With few exceptions (“A Hard Day’s Night”, “Yellow Submarine”), any movie which gets its title from a popular song.
Well, in the case of A Hard Day’s Night, the title was born before the song was…just saying is all…
**“Feel-good movie of the year!” ** = Excruciatingly saccharine.
"This movie will make you stand up and cheer!" More like bend over and puke. I remember seeing this on one of the Buford Pusser Walking Tall movies.
“Pauly Shore At His Best”
There’s at least one exception to the Hard rule:
Hard Times is a decent Coburn/Bronson thing about bare-knuckle fighting in Depression Era New Orleans that you can at least sit through. No Oscar nominations, true. But not a real stinker either. I’ve seen it several times and it’s not all that terrible.
The Live Action anime tentacle flick I saw was quite funny in a goofy/stupid way.
Another feature I particularly like is the “animated menu”. Most people would rather have their toenails pulled off before sitting through the umpteenth time of menu items flying in decoratively.
Not only “out of context blurbs” are dangerous but also “ambiguous blurbs”:
“A movie unlike any other.” (Thank God.)
“Never have you seen Keanu Reeves like this.” (And you never wanted to.)
“I laughed! I cried!” (Cried when I thought it would never end and laughed when did.)
Pretty much any movie that headlines starring a musician is usually not a good sign.
This is especially true if it is a rapper, Madonna or Mariah Carrey.
I’m going to politely contradict you here. Depending on the production, there’s a fifty-fifty chance that either the director or the producer has the most influence on the final film. (Well, more like 45/45, leaving room for the rare high-powered writer, and the occasional low-budget movie-star vanity flick.)
The best example is Jerry Bruckheimer. He closely supervises all aspects of his movies, and they tend to look and feel very similar. For this reason, he frequently hires directors with a TV commercial and/or music video background; they know how to shoot film, but they don’t have a lot of feature credits, which makes it easier to control them. (His regular collaboration with Michael Bay is an exception.)
Look also at the film Battlefield Earth. Director Roger Christian was a hired monkey. The big kahuna on that project was John Travolta, who, more importantly than starring, was the producer. He supervised the adaptation of the script and the hiring of the creative staff.
The important thing to remember is, there’s no hard-and-fast rule about which role has the most influence. It varies from movie to movie. In my rather well-considered opinion, the producer and director usually swap the top spot, with the writer, cinematographer, and editor — yes, the editor — rotating through positions three through five. Actors come after that, generally. It’s possible for this to change, though; Harrison Ford is noteworthy for participating closely with script revisions, production design, and other behind-the-scenes elements, so he’s an anomalously higher-placed influence. It’s also possible for an active executive producer to take a hand in a film; look at Harvey Weinstein, for example, who likes to ride the editor.
See my article here for a lengthy description of what a movie producer actually does.
So while the sentiment is well-intentioned — “from the makers of” is too vague to be trustworthy — the actual statement about the lack of a producer’s contribution is inaccurate.
As far as my response to the OP, I try not to pre-judge movies. I see pretty much everything, or at least almost everything that matters. I’m never going to see Dumb and Dumberer, for example. I try to keep an open mind, because I can be surprised. Even so, if I look at the credits and I see “written by Akiva Goldsman, directed by Simon West,” I know I’ve got a rough ride ahead.
Fibber McGee and others already kinda covered this one, but my example is just different enough to merit its own mention:
When there’s gushing praise on the cover in quotation marks, but the quote isn’t credited to anybody and is, in fact, carefully generic:
“A great thriller!”
“Superb martial arts action!”
Also, if you see any film starring Jan-Michael Vincent on public display for rental, take a moment to gratefully reflect on the fact that you are not Jan-Michael Vincent.
Great thread.
Exception: This Is Spinal Tap.
Unless you’re talking about the “unrated” version of Sex and Lucia of course…
ahem Yeah. Good movie.
Well if it’s got earmarks on it, I’d say definitely do not rent it, because it’s obvious the previous renters were confused about the way it should be enjoyed.
sputter
Bwah-Hahahahahah
Diet Coke all over the screen!
ahem
Sorry, lost it there for a second, trying to be a smart-ass and failing miserably. Back to your thread…
titter
Q
GUFFAW
Jesus where did that come from??? 
Oddly enough, one of the films mentioned in that thread, American Psycho 2, leapt to mind when I read what you said. What a terrible sequel, but strangely compelling in its badness. And it’s got William Shatner being killed in it!
Also has William Shatner getting killed! Hmmm…
I love that one too. So much it has inspired me to start a new thread on the subject of Porn titles, as to not hijack this one further.
Twice!
Hey hey hey!
Eddie and the Cruisers was a fine film. Sadly they made a sequel.
Usually when they splash the bands whom they paid to include popular songs and nothing else about the movie, you’re in trouble.
Featuring music by:
Sly Foxx !!
Animotion !!
M !!
Scritti Politti !!
La Tour !!
If it says “View Askew Productions”" anywhere on the box, DO NOT RENT IT.
Any film since 1990 in which Lou Diamond Phillips is top-billed.
Any film promoted as being by a notable star or director “before they got famous!”
Any film that uses a Larry King quote to promote it.
Any film with 3 or more members of the Coppola family in it, and, for that matter, around 75% or so of Francis Ford Coppola’s films overall since 1980 should be stayed away from.
Any film in which Christopher Walken is the only actor on the box that you can recognize.
Any film made in less time than it takes to get a Nevada divorce.