B.O.R.E.D. - Jan 23, 2004

B.O.R.E.D.
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by Daniel Kaplan (archives)
January 23, 2004
Daniel's weekly look at the box office and musings on a forgotten classic.

B.O.R.E.D
Box Office Reported Eloquently by Daniel

A Neglected Classic
Yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of the Misadventures of Merlin Jones. Did anybody notice? Where's the special 5 disc DVD release with the special edition special effects and the deleted scenes? Ok, maybe that's asking a bit much but not even as much as a whisper for this classic film? Sure it might not seem like much to modern de-sensitized audiences but in it's day the movie made some powerful statements.

First, the important message of good vs evil
Judge Homlsby seems like a good honest judge, but he hides a deep dark secret. He is a mystery writer and actually tries out some of his crimes to make them authentic. Is this just a cop-out to his obvious psychological problem? A fascination with the darker side of life that will eventually lead to his complete self-destruction? Later in the film he convinces Merlin Jones to hypnotize him into committing a crime and he actually goes through with it. Is this because deep down he truly would like to be a convict himself, or does it point to the power of hypnosis? Judge Homlsby's character is left for the audience to decide. Do you seem him as a closet criminal, or just someone who is fascinating with unlawful behavior?

Second, a question of honesty
We've already discussed how Judge Holmsby has plenty of skeletons in his closet. Merlin Jones himself is a little shady. While under the power of hypnosis he is asked to "kiss the first pretty girl he sees" and he goes immediately to Carol. Jennifer is obviously quite upset and Merlin cops out by saying, "he asked for the first pretty girl but not the prettiest." Now was Merlin really telling the truth? The whole hypnosis thing seemed rather far-fetched to me, I mean thinking water was whiskey and all that. Maybe it all was just a clever ruse to kiss Carol in front of the whole class. And if he truly thinks Carol is the prettiest under his sub-conscious why doesn't he just come clean and tell Jennifer anyway. Jennifer though isn't perfect herself. Later in the film when she kisses Merlin his brain-wave reader picks up huge signals, obviously he enjoyed it quite a bit. But when he kisses her, it registers completely blank. Now is she really not interested in him and just pretending to in order to steal his scientific secrets?

Third, the privacy of thought
Merlin is involved with a freak accident that allows him to hear people's thoughts. At first this seems like a good thing and maybe a little exciting. However some thoughts are misunderstood and it leads to major trouble. The movie always portrays the characteristic of thought as a linear idea, quite novel considering most people consider thought to be quite jumbled and chaotic. People's thoughts are also heard in the first person and in the host's voice. The voice is highly reverbed, to give the feeling of loneliness and solitude. In the end, the whole discussion of listening to people's thoughts and the concept of what a thought sounds like is highly fascinating.

There are many more interesting issues the film brings in such as animal cruelty, the power of hypnosis, the true potential of humanity and the state of our current judicial system.

Obviously, the film has gotten the short of the stick. Must be it's controversial statements or snappy editing. Anyway, in the meantime I'll have to pull out my old over-saturated VHS copy and watch the film again.

Classic quote of the week: "I hate hockey and I don't like kids." "What is this supposed to be, a pep talk?" Coach Bombay and Aberman from Mighty Ducks

Tragic quote of the week: Just pick a line from Picture Perfect. . .I'm having a difficult time remembering any complete thoughts from that film

This Weekend:
With no new comedies on the marketplace, Along Came Polly should have a nice small drop of about 40% to $19.4 million.

The Butterfly Effect is a psychological thriller from New Line. It should be able to create an audience with some familiar stars (Ashton Kutcher) and a somewhat novel storyline. Watch for it to pull in around $18.2 million this weekend.

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton from Dreamworks looks like a cute romance comedy. There hasn't been too much of that lately, so that should help the film. The movie should be able to bring in around $13.4 million.

Big Fish should only slide about 32% to $7 million.

Return of the King should continue it's solid run with a 33% drop to $6.8 million.

Cheaper by the Dozen is still the only live-action family film available. With a complete corner on the market it should slip only about 35% to $6.3 million.

Cold Mountain should drop about 30% to $4.8 million.

Torque failed to attract much of an audience last weekend and with two new films a harsh 60% fall to $4 million seems likely.

Something's Gotta Give will have a small decline of 32% to $4 million.

With a new wide re-release (in time for awards) Mystic River should reappear on the the top 10 with about $2.2 million.

If it were a Disney film...Win a Date with Tad Hamilton would be a Disney Channel sequel to Summer Magic about Tom Hamilton's grandson.

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-- Daniel Kaplan
-- Posted January 23, 2004