We need to sue!

[onager]

This is weird. Right now, a movie is playing on my Egyptian sat-channel. And its title is...

The Skeptic.

Which is bizarre, since IMDB says this flick is still unreleased. And Googling the title, a post at comingsoon.com said IFC would release it sometime in 2010.

Has to be the same movie, though. The cast listed everywhere on the web is the same bunch of people currently chewing up the scenery on my TV.

Maybe I'm channeling a supernatural event thru my TV! That hasn't happened since I was a kid and Oral Roberts healed me over the radio.

And what's the plot?

Well, if you're in this group you already KNOW the plot, and have seen it a bazillion times.

The official synopsis:

After the mysterious death of his Aunt, a confirmed skeptic lawyer, Bryan Becket, dismisses reports that her house is haunted and moves in. Immediately occurrences begin he cannot explain.

And beyond the occurrences there is something about the house which gnaws at Becket - some strange connection he senses he has with the house's past. Soon, the haunting turns personal, he hears voices suggesting clues to a deep mystery. He questions his sanity, seeks medical help, but instead finds assistance in a young psychic who immediately declares, "There's a very bad secret in this house."

Together they embark on a terrifying journey to uncover the secret - a journey which leads them deep into the recesses of The Skeptic's own troubled mind.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493451/plotsummary

:boring:

I'm guessing it got dumped straight to the secondary video market. And judging by the few minutes of this POS I've watched, rightly so.

Just ONCE, I'd like to see a movie about a preening, arrogant TV psychic who gets metaphorically kicked square in the butt by a "confirmed skeptic."

[AZCat]

1. Not a movie, but an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

It starred Martin Short as a psychic. I hate Martin Short anyway, so it was doubly gratifying to see his character get his ass handed to him.

On Edit: Found the episode. Season 6, Episode 18, titled Pure.

Synopsis:

After an 18-year-old girl is kidnapped, psychic Sebastian Ballentine comes forward claiming to have information on the killings. Stabler refuses to believe that Ballentine is a real psychic, and is convinced that the hints he is dropping about the case indicate he is somehow involved.

[onager]

2. That sounds good! But this is a different movie.

Here's a link with a partial cast list. Which says it is not being released until May 2009. And then in "limited release."

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1808746261

The cast includes the great Edward Herrmann.

And Tom Arnold.

TOM ARNOLD!?!?!

That might explain a lot.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Judging by this, it was made in 2006 or earlier

http://movies.about.com/od/interviewswithactors/a/timdaly101706.htm

since 'The Nine' seems to have run for 1 season from 2006-2007. Tim Daly sure is a big draw for a film or TV series, huh?

There's a 'Skeptic' trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaaEkJcdrP8

and you seems to have 'Phoenicia Pictures' to thank for it being distributed in the Middle East.

[onager]

4. Thanks! That's pretty common over here.

The cable/sat companies often advertise "new, exclusive, first-time shown" movies I've never heard of.

Checking IMDB etc., they often turn out to be pretty OLD movies that sat on the shelf for a while, awaiting release. Until they were dumped direct to the secondary markets, I guess.

This also happens in the USA. One of the weirdest examples I remember is that Kirk Hameron Xian comedy classic, Left Behind. The story is murky, but apparently the movie producers did a deal with a good Xian distribution company. They sold the rights and expected a regular theatrical release in movie theaters.

The distribution company went direct-to-video...probably after a few test screenings, where it was obvious they could be sued for medical costs caused by hysterical laughter of moviegoers.

The producers did some legal jujitsu and got the rights back. The movie eventually played in some movie theaters, but only AFTER it was available on video.

Left Behind fans still blame this on the direct interference of Satan.