off the web....
Monday, January 8, 2007
Road to nowhere
Investors in the film Zyzzyx Road had a bad year in 2006. The US$2m film, starring Leo Grillo, Katherine Heigl and Tom Sizemore, opened at the box office on February 25 and closed six days later, with a total cinema take of US$30 (US$20 on its opening weekend), making it the lowest-grossing box office film of all time. But with a new year comes hope as America gets curious about a flick that stiffed so tragically, and so Zyzzyx Road looks set to become a surprise must-see cult classic. Once again, Australia is one step ahead of the world - while US film enthusiasts struggle to find so much as a single reviewer who might report upon the film (one woman who runs a Tom Sizemore fansite contacted Chud.com claiming to have seen the film in a cinema packed with "one other person" on its opening weekend, describing it as "not a good movie...just a bunch of stupid people doing a lot of stupid things"), Australians have had it available at rental outlets for weeks now, we being the great southern compost heap for the rest of the world's garbage (and if anyone has actually rented this film I'd be interested to hear about it). But it's doubtful the movie's quality is what necked it at the box office - with no more than five or six punters having seen it, word was hardly going to get around that it was to be avoided at all costs. The finger of blame must point squarely at the film's publicity, and one need look no further than the trailer (YouTube). Watch this melange of nonsense (for those without access to external media, I've included a transcript over the page) then tell me, in as much detail as you can imagine, what the hell this film might be about.
Monday, January 8, 2007
Road to nowhere
Investors in the film Zyzzyx Road had a bad year in 2006. The US$2m film, starring Leo Grillo, Katherine Heigl and Tom Sizemore, opened at the box office on February 25 and closed six days later, with a total cinema take of US$30 (US$20 on its opening weekend), making it the lowest-grossing box office film of all time. But with a new year comes hope as America gets curious about a flick that stiffed so tragically, and so Zyzzyx Road looks set to become a surprise must-see cult classic. Once again, Australia is one step ahead of the world - while US film enthusiasts struggle to find so much as a single reviewer who might report upon the film (one woman who runs a Tom Sizemore fansite contacted Chud.com claiming to have seen the film in a cinema packed with "one other person" on its opening weekend, describing it as "not a good movie...just a bunch of stupid people doing a lot of stupid things"), Australians have had it available at rental outlets for weeks now, we being the great southern compost heap for the rest of the world's garbage (and if anyone has actually rented this film I'd be interested to hear about it). But it's doubtful the movie's quality is what necked it at the box office - with no more than five or six punters having seen it, word was hardly going to get around that it was to be avoided at all costs. The finger of blame must point squarely at the film's publicity, and one need look no further than the trailer (YouTube). Watch this melange of nonsense (for those without access to external media, I've included a transcript over the page) then tell me, in as much detail as you can imagine, what the hell this film might be about.
