Okay, you've got a cop thriller with Keanu Reeves opening in theaters, plus a college comedy with Dennis Quaid, plus a rom-com with Ryan Reynolds -- and, oh yeah, a cruddy remake of a 1980 Jamie Lee Curtis horror movie that wasn't even screened for critics. Guess which one ruled the weekend box office?

Right, "Prom Night" (above), which pulled in an estimated $23 million, versus Keanu in "Street Kings" ($12 million), Quaid in "Smart People" ($4 million), and Reynolds in "Chaos Theory," a limited release which managed a woeful $23,000 at 11 theaters. Card-counting drama "21" is holding up well in third place and has grossed $61 million overall; it won't hit $100 mill but its DVD afterlife is assured. I just remain mildly astonished by how many people are willing to accept it as a "good movie".

But to "Prom Night" -- how do we explain that a generally reviled piece of slasher remake product, lacking stars or any originality whatsoever, tops the box office? The question answers itself: From its cannily targeted title on down, the movie's purely generic -- the equivalent of buying superstore shampoo. There doesn't need to be a star because the genre (and its return on minimal emotional investment) is the star. The audience knows what it's going to get, and it knows what it wants, which is an excuse to paw one's date under the socially acceptable blanket of movie suspense. Doesn't matter how bogus the film is; indeed, the lamer it is the more fun the group experience can be.

Or, as a friend's son said when his dad asked how "Prom Night" was, "Okay -- there were four or five good jumps."

There's the fallacy of movie criticism right there -- the assumption that every film should have worth beyond the utilitarian when much of the time the audience goes simply hoping for Pavlov to ring his little bell.

More numbers from Box Office Mojo and Leonard Klady.

Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom

Ooo-wee, that Uwe makes good copy. Happily, those who have responded to the petition to get Uwe Boll to step away from the camera now have more than one force of opposition: a second petition to keep Dr. Uwe in his current line of work. Cinematical's Erik Davis caught the beleaguered Boll's plea for support on April 9, and yet another fan has responded: Lauren Brenner of Greyface Media is the sponsor behind this noble petition: "after all, he's better than that hack Scorsese." Boll couldn't have said it better. (In case you were wondering, the first pro-Boll petition is here, and so far there are almost 4,000 signatures.)

Oh wait, he did: he's not a bleeping retard like Michael Bay, and he isn't making the same bleeping movie again and again like Eli Roth, as the good doctor was saying ... So far, four cineastes have signed this (hopefully 100% on-the-level) petition. Now, are these four names going to count against the 194,000 so far who who have signed the Stop Dr. Uwe Boll Petition? I know those looking for a 2009 release of In the King's Name Again, Already will want to add their email addresses in hopes of being solicited by hapless Nigerian ex-ministers of finance and providers of natural sex herbs. Thanks to Glenn Creamer for this tip.

Which side are you on: Pro Boll or anti Boll?

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