Commentary Track

The Reject Hollywood Stock Watch: June

Posted by Nathan Deen (nathan@filmschoolrejects.com) on July 6, 2007

The purpose of the Reject Hollywood Stock Watch is to make a monthly reflection upon the good and the bad of the film industry. Here’s the Stock Wach for June 2007:

Stock Up:
1. Ratatouille, Brad Byrd, Pixar: They’ve made films like Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Monster’s Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles. And now Pixar has given us Ratatouille, which I personally think is Pixar’s best so far. Oh yeah, it also scored a phenomenal 95 on Metacritic.com.

2. Knocked Up, Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow: None one thought he would do it, but he has. Judd Apatow’s follow up to 2005’s The 40-Old Virgin has not only been more successful, but also the best reviewed comedy of the year, getting some perfect reviews from even the industry’s toughest critics.

3. Angelina Jolie: I think her new movie, A Mighty Heart, is a little overrated but I won’t be surprised if she picks up an Oscar nomination in January.

4. Bruce Willis, Justin Long, Len Wiseman: Again, I wasn’t crazy about the movie, but everyone else seems to be as Willis returns as John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard. I particularly thought Justin Long was good in this movie and I think Live Free or Die Hard will give his career a boost. It’s strange, I kinda liked Wiseman’s Underworld pictures and kinda disliked his new Die Hard flick, but with the majority of everyone else it’s pretty much the opposite.

5. John Cusack: Here’s a guy who’s in as many movies a year as someone like Brad Pitt and yet no one ever seems to talk about him. His one man show performance in 1408 is brilliant and the movie is one of the best reviewed horror pictures of the year.

6. George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Ocean’s Franchise: Most people were disappointed with Ocean’s Twelve but the gang rebounds nicely with Ocean’s Thirteen, one of the most entertaining films of the summer.

7. Michael Moore: The guy who brought you Fahrenheit 9/11 has apparently done it again with his new documentary Sicko.

Stock Down:
1. Joel Siegel: dies at age 63 with colon cancer. Wow, I did not see this coming. I was browsing the Internet on Friday and it had been a while since I’d check on Joel’s reviews so I Googled him and saw that he had just died. I didn’t realize how serious his cancer was because I thought he’d just gotten over his last episode over the winter. I didn’t always agree with the guy, but he always seemed like a gentle person, despite his recent conflict with Kevin Smith. He will be missed.

2. Lucy Liu, Blood Hunter: The cineplex I usually go to has 18 theaters in it and this movie was not playing, did anyone actually see this movie?

3. Steve Carrel, Evan Almighty: This is the most expensive comedy ever made and with films like Transformers, Live Free or Die Hard and Ratatouille out, it’s having a heck of a time getting that money back.

That’s the Stock Watch for June 2007.

What to Watch for in July:
Michael Bay’s new film: Transformers
Robin Williams in License to Wed
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Don Cheadle in Talk to Me
Christian Bale in Rescue Dawn
Hairspray
Adam Sandler and Kevin James in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Danny Boyle’s Sunshine
The Simpsons Movie
Catherine Zeta-Jones in No Reservations