OCTOBER
A few summer stragglers from the US washed-up on our shores as winter approaches,
primarily Stardust – a fantasy story with a very British sensibility, which
didn't do very well in the US. But over here, it did very well, sticking around
the Top 10 for a number of weeks.
The big animated hit of the summer Stateside was Brad Bird's Ratatouille
from Pixar. It was less typical as a kid's film, with a more adult storyline
and texture to everything. As such, it wasn't really the marketing goliath of
kid-friendly fare like Toy Story (or even Bird's The Incredibles), but it
received mostly glowing reviews, and did very well.
British film Control, about the late Ian Curtis (Joy Division's lead
singer, who committed suicide) got a lot of respect and praise, but was a
major dud with audiences outside of the indie circuit.
The Farrelly Brothers, saviour of good-natured toilet humour throughout the 1990s
(most famously with There's Something About Mary), returned with that film's
star, Ben Stiller, for The Heartbreak Kid. This was actually a remake of
a popular 1972 comedy, but didn't mark the expected "comeback" for the Farrelly's
after a string of flops, and was seen as a backwards step for Ben Stiller.
There were quite a few political films in the latter-half of 2007, but only
The Kingdom really made anything of itself – probably because it was
half-action film, too. That said, it still didn't really achieve any notable
success, with audiences not keen to see current affairs reflected in cinemas.
One of the major turkeys of the year came with The Invasion, another
remake of The Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel
Craig. With such an established brand and decades-spanning success, this should
have been an easy smash-hit, but studio interference and excessive re-shoots (to
punch up the action quotient) either robbed the film of its heart, or failed to
paste over the cracks – depending on who you ask. Either way, this was a major
bomb everywhere.
Similarly ignored at the box-office was The Dark Is Rising, another
fantasy book given a big-screen adaptation. After flopping in the US, hopes
weren't high – and it flopped just as badly over here.
With Halloween looming large, there was the usual batch of horror movies.
Saw IV marked the improbably continuation of the Saw franchise, gaining
even worse reviews from critics and, while it was still a decent hit, there was
noticeably less buzz – even from fans. The franchise is being rested now… but Saw
V and VI are slated for 2009 and 2010.
Day Watch was the sequel to the Russian supernatural-action epic Night Watch,
but too much of a cult movie to make any dent at the box-office. Amongst fans,
it was lapped up and was certainly better than its predecessor – yet just as perplexing.
Zombies returned to cinemas with Resident Evil: Extinction, with Milla
Jovovich still convinced she's involved in one of movie's great franchises. She's
not. Even gamers hate these movies. To be fair, it was better than the second
film.
Unusual movie Mr Brooks went under-the-radar for the masses, as Kevin Costner took
the eponymous role of a serial killer who talks to an evil part of his sub-consciousness
(played by William Hurt). It was ignored by most people, but gained some decent
notices from critics.
Sicko may have sounded like a horror flick, but it was actually another
of Michael Moore's controversial documentaries – this time looking at the state of
the American health system. It was reviewed quite favourably, although didn’t
touch a nerve like his Fahrenheit 9/11 had, and was slightly let-down by his rose-tinted
view of our very own NHS.
David Cronenberg returned (but not for a horror, sadly) with Eastern Promises,
a compelling gangster film set in London, with a bravura performance from new
muse Viggo Mortensen and the always-excellent Naomi Watts. It wasn't a huge
hit, but it did pretty well around mid-chart for a number of weeks here.
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