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Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Mike Myers owes EVERYONE an apology
All summer long, I’ve gotten email after email from a Hindu group, protesting Mike Myers latest “comedy,” The Love Guru.
Here’s their latest demand to Myers:
Hindus have asked Mike Myers, Hollywood actor and producer, for a public apology for lampooning Hinduism with his recent movie “The Love Guru”.
Acclaimed Hindu leader Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that although the apology may not completely undo the damage done to the community, but it might help heal the wounds somewhat of apparently disturbed Hindu populace of the world, who number around one billion.
Zed, who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that ksama (forgiveness) is one of the main virtues of Hindu ethics. If Myers offers genuine public apology, Hindus would not only absolve him but might also pray for his success in future movies, if asked.
Meanwhile, various other organizations, including Hindu Alliance of India, Hindu Janjagruti Samiti, Shri Ramayan Pracharini Sabha, Sanatan Sanstha, India Heritage Panel, have also demanded public apology from Mike Myers.
Rajan Zed has launched the protest movement against “The Love Guru” since March, saying that it appeared to be lampooning Hinduism and Hindus and using Hindu terms frivolously.
Michael John Myers of Austin Powers fame, a British Canadian, who is the lead actor, co-writer and co-producer of “The Love Guru”, plays Guru Pitka in this movie.
And I got this email Monday night, long after the movie has already bombed at the box office, pulling in a mere $32 million domestic on a $62 million budget. These folks are persistent.
But why stop at the Hindus? I actively avoided seeing the film after having to suffer through the idiotic trailers and Myers’ stupid promo stunt on American Idol. Next to The Love Guru ads, Get Smart played like a Billy Wilder comedy.
I say Myers owes us ALL an apology. If I was being mean, I could blame Myers for giving Verne Troyer an excuse to be on the news about a sex tape.
But, no, an apology is not in the cards. He’s kicking around ideas for a fourth Austin Powers, a franchise that was already out of steam. The man is clearly desperate. At this point, I’m pulling for Daniel Craig to cameo and beat the tar out of Austin, Dr. Evil AND Mini-Me.
That’d give me a quantum of solace.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Celebrities
What movies work best with chemical assistance?
With the release of Pineapple Express tomorrow, list-makers everywhere are ordering their rankings of the best stoner movies. I’d like to put a spin on the question, however:
What movies can be fully appreciated only if you’ve been drunk or high at least once in your life?
I have some difficulty answering this question myself, because you could count on one hand the number of times I’ve had alcohol (two of those were accidental), and yes, I have inhaled - but only secondhand marijuana smoke.
So maybe that’s why when I saw Dazed and Confused, it just didn’t resonate with me. Since what little social life I had didn’t involve any kind of drugs, I found that movie extremely slow and boring. I still can’t help but wonder what Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman was smoking when he put it on his 10 best list - ABOVE Schindler’s List. Um …. no.
Many of you might say 2001, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. That’s on my top 10 of all time, and I put it there without a little help from my friends - although I think you could make an argument that you have to be high to fully appreciate Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - the movie.
So - what are your chemically imbalanced picks?
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What’s opening Wednesday, Aug. 6?
This is one of those weeks when Hollywood treats us to its movies a couple of days early, and both offerings have some promise.
Pineapple Express: Here’s the oddest filmmaking combination you’ll see all year - the writers of Superbad team up with David Gordon Green, a director of arthouse fare like George Washington and All the Real Girls, to make a mainstream stoner comedy. Seth Rogen and James Franco play potheads who flee from the cops after Rogen witnesses a murder. Review to appear Wednesday.
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: The girls of the 2005 film, a very charming little sleeper, return for more angsty, romantic travails, and the movie probably won’t be such a sleeper this time, what with all four leads having starred in successful TV shows.
And just in case you were wondering, the DVD slate is thin this week. The only mainstream release of note is the Jodie Foster/Abigail Breslin adventure Nim’s Island. On the arthouse side, there’s The Counterfeiters, this year’s foreign language film winner at the Oscars.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment | Categories: In Area Theaters
