Posted on 04/02/2006 10:48:21 PM PDT by MadIvan
The original broke new ground with the risqué shot that made a star of Sharon Stone. Its long-awaited sequel, however, is likely to be remembered only for failing to deliver anything approaching so memorable a moment.
Basic Instinct 2, the follow-up to the 1992 blockbuster starring Michael Douglas as a San Francisco policeman who falls for Stone's murderous femme fatale, opened at the weekend to paltry box office sales and a critical mauling.
According to preliminary figures, it made only $1.15 million on its opening night and was expected to total just over $3 million by the end of the weekend. By contrast, the animated feature Ice Age: The Meltdown - also a sequel - made an estimated $22 million on its opening night and was expected to take more than $70 million by last night.
Fans of the original Basic Instinct, directed by Paul Verhoeven, have waited 14 years for the follow-up to the erotic thriller in which Stone played the smouldering, icy crime writer who is a suspect in a series of vicious sex murders.
Its iconic interrogation scene - where an underwear-less Stone demonstrates her sexual power to police officers with a swift uncrossing of the legs - became one of the most talked-about peep show moments in cinematic history. The film went on to gross $350 million.
Trailers for the new film, directed by Michael Caton-Jones, feature lots of teasing footage of Stone - now 48 - but, as many critics waste no time in pointing out, there is no repeat of the revealing shot.
The Washington Post calls the film "a hammy plot with a pickle on the side". Writing in the New York Times, Manohla Dargis dubbed it "a disaster of the highest or perhaps lowest order".
The film, also starring Charlotte Rampling, David Thewlis and Liverpool-born David Morrissey, is set in what the CBS News critic David Edelstein calls "a drab London that's, no offence to English people, really un-erotic".
Ping!
Is London really that un-erotic?
I may be in the vast minority, but I thought the original was highly over-rated. It was okay, but they played it off as one of the best pictures ever made. I wasn't buying it then and it seem folks aren't buying the new one at all.
About the only body part that Sharon Stone hasn't already shown onscreen is her spleen.
Wake up Hollywood, the crap you are turning out is not fit to flush in any toilet.
Looks like Ice Age is the hit, something EVERYONE in the family can go see.
It was big because it was controversial for 2 reasons: First, it had the flashing scene. Second, Stone's character was bisexual and the gay lobby had a fit.
What?? London, un-erotic you say? Well here's a little Q&A to test your erotic sense of London:
Is this (a) a giant breast implant or (b) the new London City Hall?
Is this (a) a giant phallus symbol or (b) a financial services office building?
Is this (a) a big boob or (b) the mayor of London?
"Fans of the original Basic Instinct... have waited 14 years for the follow-up..."
Was ANYBODY really waiting for this sequel?
I'd add that the twisted critiques loved it for it's "exotic" impression.
LOL!
Pic 1: Sharon Stone's probably wondering where she left that.
Pic 2: Sharon Stone's probably wondering where she can get one.
Pic 3: Is it true that when he takes Viagra he gets six inches taller?
MadIvan,
Cool graphic I will have to check that site out.
I have read every book, some twice, some more.
The Dune Universe is pure mind candy for me.
Thanks
Saw the trailer in the movie house two weeks ago. She looked bad. Some women look good as they age...Not Stone.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Did anyone expect the movie would not be mauled by critics? People will still go to see it. And they'll get the uncut version on DVD when it's released. Apparently there's a lot of sex cut (pardon he pun) from the version presently on screen.
They should have recast it with a younger woman. Nobody wants to look at old tang.
Don't know about today, but I lived there for 3 years back in the '70's, and it was rockin' then...
Just imagine Willie Nelson in a scissors hold.
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