Archive for the ‘Polls’ Category
Spoilers. Put them behind a jump, add a warning in bright red 2000-style blinking HTML, make the text the same color as the background so the reader has to highlight it to read it… Do whatever you want, but there will always be someone who accidentally reads a spoiler (or, in my case, simply can’t resist them). Publicists, stars, the director, the writer, and most everyone associated with the film works very hard to prevent these sorts of slips (or “slips”), and I don’t blame them.*
For every person who guessed the big reveal in the first five minutes and sits numbed by boredom for the rest of the time, there are people for whom the film works as intended and leaves them gobsmacked and eager to re-watch the movie to catch all the little hints they missed. Or sometimes it’s just cool to know ahead of time, like with a certain book adaptation that’s in theaters now – I’d read the book, and I was interested to see the movie to catch those little winks as it went along.
Sometimes it’s impossible to interview a star or review a movie without discussing a dramatic twist in the film; it adds an extra dimension that deserves examination and discussion with the folks who pulled it off, whether through a challenging performance, an excellent script, or superior directing. But sometimes, what would be called a spoiler is the real reason why a movie doesn’t work at all. Sometimes it’s just so damn, well, damning that it ruins the movie, and that makes reviewing it while remaining respectful of the movie’s integrity, if you will, almost impossible. I’m not talking about giving away a movie’s ending just for sh*ts and giggles, mind you, but the service of examining the movie and why it does or doesn’t work, especially when such a development is truly galling and makes a semi-decent movie fail.
So the question I pose to you, fellow movie-lovers, is how you feel when you read reviews, Tweets, or blog posts that give away a big plot twist or ending, even after the movie has been released. Do you still go and see the movie afterward, or is it totally ruined for you? Is there an expiration date on spoilers? Vent in the comments.
Continue reading So … Do You Really Want to Know the Ending?
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Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Remakes and Sequels, Polls
Temperature Reading is a new feature here at Cinematical where we’ll check in with a film months before its release to gauge the audience temperature and see whether or not the early buzz is sticking enough to heat up your anticipation meter.
I decided to choose Tron: Legacy as the first film in our Temperature Reading series because Disney is obviously trying to get way out ahead of this one in the hopes they can turn the sequel to an early ’80s cult-ish film into the movie everyone must see come December 17th. Though Tron: Legacy is poised to hit theaters the same weekend as Avatar did in 2009, both studios are taking different approaches to their marketing campaigns. 20th Century Fox didn’t truly start marketing Avatar until the middle of the summer, and then by fall they were blanketing the world with Avatar promos — all of which obviously paid off since the film now holds the all-time record at the box office.
Disney, however, have begun unspooling their Tron: Legacy marketing roughly nine whole months before the film hits theaters. Not only have they already launched a massive viral campaign that spawned an IMAX screening of the film’s latest trailer in 3D in various cities across the world this past weekend, but they’re also releasing images and announcing TV spin-off cartoons in the hopes of building a Tron brand that will hopefully spread it across the public consciousness enough to at least turn Tron: Legacy into a mega hit and potentially their next big movie franchise.
But is it working … yet? Take our poll after the jump …
Filed under: Classics, Fandom, Lists, Polls
It’s a question that mortifies the young movie geeks and sometimes stymies even the old veterans: What’s the best movie you never saw? And by that I mean this: a film that you know is a “classic,” that thousands of people adore, and that you’d probably enjoy yourself … remains unseen by your eyes to this very day.
Could be something as obvious as Casablanca or Gone with the Wind. Perhaps it’s something foreign, new wave-ish or film noir-y, and therefore it doesn’t feel all that accessible. (Watch it anyway.) Might be a more recent favorite like The Usual Suspects, The Shawshank Redemption, or (gasp) the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
One good way to figure out which highly-regarded films you’ve missed is by rating the films you HAVE seen at Flickchart. After a few thousand votes you’ll have an interesting list of films you’ve never seen, and ranked by popularity, as well.
But this post was never meant to be a free plug for Flickchart. It’s a sincere question to all of the hardcore movie-watchers out there. Which Oscar winner / AFI list-topper / fan favorite are you most embarrassed at having overlooked? I’ll even get us started. Ahem. “My name is Scott Weinberg, and I’m a movie geek, site manager, and film critic who thinks he knows sooooo much about everything — but the best movie I’ve never seen is probably (pause for dramatic effect) It Happened One Night.”
Hey, that felt kinda good. Who’s next?
Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
Well, we’ve run the gamut from Rushmore to Revenge of the Nerds in this On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament of ours, and after your votes ruled out countless other endearing dweebs, dorks and dynamos, the final match-up seems as inevitable as it is personal. Why, it’s a choice every bit as impossible and trying as Sophie choosing… whatever she did. (It’s in the Queue!)
So, just before we jump into this, let me first thank our readers for making this a lively bit of fun, and a hearty thanks to Peter Hall for all of his help in keeping this thing alive.
And now, with no further ado or delay…
(After the jump…)
Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
Well, we’ve run the gamut from Rushmore to Revenge of the Nerds in this On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament of ours, and after your votes ruled out countless other endearing dweebs, dorks and dynamos, the final match-up seems as inevitable as it is personal. Why, it’s a choice every bit as impossible and trying as Sophie choosing… whatever she did. (It’s in the Queue!)
So, just before we jump into this, let me first thank our readers for making this a lively bit of fun, and a hearty thanks to Peter Hall for all of his help in keeping this thing alive.
And now, with no further ado or delay…
(After the jump…)
Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
So it’s the penultimate round of this On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament of ours, and we’re down to two inevitable nail-biters after a series of increasingly close calls last week. We’ve got Ghostbusters, The Goonies, Back to the Future and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off represented, but at the cost of beloved characters from Real Genius, Wayne’s World, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Office Space.
Alas, there can only be one, so let’s get this fiendish round of voting underway and bring us all one step closer to having a crucial bit of closure in our lives.
Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
Only eight geeks remain in Cinematical’s first-ever On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament and it is, surprisingly, shaping up to be a real nail-biter Cine-Geek election. I expected some close calls throughout this wholly arbitrary tournament, but I wasn’t expecting them to be this close.
As of this writing, the gap between Election’s Tracy Flick and Real Genius’ Chris Knight was a mere 122 votes. Louis Skolnick vs. Garth Algar? 86 votes. Napoleon Dynamite vs. Andy Stitzer? 76 votes. But the real bare-knuckle brawl came down between McLovin and Data by a margin of just four votes!
So please, spread the word for round four. We need as many votes as possible, if only because I don’t think my frazzled geek nerves can take any more calls like Round 3 brought us.
Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), Ghostbusters vs. Chris Knight (Val Kilmer), Real Genius
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
Well, the first two rounds of Cinematical’s On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament are behind us and one thing is clear: fans are very protective of their movie geeks. I know I came back to view the results more than a few times and came away disappointed that my picks were losing. But such are the whimsical woes of tournaments, so hop back to rounds one and two for the winners/losers, and then let’s collectively pour one out for the likes of Rushmore’s Max Fischer, Honey I Shrunk the Kids’ Wayne Szalinski, and Pretty in Pink’s “Ducky” before moving on to the next round.
And looking at the match-ups below, it becomes immediately apparent that I am, despite my mortgage and marriage, not an adult. How is it possible that I can make decisions about life-altering matters like home loans and yet freeze like Han Solo in carbonite when it comes to deciding if McLovin is more of a geek than Data?
Anyways, enough of my personal problems. To the polls!
Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Jurassic Park vs. Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), Ghostbusters
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
Well, we got a hearty turn-out for the first round of our Geek-Off Tournament, and today, as promised, we present the other half of the slate for your picking pleasure.
Again, to prevent any sort of monopoly, we’ve only selected one character per movie — the only pick this really seems to have any bearing on is Revenge of the Nerds (and, from the look of things, maybe The Goonies too), but your vote counts whether it’s for the ensemble or just for that one character. (We honestly wouldn’t know which one you’re voting for anyway.)
So run down these match-ups, free free to link to this showdown on the social network of your choosing, and in a few days, Peter Hall will be bringing you the first of our elimination rounds based on the results. Let’s get clicking!
Louis Skolnick (Robert Carradine), Revenge of the Nerds vs. Prof. Julius Kelp (Jerry Lewis), The Nutty Professor
Continue reading The Inaugural On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament: Round #2!
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Fandom, James Bond, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Polls
In the time-honored tradition of last summer’s Superhero Movie Tournament, Cinematical humbly presents its first ever Geek-Off, pitting the most endearingly nerdy characters of the silver screen against one another, armed with nothing but their wits and their pocket protectors.
As we mentioned yesterday, we’ve excluded the likes of Peter Parker because of his involvement with the above-mentioned superhero showdown, and after much discussion, we’ve decided to also leave out C-3PO on the grounds that he was programmed to be geeky as no other characters here have. Also, to prevent any sort of monopoly, we’ve only selected one character per movie — the only pick this really seems to have any bearing on is Revenge of the Nerds, but your vote counts whether it’s for the ensemble or just for that one character. (We honestly wouldn’t know the difference.)
The first pairing out of sixteen characters is listed below, with more after the jump and even more coming over the weekend (so don’t lose it if you don’t see a fave — there are sixteen more to come). Ready? Set… Vote!
Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Jurassic Park vs. Erwin “Whistler” Emory (David Strathairn), Sneakers
Continue reading The Inaugural On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament: Round #1!
