> Ahh, yes, what I call the IMDb/Amazon Rule: There will always be at least one
> person who gives a horribly bad movie above a 7 and (this is key) will write in
> a comment like, “I don’t know why everyone says this is such a bad movie”
> and really MEAN IT.
There was at least one important reviewer that didn’t hate Gigli - Roger Ebert. He thought it had some good moments. Here’s his review:
Check out Congo http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112715/. Its not so much the cast as much as the staff. The Producer’s redits alone should’ve carried the movie!
What was more disturbing was that Arnie gave a pretty cool performance in the flick. Sure, his lines were awful, but the way he delivered tham came close to making me laugh. Too bad the rest of the cast just didn’t hold it.
I think though, that either/both the script or director were seriously misunderstanding [sic] the nature of a Batman movie. I mean, Clooney’s great, but he’s not Batman and never will be.
Don’t forget one of the biggest flops of all time:
Peter Frampton, The Bee Gees, Donald Pleasance, Steve Martin, Earth Wind & Fire, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Billy Preston, George Burns, and the music of The Beatles.
Not to mention the “all star finale” with Keith Carradine, Rick Derringer, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Etta James, Robert Palmer, Bonnie Raitt, Helen Reddy, Sha-Na-Na, Seals & Crofts, Tina Turner, Frankie Valli, Hank Williams Jr, and Wolfman Jack, just to name A FEW.
FTR, I’m one of about 3.2 people who can actually stomach this movie. In my defense, I was about 6 years old the first time I saw it. I do believe if I’d seen it for the first time as an adult instead of a young child, I would probably have the same opinion as 99.9% of the population.
Sadly, it seems The Big Bounce is destined to obtain this status, too. Just released yesterday, based on a Elmore Leonard novel, starring Morgan Freeman, Gary Sinise and Harry Dean Stanton. I love, love, love Gary Sinise, absolutely adore Morgan Freeman, and although I’m not a fan of his writing, I generally enjoy movies based on Elmore Leonard novels; I was looking forward to this movie, but apparently it is, at best, lukewarm; Ebert gave it two stars, but couldn’t recommend it, and Rottentomatoes.com only gives it 17% fresh!
Catch-22 was hardly a “steaming pile”, but considering the stellar cast and source material, it sure should’ve been a lot better than it was.
Directed by Mike Nichols, written by Joseph Heller (novel), Buck Henry (screenplay)
Alan Arkin, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Jack Gilford, Buck Henry, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Paula Prentiss, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight, **Orson Freakin’ Welles **
The Bridges of Madison County – Although I’m not a big Eastwood fan, you’d have thought this would have been more interesting than watching paint dry. But nooooo, those two had absolutely zilch chemistry and even if I believed Streep’s accent, the whole thing just seemed utterly implausible.
And I liked the book despite never reading romances. So, I’m thinking the problem was casting them together. However, on paper it probably looked pretty impressive.
[continuing hijack]
Another devotee of both Mystery Men and Death to Smoochy. I would follow Edward Norton anywhere.
