# Sure signs a movie sucks **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 6, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839 "2004-07-06T20:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/181 "2004-07-10T22:33:43Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > “…Drebin”? > > THERE’S a movie that I’d definitely pay to see. Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin: “Nice beaver!” Al Pacino as Frank Drebin: “Nice HOO-HA!” Works for me. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/182 "2004-07-10T23:05:48Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > what **Soapbox Monkey** said. other than the spirit thing it had nothing common with the usual traditions of a final fantasy \. not to mention the lack of **chocobos**! 😃 Well, that and it ripped quite a few plot elements from FF7. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/183 "2004-07-10T23:10:03Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > If the movie is not a musical, yet contains a song-and-dance number. Do the Marx Bros. movies count as musicals? They often had such numbers but most of the time the comedy made up for it. In **Duck Soup** , the songs were actually funny, so it was all Gold. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/184 "2004-07-10T23:12:53Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Do the Marx Bros. movies count as musicals? They often had such numbers but most of the time the comedy made up for it. > > In **Duck Soup** , the songs were actually funny, so it was all Gold. IMHO, the Marx Bros. are like Monty Python, anything they do automatically becomes gold the moment they concieve of it. If I don’t find it funny, well, it’s a failing on my part, not theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/185 "2004-07-11T04:44:06Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > IMHO, the Marx Bros. are like Monty Python, anything they do automatically becomes gold the moment they concieve of it. If I don’t find it funny, well, it’s a failing on my part, not theirs. Even that tasteless, tedious blackface number in (IIRC) _Monkey Business_? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/186 "2004-07-11T04:56:43Z")
DoctorJ: > [@](#): > > If the trailer features either a dog or someone getting hit in the crotch. Obligatory Simpsons Reference: “Hmm…Barney’s movie had heart, but “Football in the Groin” had a football in the groin.” (works on so many levels!) ---
**Author:** ![citrus\_x\_paradisi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@citrus\_x\_paradisi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/citrus_x_paradisi)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/187 "2004-07-11T05:01:08Z")
This threads companion: **Sure Signs A Video Game Sucks** -Packaging brags about number of levels. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/188 "2004-07-12T01:57:06Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > Even that tasteless, tedious blackface number in (IIRC) _Monkey Business_? Haven’t seen it, so I can’t comment, but remember times were different back then. It’s easy for us to forget that what seems offensive to us today, wasn’t necessarily offensive or even racist back when it was originally done. Plenty of people out there are willing to label Mark Twain a bigot simply because one of his characters is named “Nigger Jim.” They don’t notice that Jim serves a very positive role model in the book, that a white character decides that he’d rather go to hell than see Jim return to slavery, and that Twain supported numerous causes in his life, many of which were aimed at stamping out racism and genocide. Groucho even faced bigotry in his personal life, since he was Jewish. There’s a story told in which Groucho’s on vacation with his family, and they’re all planning on going to swim in the hotel pool. Upon being told that he can’t swim in the pool because he’s Jewish, Groucho replies, “Can my son go in up to his waist? He’s only half-jewish.” Something I noticed tonight is that Fox is promoting the hell out of _I, Robot_, and going to be featuring a trailer of it during it’s _Method & Redd_ show. Now, I know nothing about _Method & Redd_, other than it’s a show about a couple of rappers who move into a rich uptight white neighborhood. Given that it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that _I, Robot_ [will suck](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=263359&page=1&pp=50), I have to conclude that the reason Fox is chosing _Method & Redd_ to promote the movie because they figure that since Will Smith is black that black people will want to go see the movie. So I think that we can say any movie which is being promoted based on the actor’s ethnic background will suck. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/189 "2004-07-12T04:04:16Z")
> [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by Tuckerfan > > IMHO, the Marx Bros. are like Monty Python, anything they do automatically becomes gold the moment they concieve of it. If I don’t find it funny, well, it’s a failing on my part, not theirs. > > Dr. Rieux > Even that tasteless, tedious blackface number in (IIRC) Monkey Business? [ot]I don’t remember such a scene in **Monkey Business**. I think it was in **A Day at the Races** [/ot] ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/190 "2004-07-12T04:05:50Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > Even that tasteless, tedious blackface number in (IIRC) _Monkey Business_? I don’t remember that. I do remember a crowd of black mistaking Harpo for Gabrieal in _Day at the Races_, which was pretty bad, or perhaps a blackface bit in _The Big Store_. There was even a joke about “darkies” in _Duck Soup_. I don’t remember anything close to Blackface in _Monkey Business._ ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/191 "2004-07-12T04:08:51Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > IMHO, the Marx Bros. are like Monty Python, anything they do automatically becomes gold the moment they concieve of it. If I don’t find it funny, well, it’s a failing on my part, not theirs. Not nessicarly. Most people agree that they peaked around the time of \*Duck Soup \* and _Night at the Opera_, with the rest being a slow decline, a slight rise with _A Night in Casablanca_, and then the film that is not to be named(which is good, because apparently nobody invovled will admit to being inovled). Even Groucho himself said to the camera in one film, right after telling a bad joke “Well, All the jokes can’t be good. You’ve got to expect that once in a while” ---
**Author:** ![bodswood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@bodswood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodswood)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/192 "2004-07-12T04:21:25Z")
> [@pesch](#): > > I like Curtis’ movies (except for “Love Actually” which I haven’t seen but, judging by the plot and responses too it, sounds incredibly noxious). “Four Weddings” was married by Andie McDowell’s presence, and I took “Notting Hill” as a fairy-tale, nothing more. Especially loved that long camera sequence which showed the passage of time by having Hugh walk through NH and the seasons changing around him. > > But judging by the responses from the British posters on this board, Richard Curtis is absolutely HATED over there, second only to Hugh Grant. Re 4 Weddings, I was pleased Grant spurned Kristin Scott Thomas, as I had the hots for her myself. Re Curtis, it’s simple really, we’re all jealous of his wit and his success. Actually (if I might borrow one of his phrases, or words, if you prefer) I acted in the school play with him once. It was a classic one act British farce (i.e. very unfunny) called The Bathroom Door. I played the male lead, while Curtis played the female lead. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/193 "2004-07-12T20:18:38Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > The movie that manages to be really cool DESPITE the presence of Corey Feldman, Corey Haim AND Jami Gertz, three actors who are usually reliable “this is a bad movie, please run away” indicators. Hey, don’t be dissin The Goonies! > [@DoctorJ](#): > > If the trailer features either a dog or someone getting hit in the crotch. What if someone gets hit in the crotch with a dog? Is that comic genius or just extra stupid? I nominate repackaged movies with blurbs like “Also Starring Wesley Snipes”. If you look at the date you can see that the movie was made before Wesley Snipes was famous, and it’s a good bet that he has a bit part and the movie has nothing else going for it. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/194 "2004-07-12T22:04:43Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > \ > > Naaa, not much. Not much for the ‘comic book hero’ title, but the competition for ‘good movie’ that combines ‘comic book hero’ is a bit more stiff. But, I’ll admit, not a ‘Best-Documentary-Filmed-Underwater-Without-Scuba-Gear’ category. 😃 IMNSHO, that list is limited (from those you mentioned): Rocketeer Superman Batman (The Tim Burton one. I’m sorry, Adam West’s camptastrophe makes me wince.) Spiderman(? - I’ve not seen the recent one… the one from the 70’s was awful.) Robocop ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/195 "2004-07-12T22:18:24Z")
> [@Coelacanth Soup](#): > > Any post 1980 film that during the opening or closing credits plays music by the following artists: > Frank Sinatra > Dean Martin > Louis Armstrong > Jimmy Durante > etc, especially _Kiss to Build a Dream On_, _I’m in the Mood for Love_, and _La Vie en Rose_ I disagree, I loved Neon Genesis Evangelion. (Of course biiiig mecha had something to do with that…) ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/196 "2004-07-12T22:39:06Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Something I noticed tonight is that Fox is promoting the hell out of _I, Robot_, and going to be featuring a trailer of it during it’s _Method & Redd_ show. I think the fact they seemingly feel it necessary to hype the _trailer_ is a bad sign… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/197 "2004-07-12T23:15:26Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > I don’t remember that. I do remember a crowd of black mistaking Harpo for Gabrieal in _Day at the Races_, which was pretty bad, or perhaps a blackface bit in _The Big Store_. There was even a joke about “darkies” in _Duck Soup_. > > I don’t remember anything close to Blackface in _Monkey Business._ Correct, it was _Day at the Races_ - an MGM one, done after Thalberg (who decided they needed a love story and real musical numbers) had died. Worked for Night at the Opera, and never again. The Duck Soup thing was a parody of a spirtitual - “All God’s Children Have Guns.” Hmm, isn’t that the NRA theme? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/198 "2004-07-12T23:18:24Z")
My favorite indicator, which people don’t use much anymore, is a row of pictures of the stars and their roles on the bottom of the ad - “Clyde Fern Fink as the General,” and that kind of stuff. Most of the stars are has-beens, getting equal billing. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/199 "2004-07-13T02:35:34Z")
Any movie that is heavily, heavily advertised and promoed for more than six months prior to release will suck pond water. This rule NEVER fails! ---
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/200 "2004-07-13T03:36:00Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > So I think that we can say any movie which is being promoted based on the actor’s ethnic background will suck. Maybe, maybe not. Haven’t seen Barbershop, myself, though I’ve been meaning too. That got rather good reviews and from what I understand was geared towards primarily a black audience and advertised accordingly. So perhaps this theory isn’t watertight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839.md?page=11)