previewmonkey.com

Dear PreviewMonkey.com readers

I am Walrus (not to be confused with I am Weasel or The Walrus) and will be filling in for Monkey for the foreseeable future. My first order of business is to apologise for the lack of posts of late and offer an explanation for this sad, sorry state of affairs.

I will also like to reaffirm this website’s commitment to providing timely box-office information as well as the occasional movie and DVD review. But right now let us see what has happened to Monkey…

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Dear Reader(s), it has now been two weeks since I started posting regular movie roundups and previews and I have already come to the conclusion that the previews have got to go.  My friend (and colleague) Paul suggested the previews are of limited value, as I have not seen the films which I am attempting to render an opinion on.  Thus, they die. (Truth be told they took an inordinate amount of time to write for what amounted to nothing more than educated guess work)

The other giveth right back…

The good news is the the previews will be worked into the cinema roundups.  Henceforth, starting on Monday, but then every Sunday evening thereafter, I will be posting more detailed roundups including the IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores as well as the Pajiba quote.

That way the purpose of this site can better be served: To summarise which films are worth seeing and which are a complete waste of time.

This week I am going to do things a little differently.  I have already put up the Roundup and will be doing previews of the two films this week I hope never to have to watch, namely Space Chimps and Swing Vote. (Screw that – if filmmakers cannot be bothered to make decent movies, I will not bother to write previews for them.)

This weekend I will try and make it out to see Hellboy II and In Bruges and will be trying my hand at a proper review for each of these motion pictures.

Furthermore, this weekend I will hopefully nail down the Roundup/Preview formula.

PreviewMonkey.com has been up and running for a week now and so far feedback has been positive.  That either means that things are going well or that my colleagues and friends are all yes-men (and women.)  Special thanks to Juan Furmie for providing the first and to-date only comment to the preview of The House Bunny.

On Friday I went out to see Tropic Thunder with Mr. Furmie and his fiance Anne.  Tropic Thunder is an action-comedy directed by Ben Stiller and starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. (in a show-stealing performance as “the dude playing the dude disguised as another dude!”)

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Hello.

Welcome to PreviewMonkey.com!  I must admit you have caught me with my pants down as there is not yet any content worth your attention. (You can go and peruse the About page I suppose – but drying paint might be a little more compelling.)

Don’t fret though, something good will be posted pretty soon I am sure:

Tomorrow evening should see the posting of the inaugral Cinema Preview, where I will be dissecting this week’s new releases and providing a quick look at what’s good and what’s a complete waste of time.

Later in the week I will be adding the first article in the Features section, An Ode to the old Ultra Violence.  This will be a look at A Clockwork Orange and the controversy it generated.  In keeping with the theme I will also review some fairly recent and pointlessly violent DVD releases: Crank and Shoot ‘Em Up.

I hope this is enough to whet your appetite a little and encourage you to come back soon.

Eugene

PS: The welcome mat image was grabbed from Jason Morrison’s flickr Photostream, which you can find here.