# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/121 "2004-07-08T10:08:41Z")
> [@MidnightRadio](#): > > It’s really good. As good as the first one, I thought. I’ve heard that. I really, really want to see it. And since we’re back here, another exception to this rule: Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter. Low budget, positively ludicrous, but one of the most fun movies I’ve seen in a while. I mean…what’s NOT to love about a movie where Jesus Christ and a luchadore fight martial artist lesbian vampires with (among other things) drumsticks, a bathroom plunger, and TOOTHPICKS? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/122 "2004-07-08T14:21:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > If you counted it, there has to be more in the ‘bad SNL’ column than the good, Why, Marley! Are you saying that _ **It’s Pat: The Movie** _ was less than a cinematic masterpiece? (I have it on laserdisc, in letterbox format, y’know.) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/123 "2004-07-08T14:25:30Z")
> [@mrunlucky](#): > > The ads proclaim it the “last week’s #1 comedy/action/romantic comedy/talking-CGI animal/etc. movie” which means that it wasn’t the top grossing movie but maybe the 10th top grossing movie but it was the only comedy/action/romantic comedy/talking CGI animal movie in the top 10. The ads for _Spider-Man 2_ quote Roger Ebert as saying that it’s “The best super-hero movie I’ve ever seen!” I can’t imagine there being a whole lot of competition within that genre. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/124 "2004-07-08T16:59:39Z")
_Office Space_ was hilarious. _Wayne’s World_ was OK. Everything else sucked. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/125 "2004-07-08T17:03:44Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > The ads for _Spider-Man 2_ quote Roger Ebert as saying that it’s “The best super-hero movie I’ve ever seen!” > > I can’t imagine there being a whole lot of competition within that genre. Batman Batman & Robin Batman Forever Superman Superman 2 Superman III SupermanIV Superman V Daredevil Mystery Men Unbreakable X-Men X-Men 2 Hulk SpiderMan Fantastic Four The Specials RoboCop RoboCop 2 RoboCop 3 Blade Blade 2 Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles Phantom Rocketeer Steel Tarzan Inspector Gadget Doc Savage the Man of Bronze The Shadow Judge Dredd The Mask etc, etc… Naaa, not much. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/126 "2004-07-08T17:40:16Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > Re: SNL > Adam Sandler: The only thing I would ever pay to watch this man do is ram his head inside a running blender. So why don’t you like Happy Gilmore or Billy Madison? And did I forget a little classic known as “Tommy Boy”? In any event, I think the point has been made. Saturday Night Live star does not necessarily mean a sucky movie. Movies about people trapped on a ghost ship or underwater research facility with a monster, does (Ghost Ship, Deep Rising, Deep Blue Sea, Virus, Leviathan, Deep Star Six, etc). ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/127 "2004-07-08T18:03:51Z")
While we’re ragging on ex-_SNL_ cast members (I refuse to call them “stars”), let’s not forget the least talented of all (although there’s serious competition for this distinction): David Spade. To call him a no-talent bum would be to insult no-talent bums around the world. He is nothing but a smirk and snide tone of voice. What **sublight** said about Adam Sandler goes for David Spade, except I’d like it to be something slower and more painful than head in a blender. On the other hand, can we have a moment of silence for the only truly talented member of the _SNL_ cast in the last 15 years: Phil Hartman (1948-1998). ---
**Author:** ![Padmaraga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@Padmaraga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padmaraga)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/128 "2004-07-08T18:07:21Z")
About “Office Space” - unless I’m thinking of a different movie, I can’t understand why it’s being categorized as an “SNL” movie. I can’t think of anyone in it who was in SNL. Am I thinking of the right movie? The one with Ron Livingston & Jennifer Aniston, and that schlub character that mumbled to himself about being told he could play his radio if he kept it at an acceptable level, who kept getting moved around? Help me out here. ---
**Author:** ![Sweetums](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Sweetums](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweetums)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/129 "2004-07-08T18:37:58Z")
I can’t belive that nobody has mentioned “Fun for the whole family”. Did anyone notice that some variation of “fun for the whole family” was tossed out more than once during the trailer for the Jackie Chan “Arround the World in 80 Days?” This prase in a trailer or on a video box only means: A. This movie sucks, but we are hoping that parents desperate to find something for the kids will drag them to this turkey. And/or B. This movie is so sickly sweet that anyone over the age of five is going to need insulin to get through. I am not saying that movies marketed at children nessarily suck, but the good ones seldom use that dreaded prase when marketing. Prefering to stand on their merits as a film rather than try to lure unwary parents into subjecting the entire clan to the torture of “Care Bears XXVII: Grumpy Finally Snaps” ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/130 "2004-07-08T18:43:04Z")
> [@Padmaraga](#): > > About “Office Space” - unless I’m thinking of a different movie, I can’t understand why it’s being categorized as an “SNL” movie. Milton’s character originated in cartoons on SNL. I remember cartoons about his stapler getting taken and his cube being filled with boxes. ---
**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 8, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/131 "2004-07-08T18:49:04Z")
> [@Padmaraga](#): > > About “Office Space” - unless I’m thinking of a different movie, I can’t understand why it’s being categorized as an “SNL” movie. I can’t think of anyone in it who was in SNL. Am I thinking of the right movie? The one with Ron Livingston & Jennifer Aniston, and that schlub character that mumbled to himself about being told he could play his radio if he kept it at an acceptable level, who kept getting moved around? Help me out here. _Office Space_ started out as a series of animated segments on SNL, although the cartoons focused exclusively on Lumbergh and Milton, who are relatively minor characters in the movie. **BMalion** : I think the point **sublight** was trying to make wasn’t that there weren’t a lot of superhero movies, but rather, there are hardly any superhero movies that don’t suck on a truly epic scale. So, the “best comic book movie ever” doesn’t have a lot of competition in the same way that “best acting in a porno” doesn’t have a lot competition. Also, was _Inspector Gadget_ ever a comic book? ---
**Author:** ![Padmaraga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@Padmaraga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padmaraga)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/132 "2004-07-08T18:51:14Z")
> [@Fionn](#): > > Milton’s character originated in cartoons on SNL. I remember cartoons about his stapler getting taken and his cube being filled with boxes. Thank you! I had no idea about the cartoons; I stopped watching SNL long ago, and I only know what actors are on it by secondary sources. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/133 "2004-07-08T19:28:43Z")
Office Space was an animated short (created by Mike Judge) with Milton in it before it was ever on SNL. I think it even existed before Beavis & Butthead. SNL ran some shorts of his, be he predated SNL. Anyway, SNL cast member movies. . .my god. . . How about Caddyshack Groundhog Day Austin Powers Beverly Hills Cop Wayne’s World What do people think are funny that don’t include some of these? The madcap antics of Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt in “The Imposters”? The biting satire of “Sim-One”? Oh sure, there’s a ton that suck, but it’s certainly not a “sure thing” to slam a movie from an SNL cast member. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/134 "2004-07-08T20:52:30Z")
[QUOTE=Miller **BMalion** : I think the point **sublight** was trying to make wasn’t that there weren’t a lot of superhero movies, but rather, there are hardly any superhero movies that don’t suck on a truly epic scale. … [/QUOTE] You know, when I started typing that list I began to think “boy, most of these are crap.” But, I plowed ahead anyway. **Sublight** , I think we agree. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/135 "2004-07-08T21:12:35Z")
> [@mrunlucky](#): > > The movie is a sequel that tries to hide that it’s a sequel by giving it a whole new different kind of name. You mean like **Road Warrior** , the sequel to **Mad Max**? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/136 "2004-07-08T21:34:22Z")
I second the votes for ‘directed by Tim Burton’. Perhaps if they changed it to ‘…mis-directed by Tim Burton’. Also, ‘starring Hugh Grant’. Gee, I wonder what sort of character he plays in this one? And what sort of movie it will be? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/137 "2004-07-08T21:36:23Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Any movie that has: > > Been expanded from a sketch on Saturday Night Live. Or: a star that is anyone who has ever acted in a sketch on SNL. Sorry, but that is far too overgeneralized. Will Ferrell has been excellent so far and Chevy Chase was very good in the first Vacation, Caddyshack and Fletch. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/138 "2004-07-08T21:42:21Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Other than the stuff he’s done in the various Kevin Smith films, and his impression of GeeDubya during the “Election 2000” debacle, you haven’t missed much as far as I can tell. > . Old School was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/139 "2004-07-08T21:56:49Z")
No one’s mentioned that a sure sign a movie sucks is if it features a **natural disaster!** You can be guaranteed that there will be more plot twists and plot devices than actual plot. You can also expect so-so effects. A few months ago I saw part of “Twister” on television. Thanks goodness I didn’t pay money for that! The one in “The Wizard of Oz” was more realistic. Who knew you could run though an open field with shards of wooden fence and building whizzing past you at amazing speeds and yet never get so much as a splinter. Yet when you approach a building which is still standing, the thing acts like a shard magnet and is punched full of holes. Kinda like anything resembling realism in that movie. How about the one where they diverted a huge lava flow down the streets of L.A., thus saving the children’s hospital? Uh huh… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839/140 "2004-07-08T22:41:24Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Honestly, does anything really “star” a member of the Wayans family? OK (to steal from MST3K) “anything where the camera is pointed at a member of the Wayans family”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sure-signs-a-movie-sucks/253839.md?page=8)