Samuel L. Jackson Quote of the Month: June 2010

The movies are a fascinating business. A studio will put forward major money to bankroll a film and then, for any number of reasons, it could get put on a shelf for years before it sees the light of day. Or perhaps it does see the light, but the release is so small and the advertising so nonexistent that it might as well have been buried in a broom closet.

The 51st State (or Formula 51 as it was titled in the US release) is a UK action comedy starring Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Carlyle. I remember seeing early commercials for it, but I'll be damned if I actually saw it hit theaters. I mean, an action comedy starring Sam? Why couldn't the studios get behind that? I suspect poor performance at test screenings. But whatever the case, it's a crying shame that this line didn't make it into the popular pantheon of Samuel L. Jackson one-liners:

Elmo: "Ain't that always the way? Elevator music, a nigger in a kilt, and a chick with a nickel-plated nine."