You gotta have a gimmick

Let’s see now. Where have we seen this idea before? The movie actually contains two movies, presented as a double feature. It also includes a trailer or two for upcoming attractions. And some of the same actors appear in both movies-within-a-movie. Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez got plenty of ink in recent weeks for paying homage to old movie exhibition formats in their current “Grindhouse” -- and some of that ink turned nasty when the movie failed to perform this weekend. It ultimately pulled in just $11.6 million. Weinstein Co. co-head Harvey Weinstein even suggested that perhaps his indefatiguable publicity team hadn’t done enough “to educate the audience.”

But, in fact, the idea wasn’t quite as novel as it first seemed. Nearly, thirty years ago, director Stanley Donen and writers Larry Gelbart and Sheldon Keller tried something similar, albeit in a lighter vein, with “Movie Movie,” a homage to the double bills of the ‘30s and ‘40s. That movie, released in 1978, combined a boxing movie, “Dynamite Hands,” with a vintage musical “Baxter’s Beauties of 1933,” as well as a mock trailer for the World War I aerial adventure “Flying Aces.” The cast included George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Art Carney and Barry Bostwick. It got some appreciative reviews, too. Writing in the New York Times, Vincent Canby said, “It seems so effortlessly funny that I suspect that the real intelligence and discipline that guide the project will be overlooked.” The movie movie never really caught fire fire, though -- suggesting that some gimmicks may appeal to critics more than to actual moviegoers. There was one major difference between “Grindhouse” and “Movie Movie.” The 1978 film was just 1 hour and 47 minutes long. (posted by Gregg Kilday)

Comments

[Cadavra]

As the saying goes, everything old is new again. It's no different than Dick Wolf figuring that few would remember "Arrest and Trial" (a 1963 ABC series split into halves: Chuck Connors arrests 'em, Ben Gazzara prosecutes 'em) when he "created" "Law And Order."