Members' Discussion of THE CALL

WORST of the WEAK · has

WE HAVE THREE BASIC CRITERIA for HELPING US DETERMINE WHAT IS a LIKELY RAZZIE® CONTENDER: 

1) REVIEWS (or LACK of THEM) BEFORE the FILM OPENS...

2) BOX OFFICE POTENTIAL (FOR SUCCESS...or, MORE RELEVANTLY, FAILURE)...

and 

3) WHAT WE CALL a FILM's "AWARD PEDIGREE" -- DOES the TALENT INVOLVED in THIS FILM HAVE a "HISTORY" with EITHER the OSCARS® (IN WHICH CASE THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN to DO SUB-PAR MATERIAL) and/or DO THEY HAVE a "HISTORY" with OUR AWARDS? 

ALL THREE of WHICH, UNFORTUNATELY, EXPLAIN WHY THE CALL (A SUPPOSED "THRILLER" THAT LOOKS LITERALLY "PHONED IN") IS THIS WEEK's WORST of the WEAK PICK. 
WHEN SHE SHOWED UP at OUR 2005 CEREMONIES and GRACIOUSLY (and HILARIOUSLY) ACCEPTED HER WORST ACTRESS RAZZIE® for CATWOMAN (LINK) WE WERE HOPING HALLE BERRY WAS GOING to MOVE on to BIGGER and BETTER PROJECTS -- ONES THAT BEHOOVED HER STATUS as a DESERVING OSCAR® WINNER.
SORRY to SAY, BOTH of HER 2013 TITLES SO FAR DON'T INDICATE THAT OUR HOPES HAVE BEEN MET. 

BERRY IS AMONG the DOZENS of ACTORS HUMILIATED by THEIR CAMEO APPEARANCES in MOVIE 43, ONE of the YEAR'S WORST-REVIEWED FILMS. 

NOW COMES THE CALL, a MOVIE SO UNORIGINAL in CONCEPT THAT a 9-YEAR-OLD COULD NAME at LEAST ONE of the OTHER MOVIES IT WAS "INSPIRED BY."  

THE STORY: A YOUNG WOMAN IS KIDNAPPED, STUFFED into the TRUNK of a CAR...and THEN MAKES a CELLPHONE CALL to 911 -- FROM WHICH POINT HALLE STAYS on the LINE TRYING to HELP the KIDNAP VICTIM SURVIVE HER ORDEAL. 

AMONG THIS FILM'S PREDECESSORS/ANCESTORS IS the 2004 "THRILLER" CELLULAR, STARRING FELLOW RAZZIE® "REPEAT OFFENDER" KIM BASINGER.  

THE FACT THAT IT WAS BARELY PRE-SCREENED for CRITICS, and THAT JUST DAYS BEFORE IT WAS SET to OPEN, INTEREST in IT at the IMDb ROSE a MEASLY 6%(!) CONTRIBUTED to OUR CHOOSING THE CALL for THIS WEEK's DISCUSSION SUBJECT. 

HERE'S HOPING HALLE FINDS MORE SUITABLE MATERIAL for FUTURE PROJECTS -- PERVERSE AS IT MAY SOUND, WE'RE ROOTING for HER to DO SO...and SOON. 

HERE's the LINK for OUR FORUM INFO PAGE on THIS FILM...

...and HERE's the LINK for Ye Olde Head RAZZberry's FOTO FUNNY on THE CALL...

NOW IT's YOUR CALL...STAY on the LINE and TELL US WHATCHA THINK...

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HeadRAZZBerry Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Berry Important MODERATOR Joined: April 23 2005 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 4484	Post Options Post Reply Quote HeadRAZZBerry Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Members' Discussion of THE CALL Posted: March 13 2013 at 9:33am
	WE HAVE THREE BASIC CRITERIA for HELPING US DETERMINE WHAT IS a LIKELY RAZZIE® CONTENDER: 1) REVIEWS (or LACK of THEM) BEFORE the FILM OPENS... 2) BOX OFFICE POTENTIAL (FOR SUCCESS...or, MORE RELEVANTLY, FAILURE)... and 3) WHAT WE CALL a FILM's "AWARD PEDIGREE" -- DOES the TALENT INVOLVED in THIS FILM HAVE a "HISTORY" with EITHER the OSCARS® (IN WHICH CASE THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN to DO SUB-PAR MATERIAL) and/or DO THEY HAVE a "HISTORY" with OUR AWARDS? *ALL THREE of WHICH, UNFORTUNATELY, EXPLAIN WHY THE CALL (A SUPPOSED "THRILLER" THAT LOOKS LITERALLY "PHONED IN") IS THIS WEEK's WORST of the WEAK* PICK. WHEN SHE SHOWED UP at OUR 2005 CEREMONIES and GRACIOUSLY (and HILARIOUSLY) ACCEPTED HER WORST ACTRESS RAZZIE® for CATWOMAN (LINK) WE WERE HOPING HALLE BERRY WAS GOING to MOVE on to BIGGER and BETTER PROJECTS -- ONES THAT BEHOOVED HER STATUS as a DESERVING OSCAR® WINNER. SORRY to SAY, BOTH of HER 2013 TITLES SO FAR DON'T INDICATE THAT OUR HOPES HAVE BEEN MET. BERRY IS AMONG the DOZENS of ACTORS HUMILIATED by THEIR CAMEO APPEARANCES in MOVIE 43, ONE of the YEAR'S WORST-REVIEWED FILMS. NOW COMES THE CALL, a MOVIE SO UNORIGINAL in CONCEPT THAT a 9-YEAR-OLD COULD NAME at LEAST ONE of the OTHER MOVIES IT WAS "INSPIRED BY." THE STORY: A YOUNG WOMAN IS KIDNAPPED, STUFFED into the TRUNK of a CAR...and THEN MAKES a CELLPHONE CALL to 911 -- FROM WHICH POINT HALLE STAYS on the LINE TRYING to HELP the KIDNAP VICTIM SURVIVE HER ORDEAL. AMONG THIS FILM'S PREDECESSORS/ANCESTORS IS the 2004 "THRILLER" CELLULAR, STARRING FELLOW RAZZIE® "REPEAT OFFENDER" KIM BASINGER. THE FACT THAT IT WAS BARELY PRE-SCREENED for CRITICS, and THAT JUST DAYS BEFORE IT WAS SET to OPEN, INTEREST in IT at the IMDb ROSE a MEASLY 6%(!) CONTRIBUTED to OUR CHOOSING THE CALL for THIS WEEK's DISCUSSION SUBJECT. HERE'S HOPING HALLE FINDS MORE SUITABLE MATERIAL for FUTURE PROJECTS -- PERVERSE AS IT MAY SOUND, WE'RE ROOTING for HER to DO SO...and SOON. HERE's the LINK for OUR FORUM INFO PAGE on THIS FILM... ...and HERE's the LINK for Ye Olde Head RAZZberry's FOTO FUNNY on THE CALL... NOW IT's YOUR CALL...STAY on the LINE and TELL US WHATCHA THINK...**
	Ye Olde Head RAZZberry

Vits Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List RAZZIE® Inner Sanctum Joined: February 01 2010 Location: Chile Online Status: Offline Posts: 4807	Post Options Post Reply Quote Vits Report Post Quote Reply Posted: March 13 2013 at 10:55am
	I'd like to point that, while this seems to be a direct rip-off of CELLULAR, it's not like that one was all that original either. Movies about an Average Joe getting a phone call which gets him/her into a criminal situation go back all the way to at least the '70s with THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123. As I said before, director Brad Anderson hasn't made a bad movie so far... but maybe this one will be it. Does anyone else think that, if this movie is bad enough, Abigail Breslin should get Razzie consideration?
	http://vits-ingthemovies.blogspot.com

oiram Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List RAZZIE® Inner Sanctum Joined: June 28 2010 Location: America Online Status: Offline Posts: 1105	Post Options Post Reply Quote oiram Report Post Quote Reply Posted: March 13 2013 at 5:00pm
	Yeah, I had a feeling that The Call was gonna be so "paint by numbers" that it could be an insult to the term itself. I want to say, though, I feel sympathy for Halle, because I have seen this happen before: When someone is in a bad movie that got universally bad press, it can "blacklist" them, no matter how well liked they are. That's why she might not get certain projects that will help her career get back on track as much. Not to say that lets her off the hook, but I understand. By the way, Kim Basinger has won an Oscar, but she's never "won" a Razzie -- despite the fact that she has been nominated many times.
	Elizabeth Hartman and Judith Barsi are much more talented and beautiful than Scarlett Johansson and Chloe Grace Moretz. Fact.

GTAHater767 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List RAZZIE® Inner Sanctum Joined: October 25 2009 Location: I shall not say Online Status: Offline Posts: 1127	Post Options Post Reply Quote GTAHater767 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: March 13 2013 at 7:36pm
	Less than a month ago, I saw the trailer for this, and was turned off when the victim uttered an ear-splitting/high-pitched scream/screech. But looking at the cast, I should've known -- As I said last year, Abigail Breslin is young enough to have worn... something... up to 1998. If you liked Zombieland (where she played Little Rock, an associate of Wichita), one of the Top 40 Films of 2009, this is quite the fall from grace for a budding child actress. I can't decide whether it's too much to hope for, but I'm hoping that in the decades to come, she'll be at worst, a hit-or-miss actress when it comes to film reviews.
	RAZZIE Dirty Dozen: Battlefield Earth, F G Fingered, Pluto Nash, A Sound of Thunder, Alone in the Dark, Dirty Love, Rise Silver Srfr, Daddy Day Camp, IKWKM, The Love Guru, All About Steve, Airbender

Vits Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List RAZZIE® Inner Sanctum Joined: February 01 2010 Location: Chile Online Status: Offline Posts: 4807	Post Options Post Reply Quote Vits Report Post Quote Reply Posted: March 14 2013 at 11:59am
	The R.T. rating has started off at 40%.
	http://vits-ingthemovies.blogspot.com

Vits Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List RAZZIE® Inner Sanctum Joined: February 01 2010 Location: Chile Online Status: Offline Posts: 4807	Post Options Post Reply Quote Vits Report Post Quote Reply Posted: March 15 2013 at 6:52am
	R.T. (35%): "It builds plenty of suspense before taking a problematic turn in the third act". Here's the WHAT THE FLICK review (the first episode with the old uncut format):
	http://vits-ingthemovies.blogspot.com

Vits Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List RAZZIE® Inner Sanctum Joined: February 01 2010 Location: Chile Online Status: Offline Posts: 4807	Post Options Post Reply Quote Vits Report Post Quote Reply Posted: March 17 2013 at 8:54am
	It's now up to 40% at R.T. And it's likely to stay in that range. Watch Jeremy Jahns' review:
	http://vits-ingthemovies.blogspot.com

Vits Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List RAZZIE® Inner Sanctum Joined: February 01 2010 Location: Chile Online Status: Offline Posts: 4807	Post Options Post Reply Quote Vits Report Post Quote Reply Posted: March 22 2013 at 12:09pm
	Jeff Beck gave it a 2/4.
	http://vits-ingthemovies.blogspot.com

moviecritic1994 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Berry Important Member Joined: May 11 2013 Location: California Online Status: Offline Posts: 86	Post Options Post Reply Quote moviecritic1994 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: May 11 2013 at 11:28pm
	Halle Berry is a great actress, but she too often chooses bad roles. Besides Monster's Ball and those X-Men movies, I don't think she's done many good roles (I don't personally like the X-Men movies, but a lot of people do, so I'll "pay respect" where respect is due).
	If you care to find me, Look to the Western Sky :)

Vits Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List RAZZIE® Inner Sanctum Joined: February 01 2010 Location: Chile Online Status: Offline Posts: 4807	Post Options Post Reply Quote Vits Report Post Quote Reply Posted: May 12 2013 at 2:21pm
	One quick look at her Rotten Tomatoes profile and you won't even have to do any calculating to realize that Halle's bad movies far outweigh her good ones. Which is why she was voted "guilty" in this poll.
	http://vits-ingthemovies.blogspot.com