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Movies -- biggest losers of all time

TheOldMole Apr 16 2008 09:43 AM

[url=http://everything2.com/e2node/The%2520least%2520popular%2520movies%2520of%2520the%2520last%2520fifteen%2520years]An interesting list.[/url]

AG/DC Apr 16 2008 10:09 AM

I don't like Al Franken or trying to make a 9-minute sketch into a film over ten times as long, but I will defend Stuart Saves His Family a really long time if you buy the drinks.

TheOldMole Apr 16 2008 10:38 AM

How many?

Nymr83 Apr 16 2008 11:08 AM

They make a good point about the damage to Copola's career after "one from the heart." this guy was giving us great movies and then WHAM.

Valadius Apr 16 2008 11:09 AM

I always got The Postman confused with The Patriot.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 16 2008 11:35 AM

I'm pleased to say I haven't seen any of those movies, at least, not until you get down to the "trivia" section. I did see Waterworld

metsmarathon Apr 16 2008 11:51 AM

outside teh trivia section, i only saw 'the one' but that was on a friend's dvd, and subsequently a few times on cable. inside the trivia section, i have seen, and loved, hudson hawk, the last action hero, and the 5th element. i have also seen, but scarcely remember, howard the duck.

TheOldMole Apr 16 2008 12:19 PM

I was thinking I'd seen Crossroads, but it was the one where the Karate Kid meets Robert Johnson. This one is Brittney Spears. From the same website: Life Lessons that Britney taught me: * Louisiana does in fact have culture, in the form of karaoke. * Girls know more about cars than boys. Just trust them. * Sometimes boys throw tantrums. Wait it out. Eventually they will become horny again and do what you tell them. * The only extant forms of female bonding are singing along with Top 40 radio and weeping.

sharpie Apr 16 2008 01:54 PM

I've seen none of those movies. I know that the Italian movie The Postman - Il Postino had to add the Il Postino part because the Costner movie had reserved that title. As it turns out, the Italian movie did much better.

HahnSolo Apr 16 2008 02:26 PM

But Costner's Postman had Tom f'in Petty in it.

TheOldMole Apr 16 2008 03:45 PM

And the other one had metaforo.

Rockin' Doc Apr 16 2008 04:33 PM

I saw Treasure Palanet with the kids when it came out. It was definitely at the lower end of the quality spectrum of Disney animated pictures. None of the other films mentioned anywhere in the article have I had the misfortune of watching. Some I can't recall hearing of before and the others never caught my interest as something I might wish to see. Of course, I'm far from the most avid movie goer on the forum.

MFS62 Apr 16 2008 06:44 PM

The only movie mentioned that I saw was Alien3, for a chance to see the lovely MS. Weaver in a t-shirt and panties again. But it was on TV, not in the movies. Does that count? Later

Willets Point Apr 16 2008 06:49 PM

I haven't seen any of the movies listed there - some I've not even heard of - except Howard the Duck which at least featured the lovely Lea Thomson in a t-shirt and panties. And that was on cable.

RealityChuck Apr 16 2008 09:08 PM

I've seen several on the list: Battlefield Earth. Dull and absurd. Travolta not only chews the scenery, he swallows it whole. And even the vapid overacting doesn't make it watchable. It is worth it for the reviews, though. [url=http://www.jabootu.com/be.htm]This one[/url] even saves you the trouble of seeing the movie. Cutthroat Island. Before Pirates of the Caribbean, there hadn't been a good pirate film in 40 years. Cutthroat Island kept the streak alive, never rising about so-so. My favorite bit is that they forgot about an entire ship. It was the biggest flop in history at the time, and caused it's production company to go belly up. A.I. might have been a good film if Speilberg hadn't gotten his hands on it and turned it into second-rate Pete Pan. Ishtar is a minor classic and a very funny comedy (especially in the first and third sections). It's definitely flawed, but not a terrible movie by any means, and is being rediscovered by critics and fans as vastly underrated. [url=http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/ishtar.htm]See these comments.[/url] Waterworld is a bit silly, but not horrible. The Last Action Hero is a teriffic metafictional comedy that pokes fun at the action movie genre. It's a very entertaining film. I'll admit I love metafiction, and this is one of the few examples of it in film (another is Adaptation), but it is quite well done. The Fifth Element is a first-class SF adventure. Howard the Duck was a mediocre film from one of the greatest comic books of all time. It's biggest crime for me is that it made people think the comic wasn't any good. Oh, and they're wrong about Cleopatra making a profit. It never did, but the studio PR office put out that story without any evidence to back it up.

Valadius Apr 16 2008 10:34 PM

The Fifth Element is one of my favorite sci-fi films. It gets endlessly broadcast on cable, so it's bound to have turned a profit by now.

TheOldMole Apr 17 2008 04:30 AM

Chuck is right about "The Last Action Hero" having some wonderful metafictional devices in it. It doesn't hold up all the way through, but it has its moments. At least "Battlefield Earth" doesn't feature the lovely John Travolta in a t-shirt and panties.

Batty31 Apr 17 2008 09:58 PM

I've seen 3 mentioned: Queen of the Damned (I'm an Anne Rice/vampire movie fan). I have to agree it was awful....they tried to combine 2 of her books. Alien 3 I saw so long ago I can't remember what I thought of it. Jeepers Creepers...I've seen worse.

Frayed Knot Apr 17 2008 10:24 PM

Batty31 wrote: ... I'm an Anne Rice/vampire movie fan We never would have guessed

AG/DC Apr 18 2008 07:12 AM

Batty31 wrote: Alien 3 I saw so long ago I can't remember what I thought of it. We were part of that opening weekend crowd that didn't give it enough word of mouth, I guess. Charles S. Dutton was cool. I remember being both impressed and underwhelmed by the set. Like they built this huge thing, but never seemed to transcend it --- like it was all shot in the same place but from different angles. One of those expensive movies that feels kind of cheap. Spoiler below: It ends in suicide --- done almost ritualistically --- so that's kind of not the kind of film that generates second-weekend buzz. Welcome back, Batty.

Willets Point Apr 18 2008 03:29 PM

We should make a list of movies that are (partially) redeemed by a performer in underwear.

TheOldMole Apr 19 2008 06:02 AM

The Last Picture Show, featuring the lovely Cybil Shepherd in bra and panties. An Unmarried Woman, featuring the lovely Jill Clayburgh in t-shirt and panties.

Benjamin Grimm Apr 19 2008 09:11 AM

The only good thing about The Human Stain (I can't believe I paid money to see that) was a topless Nicole Kidman.

TheOldMole Apr 23 2008 08:03 PM

The book was great.