One of our biggest beefs with some film blogs is the lack of critical faculties and the ‘hey-we-like-everything’ nature that seems pervasive with people just happy to be invited to something for free. More of an accumulative observation than it is an outright attack, it’s disconcerting to note how often Cinematical is at the lead of such trespasses. Whenever we see a review for some tepid and toothless comedy (“The Promotion” from earlier this year comes to mind), that we’ve barely heard of, more often than not the quote used on the poster or weekly ad comes from this AOL blog.
Case in point this new movie, “Just Buried” with fairly decent stars Jay Baruchel (an Judd Apatow mainstay) and Rose Byrne (“Marie Antoinette” and often found in the films of Danny Boyle). We hadn’t heard lick one of this movie until we opened Time Out New York yesterday and we’re assuming you haven’t either. It’s opening up in one theater in New York (Village East Cinemas) and reviews and awareness of the film are virtually non-existent. Turns out it’s a Canadian indie with very little to no mainstream press attached to it outside of some of the larger sized Toronto publications (The Star and The Globe & Mail). 9 out of 10 times if a film opens up in New York and L.A. 90% of the critics in those city haven’t heard of it, there’s a reason. And it’s simple: because it sucks and no one is working it hard (or at all) and its essentially be buried with a small, requisite release.
But who’s quote is highlighted in the ad? We might of guessed. There’s only one and it’s Cinematical of course. “A dark comedy that combines romance and homicide into one tasty confection. Fast-paced witty, clever and diverting. Winning performances.”
Of course press quotes are generally frankenstiened and edited frpm reviews, reduced to their lowest-common denominator in the favor a film, but we just knew when we saw the ad (wait, what film is this??” Jay Baruchel??) that the quote was coming from Cinematical. So we ask: do these guys love everything? Maybe we need to track a little closer, but on the surface, it seems pretty eye-brow raising and queer as we’ve seen it time and time again.