| Burning Palms | |
| Director: | Christopher Landon |
| Producer: | Jason Hewitt Christopher Landon Oren Segal |
| Music: | Matthew Margeson |
| Cinematography: | Seamus Tierney |
| Editing: | Gregory Plotkin |
| Studio: | Films in Motion |
| Distributor: | New Films International |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $5 million |
| Gross: | $3.2 million[1] |
Burning Palms is a 2010 American satirical thriller film written and directed by Christopher Landon (in his feature directorial debut) based on Los Angeles stereotypes told through five intertwining storylines.[2] [3]
The segments are based on popular stereotypes of West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Westwood and Holmby Hills.[3] Each of the characters in the film confronts taboos and an uncertain, often darkly humorous, fate.[3] Producer Oren Segal likens the film to "a John Waters version of Short Cuts, a 1993 drama film directed by Robert Altman.[3]
The film was released in the United States on January 14, 2011, by New Films International. It received negative reviews from critics.
Palms was scripted by Christopher Landon, who also wrote the 2007 thriller Disturbia. Palms also marks Landon's directorial debut.[3]
Media outlets such as The Hollywood Reporter and Digital Spy reported that the ensemble-driven indie feature will star Shannen Doherty and Dylan McDermott as well as Zoe Saldana, Lake Bell, Nick Stahl, Paz Vega, Adriana Barraza, Colleen Camp, Jamie Chung, Robert Hoffman, Peter Macdissi, Emily Meade, Anson Mount, Rosamund Pike, Austin Williams, Chandler George Brown, and Tom Wright.[4]
The film was shot in Los Angeles, California and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[2] Oren Segal, Steven Prince and Jason Hewitt produced the film, and Tyler Thompson, Vince Morella and Naz Jafri were executive producers.[3]
To date, the critical reception for the film has been largely negative. One critic described the film as being "one of the most offensive movies I've seen in the past decade", going on to say:
Andrew Schenker of Slant magazine gave the film just half of one star out of a possible four. Writing of the film:
Gabe Callahan, of Poptimal.com, pointed out his theories as to why the film was such a disappointment:
Peter Debruge also denounced the film in Variety:
, the film holds a 38% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on eight reviews with an average rating of 4.56/10.[5] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 33 out of 100, based on five reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6]