Thursday, November 10, 2011

11-11-11 Is The Loneliest Number

I'm not sure why today's date of 11/11/11 is supposed to be a big deal. Is it some Mayan thing? Or is it something out of the Bible? It's definitely not the end of the world, right? I know I could just look it up and find out but I'm not actually interested in educating myself about it. My appetite for knowledge has its limits.

I would, however, be willing to get the lowdown on 11/11/11 through the new Darren Lynn Bousman movie 11-11-11, opening today. Unfortunately, it looks like I won't be seeing 11-11-11 until maybe 2/20/12 or some other random date in the far-ish future. Even though Bousman and co. cannily made their film before its titular date arrived, 11-11-11 is only opening in a handful of theaters in the US today. Is is because the movie's bad? Eh, I doubt it. I mean, the movie could be bad (really bad, even) but that hasn't stopped movies from garnering wide releases before. I do know that 11-11-11 looks more up my alley than anything else Bousman's done to date. In case you haven't seen it, here's the trailer:



I rush out to see every horror movie so I guess saying "I'd rush out to see that!" doesn't mean much but 11-11-11 looks like enjoyable nonsense. But here we are on 11/11/11 and the movie is hardly playing anywhere. What gives? Maybe the answer is that its title stuck 11-11-11 not with a marketing tool but with an expiration date. I mean, honestly - after midnight tonight, the scare factor of 11-11-11 is seriously compromised. The Omen remake might have made a big event out of 6/6/06 but it wasn't as though the events of the movie took place on that date.

Just the same, I'm always game for horror movies centered on religious hooey, half-baked prophecies, and ignorant superstitions so I'm bummed that 11-11-11 isn't playing in my neck of the woods. While I'm sure that it wouldn't have proved to be a horror heavy hitter, it's too bad that 11-11-11 wasn't given a better chance to one up its competition.

4 comments:

Mummbles said...

I think its a big deal because it will be the only time in your life you see this date.

As for the movie, maybe saving a few bucks is a good thing.

Jeff Allard said...

Mummbles, I think you're right about that saving money thing.

Bob Ignizio said...

Well, there was that half baked attempt to make 11-11-11 the "National Day of Metal" or "Nigel Tufnel Day", but I doubt that has anything to do with the movie. This one isn't even playing around me, and there's usually at least one theatre around here willing to at least have a midnight showing of something like that. You would think this was one that could have easily been milked for a good opening weekend with any kind of decent marketing campaign.

Jeff Allard said...

Bob, it seems that way to me too. I would've thought this was a shoo-in for a wide release but who knows what goes into making these decisions.