20) Freddy vs. Jason
What we said then:
If done correctly, this mass murderer match-up should prove to be one of the summer's guiltiest of pleasures.
What we say now:
For the love of God, someone throw Ash from Evil Dead into the mix and get us a sequel ASAP. What’s the hold-up here? Grab a camera, Yu!
19) American Wedding
What we said then:
We're looking forward to this one because the film smartly jettisoned all the useless parts (meaning all the female characters except Alyson Hannigan), and focuses on the most interesting and well-developed characters in Jim and Michelle. Having those two eventually get married after hooking up in the second film was the right idea and should bring a degree of freshness to the third film.
What we say now:
Okay, so maybe we overestimated the freshness. As should have been expected, formerly important, well-developed characters became less crucial, as Seann William Scott's Stifler became the main attraction. Did that (as well as not calling the movie American Pie 3) affect the film's earnings? Perhaps. American Wedding is a week or two away from making the franchise three-for-three in the $100 million club, and its final total will end up between those of the previous two films. Still, one can't help but feel that the series goes out on a down note.
18) Hollywood Homicide
What we said then:
The film looks like a great deal of fun with both leads visibly enjoying their roles. Any movie that has Master P, Lou Diamond Phillips, and the step dad from There's Something About Mary in it is bound to be a classic.
What we say now:
Okay, classic is overstating it a bit but BOP is unapologetic about loving this movie. It might have been a tough sell for the Sony marketing arm since it wasn’t exactly a comedy and not exactly an action flick, but dammit, it was a ton of fun. Josh Hartnett is a star.
17) Broken Lizard's Club Dread
What we said then:
Last year, Super Troopers was a small underground favorite; Club Dread finds the Broken Lizard crew with something to prove and we look forward to seeing them potentially take a leap into the big time.
What we say now:
Before you write in and accuse us of being incompetent slobs who can’t read a calendar, know that when we compiled the original BOP Summer 25 list, this film was scheduled to come out in August. Much to our dismay, however, the film didn’t make its release date, and is now slated to hit theaters next February. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, though, and we’ll certainly still be looking forward to this film and its assuredly offbeat combination of horror and comedy in 2004.
16) Johnny English
What we said then:
Much like Undercover Brother last year, we are fully expecting this film to
be a hidden gem.
What we say now:
Ok, so "gem" wasn't exactly the item that's normally buried deep in the
earth to compare to Johnny English. Rowan Atkinson is becoming like
that boyfriend that once seemed like such a perfect catch and yet has
gradually turned into the guy that all of your friends keep yelling at
you to give up on once and for all. He won our hearts with his sarcastic
turn in the BBC series Blackadder. We basked in the honeymoon
glow with his delightful performances in Four Weddings and a Funeral and The
Lion King. He even continued to moderately charm us with his gift
for physical comedy as the petty and vicious Mr. Bean in the TV series of
the same name. And then we got the Bean: The Movie ("Ok, it must
have been the studio pinheads who screwed up the script."). Followed by
Scooby freakin' Doo ("Maybe he really needed the money.") And Rat Race
("Why does he deliberately hurt us so?"). Yet no matter how many times our
friends told us to kick him to the curb, we still defended him.
("You just don't know him like we do. I'm sure when he sees how much we care
about him, he'll start making better movies choices.")
With Johnny English, we were sure that this time it will be different.
Sadly, it just continued the trend of crushing our ever dwindling hope
that Rowan will pick a project that actually lives up to the comic potential
that caused us to fall in love with him in the first place.
Click here to read selections 25-21.
Click here to read selections 15-11.
Click here to read selections 10-6.
Click here to read selections 5-1.
Click here to read selections we overlooked originally.
Click here for an alphabetical list of all selections.
