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tom boone dot com
Excavating the grey area between pop culture and reality...

Do yourself a favor. Watch TV.

Sometimes facts are self-evident. For example, I've never drilled a hole into my skull with a screwdriver, yet I know that it would hurt a lot. Similarly, I haven't actually seen the new movie version of "The Dukes of Hazzard," yet I know it's a huge piece of crap.

If you plan to see the picture, and you're still harboring the ridiculous expectation that it might be good, bear this in mind: Jessica Simpson has many more years of experience as a singer than she does as an actress, yet she cannot sing. You do the math.

* * *

On the positive side, the movie is generating some pretty good quotes from film critics. Here are a few of the better ones:

"There's nothing wrong with Simpson's performance that a head transplant wouldn't cure[...]."
Lawrence Toppman, Charlotte Observer
"Burt Reynolds fired his agent after Boogie Nights. If he has a lick of sense in his head, he'll kill his agent after Dukes of Hazzard."
Devin Faraci, CHUD.com
"Commenting on performances here is like critiquing the production design of a porno--it's beside the point."
Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune
"A lapdance, a fifth of cheap whiskey, and a lube job would offer the same elements and be a hell of a lot more fun."
Brian Juergens, Freeze Dried Movies
"Prepare to witness an amazing feat of filmmaking: Shocked and delighted will you be to see real Hollywood actors and real musicians outperformed by your favorite inanimate objects!"
Peter L'Official, Village Voice
"The movie's so unfunny, it almost appears to be that way on purpose, kind of like an Ingmar Bergman film."
Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Observer
"Straight viewing could result in brain damage."
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

And the greatest line ever written by a film critic...

"There is no wrong time to flush this turd."
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

* * *

Nearly three years ago, on another website, I published a list of fictional pitches for film adaptations of TV shows. I intended them all as bad jokes and included such gems as "Charles in Charge," "B.J. and the Bear," and "Jake and the Fatman." Naturally, the "The Dukes of Hazzard" was also on the list (long before the current movie was produced). My joke version starred Ben Stiller (Luke), Owen Wilson (Bo), Britney Spears (Daisy), Fred Dalton Thompson (Boss Hogg), Billy Bob Thornton (Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane), Jerry Stiller (Uncle Jesse), and Jack Black (Cooter).

You know what? I'd rather watch that movie than the one that actually got made.

3 comments so far...

1
Sean said...
Nothing has summed it up better than CNN’s review that “this flick is a car wreck with boobs.�
2
Josh said...
I'm not sure Kenneth Turan did a pretty good review on NPR this morning (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4785683)... The Dukes of Hazzard is a film so meaningless that it is almost impossible to review, according to critic Kenneth Turan. He says the movie is, "not empty calories, which implies pleasure, but simply empty. It's a cosmic void where a movie ought to be."
3
eek said...
Your pitches are hilarious. What killed me in the Dukes preview was Jessica Simpson's accent. For a good actress, an average country Texas accent shouldn't be a substitute for correct dialect, but? The dumbass already has a convincing Daisy Duke voice!!! (three exclamation points!!!) And yet she decided she needed to put on her acting pants, dear God. The way she says "uhndahcayahruge" (undercarriage) is giving me the vapors! Why, I remember the afternoon I had seventeen gentlemen callers! I have always depended on the kindness of strangers!

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