Snakes on a Fence

Tonight is the debut of one of the most anticipated films of the year. A film that has been driven by one of the most unique marketing campaigns in some time. I'm talking, of course, about Snakes on a Plane. But with it's opening in sight, it's marketing campaign in full force, and cell phone messages being sent across the country I can only wonder: will the movie suck good enough?

Now, I fully support this film, and have the utmost confidence in the director (who only knows how to make terrible films) and Samuel L. Jackson, who signed on to the do the film before he read the script. I can't remember any other time where a movie has tried to be genuinely awful, without being cheesy-awful. Really it's a fine line that Snakes is teetering on, and it could be one of the great success stories of Hollywood, or one of the biggest flops in a while. It's currently creating a philosophical dilemma deep within my soul, and I can't help but feel vexed.

If the movie sucks, did it do it's job? But what if it sucks, just not enough to be considered good? Some movies suck so bad that they're good... for example Collision Course starring Jay Leno. A terrible movie that I love to watch. Since this movie was made with the intention of being bad and the audience knows this, the entire plan could backfire. Usually, when a movie is "so bad it's good" it is because he reaches that sort of unplanned "suck-zen" that no one can really predict or anticipate. I'd reason that this happens because of the good intentions and pure hearts of the people making it. They think they're crafting good cinema, when really they're polishing a piece of coal. So can a movie aim to recreate this? We'll find out.

"Snakes on a Plane" has managed, in some circles, to already live a full life as a cult film. Much like "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Napoleon Dynamite" before it, "Snakes on a Plane" has managed to be embraced and rejected by movie-goers. I know alot of people who were completely caught up in the "Snakes" phenomenon early on, and are now tired of hearing about it. People have gone from loving this movie to being sick of it before it even came out! I would even venture to say that it's currently "trendy" to hate "Snakes on a Plane." Seeing the life-span of a cult film fly by like this is something I would expect to see on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

Despite the negative side effects of having buzz about your movie for almost an entire year, "Snakes" is doing alot of things right. It's title song, "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It!)", was found during a song-submission contest for the film. People were asked to write songs for the movie, and the best one would be chosen to lead the way. Thankfully, the filmmakers chose a song that is gloriously stereotypical and average, yet absurdly hilarious. It manages to strike that "suck-zen" that I was talking about. The movie has also utilized the internet more than most films. In fact, I'd say that most of the film's cult following started thanks to websites like Snakes on a Blog. It's because of the internet fanbase that the film went from PG-13 to R (after they requested that Jackson say a certain four-letter word that he says so well). Fan boys were even able to submit lines to be used in the screenplay. The amount of audience collaboration has really made the film unique... and hopefully bad enough to be good.

I hope to go see the film tonight during it's nation-wide "Thursday @ 10pm" opening. I'm hoping that there's a great crowd... I want this movie to succeed. Maybe it's because Sam Jackson is excellent. Maybe it's because this is the kind of self-referential tongue-in-cheek action thriller that Hollywood needs to succeed. Or maybe it's just because I don't want to see this opportunity wasted. This is something that can really only be done once. If it's successful, there will be plenty of copycats. But there will only be one "Snakes on a Plane."