Comments on: Death Race http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/ The official podcast of MovieZeal.com, where film is always best discussed under the gentle influence of fine wine (as fine as $10 will get you). Each week Evan, Heather, and Luke pick a theme, discuss a theatrical release based on that theme, pop the cork and drink a wine that fits said theme, and finally subject one another to The Gauntlet, where forcing others to watch painful films nets you fabulous prizes. There is not anything else on the internets like it (literally). Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:36:28 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: sohbet http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-462179 sohbet Mon, 18 Jul 2011 02:04:08 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-462179 28. I am no longer sure the place you are getting your information, however great topic. I needs to spend a while finding out more or understanding more. Thanks for wonderful info I used to be searching for this info for my mission. 28. I am no longer sure the place you are getting your information, however great topic. I needs to spend a while finding out more or understanding more. Thanks for wonderful info I used to be searching for this info for my mission.

]]> By: Mark Chararria http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-171647 Mark Chararria Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:29:29 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-171647 Very interesting blog post thank you for sharing I have added your site to my favorites and will be back. Very interesting blog post thank you for sharing I have added your site to my favorites and will be back.

]]> By: Evan Derrick http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-20812 Evan Derrick Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:08:45 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-20812 Correction has been noted, Oraijon. Thanks for visiting, and thanks for the heads up. Correction has been noted, Oraijon. Thanks for visiting, and thanks for the heads up.

]]> By: Oraijon http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-20803 Oraijon Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:48:43 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-20803 Looks like a whole lot of fun to watch, so will be doing that somewhere this week :D But uhm.... Paul Verhoeven is Dutch (born in Amsterdam, Netherlands), not German :P Looks like a whole lot of fun to watch, so will be doing that somewhere this week :D

But uhm…. Paul Verhoeven is Dutch (born in Amsterdam, Netherlands), not German :P

]]> By: Haiku Girl http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-10733 Haiku Girl Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:19:56 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-10733 @Luke. Yes I love... no, Adore Deathrace2000. I watch it all the time. Il ove to come home and dim the lights, light a few candles and then rub the dvd case all over my... never mind. seeing it sometime this week, so I can podcast about it maybe this weekend. @Luke.

Yes I love… no, Adore Deathrace2000. I watch it all the time. Il ove to come home and dim the lights, light a few candles and then rub the dvd case all over my…

never mind.

seeing it sometime this week, so I can podcast about it maybe this weekend.

]]> By: Maurice http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-10452 Maurice Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:16:13 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-10452 At the end of every year I have a tradition. I look through the listing for the local AMC google-plex and pick the worst film showing. Thus, on December 30, I am happily snacking on candy and sending off the old year with an abysmal film salute and a burp. What I have noticed in years past is that it is becoming easier and easier to find a really bad film to see. That bothers me a bit, more than a bit at times. I prefer the flow of bad films be like my cash flow. Is there a reason for this? I have wondered, is Hollywood a casino where film selection is just a crap shoot? It almost seems that, like the Bellagio, Hollywood feels that there will be losses but the house wins in the end. Unless, of course, you’re Harvey Weinstein and you just bet the house on the house. So, countless films that will go from the theatre to the ninety-nine cent bin at your local Wal-mart or straight to DVD are released annually. Trying to endure this onslaught is akin to Ralphie Parker’s entire third grade class peppering you with snowballs at lunch period. Which brings me to this: Are movies getting worse? Between test audiences, focus groups and exit groups, today’s films are more intently scrutinized than a George Bush bowel movement. Hey! Here’s a fun poll you can take right now: How many times have you stood in front of a movie’s marquee board and tried to decide which movie sucked the least? Kinda hard to pull the pin on that grenade sometimes, eh? Which can be a problem, even for an expert such as me? The worst date I ever went on was with the girl of my dreams and the only film I could find that looked remotely entertaining was “Car Wash.” I figured “Hey, Richard Pryor and George Carlin are in this film. How bad can it be?” Well, by the time the scene of the fat loser fondling the hooker’s breast rolled around, I knew exactly how bad it was. (I later married a woman who didn’t think the 3 Stooges are funny but that’s a tale for another column. Yes. I did divorce her.) You know, the whole movie experience is starting to turn on me like a badger whose foot I am standing on. Where once it merely involved purchasing a ticket and sitting down, there are now more twists and turns than a drawing by M. C. Escher. Now days, popcorn bags are bigger than the screens, the sound system is louder than the colicky baby of Lou Costello and Bjork and no one has yet to put a condom on that hot dog. And, by the way, what’s with the dancing candy, huh? If the candy can dance, and for that matter, move around, why should I be inconvenienced? It should casually wander from the snack bar, down the isle and meet me at my seat. Leaving a film is just as bad as they are glutted with marketing ploys. Cripes, they hit you with so many movie related items to buy it’s like a booth outside a Kiss concert. I’m in the lobby buying posters, t-shirts, videos, DVDs, coffee mugs, bendable Wilem Dafoe action figures and books. The only thing I am not buying is the plot. I saw “Iron Man” and loved it. Great dialog, good FX and proper pacing by the director. But by the time it hit movie houses, the plot had been changed more times than a litter box at a cat farm. Scripts these days get passed around more than a goat skin flask at a Blue Oyster Cult concert. They are subject to more second hand guessing than schizophrenic’s week on Jeopardy. Sometimes it’s good but just keep it a secret will you? Hollywood’s answer to this has changed over the years. Whereas Thallberg looked for ways to make a film better with what was at hand, now days the answer is to simply throw more money at any problem a film may have. Scripts get more rewrites, actors recast and directors replaced. Rather than write a decent dialog for a film, just spend a couple million more and get whatever Smith-DiCaprio-Lebouf-Ford-Cruise-justoutofrehab-faceonthecoverofeverymagazine-soldoutforbucks-flavorofthemonth to star in this turd and let them spout crap out while bouncing of the hood of a car or swinging from a rope. And while we’re at it, let’s Spielberg the whole thing up so it looks nice. Don’t leave it looking like your dorm room after you sponsored an “Animal House” frat party on three day weekend. I saw the demise of small, independent, quality films in 1999. “The Blair Witch” project was released and totally destroyed independent films for the next thousand years. It had a budget around $40,000.00 and grossed over 100 million. It was a terrific film and well received, plus it had an interesting gimmick and is arguably the best independent film ever (I vote for “Clerks”). Now, Hollywood is frantically trying to duplicate that success by making scads of small budget films. For 100 million each. Like I said earlier, they do throw money as a solution. Unfortunately, it’s all rolled together in one big ball that crushes all in its path. You know, like Rosanne Barr. Look, we are always going to have bad films. That’s a gummier. People like me will see the bad ones, either at theatres or on DVD. My issue is why make them at all? Why roll the dice and make “Beastmaster 3” when you know “Beastmaster 2” is a clunker? Is there that much money out there that folks are excited to spend on any movie? Maybe, like when I was growing up, bad films will be a fun thing to do and drive-ins and grindhouse will be again in vogue. Maybe someone will make a small film about a guy who’s losing his job and has to eat French fried “pertaters” and he and his family are trying to get a little girl to a beauty pageant and he has a stroke and can only communicate to his Robin Williams shrink with one eye and his wife will have to read him the story of his life every day so he won’t forget that he came to America with his brother from Iran and they…… Sorry. I lost my track there. This was an okay movie that took its title from a so so movie. I liked one but not the other and will take that secret to my grave. Thanks for another great review. I really enjoyed it. At the end of every year I have a tradition. I look through the listing for the local AMC google-plex and pick the worst film showing. Thus, on December 30, I am happily snacking on candy and sending off the old year with an abysmal film salute and a burp. What I have noticed in years past is that it is becoming easier and easier to find a really bad film to see. That bothers me a bit, more than a bit at times. I prefer the flow of bad films be like my cash flow.
Is there a reason for this? I have wondered, is Hollywood a casino where film selection is just a crap shoot? It almost seems that, like the Bellagio, Hollywood feels that there will be losses but the house wins in the end. Unless, of course, you’re Harvey Weinstein and you just bet the house on the house. So, countless films that will go from the theatre to the ninety-nine cent bin at your local Wal-mart or straight to DVD are released annually. Trying to endure this onslaught is akin to Ralphie Parker’s entire third grade class peppering you with snowballs at lunch period. Which brings me to this: Are movies getting worse?
Between test audiences, focus groups and exit groups, today’s films are more intently scrutinized than a George Bush bowel movement. Hey! Here’s a fun poll you can take right now: How many times have you stood in front of a movie’s marquee board and tried to decide which movie sucked the least? Kinda hard to pull the pin on that grenade sometimes, eh? Which can be a problem, even for an expert such as me? The worst date I ever went on was with the girl of my dreams and the only film I could find that looked remotely entertaining was “Car Wash.” I figured “Hey, Richard Pryor and George Carlin are in this film. How bad can it be?” Well, by the time the scene of the fat loser fondling the hooker’s breast rolled around, I knew exactly how bad it was. (I later married a woman who didn’t think the 3 Stooges are funny but that’s a tale for another column. Yes. I did divorce her.)
You know, the whole movie experience is starting to turn on me like a badger whose foot I am standing on. Where once it merely involved purchasing a ticket and sitting down, there are now more twists and turns than a drawing by M. C. Escher. Now days, popcorn bags are bigger than the screens, the sound system is louder than the colicky baby of Lou Costello and Bjork and no one has yet to put a condom on that hot dog. And, by the way, what’s with the dancing candy, huh? If the candy can dance, and for that matter, move around, why should I be inconvenienced? It should casually wander from the snack bar, down the isle and meet me at my seat.
Leaving a film is just as bad as they are glutted with marketing ploys. Cripes, they hit you with so many movie related items to buy it’s like a booth outside a Kiss concert. I’m in the lobby buying posters, t-shirts, videos, DVDs, coffee mugs, bendable Wilem Dafoe action figures and books. The only thing I am not buying is the plot. I saw “Iron Man” and loved it. Great dialog, good FX and proper pacing by the director. But by the time it hit movie houses, the plot had been changed more times than a litter box at a cat farm. Scripts these days get passed around more than a goat skin flask at a Blue Oyster Cult concert. They are subject to more second hand guessing than schizophrenic’s week on Jeopardy. Sometimes it’s good but just keep it a secret will you?
Hollywood’s answer to this has changed over the years. Whereas Thallberg looked for ways to make a film better with what was at hand, now days the answer is to simply throw more money at any problem a film may have. Scripts get more rewrites, actors recast and directors replaced. Rather than write a decent dialog for a film, just spend a couple million more and get whatever Smith-DiCaprio-Lebouf-Ford-Cruise-justoutofrehab-faceonthecoverofeverymagazine-soldoutforbucks-flavorofthemonth to star in this turd and let them spout crap out while bouncing of the hood of a car or swinging from a rope. And while we’re at it, let’s Spielberg the whole thing up so it looks nice. Don’t leave it looking like your dorm room after you sponsored an “Animal House” frat party on three day weekend.
I saw the demise of small, independent, quality films in 1999. “The Blair Witch” project was released and totally destroyed independent films for the next thousand years. It had a budget around $40,000.00 and grossed over 100 million. It was a terrific film and well received, plus it had an interesting gimmick and is arguably the best independent film ever (I vote for “Clerks”). Now, Hollywood is frantically trying to duplicate that success by making scads of small budget films. For 100 million each. Like I said earlier, they do throw money as a solution. Unfortunately, it’s all rolled together in one big ball that crushes all in its path. You know, like Rosanne Barr.
Look, we are always going to have bad films. That’s a gummier. People like me will see the bad ones, either at theatres or on DVD. My issue is why make them at all? Why roll the dice and make “Beastmaster 3” when you know “Beastmaster 2” is a clunker? Is there that much money out there that folks are excited to spend on any movie? Maybe, like when I was growing up, bad films will be a fun thing to do and drive-ins and grindhouse will be again in vogue. Maybe someone will make a small film about a guy who’s losing his job and has to eat French fried “pertaters” and he and his family are trying to get a little girl to a beauty pageant and he has a stroke and can only communicate to his Robin Williams shrink with one eye and his wife will have to read him the story of his life every day so he won’t forget that he came to America with his brother from Iran and they……
Sorry. I lost my track there. This was an okay movie that took its title from a so so movie. I liked one but not the other and will take that secret to my grave. Thanks for another great review. I really enjoyed it.

]]> By: Evan Derrick http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-10446 Evan Derrick Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:28:47 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-10446 It's nothing like the original, other than a few of the names are the same. Haiku Girl is right - this is more like <i>The Running Man</i> with cars, rather than <i>Death Race 2000</i>. It’s nothing like the original, other than a few of the names are the same. Haiku Girl is right – this is more like The Running Man with cars, rather than Death Race 2000.

]]> By: Lou A. http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-10439 Lou A. Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:04:23 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-10439 It's a relief to know that this isn't anything like "Death Race 2000." It’s a relief to know that this isn’t anything like “Death Race 2000.”

]]> By: Frank Aida http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-10432 Frank Aida Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:12:05 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-10432 ...I may be seeing this tomorrow. I see it is in Edgewater....good review.. …I may be seeing this tomorrow. I see it is in Edgewater….good review..

]]> By: Luke Harrington http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-10383 Luke Harrington Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:54:59 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-10383 It's basically a mash-up of <i>The Running Man</i> and <i>Mario Kart</i>, yes. But don't you love the original? Isn't this like sacrilege to you? :) It’s basically a mash-up of The Running Man and Mario Kart, yes. But don’t you love the original? Isn’t this like sacrilege to you? :)

]]> By: Haiku Girl http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-10381 Haiku Girl Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:43:19 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-10381 sigh... I will love this film. Yet isn't this in concept closer to a remake of Runningman, than Death Race. Mario Kart... LOL sigh… I will love this film. Yet isn’t this in concept closer to a remake of Runningman, than Death Race.

Mario Kart… LOL

]]> By: Joe http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-10377 Joe Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:16:25 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-10377 Death Race! Now this is my kind of movie. I would say I do agree that Verhoeven would have been a much better choice to direct though. Death Race! Now this is my kind of movie. I would say I do agree that Verhoeven would have been a much better choice to direct though.

]]> By: Frank Gallo http://www.moviezeal.com/death-race/comment-page-1/#comment-10367 Frank Gallo Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:42:07 +0000 http://www.moviezeal.com/?p=1210#comment-10367 I did like Running Man and Totall Recall, but I haven't seen this just yet. Good review. I did like Running Man and Totall Recall, but I haven’t seen this just yet. Good review.

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