Thursday, February 14, 2013

2013 Oscars Preview: The Year in Silly Movie Titles

The Year in Silly Movie Titles


ZOMBIE STRIPPERS AWARD FOR FILM TITLE PROBABLY BETTER IN YOUR IMAGINATION THAN IN PRACTICE:
1. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
2. Flying Swords of Dragon Gate
3. Space Dogs 3D
4. Fat Kid Rules the World
5. Fullmetal Alchemist

It’s worth pausing here to note what a wasted opportunity Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was in stumbling down the Cowboys vs. Aliens path to mediocrity. First you throw out a movie title crafted specifically to lodge itself in every man’s pre-teen id by combining two dissilimar cool things (Ninja Pirates). Then, to assure everyone that this isn’t straight-to-video camp, you come up with an over-serious plot, joylessly trudging a faceless hero from station to station of the hero-with-a-thousand-faces. If Hollywood is unwilling to sink 100 million into something over-the-top and creative, (Crank: Insanely High Voltage!) at least give something called “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” to Michael Bay, who has the balls to treat this kind of material with the sensitivity and subtlety it deserves.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR FORGETTING TO REPLACE THE WORKING TITLE:
Man on a Ledge

LEAST INTERESTING-SOUNDING FILM OF THE YEAR:
1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
2. Planet of Snail
3. Watching TV with the Red Chinese

MOST POMPOUS TITLE:
Art Is…The Permanent Revolution

Best Inadvertent Porn Titles
1. Here Comes the Boom
2. Rock of Ages
3. Frankenweenie
4. The Dark Knight Rises
5. Big Miracle
6. Hit and Run
7. Magic Mike*
7. Premium Rush
8. Trouble with the Curve
9. One For the Money
10. The Master
*Disqualified because, my female friends inform me, this is pornography. Apparently if you make soft core pornography for women, you can put it in real movie theaters? Is that in the FCC rule book? As the Supreme Court justice famously commented, “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it.” I doubt he or any other straight male saw this film, and thus it got wide release. 

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