Posted on 07/30/2010 11:17:42 AM PDT by inflorida
In the new movie "Inception," Leonardo DiCaprio burrows deep into the subconscious of a self-absorbed plutocrat to plant a powerful idea that will change the world. If the technology used in "Inception" were available in real life, Mr. DiCaprio might burrow into the subconscious of Hollywood plutocrats and plant these paradigm-altering ideas: Stop making movies like "Grown Ups," "Sex and the City 2," "Prince of Persia" and anything that positions Jennifer Aniston or John C. Reilly at the top of the marquee. Stop trying to pass off Shia LaBeouf—who looks a bit like the young George W. Bush—as the second coming of Tom Cruise. Stop casting Gerard Butler in roles where he is called upon to emote. And if "Legion" and "Edge of Darkness" and "The Back-up Plan" and "Hot Tub Time Machine" are the best you can do, stop making movies, period. Humanity will thank you for it.
In a millennium that has thus far produced precious few motion pictures in the same class as "The Godfather," "Jurassic Park," "Casablanca," "Gone with the Wind," "My Fair Lady" and "The Matrix," there is a knee-jerk tendency to throw up one's hands and moan that the current year is the worst in the history of motion pictures. But 2010 very possibly is the worst year in the history of motion pictures. Where once there was "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," there is now "Robin Hood," prince of duds. Where once we could look forward to "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "The Last of the Mohicans," we can now look forward to "Dinner for Schmucks" and "The Last Airbender." This time two years ago we were treated to the ingenious, subversive "Iron Man"; this year we have the insipid, uninspired "Iron Man 2."
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“Toy Story 3” and “Inception” I liked. That is all.
By the way, how was “Iron Man” “subversive”? Robert Downey wasn’t an obvious choice, but he played the guy exactly as you’d expect after hearing Robert Downey, Jr. was cast. Not the standard superhero-type, but a perfect celebrity-type, and from what I understand the Iron Man guy is a, in fact, a playboy-magnate-man of the world. What would you expect, really, for superheroes to act like if they actually existed (and didn’t have alter-egos)? Pretty much like him, I’d think.
You can say that’s all fine, but it’s not the stereotype. Based on who, exactly? George Reeves? It’s been a while. In recent memory we have Michael Keaton—of ‘89 “Batman” fame and the bridge between the old “Superman” era and the current craze ignited by “X-Men” and “Spiderman”—not exactly the anti-Downey, Jr.
What it comes down to, methinks, is that people were surprised when they first heard who would play Iron Man. Once in the theater, though, everyone felt it was perfect. Compare to Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Carribean”—a genuinely subversive performance—and, Lord, what a difference. In that case, you might have questioned it going in, but once in the theater, you say, “What the hell is going on? Is he drunk? Is he gay?” That’s a big difference.
Two quick points:
Anyone who starts a sentence with "I thought the worse movie ever made was..." and doesn't end it with "...the so-called 'Isaac Asimov's Nightfall'." Simply hasn't seen the so-called 'Isaac Asimov's Nightfall'.
If you thought Battlefield Earth sucked you should see some of the flicks Golden Era Studios made for internal consumption...
Dunno. There was Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, Ramona and Beezus, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and The Last Airbender. They ranged from great to okay.
I didn’t see it. I was answering the question in the title. Generally we go to a couple of movies a month. There has not been any that I have wanted to see this year AT ALL. I was fooled into seeing “Date Night” a couple of weeks ago at the budget movie. It was AWFUL.
But, the descriptions of the DiCaprio movie were enough to warn me to avoid it.
We like dialogue movies. Light comedy (not juvenile, asinine comedy). True stories. Stories with a message. Historical movies.
We enjoyed “New in Town” and a couple of others which names I cannot remember right now. But, I haven’t seen a movie write up for months that I want to see.
“A bad movie for sure, but I don’t think you’ve seen anything by Terence Malik if you think that. Try ‘The Thin Red Line’ sometime”
Yes! Almost as bad as “Badlands” and “Days of Heaven.” Such an overrated director. Proof that what becomes a classic is sometimes completely arbitrary. Someone in 1973 said he’s a genius, and everyone else was too afraid of being passé to disagree.
He doesn’t make movies. He makes what some people call “scenery porn,” forgetting that film is a narrative artform. If I want to see pretty pictures, I’ll go to the museum, thank you very much.
Not only have movies sucked for the last 10 years or so, but with ticket prices north of $10.00, who wants to see a dud. Way back when movies were $4.00 -$5.00 I’d take a chance on a so so movie, but at today’s prices I have to be sure it’s a great movie. For the most part I wait for the DVD, and then get that at the public library.
Alice in Wonderland was great up until near the end, then just became standard. Great casting of Depp and Carter.
To Le Chien; Sorry, but The Book of Eli absolutely sucked.
(I borrowed the DVD from a relative who loved it - go figure.)
I find myself hunting more and more old titles from Amazon.
with alice in wonderland, you could have ENTIRELY eliminated the white queen and not changed the movie.
Depp was just cpt. sparrow with red hair and contacts.
“I like Book of Eli but the rest of the year......ugh”
But could you compare even “Book of Eli” to “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “The Maltese Falcon” or “Lawrence of Arabia”?
For that matter, if given a choice between buying a DVD of middling move like “In Harm’s Way” or “Book of Eli” for $6.00 at the grocery store which would you choose? It would be “In Harm’s Way” for me.
Hollywood made a ton of crap in the good-ole-days also.
We only remember the great ones, the shlock is long forgotten.
I picked up a gangster movie 4 pack (deep discount at Kmart) All 4 movies have recognizable casts. I don’t think any of them were ever released in theaters. Of the three movies advertised on the front end of the disc, I only remember one being in theaters.
How much money was lost producing these 4 direct to video dogs (I’v never even seen them on cable)?
And bring a whole roll of large size barf bags!
36 Hours (1965) NR
In this World War II thriller, Maj. Pike (James Garner) awakens in a hospital suffering from amnesia. He's told that D-Day occurred five years ago and is asked pointed questions about the event by his doctor (Rod Taylor). But what Pike doesn't know is that D-Day is in 36 hours, and he's actually in enemy hands. Oscar winner Eva Marie Saint plays Pike's "wife" in this taut drama based on Roald Dahl's short story "Beware of the Dog."
Anyone who starts a sentence with “I thought the worse movie ever made was...” and doesn’t end it with ‘...the so-called ‘Isaac Asimov’s Nightfall’.’ Simply hasn’t seen the so-called ‘Isaac Asimov’s Nightfall’.”
I have a problem when people declare the worsts period, since they usually have no idea how low are the depths. It depends on your fathoming range. “Battlefield Earth” might contend for the worst movie ever widely released with plenty of advertising. I’m not familiar with “Nightfall,” so I couldn’t say where it falls. But let’s not forget that such Z-flicks as “Manos: The Hands of Fate” (not to mention most the student films ever created) exist.
Come to think of it, when she came on is about about when it started sucking. As far as Depp, yes, somewhat inspired by Cpt. Sparrow, but still great though.
I’d like anything with James Garner.
PS: I have to disagree about "Breakfast at Tiffany's". Not only is it boring and unfunny, but no New York hooker would walk away from pink diamond tiaras and millionaires for an impoverished writer. And while Audrey Hepburn is glorious, their original choice of Marilyn Monroe would have made it a legit classic.
I would also swap out "Gone With The Wind" with the faaaaarrrrr superior "Jezebel".
Just my opinion.
I find myself hunting more and more old titles from Amazon.
I am the middle of what I call ‘the Summer of Classic Westerns’....I’m going thru westerns from 1950s- till the early 70s’ on netflix.
I agree on the Depp and Downey comment...great actors indeed.
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