Bugged Thoughts…about the inexplicable failure of SPEED RACER

For those of you who may have missed it on this past weekend’s edition of Subject:CINEMA, I was absolutely APPALLED and utterly gastiflabbered by the seemingly overwhelming number of negative reviews for the film SPEED RACER. I named it not only one of the best films of the year but OF ALL TIME, giving it 5 stars and naming it my new number one pantheon film, knocking the much revered HERO to #2 and WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY to #3.

OH MY GOD, what HAPPENED?

WHY did this movie totally TANK at the boxoffice?

I just do NOT understand the hatred the reviewers showed for this absolutely fantastic, fun blast of a movie. It is perhaps the most visually stunning movie of all time, its incredible CGI work absolutely unbelievable (and NOTHING like TRON, as so many reviews tried to hang on it). The score is fantastic. And the performances, from Emile Hirsch as Speed all the way down through the fantastic supporting cast including John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, Roger Allam, Rain, Kick Gurry, Paulie Litt, and Christina Ricci, are all DYNAMITE!  The plot is simple, sweet, and to the point, and SO VERY OBVIOUS I don’t know WHY most reviewers can’t seem to find it. And more to the point, both times I saw it last weekend, it seemed to me that EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the whole theater – kids, adults, grandparents, parents, college students, teenagers, EVERYBODY –  absolutely LOVED IT!  Where is the hatred coming from?

No, actually, that first statement in the last paragraph is WRONG. I DO Know why a good deal of reviewers hate it – because they know that it takes square aim at EVERYTHING that is their livelyhood – corporate greed, power, success, corruption – all of which are rampant in both industries – Hollywood AND The Media. And they want to look like they couldn’t possibly support such things as (GASP!) FAMILY VALUES! And the idea that GOOD triumphs over EVIL.  We all know Hollywood prefers it when EVIL wins these days…look at movies over the past several years and you’ll figure out what I mean…

Well, NOW is your chance to show the reviewers out there – AND THE STUDIOS – what the public REALLY THINKS.

I’m coming to you to ask you to help save SPEED RACER from undeserved premature extinction…and boost chances for a possible sequel down the road (if Emile is willing…he dropped his agent this week; hopefully it wasn’t because of Speed Racer, because that would be wrong…).

Here’s how we’re gonna do it.

1) Make time and GO SEE IT this weekend – at least once, but if you really love it like we did, go a couple of times – and if you’ve already seen it, SEE IT AGAIN!!! SKIP whatever else you were planning to see this weekend (except PRINCE CASPIAN if you’re planning on seeing it) and use the bucks to see something worth the money like SR and not some goofy, gawd-awful comedy or horror film. Above all else, we want to make sure that despite the studios, the trades, and practically everyone else giving up on it way way WAAAAAY too quickly,  and despite the bad reviews, that word of mouth will make sure it STAYS in the TOP 3 This weekend – if everyone gets it together, and goes with their friends to see this movie (which is the kind of fun movie that families and friends will LOVE seeing together) we CAN stay at #3 behind Caspian and Iron Man…and maybe we can even beat one of them…great word of mouth has saved other great movies that the critics (and the fanboy haters) have unfairly maligned..and we can DO IT AGAIN!!!

2) Broadcast how much you liked it (assuming that, like Kim and especially like me, you will love it) on EVERY FRIGGIN’ WEBSITE you have – MySpace, Facebook, Digg, and whereever else you’re webbing at, and tell people to GO SEE IT!

3) Spread the word everywhere else – let people know that if they miss this movie in the theater they’ll regret it because while fantastic on the big screen, the effects will be lost in many ways when it comes to DVD this fall, BluRay or no BluRay

4)If you have a local newspaper that gave SR a negative review and you don’t agree with the reviewer, let them know by sending them an email or snail mail and telling them so in a polite businesslike manner

5)And most importantly, LET WARNER BROTHERS STUDIOS Know! Go to http://warnerbrothers.com and check for contact info and let them know in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS (but POLITELY!) that they’ll be making a big mistake if they give up on it so soon…

Let’s ALL come together – Speed Racer fans, anime fans, Wachowski brothers fans, Emile Hirsch fans – and help Speed Racer get the weekend IT DAMN WELL DESERVES at the box office – and make it a hit that WB will be sorry they gave up on so soon…