of watching the story on a movie screen.

So, Paul WS Anderson took iconic elements from the games, added a lot more zombies and gunfire, and crafted a fun little franchise following Alice’s (Milla Jovoich) struggle to end the reign of the Umbrella Corporation. The series isn’t a classic by any means, but the films are terrific fun. And at least it wasn’t the train wreck called Doom, where the entire storyline was changed and little of the original was left.

So now we come to Resident Evil: Afterlife, shot with James Cameron’s 3D technology and it’s a big, shiny, fun rollercoaster ride. If only the movie ended three minutes before the credits rolled….

I’ll get to that later. The film opens in Tokyo, with a nice nod to the game’s origins. The Alice clones storm the main headquarters of Umbrella in a beautiful orgy of blood, gunfire and psychic attacks. Unfortunately, the ladies meet up with the latest T-virus warrior (the big blond guy in the trailers), who manages to escape the base before destroying it, and the Alice army, with a massive explosion.

However, the big guy’s ship has a stowaway, the original Alice (how he knows this, I have no clue). He injects her with a vaccine that neutralizes the T-virus and eliminates her super-powers. Yet Alice manages to survive a cataclysmic plane wreck (in the most ridiculous effect sequence in the movie), and heads off to Alaska in search of Arcadia, the land of no infection mentioned in the third film.

What Alice finds is a ghost town of abandoned airplanes haunted by Claire (Ali Larter), fellow zombie ass kicker from the third film, now in a state of amnesia with a mechanical spider on her chest. The two head out down the West coast in Alice’s prop plane, looking for other survivors.

I need to comment on Milla’s performance in the plane graveyard. While no great thespian by any means, she conveys Alice’s change from super-human to mortal quite well in these scenes. Her massive guns shake for the first time in the past two movies, her posture is more tentative then cock-sure. Milla conveys the sense of her character’s rediscovered mortality through a strong physical performance and it’s quite convincing.

Of course, the two find survivors barricaded in a LA prison. They also discover that Arcadia is a massive cargo ship, which is anchored just offshore. As the group try to formulate a plan to reach Arcadia, new zombies start picking them off and a battleaxe wielding giant knocks the gate down. This sets up the next big action sequence, with Milla pulling a John McClane as the zombies follow her plunge off the building, while she lands with a single roll onto the ground several stories below.

But wasn’t Alice robbed of the T-virus super powers? Well, as Claire is taking on the giant without any major injuries, I’d say just let it ride. No reason to let common sense get in the way of a good time.

The group makes it to Arcadia, only to find it was under the control of Umbrella. However, the crew abandoned both the ship, and the cryogenically frozen survivors from Alaska, days ago. That means it’s all a trap, set up by….

Oh hell, you already know who is behind all this. But it doesn’t really matter. This is a terrific comic book on the big screen, full of great stunts, gore, cool monsters and kick ass women.

What, you want more? Okay, the film boosts some of the best 3D since Avatar. The images are clean and bright, and I had to fight the urge to brush smoke and fog away from my eyes at a few points. The cast delivers decent performances, and both Milla and Ali look great as they kick all sorts of monster butt.

In fact, my only complaint was the cliffhanger ending. Yes, I liked the character appearance during the credits. But while the previous three films reached a conclusion while only hinting at a potential sequel, this one should have posted a “To Be Continued” tag in the ending credits. Unlike the other films, this conclusion felt like the story stopped in the middle of a chapter.

Look, I don’t mind being teased into a mild climax with a promise for more. But to be told that any climax will be delayed for a year or two annoys me (yes, that sounds more sexual than I intended). And given the fact that a follow up film is dependent not only on box office performance, but the possible series reboot, Anderson should have let the series end when he had the chance. Sure, he could have always written a sequel. But he had the perfect ending and he blew it. Now fans are stuck hoping for a sequel that might never happen.

Regardless of how it ended, the rest of the film is great fun. If watching badass women kicking monster and zombie butt sounds like a great way to spend a couple hours, then the thought of watching it unfold in state of the art 3D should send you racing to the theaters.

Just be ready to mentally roll the film back a bit as the credits roll.

DVD Release: Piranha (1978) and Humanoids from the Deep (1980)

Just in time for the premier of Piranha 3D, Shout! Factory has release two more classic drive in classics from Roger Corman: Joe Dante's original Piranha and Humanoids from the Deep. And once again, these DVDs are worthy editions to any horror fan's collection.

Piranha comes boxed with a terrific Lenticular cover of a previously unseen poster and is full of great features. The film is presented in a new Anamorphic Widescreen version and the transfer looks great.

Unlike the dumb as a bag of rocks (but never the less enjoyable) remake, Piranha includes a wry sense of humor and a more fleshed out plot. Unlike the prehistoric monstrosities released into an enclosed lake, these fish were the results of a military experiment during the Vietnam war. The school is released into a river by accident and begin to make a beeline to the ocean, stopping to snack at a summer camp and a lake resort. Adding to the complications, these fish can live in either salt or fresh water, so if they make it to the ocean, nothing will prevent them from spreading across America.

As with many of Dante's films, Piranha has a dark sense of humor, letting the film acknowledge it is ripping off of Jaws and many other monster films. In fact, it's likely that was the only thing that prevented Universal Studios from slapping an injunction of the production (Jaws 2 was release the same year). After Steven Speilberg saw the film, he not only convinced Universal to drop any legal action, he also got Dante to direct Gremlins.

While the effects budget was limited, the attacks are quite brutal, even when compared to the remake. Part of the reason is all the bites are shot in close up, hiding that the fish were puppets on rods. And the fish were equipped with steel teeth, allowing them to gnaw into prosthetic arms, legs, fingers and torsos with surprising gusto. The result are shocking and surprisingly graphic.

And, instead of one prolonged siege, Dante and company pull off two different climaxes, starting at a summer camp inhabited with lots of grade school kids. One wonders if the MPAA would have grant a R-rating to the remake if director Alexandre Aja had included such a sequence.

The features include a Making Of featurette, with new interviews from Corman, Dante, Dick Miller, Belinda Balaski and others, as well as bloopers and outtakes, the trailer with commentary shown on Trailers from Hell, an extensive still gallery and scenes from the network TV version. The only disappointing feature was the commentary by Dante and producer Jon Davison. Quite a few moments of silence punctuated the commentary and Dante seems very disinterested at times. Still, this edition deserves to be a part of your DVD library.

Releasing Piranha with Humanoids from the Deep seems fitting, as I saw both as a double feature back in the early 80's. Somehow, I managed to convince some of my college friends to check them out and I doubt their opinion of me was ever the same.

If you see The Creature from the Black Lagoon as an manifestation of male lust, then it's surely the lighter side when compared to these fish monsters. The Creature is all underwater ballet, afraid (at first) to touch the object of his desire. Humanoids is a different beast, the male lust gone Neanderthal, raping women and brutally killing off any potential competitors.

The story takes place in a fishing town in California. Most of the fishermen welcome the inclusion of an industrialized cannery, while the Native Americans in the area (represented by one spokesperson throughout the film) object. What neither side in the debate realize is that the cannery has conducted some rather shady experiments, resulting in mutated man-fish that are compelled to mate with human women in order to evolve.

The plot makes even less sense as the movie continues. Yet the film moves at such a brisk pace, you don't have time to notice the gaping holes. The acting is as solid as you might expect (with Vic Morrow giving another great performance as a racist idiot), the effects by Rob Botin are solid and the movie packs enough blood and nudity to keep most horror fans interested.

The DVD extras are great, including Corman's response to the inclusion of the brutal rape sequences. According to Corman, he explained what he expected from director Barbara Peeters: the men get brutally killed, the women get raped by the fish monster. Apparently Peeters delivered on the demise of the male victims (s0 much that Corman had to edit the killings to get an R-rating), yet the scenes of the women being victimized were all shot in shadows or silhouette, prompting Corman to have the scenes reshot by the assistant director.

Most of this is known to horror fans, but Shout! Factory didn't include Peeter's response to the accusations (for reasons unknown to this blog site). And I feel the reason for such an omission should have been explained in the extensive extra features. While it's my only complaint, I feel it's a major one that needed to be addressed.

Still, the film holds up well, despite Morrow's hair style. It's a brisk, sleazy treat that will make a welcome edition to most horror fan's collections. If you liked Piranha 3D, you'll want to check this one out.

Both films are available through Shout! Factory's website, Amazon.com, and most Sunrise Video.

Piranha 3D (2010)

No one can accuse Piranha 3D of not delivering what director Alexandre Aja promised, which was to fill the screen with waves of bare skin and bitten flesh. And the film does for its 89 minute running time, just long enough for the audience to start feeling overdosed on bloody water and bouncing boobs.

Discussing the plot is futile. This movie is dumb as a bag of rocks, with its only clever moment (a great cameo in the opening scene) spoiled by the trailer and endless publicity. The script only serves to drive the prehistoric piranha to the spring break partiers and put the main characters in peril. When the film pauses for a moment to explain a plot point, such as when an aquarium shop owner explains how these fish survived in an underwater lake with no food source but each other for eons, it buckles under its own stupidity. But who really cares. Such scenes is nothing more than a flimsy excuse for you to suspend all disbelief until the next attack. Or the next dropped bikini top.

The acting is as good as you can expect. The actors make the most of what they are given, which isn't much, and no one give a bad performance. However, Jerry O'Connell gets to steal the show as a sleazy porn producer fueled by champagne, tequila, coke and an enormous ego. Oily and menacing, O'Connell chews up the scenery like, well, a school of ravenous piranha and delivers the most enjoyable performance in the film.

The nudity is, well, stunning. No quick glimpses or shadowy presentation here. It's all long shots and in your face (thanks, in part, to the 3D presentation). And while the scenes at the spring break party are rather crass, others are shot with a stunning reverence for naked women. A topless parasailer, pulled through the water before she's airborne, is filmed from below in a visually stunning shot. And the underwater ballet, where two naked women "dance" together (displaying breath control that would make Micheal Phelps envious) is as beautiful as the opening credits in a Connery-era Bond film. Except this time, the lights are on and no one is a silhouette. I'm surprised at how much the MPAA let Aja get away with in this scene. Maybe the 3D image was too blurry for them.

With all the bare flesh flashing across the screen, I was a bit surprised that the guys didn't get into the act. The men are surprisingly chaste for a bunch of spring break partiers, with only one mooning scene as a comedic aside. Aja, and the filmmakers that will follow him, might consider adding a few beefcake shots for female horror fans next time. I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

The gore is a great mix of practical and CGI. K.N.B. EFX Group once again produces some amazing work, with very realistic wounds and munched up bodies. And some of the gore gags during the siege on the spring breakers are simply breathtaking. It's nice to see Karo syrup blood back on the screen.

As for the fish, they still look a bit silly, though less than in the early previews. And when onscreen alone, it's hard not to chuckle a bit. But the feeding frenzy moments are great, and at times it's hard to tell when the victim is a practical effect or a CGI construct.

The 3D is about as good as you can get for post production effects. It's obvious that Aja and his crew planned for the conversion, because I didn't notice any of the darkness associated with Clash of the Titans. Even the night time underwater shots are clear and visible. And this foresight allows the 3D to be used more as a gimmick than a simple add on. Puke, fish and body parts are continually thrown at the audience and it works so well, I doubt the film would be as much fun in 2D. So see it in the theaters if you can.

I felt this film was a great time. It made me wish that some of our local pub theaters could invest in 3D technology. This film is perfect for a group of friends sharing a few pitchers of beer, hooting and laughing at one of the most shamelessly cheesy horror films ever made.

Beware, it isn't for everyone. It's lewd, crude, very bloody and easily earns it's R-rating. But if you find these more of a virtue than a vice, it's a perfect summer movie.

DVD release: Galaxy of Terror (1981) and Forbidden World (1982)

The 80's was the last decade that horror fans could hit the multiplexes for the latest low budget offerings. Soon, the major studios would force independent films out of the theaters and directly to home video, thanks to the blockbuster mentality, which continues inundated moviegoers today.

But the 70's also signaled a chance in low budget horror. Vincent Canby in The New York Times called Jaws a big budget Roger Corman film. Then came Star Wars, and Oscar winner Corman knew Hollywood was figuring out how to make better B-movies. So he responded in the same fashion that filmmakers did in the 50s, when television threatened to draw movie goers to their couches. He delivered what the other guys couldn't or wouldn't: More sex and violence.

Nowhere is this more evident in 1980's Galaxy of Terror, and 1982's Forbidden World. Thanks to Shout! Factory, these classics of sleaze cinema are on Region 1 DVD for the first time, with great looking transfers and lots of special features.

Galaxy of Terror is the better known of the two, only because of the giant space worm rape scene. Yes, you read that right. One wonders if Corman was daring the studios to try and top that scene. But in addition to that set piece, the movie contains lots of great effects, beautiful set design (thanks to production designer James Cameron) and a great cast, including Ray Waltson, Erin Moran, Robert Englund, Sid Haig and Taaffe O'Connell as the victim of the space worm's advances.

The plot is rather messy. A crew is sent out by the Planet Master, a figure with a glowing head, to the planet Morganthus on a rescue mission. Once there, they is picked off in several imaginative and gory scenes. The ending, which I won't spoil, leaves more plot holes than the rest of the film.

But that doesn't matter. Galaxy of Terror is a wonderful haunted house in space film, and hold up well today. The sets are amazing, the effects are stunning and the film moves at a brisk pace from one death scene to the next. The crew really delivers the good for the money they available, often raiding fast food restaurants for styrofoam packing to use as the ship's walls. And given the script, the cast really delivers.

The DVD contains a great commentary (in which the worm rape scene is the focus of the discussion), terrific cast and crew interviews, TV, radio and theater trailers, a photo gallery, a PDF version of the original screen play and more. The transfer is beautiful and well worth the cost.

If you've never seen this film (but know of it for the worm scene), get yourself a copy and enjoy. And if you've seen this film, you've probably already got it in your DVD player. It's one of Corman's best from the 80's, even if it wallows in the gutter with glee.

Forbidden World is a nice companion piece, as the opening sequence was filmed on a Galaxy of Terror set the day before it was struck. Corman, always one to get the most bang for his buck, just wanted to reuse the set for a yet unwritten film. Production didn't start until months later, giving the opening a bit of a disjointed feel (the effects lifted from Battle Beyond the Stars didn't help give the introduction of the hero a fresh feel either).

Troubleshooter Mike Colby is sent to a planet to take care of a mutant life form that killed all the other lab animals. It appears this new life form was an attempt to generate a new food source, only now the mutant is turning humans into a protein source it can consume, and everyone is a potential mini garden. So the scientists and Colby must figure out how to kill the mutant before they become the next garden plot.

And there's your plot. The rest of the film is chocked full of nasty gore, VERY gratuitous nudity and a monster that looks like the Alien creature done up for a Saturday morning cartoon. While Galaxy of Terror was considered an Alien rip-off, Forbidden Planet is a better example of Corman's ability to take a popular film and lift enough elements to keep his film familiar, but not cause any legal entanglements.

The film is not as much fun as Galaxy of Terror. The editing is rather choppy and becomes strobe-like, which is rather distracting. The cast is not as strong and the creature looks pretty lame.

However, the movie does offer up some fun moments. The ultimate demise of the creature is echoed in horror films today, and the gore is really well done. And the film is chocked full of exploitive nudity. In one scene, the two female leads end up in a prolonged shower scene for no reason. Once again, Corman delivers what the studios didn't offer and seemed to dare Hollywood to match such a moment.

The Shout! Factory release is a 2 disc set, with the director's cut available in a Full Frame version. It contains 5 minutes of footage that Corman considered too comedic for the horror film he wanted. Also included are cast and crew interviews, trailers and much more. It's not as good as Galaxy of Terror, but it's a solid film and worth the blind buy to me.

These films are great examples of 80s sleazy/cheese and something every horror fan should check out. Now it's time for me to watch my new copies of Piranha and Humanoids from the Deep. I'll let you know what I think in the next few days.

Grade A Cheese and Total Sleazy: A great night at the movies

Wow, the theater was empty last night as Seth's Birthday Double Feature opened at the Clinton Street Theater. Maybe it was the weather, maybe other events happening around town. But all you horror and exploitation fans still have 5 days to take in a great double feature and I strongly suggest you don't miss it.

Maximum Overdrive
Only a few movies make me smile like a little kid when the main title music starts playing. One is The Creature from the Black Lagoon, which has thrilled me since I was a young boy. Another is Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive, which I caught on VHS back in the 80's. I wore out my personal VHS copy, thanks to continuous viewings, though I have yet to replace it with a DVD version. After viewing the film for the first time on the big screen, I'm intensifying my search.

The plot is simple. Earth is passing through the tail of a rouge comet and all mechanical devices are suddenly brought to life with a taste for mayhem. This is illustrated in the opening scene, as a drawbridge decides to open on it's own. Cars slide into each other to the sounds of AC/DC's "Who Made Who?" (oh, I'm grinning again) in a grand, destructive hint of things to come.

The action then moves to the Dixie Boy Diner in North Carolina, where Emilio Estevez and a group of overblown Southern stereotypes hunker down as animated big rigs circle them like a school of sharks. Good thing the diner's sleazy owner (Pat Hingle) has a surplus of munitions in his basement that would make the NRA swoon.

Okay. let's face it. This movie should be awful. The direction is pretty pedestrian (King admits to being "coked up" during the shoot and having potential errors corrected by the crew), the acting is pretty bad at times, most of the characters are little more than stereotypes and the plot makes no sense. The film doesn't bother to explain how the machines can see and target their prey, how they can move non-motorized parts and why some vehicles retain human control longer than others.

But, whether intentional or not, this movie just seems to come to campy life. The stereotypical performances demanded by the script are hysterically broad and WAY over the tip at times ("You can't do that. WE MADE YOU!"), adding to the films charm. Yet, the dialog veers into vintage King at times. One example is the banter between Estevez and John Short as they crawl through a sewer pipe, which sounds and feels surprisingly realistic.

And the carnage is just stunning. Vehicles crash and explode with such energy and beauty, you almost feel you're watching clips from The Road Warrior. And King doesn't skimp on the gore, which forced several scenes to be trimmed to appease the MPAA (including one shot that King said made George Romero cringe!).

And the print is amazing. When I talked to Seth before the film, he claimed it was possibly the best 35mm print out there, and I'm inclined to agree. The picture is amazingly clear, with few skips and scratches, and the soundtrack is crisp and clean.

If you like this movie, or are just a fan of classic cheesy films, don't miss this screening! If you do, you'll be sorry.

Chained Heat
I'm not fan of the women in prison genre, but as I paid for a double feature, I decided to stick around for the sleaze classic Chained Heat. And boy, did I need a shower later.

Linda Blair stars as a young woman sentenced to 18 months in prison for vehicular homicide. Unfortunately, the big house she's headed for is more interested in exploitation than rehabilitation.

For starts, the warden (John Vernon) is making pornos with several of the female inmates, as well as selling heroin to the rest of the population. He's a bit worried that someone on his staff is cornering the market with their own supply. That would be the assistant warden (Stella Stevens), who is not only selling drugs for her partner (Henry Silva), but also supplying him with sexy young inmates to act as whores for his extravagant parties. Stevens is also playing the white gang (lead by Sybil Danning) against the black gang (lead by Tamara Dobson of Cleopatra Jones fame). Add in sadistic guards, murder and double crosses, and you know a riot is inevitable.

As mentioned, I'm not much of a fan of the genre, but this is a well made exploitation film. Though nowhere near as sleazy as some foreign entries, it still hits all the notes. Gratuitous nudity a prolonged shower scenes, lesbianism, sadistic rape and violence, it's all there. And, as you might expect from the cast, the acting is pretty good for a picture of this type. Vernon really hams things up, Stevens comes off tough as nails, Danning and Dobson are pitch perfect and Silva is charmingly sleazy. All while Blair walks about with her big, innocent doe eyes, getting slapped around and abused until she reaches her breaking point.

For fans of the genre, this print is well preserved and a treat. For others, it's worth watching, as an example of a type of movie that will never be made again (as it's sequel, Chained Heat 2, demonstrates). Be forewarned, it is offensive and VERY un-PC. But you don't get a chance to wallow in such sleazy very often, so indulge your wild cinematic side and stay for the second feature.

Star Wars and Zombies: "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Well, I finished Death Troopers and have to say that zombies should have stayed out of the Star Wars universe. Or at least found a writer that didn't seem to be cashing in on a current trend.

The basic plot is a prison ship, on it's way to a penal colony, looses power and decides to raid an abandoned Star Destroyer for parts. Of course, they bring back a disease that kills 99% of the crew, only to reanimate them with a powerful hunger for flesh. The survivors (including a space pirate and his hairy first mate) take refuge on the Star Destroyer and discover the ship isn't as abandoned as once suspected.

This book is rather pedestrian and uninspired. The plot is poorly paced, as the zombies don't start showing up until midway through the book. Instead, the author wastes time on dull, overly long character development that feels a bit pointless, as the new main characters are not very memorable. And the teenage brothers feel written into the story for demographic reasons alone.

The zombies show some potential, as the disease allows the author to tailor the creatures to the Star Wars Universe. These suckers are rather fast, able to communicate and slowly retain the skills they learned while alive. In short, the longer they are undead, the better they are able to use blasters and, eventually, pilot ships. And we are treated to a brief encounter with a group of zombie Wookies, which is pretty cool. Unfortunately, this is one of the few times the author puts the Star Wars setting to good use.

I could overlook the shortcomings of this book if it didn't feel like a simplistic attempt to cash in on the current zombie craze. The few gruesome scenes of zombie action don't add anything to the story, other than the required "ick" moment. And, as I mentioned earlier, the author doesn't use the Star Wars universe to any advantage. It all feels like an hollow exercise in marketing, hammered home by the ad at the back of the book (after the preview to another Star Wars novel) offering you the chance to continue fighting the zombie horde in the Star Wars online game.

And the author didn't bother to put a Jedi Knight on either ship!!! He blew a great opportunity for a zombie horde vs. Jedi with a Light Saber scene. Blasters are basically space shotguns and not too exciting as most everyone, including the zombies, end up armed at some point. The story needed someone like Yoda, bouncing off the walls in a blur of glowing death, making mincemeat out of a crowd of zombies. Or a zombie Jedi, slowly relearning how to use a Light Saber to block blaster fire. Too bad the author dropped the ball on this one.

Might be worth a read if you find it at your local library or at a used book store. But I'd recommend avoiding it and searching out better zombie (and Star Wars) novels. It's books like these that will lead to the death of the undead (for a while).

Next up: Zombies and comics.

The current Hollywood business model and the demise of off beat cinema

Lately, I've read a lot of online articles about the state of blockbusters and family entertainment and how such a narrow focus is ruining movies. But I think these articles are missing the main problem. If you think about it, the fault lies in the current business model adopted by the studios, which is leading to the blockbuster/family trend invading the cineplexes and forcing out smaller, independent films.

I think the studios are trying to maximize each movie's potential return by thinking like a short term trader. First, each movie is designed to make a shitload of cash on opening weekend. This involves making the film more of an event than anything else, and opening it in as many theaters as possible (often on two or more screens in the same multiplex). Then, as income trails off after the opening week, pull most of the prints, allow it to be shown on a few screens, but open the main theaters for the next cash cow. Every film is designed with the intent of generating massive returns in a short time, then dramatically scaling back the release to make way for the next blockbuster.

This strategy is also affecting home releases. The studios have closed the gap between a feature's theatrical run and home video release and want to tighten it further. Look at the outcry from theater owners in Britain when Disney announced the home release date for Alice in Wonderland by 5 weeks. Back when VHS releases became affordable for home purchase, you might wait up to a year before a film hit the market.

A shorter release window makes sense, if you subscribe to the idea of studios acting like short term brokers. The quicker the home release date, the faster the return comes in on your investment. And a quicker release date probably means more impulse buys, as the movie is fresh in the minds of consumers.

Of course, to maximize the profitability of any movie, one has to appeal to the largest demographic possible. As the teenage market seems to be fading (thanks to online sources, if you believe the studio's stance), Hollywood is targeting the family market. And, if you want a big return, it makes sense. A family of four attending the latest 3D cartoon will likely spend more than $100 at one screening (tickets, snacks, glasses, etc.). And you have a built-in audience for the DVD release, as the kids will want to watch the film at home, again and again.

The search for the largest audience is also the reason why most films try for a PG-13 rating, rather than an R. Families can go (with older children) and teens can walk into the film without a parent. The downside is that leaves anyone looking for something different are forced to wait for the months of late August to early November, or January to April, if they want something with more bite, intelligence or weirdness.

Unfortunately, that window is narrowing. The summer blockbuster season starts earlier each year (Iron Man 2 was released in early May, weeks before the traditional Memorial Day start of the big movie season). And often, the movies that make it to the theaters after the winter big releases tend to be blockbusters gone bad (seen the preview for The Green Hornet yet?), rather than low budget or independent films.

You can spend a lot of time blaming blockbuster and family movies for the lack of decent films coming out of Hollywood. But I believe it's the studios sticking to a model that will generate the greatest amount of money in the shortest amount of time.