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If L.A. Blew Up, Would We Miss It?

Sort Of. Not Really / Dustin Rowles

Trade News | October 2, 2008 | Comments (27)


Jonathan Liebesman has just won the right to direct Battle: Los Angeles, which sounds like the stupidest movie idea ever conjured up in the brain-dead imagination of a door stop. I mean, seriously. As THR reports, the movie follows a “Marine platoon’s encounter in the battle against an alien invasion on the streets of Los Angeles.” That’s it? That’s the best logline they could come up with? A marine battle against aliens? That’s original.

In fact, Leibesman — the prokaryotic life form behind Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and Darkness Falls (about an evil tooth fairy) — couldn’t even come up with a creative way to describe his pitch, except as a cross between Independence Day and Black Hawk Down. I’m sure the “whiz-bang presentation” that won him the job went like this: “Dude! It’s gonna be awesome. There’s gonna be aliens. And I’m gonna blow shit up! I’m going to bring the same enthusiasm to this project that I brought to the tooth-fairy horror movie! It’ll be just like Independence Day, except I’m even less talented Roland Emmerich. Hire me! Hire me! I give great head!” He probably had a PowerPoint presentation demonstrating his blow-job skills.

It does present the romantic notion of blowing up L.A. It’d be great — we could start all over from scratch. Where would be put the new Hollywood, though? My vote: Butte, Montana.


Pajiba Love 10/02/08 | Eloquent Eloquence 10/02/08



Comments

"If L.A. Blew Up, woul......NO.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at October 2, 2008 2:05 PM

Cue self-righteous whining by Angelenos about how LA rocks and they don't like us anyway in 3... 2... 1...

Darkness Falls was so fucking awful that it defied all other definitions of sucky. It's the "11" of shitty horror movies.

Posted by: TK at October 2, 2008 2:22 PM

As long as Jada Pinkett gets out. I'm ambivalent towards the child.

Posted by: tdehr at October 2, 2008 2:29 PM

Well, if we were gonna blow up L.A., I'd appreciate the heads-up so I could get out of the blast radius.

Although couldn't we just blow up Silver Lake and call it a day?

Posted by: Daniel Carlson at October 2, 2008 2:29 PM

If LA exploded, I wouldn't be sad, but you'd all lose Dan, Seth, and myself. And besides, we all know global warming's going to raise the ocean levels. So keep talking TK. Your bitch ass is gonna end up being beachfront property, too.

Posted by: insertclevernamehere at October 2, 2008 2:31 PM

Aren't they already making Gears of War?

Posted by: twig at October 2, 2008 2:33 PM

Darkness Falls did suck, but I have to admit, the guy playing the main character had a certain scruffy appeal. Not like the kids in Jeepers Creepers, in whose death I wanted to actively participate.

And while Los Angeles certainly did achieve tourist-frendly dystopia status by 1950, I have family there (whom I'm visiting tomorrow), so I'd rather it didn't get wiped off the map by an alien invasion. No, I think a slow, earthquake-propelled slide into the ocean, so the worthwhile people can escape, would be much better.

Posted by: Todd at October 2, 2008 2:36 PM

I am of two minds about nuking L.A. I would like to nuke L.A. however I don't think the hatorade should be directed at Leibesman for making this utterly ridiculous pitch but rather at the studio execs who green lighted this steaming pile of fecal matter. So I would like to add an amendment to this proposal wherein we can select certain individuals that will not be subjected vapourization (one of which will not be Leibesman).

On the other hand science has proven that L.A. will eventually end up near Vancouver Canada therefore removing the need for the bombardment. And if anyone can fix Hollywood we can. We make fuckin houses out of snow for jeebus sake.

Posted by: Admin11 at October 2, 2008 3:03 PM

I love horror movies and have sat through some mighty sucky movies... One was so bad I can't remember the name or the plot, but I still watched it all the way through. The only thing I do remember about it was that it starred the mom and dad from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and I learned shortly thereafter that they are married in real life.

Anyway... I was flipping channels one day and came across Darkness Falls, not knowing what it was, having never heard about it before, and started watching it. I only watched a little bit before I realized it was about an evil tooth fairy. This is one of the few horror movies I have changed the channel on.

Posted by: elsie at October 2, 2008 3:03 PM

Aren't they already making Gears of War?

Didn't they already MAKE Aliens? I mean, by placing this in L. A. they're even copying LV-426's air quality. (Except L. A. doesn't have those atmospheric processors.)

Posted by: Todd at October 2, 2008 3:10 PM

I live in L.A., well actually Encino. I'm not going to go on a diatribe about how you are all jealous of us and that's why you want us to all blow up real good. Actually, when you think about it, maybe blowing L.A. up would be a good thing. You know, start from scratch. I know I would have to take one for the team, but imagine if Los Angeles was eviscerated and wiped clean off the map. Sure, you'd miss my ramblings and clever diatribes, but think of all of the people that would go with me:

Scientologists
Laker Fans
The entire casts of The Hills, Sunset Tan,The Girls Next Door and 90210 (except Joe E. Tata, he would get a pass).
30% of the "talent" from the website Hot Chicks with Douchebags
Raider Fans
The ten worst directors on your list from this week (although Bay probably lives on a compound in Asscrack Montana and Ratner is licking crystal meth off of a strippers ass at the Palms)
Paul Moyer - A local newscaster. My fiancee hates him...she cringes whenever he is on the screen.
Seacrest - Out!
Kobe Bryant and O.J. Simpson - Yeah, I put them on the same line, both are criminals and assholes.
A bevy of celubtards from Hilton to Willis to Lohan to Kardashian.
The University of Southern California and all of the posers who wear their shit but can't spell USC.
Viggo Mortensen - Not really, just riling up the ladies....
I would gladly shake this mortal coil if I knew they were going to all go with me. If we could get Madonna, Kanye West, Sarah Palin, Beyonce's ugly dumb ass sister, Poop Dildo and the casts of Ugly Betty and the View to come to LA before the massacre, so much the better.

I'll miss you all, but I do what I have to do for the people of Pajiba....bring on the aliens....and if you're bringing probes, let me have a couple drinks first!!!!!

Posted by: Rubble44 at October 2, 2008 3:15 PM

Hell, if it brings down the property values so I can finally afford a house, shiiiiiiit.... be my guest...

Posted by: Ciji at October 2, 2008 3:27 PM

Rage must be on this soundtrack.

Posted by: Eep at October 2, 2008 3:42 PM

But...wha' the...meh!...don't want to die...I'm nice, really! I...

Fuck it. I was thinking of moving to Boston anyway.

Posted by: ShinyKate at October 2, 2008 3:51 PM

As a Southern Californian (and an ex-Angelino)--the problem with blowing up LA has to do with how it would look. LA lacks a famous landmark (a la Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building, etc). The movie would end up showing a lot of older bungalows and recently built stucco condos getting blown to smithereens. And how uncool is that?

Posted by: True_Blue at October 2, 2008 4:51 PM

The prokaryotic life-form comment was clever. Good job, Mr. Rowles.

Posted by: Lucas at October 2, 2008 5:08 PM

Prisco, I've been meaning to start an East Coast/West Coast turf war... it's been on m to-do list for years.

Let's rock.

Posted by: TK at October 2, 2008 6:28 PM

Given the current economy, a post-apocalyptic Thunderdome world is probably a net gain for me.

So, go ahead. Blow up LA. The resulting chain of events would leave most of you shoveling pigshit in the bowels of Bartertown while high above I'm living the relative life of luxury as Aunty Entity's boy toy.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at October 2, 2008 7:13 PM

Hey now, I'm from Los Angeles and I would certainly mind if my childhood home was blasted to smithereens. By the way, Encino is soooo not L.A.

Anyway, that movie sounds like complete ass. I wish someone would tell the studio executive who decided that would be a good idea to bankroll to just gather millions of his dollars and start a fire on his lawn. That is basically what he's doing.

Posted by: NotBlonde at October 2, 2008 7:27 PM

L.A. is basically 165 miles around....if we are able to vote for mayor, Encino should count. But that being said, 117 degrees in summer sucks wherever you are.

Actually, I'm from Santa Monica....and that is a great place to live. I can't wait to go back once the neuromancers have picked it clean.

Posted by: Rubble44 at October 2, 2008 7:34 PM

Great idea. Hey, you know how when somebody dies, nobody ever says anything bad about them because they're dead? Remember how everybody always remembers something better than it was?


Instead of allowing it to consume itself from a series of increasingly violent civil wars, LA is destroyed instantaneously and everybody starts remembering the good old days of Lindsay Lohan's snatch.


Congratulations, you just made Hollywood the popular, alcoholic, drug addicted, "Hey, look at me, why would I rape that ugly bitch when I can get any girl I want" asshole from high school that gets shanked by some neo nazi assholes while trying to buy meth behind the 7-Eleven. Everybody forgets what a fucking asshole he is, and all of a sudden you're taking your AP English Lit test in the Douchebag Memorial Cafeteria.

Way to go, assholes.

Posted by: Thaddeus at October 2, 2008 7:59 PM

Hah! Darkness Falls. I watched the whole thing. Solely because it had one Anya Christina Emanuella Jenkins, 20 years old, born on the 4th of July, and don't think there weren't jokes about that her whole life, Mister, 'cause there were. "Who's our little patriot?" they'd say, when she was younger, and therefore smaller and shorter than she is now.

It was terrible. I can't believe I watched the whole thing.

Posted by: Anna "Knife Pile" von Beaverplatz at October 2, 2008 8:09 PM

I've seen this. It's "Predator II."

And "Captain Cunnilingus Takes a Licking" goes straight to DVD. Where's the justice?

Posted by: bucdaddy at October 2, 2008 9:22 PM

OK, you can blow up LA, but leave Mel's Diner. I rather like that giant onion-blossom thing they have there. Oh, and Coldstone Creamery can stay, too.
But please make a special effort to place the epicentre of the explosion at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Perez Hilton infests. He's like a cockroach, so it's the only way to be sure.
(All Pajibans in LA to be evacuated first, of course. The Murdertank could be utilised for this purpose. Evacuation is funner with a bar and weapons).

Anna, that's exactly why I watched 'Darkness Falls', too! (Nice Buffy quotage, by the way).
It sucked so badly, it made 'White Noise 2: The Light' look good. Bet you can't guess why I watched that one...

Posted by: Tarn at October 3, 2008 9:46 AM

Me: "But, Lex, my mother lives in Los Angeles!"

Lex Luthor: [Looks at his watch, looks up, shakes his head, walks away].

Posted by: Neodiogenes at October 3, 2008 1:01 PM

Only one reason to watch Darkness Falls and that;s Emma Caulfield.

Posted by: Adam C at October 4, 2008 8:34 AM

I sort of like movies that feature L.A. being blown up. It's sort of like that Tool song about letting L.A. drown (let 'em swim!). Wishful thinking I guess, I think I've been there maybe 3 times and each time I was not entirely comfortable and wished I was back home up in Nocal. With gas prices these days the farthest south I've been is Half Moon Bay. Well, I'm lying I was in the Mojave Desert in late May. Gas prices were terrible! Anyway I wouldn't really miss L.A. as much as the people who reside in it, they're mostly pompous with some assholes thrown in, but overall I think they mean well, they're just sort of full of shit. Well...so are most people, pfftt!

Posted by: ph at October 6, 2008 2:27 AM