Somebody, a trashcan, quick. Full disclosure: There are two degrees of separation between me and this production. I knowwww. Disney sent Slashfilm the official one sheet for September’s live-action Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which stars voice-actors Drew Barrymore (no Long?), George Lopez (zing!), Salma Hayek (obvi), Paul Rodriguez (his son’s more famous), Cheech Marin (holy Slashfilm controversy!) and…cue Jan Hammer theme muzak…Edward James Olmos (pwns).
Yeah, this movie is indirectly inspired by Paris Hilton’s, um, fur purse. I asked my BHC conec what I should say about the flick to get our readers excited, he says: “The poster speaks for itself.” Indeed. But no 3D?
Discuss: Just comment with “FEROSH” or something equally “ugh” in the comments until some champ ruins it.
PS: Human Giant’s inoperable Paul Scheer is giving away tix to the Sept. 26 premiere on his official site.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Minorities in the industry complain about racial stereotypes in film and end up doing dumb shit like this?
Wasn’t George Lopez the same guy who said that after ABC cancelled his crappy show, that ABC did it for racial reasons?
I’m surprised the poster doesn’t have a sratch n’ sniff feature that smells like tacos or hot sauce.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
@ Captain Awesome
FYI, from the press release:
…an amorous pup named Papi (voice of GEORGE LOPEZ)
April 15th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
* Puts gun to head *
click, click, click, I know I put a bullet in he…
April 15th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Ok ok ok ok. I can see this is a Disney flick. This is what I expect from Disney. They make money. I have no qualms there.
But me, knowing nothing about this film, just looking at the poster, I weep a little for our culture.
Hear me out.
We can glean from this poster that this is probably a story about one particular dog that comes from LA to a Mayan ruin overrun by other dogs of his breed. By some (most likely hilarious and clever) turn of events, he is crowned the king of all…this certain breed. That is ok. That is standard Disney fare. I can deal with that.
Next to him seems to be the female love interest, and while I am sure feminists would rail against her being pictured behind her man, I could care less. What we know is that the dog behind the main dog is probably the love interest due to the feminine jewelry she has contrasting with the obviously ceremonial jewels our protagonist is sporting. Super, awesome, whatever, romantic subplot is standard, thats great.
What completely FUCKS with me is that we have a story about goddam dogs, and the protagonist, who is PROBABLY voiced by George Lopez is a shade of BROWN, and the female love interest, PROBABLY voiced by Drew Barrymore, is a shade of WHITE. SO what is this? Just some slight variation in the coloring of this particular breed (I wont fucking say it). Is that all?
A Disney movie about personified dogs has just, intentionally or no, played to racial stereotypes IN JUST THE POSTER.
What the hell is the point of having them a different color? My guess is that he is a dog with Mexican heritage crowned king of the Mayan (Mexican) dogs, and she winds up there by some wacky coincidence and eventually warms to his immigrant-cum-king antics. This movie is going to make Bad Boys 2 look like an NAACP meeting. But with Mexicans. I can see it now. The protagonist is probably going to be lazy, and will wander off to the ruins in search of free food or something. And this prissy, uptown female dog is going to be utterly disgusted by him until he does something heroic, all the while delivering some astoundingly funny Lopez one liners about getting work outside the Home Depot and burritos.
Wow Hollywood. Fucking. Wow. I sincerely hope I am wrong. If I need someone to play up racial stereotypes for cheap laughs, Ill hit the Tyler Perry section of Blockbuster. But get that shit out of my kids movies.
/ill-advised, under-informed rant
April 15th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Paul Rodriguez is a meth addict…
April 15th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Thanks for the latest news on interesting films. Way to stay respectable. Shill…
April 15th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Yo Disney, April fools was two weeks ago…
I hope.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Everyone needs to pay the rent, and I’m sure this is going to land a big payday for some - but surely you can’t feel good about yourself being involved in producing dreck like this. I feel ashamed just looking at the poster.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
StoicRomance, I don’t think you can make such broad assumptions now. The dogs seem like dogs to me.
i like the poster and would see a movie about talking chihuhas.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I’m more upset that tons of excellent scripts go un-filmed, while shit like this gets green-lit all the time. I’m not even touching the racial stuff.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
FEROSH
April 15th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
SOUL PLANE
April 15th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Disney marked April Fools a little late on thei calendar.
Or at least I hoped they missed it.
If not.
America has officially gone into culture shitfuck.
(Don’t mind me cursing, I have Tourettes Syndrome).
Learn more about it here :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Petit_Tourette
It’s no spam- it really shows how fucked up American
culture is turning. And don’t get pissed at me for being an
“old-timer”. I’m fucking 17. (I think)
April 15th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I wonder if the dog will get deported, or end up on being on Hunter’s next blog about Battle: Los Angeles.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Lance,
This has nothing to do with American culture. It’s not some poetic Roman Empire collapse. This is Hollywood, they have always found ways to scrape the bottom of the barrel for the lowest common denominator to make a few bucks.
People shouldn’t hate a business machine, hate the idiots accepting the jobs and the ones paying to see this crap. Who keep fueling it.
God, I fucking hate chihuahua’s too.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I feel a migraine coming on.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Seriously? …they don’t have a good gardner to pull those grass weeds in the cracks? This film is obviously inaccurate. And, everyone knows that Chihuahua’s are afraid of fire and clone stamp tools.
April 17th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Seems to be no shortage of “rabid” comments, when none of you have a clue as to what the story is behind the poster. A lot of Hollywood’s White and Latino actors have graced the script with their voices, so there must be a broad appeal here. This is a children’s film, or hadn’t you noticed? It’s appeal might be far simpler using animals, yet more interesting in exemplifying struggles, danger, and triumph to children of all ages. Cynicism is the mark of an adult, and criticism of a genre that doesn’t even speak to your age level is misplaced and at the least, mean spirited. Let’s wait for the story to unfold in the real movie, and see if there isn’t a seed of wisdom in Disney’s choice, and if they do it in a way that is sensitive to stereotyping. I for one think they have a heart for children, and this will probably be a heart warming and exciting romp. I’m 61, and I’ll see it with my grandchildren ages 3 and 6. I might enjoy it more than they, because I’ve learned at times it’s fun to see the world through their eyes. Its the best way I know to enjoy the world despite its rough edges that fill my reality far more than I would like. If it takes a story of the chronicles of a Beverly Hills Chihuahua to enrich my life with simpler beauty and charm, and dazzle my grandkids, I’m all in.
April 17th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
@Richard Sorry, but this film is going to suck major ballz (kids movie or not). Oh, and Snow Buddies is still on the dvd shelves if you’re interested in “see(ing) the world through their eyes.”
April 17th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
@Quenfis: You make my point about dissing something you haven’t seen. It is akin to myself dissing an Obama or Clinton speech before I ever heard its content. What part of waiting until you actually see the movie doesn’t strike you as appropriate or even common sense? As for Snow Buddies, I’ll get the video. Thanks for turning me on to it. I found a series of these “buddies” movies that are just perfect for me and the grandkids. Without having seen the Beverly Hills Chihuahua movie yet, I won’t comment on whether it will make a lot of money or be a “success”. That would be premature conjecture and not even honest appraisal. If this site is for that purpose and not for fitting critiques or complimentary perspectives on actual movies that have been released to theaters, then I am misinformed, and the pointless comments are well placed.
April 17th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
What the hell…
Disney used to be cool…When they still made GOOD hand drawn animated films…
April 17th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
@Richard It’s all in good fun here. I don’t think the majority of those who visit this site for information will see this movie…at least not at their own freewill. The target audience at /film is not in the demo for this movie. So, I think just based on the horrible poster alone, I can safely say that you might be the only one on this site at the theater watching this.
Now, if we were discussing Iron Man, Juno, American Teen, Wall-E, Indy…or any of these bright, smart, and truely entertaining movies, you wouldn’t see this blatant slandering of the dog movie. I see where you are coming from, as a Grandparent and looking from the kids perspective. But, there is no way in heck this movie is going to be good. And yes, I can pretty much tell that from the one sheet pasted above. As Hunter was told by the executive at Disney “The poster speaks for itself.”
April 17th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
@Quenfis: We’ll just have to see the movie to find out if it meets or exceeds the poster. Meanwhile, slash a film all you want after you see it. Slash a poster is fair game once you’ve seen the poster. The poster speaks for itself, the movie must also. It’s all good fun poking fun at movies that deserve it. Even poking fun at the poster for its “statements”. I’ll bet that the writers of the film did not have a word to say in the design of the poster, or the name chosen for the film. The poster has obvious problems, but that doesn’t diminish the story, nor does the poster make the movie. Much like you wouldn’t want your mother showing your friends all your geeky pictures of youth. They do not show the caliber of the person you. Or..do they?…..just kidding. Have at it. Slash, burn, blog and flog the movies all you like once they’re released. As for me and the Grandkids, we’ll go see or dvd anything Disney comes up with.
April 18th, 2008 at 8:18 am
I will agree with you that the writers and directors have no say in how the posters are created (unless we are talking about Dreamworks). I worked for a major production company that created and finished posters for the industry back in early 2000. It was hilarious to have a studio exec mail over their screen snips and mock up for the poster. We’d sit around and just roll on the floor about what they were looking to create. But, your hands are tied at that point. So, yeah, the poster could suck major and the movie could do very well. That I will agree.
Either way, my opinion of the concept and (lack of) story synopsis leads me to believe it will be a big pile of Chihuahua droppings. We’ll just agree to disagree on how this movie will turn out. Truce!