Ridley Scott's The Counselor: "worst ever made"?

Ridley Scott's new film The Counselor has opened in the States to some of the most negative reviews of the director's career. The drug trafficking thriller, penned by renowned author Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men, The Road), baffled and bored critics, even prompting one -- Salon's Andrew O'Hehir -- to deem it the "worst movie ever made". Despite a star-studded cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt, audiences didn't go for it either, leaving the film with a miserable box office opening that's also one of Scott's worst. The Counselor opens in NZ on November 7.

One for the Dogs

It seems after a brief career resurrection with Pulp Fiction, John Travolta has gone back to his old Look Who's Talking days. I guess it's been 15 years since that comeback, so it's not such a big surprise, but I think he's hit rock bottom here. Watch this music video (a cover of Bobby Brown's "Every Little Step"!!!) Travolta did with daughter Ella Bleu for his "family" comedy Old Dogs and weep. It's one of the cringiest famous-people-do-headslapping-things I've seen in a while:

Shock News: Worst Movie Ever Made to Play NZFF

Could NZFF be the only "prestigious" international film festival in the world to screen Troll 2, one of the most notoriously, lovably awful movies ever made? If so, I have to say I'm proud to be living in a country where we have film fest programmers who can make such a wonderful thing happen. At the Civic, there'll be showing the latest lovely period art-pic by Jane Campion, then down the road there'll be a bunch of vege-munchin' goblins turning humans into green goo.

We actually have Troll 2 (paired with unrelated Troll 1) on our site but if you've never seen the movie, I totally recommend buying a ticket to the ONE-OFF screening at SkyCity Queen St. on July 10 at 10:00pm. The film goes down like a riot with a packed audience, and it'll be a special experience you won't forget anytime soon - plus its star, former child actor Michael Stephenson will be there to introduce the film and probably do a Q&A after and sign your Troll 2 mousepad or whatever.

Stephenson also made the FANTASTIC documentary Best Worst Movie, which is also playing at the fest, about the rabid Troll 2 cult phenomenon that's grown exponentially over the last decade or so - something best appreciated after you've seen the movie. Best Worst Movie might also be the best feelgood movie of the year - it's that good! Check out this sneak peak...

Trailer Befuddlement: After Last Season

This film is positively blowing minds in the film blogosphere at the moment - or to be more precise, the trailer is; only a few fortunate (or unfortunate) souls have actually managed to witness the whole thing (it only played a few theatres in the states). So WTF is it? Watch this trailer first and tell us what you think:



I've already seen it a few times and am still trying to process everything that happens in it: the naked, cheap-ass sets (CARBOARD MRI MACHINE!), the robotic acting, the wonky compositions, the weird computer graphics. It's shot on 35mm to boot and if IMDB is anything to be believed, made for $5 million!!! Who are these people? Where did this film come from? Is it for real? Or is it an elaborate joke??

Someone's already started a facebook group; if you go there you can see a clip of some people who've actually seen it and their reactions. Whatever After Last Season is, I hope who ever made it will keep us guessing for a bit longer. It's incredible.