Into The Weeds

As far as I can tell, the buzz all started with a blog entry by Josh Friedman, a Hollywood screenwriter of some sort. The title of the movie alone, and the fact that none other than Samuel L. Jackson had been cast in the hero role further fueled the flames of desire and speculation for this movie across the blogosphere and the internet. The story goes that after unprecedented “buzz” and fan requests, New Line Cinema added several more days of shooting to “fine tune” the movie and give it an R rating (up from the original PG-13). Rumor has it, that one line added was originally from a fan parody of the proposed movie, where Jackon says (hopefully, quite emphatically): “That’s it! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane.”

Jackson referred to the movie while presenting the award for Best Picture at the MTV movie awards this year: “This award holds a special place in my heart because next year I’ll be winning it for Snakes on a Plane. Now I know, I know that sounds cocky, but I don’t give a damn. I’m guaranteeing that Snakes on a Plane will win best movie next year. Does not matter what else is coming out.” Anyway, on August 18th, I plan to be in the theater. Trailers have started popping up in theaters and on television, and I’ve seen a big poster for the movie at the Harvard Square MBTA station.

What is it about this movie that has people so enthralled? I think it’s a combination of things. The oh-so-descriptive title for one. The abovementioned blog states that the studio was at one point going to change it to something ordinary and stupid like “Pacific Air Flight 121.” Good thing they came to their senses. The presence of Samuel L. Jackson as the star is another big factor. The movie promises a good amount of camp and fun just on those two factors alone — a “dark, absurdist, surreal comedy” as the Wikipedia article supposes. Anyway, see you all in theaters on August 18th.