Snakes on the Brain

I would have thought that a Friday night 7pm showing on opening weekend at Mann's Chinese Theater would have been more packed, but I would have been wrong. Considering the movie in question Snakes on a Plane is undoubtedly the movie sensation of the year.

It might have something to do with the fact that Mann's Chinese 6 has the distinct odor of a locker room after tryouts. Whatever the case, I couldn't have cared less about who else was in the theater as long as I was there to witness the birth of a brilliant film franchise. I mean I'm assuming Sam Jackson, genius that he is, has had the foresight to get some hacks set to work at rattling out at least two sequels. The second of course being Snakes on a Train and then the inevitable Snakes on an Automobile, co-starring Bruce Willis and finally targeting the baby boomers, thereby cementing itself as the most absolute perfectly marketed film trilogy of all time.

Maybe I'm hoping for too much. My head is still in the clouds bubbling with excitement after the rush of watching Several odd thousand snakes fuck up everything in sight. Am I wrong or did Snakes have every single exciting movie cliche ever put on film, only bigger and badder and ten times more ridiculous. When Sam Jackson pulls his piece and tells you it's time to teach those mutherfuckin' snakes a mutherfuckin' lesson you believe him. Mountains of snakes on an airplane inside of which I am travelling is almost as scary as the feeling that (I can't believe I'm saying this) but within the context of the film, everything makes sense. You have to believe only one thing... That this could happen. That a witness in a trial against a world renowned drug lord could potentially be assassinated by venomous snakes on an airplane really only sounds idiotic until you consider what crazy shit has been happening on planes in recent days.

I digress, the movie is brilliant as artless entertainment. As a test in strategic marketing, Snakes on a Plane is one of the most successful I've ever seen, and as a Friday night event in Hollywood, it's all that AND a bag of chips.