Discovering good movies, one bad movie at a time

Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Who We Are
    • Rating Principles
  • Podcasts
  • Reviews
  • Videos
  • Patreon
  • Blog
Cast : Amanda Seyfried, Channing Tatum, Henry Thomas Screenplay : Jamie Linden Release : February 4, 2010 Director : Lasse Hallström Genre : Drama, Romance, War

Dear John

Posted by Tim Brayton Posted on Jan - 31 - 2010 0 Comments
FEBRUARY 2010 MOVIE PREVIEW

February is a kind of special month for movies, I think. Hold on with me. See, January is a washout. We all know that. If it opens in January, it’s shit, end of story. But February, see, every so often, you get really lucky, and something absolutely outstanding opens in February. And I’ll tell you what, there’s nothing quite as intensely happy as when you’re in the middle of absolute nowhere, cinematically, and then along comes something that’s actually great and brilliant and all. I much prefer great films in February to any other month of the year. Fingers crossed and knock on wood, there’s actually a film this February that I think is going to be pretty amazing, too.

5.2.2010
But that movie doesn’t come out yet. First we have to muck through what looks like it might be one of the most awful prestigey movies in history: starring Channing Tatum (a pretty slab of anti-acting), Amanda Seyfried (a talented actress who gets no good parts whatsoever), and directed by Lasse Halström (an epically bad filmmaker), Dear John is also, saints preserve us all, a story about The Days After 9/11. The nicest thing I can think to say is that it’s virtually impossible for this movie to be even a quarter as bad as I’m expecting from all of what I just typed.

There’s only one other wide release, From Paris with Love, which I am almost excited about: director Pierre Morel’s Taken was probably my favorite action movie of 2009. But that starred Liam Neeson as an angry revenge-seeking ass-kicker; the new one is John Travolta, looking his very silliest, with a bald head and a terribly unfortunate goatee.

Speaking of Morel, one of the limited releases this day is District 13: Ultimatum, a sequel to his directorial debut, District 13. And for its other flaws, that film had a mind-blowing opening sequence, so I can get behind that. Other limited releases: Jackie Chan in The Shinjuku Incident, because we love seeing Jackie Chan being old onscreen, and Frozen, which I would cynically describe as “Open Water on a ski lift”, but hey, maybe you liked Open Water more than I did.

The desperately flawed Red Riding Trilogy also makes a quick U.S. tour, starting today, if you’re interested. I’d suggest you oughtn’t be.

12.2.2010
The slate of three wide releases opening this weekend fascinates me. It’s a cross-section of three very different kinds of desperation, all mingling together, and it sort of feels like everything is counter-programming to everything else.

The likeliest box-office winner, I’d guess, is The Wolfman, a remake directed by the slick high-concept hack Joe Johnston; I’d also guess it will be the relative best of the three, but all I’m really hoping for is that Anthony Hopkins is every bit as crazed as he seems in the trailer. The other two releases are Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, the latest doomed-to-failure attempt to find a new Harry Potter series, and this one even happens to be led by Chris Columbus, the man who got that other franchise off to such a grim start with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Finally, we have another Love Actually clone, this one monolithically titled Valentine’s Day: this sounds desperately anonymous, maybe, until you realise how very few movies are actually flat-out named after holidays, and those disproportionally horror pictures. Anyway, it re-teams Garry Marshall with Julia Roberts, if you’re the sort of person likely to care about that sort of thing.

19.2.2010
Finally, after a completely inexplicable postponement from October, 2009, comes Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese’s return to warped psycho-horror-thrillers, almost 20 years after Cape Fear, featuring Leo DiCaprio’s Looney Tune version of a Boston accent. Four months of added waiting have only made me more excited about a movie that was already one of the most exciting films of the last quarter of 2009; I can’t imagine, with the director involved, that this was some sign of poor quality on the film’s part, and I still assume that the Oscar season would have been way more interesting with this film a part of it, but no matter. Better late than never.

So much does everybody obviously agree with me, that the film isn’t getting any wide-release competition – though one of the weekend’s limited releases happens to be the latest (last?) film by Roman Polanski, The Ghost Writer. Cue the hand-wringing about whether it’s an immoral act to pay money to see this film or not!

26.2.2009
A nice easy weekend of boring crap to usher us out of the month: the first-ever film directed by, but not written by, Kevin Smith, Cop Out; because clearly, his skills lie more in his direction than his writing, you know? I mean, how much better would Clerks have been with some funny dialogue to match the coruscating visuals? Also, Breck Eisner – Michael Eisner’s son, who is plainly getting work for his talent and not his connections – is remaking The Crazies, and as long as that means a nice new Blu-Ray edition of George A. Romero’s 1973 original, I am more than happy to keep my mouth shut about the necessity of 1970s horror remakes.

Categories:
FIVE YEARS AND COUNTING
Edge of Darkness
  • Subscribe

  • Connect With Us

    Alternate Ending
    Alternate Ending @AlternateEndng
    Wednesday, January 20th, 2021 at 6:06pm
    New episode! 🥳

    It's not just any episode, it's our FAVORITE episode of the year! We agonize & we debate the BEST movies of 2020. It was a tough year in cinema, but nevertheless, we each came up with 10 great films.

    Tune in! 🎧 #Top10 #2020movies https://t.co/Iu42n5mFmm
    View on Twitter
    0
    1
    Alternate Ending
    Alternate Ending @AlternateEndng
    Tuesday, January 12th, 2021 at 1:25pm
    Movie Giveaway! 🎉

    We're BACK from Winter break with one of our FAVORITE episodes. We mull & we analyze our feelings & we pull together the best movies of 2020!

    But it's no fun if you don't play along, so tell us YOUR favorite movies of 2020 in the comments.

    #BestOf2020 https://t.co/i7wAhnZ2jK
    View on Twitter
    0
    2
    Alternate Ending
    Alternate Ending @AlternateEndng
    Thursday, December 17th, 2020 at 8:27pm
    New Episode! 🎧

    Top 5 Christmas Curmudgeons ➡️ https://t.co/oB2MpBiOse

    This one goes out to all of you who are feeling a bit grinchy about the holidays this year. We're sure this episode will have your heart growing AT LEAST 2 sizes. ❤

    Happy Holidays, from all of us at AE! https://t.co/a8LyJLBtYW
    View on Twitter
    1
    1
    Alternate Ending
    Alternate Ending @AlternateEndng
    Friday, December 11th, 2020 at 7:01pm
    Have you seen @OfficialRunFilm yet?!

    We sit down with director @aneeshchaganty to talk about his newest twisty-thriller, you won't want to miss it!

    🎧 https://t.co/nGuM0SIQzx

    Available on @hulu now! https://t.co/HY5oPbvyPG
    View on Twitter
    0
    1
    Alternate Ending
    Alternate Ending @AlternateEndng
    Thursday, December 10th, 2020 at 1:33pm
    Movie Giveaway! 🥳

    Who is your favorite #Christmas Curmudgeon in a movie?

    To help our own hearts grow 2 1/2 sizes at the end of this tough year, share your favorites in the comments for a chance to win a free Amazon movie rental - the winner will be announced on Dec 14th! 🎉 https://t.co/b3GDZFGycf
    View on Twitter
    0
    2
    Alternate Ending
    Alternate Ending @AlternateEndng
    Tuesday, December 1st, 2020 at 12:56pm
    New episode!🥳

    We're on the road for this week's episode, but that doesn't keep us from diving in to our favorite British movies of all time! What makes a movie British? Well, you'll just have to find out chum!

    Tune in!✨ https://t.co/W174UmLU5k
    View on Twitter
    0
    1

    Alternate Ending

    Alternate Ending was formed when three friends realized they all shared a passion for movies. Our goal is to save you time and money by sharing our thoughts and recommendations on which movies to race to theaters for, which to watch at home and those to actively avoid. What makes Alternate Ending different from other film sites and podcasts? Well, we’re not 5 dudes in a room talking about our passion for Fight Club and Braveheart. We’re two dudes, and a lady, of which our tastes are quite varied. Rob, the film-school dropout, has seen an absurd amount of movies, and if we’re being honest, rounds out our Fight Club fan-base. Tim Brayton, our seasoned film critic, shares a more critical view of film, an appreciation for vintage cinema and perhaps limited-release movies that we might otherwise miss. Carrie, our casual movie-goer, reminds us all that cinema is in fact supposed to be fun and entertaining and that sometimes, just sometimes, happy endings are good. Too many film sites cater to the same kind of audience, with one overwhelming voice in the writing, but what we treasure at Alternate Ending is diversity: diversity of opinion, diversity in belief about what film should do and how it should do it. We want to celebrate our different opinions, and celebrate yours as well. This isn't a site for people who just want to talk about the latest hot new movies in theaters right this minute. This is a place for people who can't get to the theater until the third week a film is out; a place for people who just want to find something great to stream online after the kids have gone to sleep, a place for people whose favorite pastime is to grab a bunch of classic films on DVD from the library and watch them all weekend. It's a place that believes that every great movie is a wonderful new treasure, whether you see it the night of its premiere or fifty years later. It's a site about discovering good movies... one bad movie at a time. Join us for our weekly review of movies worth seeing, worth avoiding and our Top 5 lists – and don’t forget to play along at www.alternateending.com.
    Alternate Ending
    Alternate EndingTuesday, January 12th, 2021 at 4:22pm
    Movie Giveaway! 🎉

    We're BACK from Winter break with one of our FAVORITE episodes of the year. We mull, we agonize, we analyze our feelings and we pull together the best movies of 2020!

    But it's no fun if you don't play along, so tell us YOUR favorite movies of 2020 in the comments.

    We'll announce the winner of a free movie rental, when our first episode of 2021 airs on January 18th!

    #2020movies #Top10
    2    View on Facebook
    Alternate Ending
    Alternate EndingThursday, December 17th, 2020 at 9:22pm
    New Episode! 🎧

    Top 5 Christmas Curmudgeons ➡️bit.ly/3r5ukert

    This one goes out to all of you who are feeling a bit grinchy about the holidays this year. We're sure that this episode will have your heart growing AT LEAST 2 sizes. ❤

    Happy Holidays, from all of us at AE!
       View on Facebook
    Alternate Ending
    Alternate EndingFriday, December 11th, 2020 at 9:58pm
    Have you seen Run Film yet?!

    We sit down with director Aneesh Chaganty to talk about his newest twisty-thriller, you won't want to miss it!

    🎧 bit.ly/2KeFZqg
    1    View on Facebook
    Alternate Ending
    Alternate EndingThursday, December 10th, 2020 at 4:28pm
    Movie Giveaway! 🥳

    Who is your favorite Christmas Curmudgeon in a movie?

    Almost as much as Santa Claus and reindeer, you can’t have a Christmas movie without some miserable SOB who starts out by humbugging their way through throngs of cheerful celebrants and has, by the end of the second hour, learned the True Meaning of Christmas. 🎄

    To help our own hearts grow two-and-a-half sizes at the end of this tough year, share your favorites in the comments below for a chance to win a free Amazon movie rental - the winner will be announced when our next episode airs on Dec 14th! ❤️
    1    View on Facebook
    Alternate Ending
    Alternate Ending updated their cover photo.Thursday, December 10th, 2020 at 4:03pm
    1 1    View on Facebook
  • Support The Show

    Rent the Looks, Own the Style - The Mr. & Ms. Collection

    Rent the Looks, Own the Style - The Mr. & Ms. Collection

Copyright © 2021 Alternate Ending - Discovering good movies, one bad movie at a time.
WordPress Development by Gibson Web Development
This product uses the TMDb API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDb.