January, and to a lesser extend February is traditionally a dumping ground for movies, traditionally theatrical movie releases but more recently movies bought and released on streaming platforms but more on streaming in a bit. Stuff that got made and was deemed not very good but everyone who is not named Zazlov will tend to release the movies anyway in order to recoup at least some of the cost. January is a good time for these releases because they are traditionally not competing with the big Marvel money movies or similar fare from other studios, and mainly competing with other dumping ground movies so that if successful one of these movies can, and often does, turn a profit.
The interesting part of this phenomenon to me is that just because it is a ‘dumping ground’ movie that others have given up on, or some executive(s) feel is bad, does not mean I will engage in it in such a manner. I defy their efforts on occasion and find things that I enjoy, even if that enjoyment is about how bonkers a thing is which in turn is probably the reason it got sent to the dumping grounds in the first place. This is a time where something that was deemed a tad weird for general audiences or something that takes real risks might end up, and as such some creativity and fun can be dumped here.
Unfortunately for us Movie Roulette Theatre Buffs streaming has somewhat spoiled our annual rituals. The days may not be gone that I roll the dice on a weird vampire movie, but they are fewer and farther between now as some risky movies tend to get bought up and released on a streaming platform. Lower risk for the makers and probably bigger reward in the end, but less fun for me, and if I have learned anything as a movie geek it is clearly all about me… and no one else… Well, maybe Mrs. Fistcrush too as she is very similar wanting to find weird movies to watch in theatre. One could make the argument that even though these movies are going to streaming platforms they are still being released anyway and still count as a Winter Dumping Ground and while you would be technically correct (the best kind of correct) making this argument I really do care about the theatrical experience personally (if you do not that is okay too). Like I am still going to see the movie personally either way but with a similar minded audience the Beekeeper would have been so much more fun than watching at home.
So this week’s prompt is What is your favorite(s) winter dumped movie(s)? Individual movie release dates are not always on the top of my mind. I am pretty good at knowing years, but time of year is much harder so I had to look this up and I found there was a ton of great movies to choose from, but I am going with a classic that I absolutely love and it hits all the beats of a Dumped January movie. First and possibly most importantly it was released in January, second definitely weird which makes it risky, third bombed at the box office (but later found an audience/following on video) and finally fourth and possibly second most importantly Tremors is a great friggin movie. It has great chemistry between the leads/cast in general, amazing creature effects and great writing. The Graboid is a near perfect movie monster with a super cool name and design but still also makes sense why general audiences may not gel with it in the early 90s. This is truly a fun time to take a chance on movies, I know I may be in need of some extra escapism this week.