Monday, 03.10.08
Old-Time Mayhem
Photo by flickr user Dioboss under a Creative Commons license
Did a tremor of fear run through Roland Emmerich when he saw the opening-weekend grosses for January's handheld-camera monster movie, Cloverfield? The German-born Emmerich has spent his career getting Hollywood studios to pony up obscene amounts of money so he can destroy the world (or at least Manhattan) over and over again. But Cloverfield demonstrated that you could do the same thing, and reap impressive box-office rewards, for a fraction of the cost of Independence Day (aliens destroy the world), The Day After Tomorrow (global warming destroys the world), or Godzilla (Godzilla destroys the world).
So has time passed Emmerich by? 10,000 B.C.'s decent showing (in the teeth of terrible reviews) suggests that there's life in his white-elephant style yet, but his latest film's novel approach to destroying Western Civilization -- rolling the clock back to an age when it didn't yet exist -- makes it a less-than-perfect case study. Emmerich's next project will be a better test: Entitled 2012 and slated to debut next year, its plot revolves around ancient Mayan prophecies that predict (you guessed it) the imminent end of the world.
Playing dumbDana Stevens argues that 10,000 B.C. betrays the delightful dim-wittedness of the caveman genre. |
Card-carrying cavewomenThe sci-fi babes of the British film studio Hammer, which produced such '60s B-flick fantasy classics as One Million Years B.C., reminisce about reptile makeup and leather loincloths. |
Mr. ApocalypseThe Guardian interviews director Roland Emmerich and compliments him for never having made a sequel or comic-book movie. |
Is that my loincloth?Kenneth Turan accuses 10,000 B.C. of filching props, scenes, and bad ideas from its Saturday-matinee movie ilk. |
Cavemen of the EpiceneTodd McCarthy faults the film for tepid imagination. How can you wage pre-historic war with a PG-13 rating? |
