Weekend Estimates by Klady – April 5, 2009
The second biggest non-summer/holiday opening of all-time, beaten only by The Passion of The Christ. Impressive. Sequels that give the audience what they want are a beautiful thing… though I have no idea of whether the movie is, having not yet seen it.
Though the opening of Adventureland will be seen as soft by some, it is the best opening for Miramax since 2005, including for No Country For Old Men, The Queen, Gone Baby Gone, and Doubt, the division’s biggest grossers in that period. Obviously, this is not an awards play. But still… context…
You know, I have to admit that, even though I didn’t care much for the film, that’s not a bad hold for Haunting in Connecticut. As for Fast & Furious — well, again, people seek escapism all the time, but especially during tough times.
Didn’t Miramax open all of those other titles on a handful of screens (as opposed to the nearly 2000 of ADVENTURELAND)? $5.2M is closer to the turkeys MGM has distributed of late, like HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS and SOUL MEN. Soft is soft. The more accurate quote would have been “But still. . . out of context. . .”
And I nearly dropped a brick when I saw the Friday numbers for FURIOUS. Holy shit – who knew?
Did anybody else who saw “Fast and Furious” wonder why Vin Diesel seemed to be bored shitless throughout the movie? This weekend represents a comeback for the F&F franchise, but I don’t think it did anything for Diesel’s comeback as an actor to watch. When Paul Walker is more compelling and bad ass(?!?) than Diesel (when he bounced the smarmy FBI guy’s face off a concrete wall, the crowd I was with was hoppin’ in their seats), what the hell’s going on?
good marketing for Fast and Furious. Breakneck speed, car on car action. There’s a lot of love for the original, so assembling the original cast seemed like a no brainer, literally.
Still, ive become far more forgiving of the B Movie lately. Stuff like Fast and Furious and Crank 2 are just pure guilty pleasures. And these days, we could use a few more of those.
“Though the opening of Adventureland will be seen as soft by some, it is the best opening for Miramax since 2005, including for No Country For Old Men, The Queen, Gone Baby Gone, and Doubt, the division’s biggest grossers in that period. Obviously, this is not an awards play. But still… context…”
Adventureland – 1862 screens for $5.7M
Doubt – 15 screens for about half a million
Gone Baby Gone – 1713 screens for $5.5M
The Queen – 11 screens for around 400 thousand
No Country For Old Men – 28 screens for $1.2M
The context is that Adventureland barely topped Gone Baby Gone in its opening weekend with a bigger promotional push, wider appeal, and more screens. Not to mention that it had the additional boost of coming “from the makers of Superbad”.
Ten million would have been “soft”, but south of six? You’re looking at “intangible”.
My b.o. prognosis has been a tad wobbly as of late, but I was right on at pegging “Adventureland” (which I really, really liked with minor reservations) as an underperformer. The $25-million ceiling I predicted a few weeks back might even be a tad generous considering its softer than anticipated opening.
Not having been a fan of the original “F&F”–I’ve liked all of the sequels better; yes, even “Tokyo Drift”–I’m a little in awe at how well the latest entry performed. (I figured $40-$45-million perhaps, but certainly not $70-mill. plus.)
As far as totally unnecessary sequels go, it is what it is, I suppose. No more, but thankfully no less. The best “F&F” remains #2 directed by John Singleton in one of Mr. “Boyz N the Hood”‘s rare, letting-his-hair-down-and-having-some-fun moments.
Question: Is next weekend’s Hannah Montana flick going to be a repeat of her 3-D concert flick phenom, or another tweener also-ran like the recent Jonas Bros. non-event? The fact that it’s opening when most kiddies are off school for “Easter break” should help, yes? I’m actually mildly intrigued by this one since it’s directed by Peter Chelsom who did one of my favorite underappreciated ’90s movies (the sublime “Funny Bones”), even though he hasn’t really done much of consequence since….other than being director of record on Warren Beatty’s notorious runaway production/flop “Town and Country.”
C Me Dance had a per screen of $190…
“I’m actually mildly intrigued by this one since it’s directed by Peter Chelsom who did one of my favorite underappreciated ’90s movies (the sublime ‘Funny Bones’), even though he hasn’t really done much of consequence since….other than being director of record on Warren Beatty’s notorious runaway production/flop ‘Town and Country.'”
He also directed “Hear My Song”, which was a pretty cool little Irish movie too. But unfortunately, that’s the one he did before “Funny Bones”. Besides “Town and Country”, he also followed those two gems with the diminishing returns of “The Mighty”, “Serendipity”, and the remake of “Shall We Dance?”. It would be more jaw-dropping than F&F’s $70M+ haul if he had a real guiding hand in a Hannah Montana movie.
…yes, agree that Paul Walker clearly outshines Diesel in “F&F.”
Glad to see that’s he’s losing some of that glazed pretty boy/male model-mannequin look and finally beginning to simulate an authentic leading man.
Like Ryan Phillippe who (briefly) went from zero to hero after “Crash,” all Walker really needs is a meaty role in a prestigious ensemble piece.
Movieman: Do I dare admit that I thought Town and Country was extremely underrated?
“Like Ryan Phillippe who (briefly) went from zero to hero after ‘Crash’, all Walker really needs is a meaty role in a prestigious ensemble piece.”
As long as the dialogue is kept to a minimum. A lot like Michelle Rodriguez, oddly enough, the guy looks great until he starts talking.
Oh, and one more thing: not only did “Fast and Furious” bring back most of the original cast, but wasn’t it nice of them to bring back most of the script from the “Miami Vice” movie? Not to mention the villain!
Adventureland may have had a softer opening but it is a wonderful film. The 7:45PM show on Saturday night in Evanston, IL was close to sold out in a big theater at a very popular multiplex. The crowd was very appreciative and I overheard lots of positive comments while waiting in the lobby after the show.
Seems obvious that Adventureland lost business to F&F? Agree?
I’m familiar with “Song” and those post-“FB” Chelsom clunkers, Hallick (the “Dance” remake is probably the best of the bunch), and you’re probably right about his inability to inject much personality or style into a corporate product like the Cyrus/Montana movie.
My only question is why they offered Chelsom the job in the first place.
Were Kenny Ortega and the videographer who shot the Cyrus/Jonas 3-D concert flicks too busy?
“Though the opening of Adventureland will be seen as soft by some…”
Those people would be correct.
You don’t know how desperately I wanted to love “T&C,” Joe.
I’m a huge Beatty (and Buck Henry) fan, loved virtually everyone in the cast (excepting Elman and Hartnett), was totally pumped at the prospect of Beatty reuniting with his “Reds” (Keaton) and “Shampoo” (Hawn) costars, and really hoped Chelsom would (could?) make another “Funny Bones”-caliber film.
Even when New Line tardily scheduled a last-minute press screening two days before it opened, I still wanted to believe that “T&C” wasn’t the irredemable mess internet scuttlebutt had pegged it as.
While I didn’t “hate” it, the movie still depressed the hell out of me. With “T&C,” Beatty’s moment had officially passed, and there was no way he’d ever get his mojo back again. Sad, sad, sad.
…uh, that should have read “Elfman” (as in “Dharma and Greg” annoyance Jenna Elfman)…
“Though the opening of Adventureland will be seen as soft by some…”
Those people would be correct.
Priceless, Perfecta!
Is there a typo in the list? “I Love You, Man” is ranked ahead of “Knowing” even though it appears to have grossed less for the weekend.
Another “Funny Bones” fanatic here, and Chelsom does inject some personality into “Hannah.” Not enough, but some (and he gets a swell performance from Margo Martindale).
So, can we expect Vin’s price to go back up to 20 mil again?
Has anyone here seen Sin Nombre? I caught a trailer of it before Gomorrah last week and thought it looked pretty badass. The reviews have been pretty great, too. Is it worth seeing?
“And I nearly dropped a brick when I saw the Friday numbers for FURIOUS. Holy shit – who knew?”
Hopefully this opening means that Uni will now pony up for the final part of the Riddick trilogy. It’s become fashionable to bash Diesel, but remember back in 2000, after Private Ryan, Bolier Room and Pitch Black, he really DID seem like the new leading man to watch in the 00’s. It took Rob Cohen and Disney to screw that potential up, but i still like the guy. And i wasn’t in the least bit surprised by this opening – you have no idea how big the DVD following for this franchise is. Smart to open it just before the Summer crush as well.
Like Beatty’s other over-maligned comedy ISHTAR, I simply enjoyed T&C for the madcap farce it was. It has some terrific comedy scenes, and Beatty and Keaton are great together. Though I’m in a “Nuke The NRA” mode, Charlton Heston is a good sport about playing a demented gun nut…I mean, Beatty and Heston together!
Maybe Rob Cohen did screw up that potential, but Vin’s asshole/complete diva personality certainly aided in that.
Considering it was marketed as the successor to Superbad, 5.7 is really soft.
Chalk me up as another Chelsom fan, and FUNNY BONES is indeed one of the most underrated films of the 90s. I guess this means I gotta go seem the damn HANNAH movie now. 🙁
The difference is there’s no bloody period gag in ADVENTURELAND — which might cost it 20 million right there.
I rather like “Ishtar,” Christian, and have always defended it whenever it’s mercilessly mocked as one of the all-time Golden Turkey champs.
But “T&C” is a movie that just felt stale and flat to me most of the time.
As stated earlier, I wanted it to kick ass in a major way since Beatty is one of my all-time greatest heroes.
“Fast & Furious” — New Model. Original Parts.
“Adventureland” — Name-checking “Superbad” and using that movie’s logo in print ads. Ouch!
“Sunshine Cleaning” — Name-checking + double Oscar-Pimping. Went national and wound up soft. Ever heard of product flow?
“Sin Nombre” — Triple name-checking on the film’s website — with the third part an out-and-out lie. The studio that released “Traffic” was USA Films. For this one I smell Arthouse Ghetto.
“Sugar” and “Paris 36” — How half-assed is Sony Pictures Classics? Releasing two titles the same day, both of which underperform. Print ads in NYC have wrong phone numbers for 3 key theaters. Not only that, the “Sugar” trailer omits the HBO Films logo up top and goes about name-checking. Distribute SPC through Columbia TriStar, stat!
Branding!
Did anyone see the Adventureland commercial that included clips of Friends and two other sitcoms (forget which ones)? It was a totally bizarre ad that made punning references to the sitcoms but never explained why their clips were in an ad for a new major release movie.
Adventureland is Miramax’s best recent opening of a movie that opened wide on the break.
Considering that most of their films are platformed should be ignored.
Hannah is far better than it has any right being.
But it’s still a Hannah Montana movie, remember.
cut & pasted from the byob thread, since this is where the ‘funny bones’ love has blossomed, to add my crush:
(movieman, ‘funny bones’ was just on here the other night, such an eclectic little gem, i’m also a fan’; platt is terrific as usual, and jerry lewis does a lovely dramatic turn, great stuff all round)
to whoever mentioned ‘riddick 3’ above, twohy is apparently writing it now
Haven’t seen the Hannah Montana movie playing local yet, long how has it been out in limited release?
“Fast & Furious” — New Model. Original Parts.
“Adventureland” — Name-checking “Superbad” and using that movie’s logo in print ads. Ouch!
“Sunshine Cleaning” — Name-checking + double Oscar-Pimping. Went national and wound up soft. Ever heard of product flow?
“Sin Nombre” — Triple name-checking on the film’s website — with the third part an out-and-out lie. The studio that released “Traffic” was USA Films. For this one I smell Arthouse Ghetto.
“Sugar” and “Paris 36” — How half-assed is Sony Pictures Classics? Releasing two titles the same day, both of which underperform. Print ads in NYC have wrong phone numbers for 3 key theaters. Not only that, the “Sugar” trailer omits the HBO Films logo up top and goes about name-checking. Distribute SPC through Columbia TriStar, stat!”
So Chucky, how will Public Enemies suffer from its own name checking and oscar whoring? South Jersey arthouse ghettos for Michael Mann and Johnny Depp?
…and don’t forget the pre-“There’s Something About Mary” Lee Evans, Leslie Caron and Oliver Reed, too, Leah…
glad we’re in sync: again!
oh yes, movieman, lee evans is terrific in ‘funny bones’, i think he’s the funniest bone, actually!
“Sugar” was the SPC release that got the superior (vastly superior) reviews, and yet the poor-to-middlingly reviewed “Paris 36” did better.
Just goes to show there will always be a market for middle-brow Gallic fare.
Even with the dead-to-me Christian Bale stinking up the screen with another of his supremely boring Charlie Sheen imitations, the “Public Enemies” trailer knocks my socks off every time I’ve seen it (which is probably 20-30 times within the past month alone).
Could this be–gasp!–the film that finally gives Mann an Oscar nomination, and–gasp 2–facilitates Depp’s long overdue Oscar win?
Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?
Lewis, Platt…
…and don’t forget the pre-“There’s Something About Mary” Lee Evans, Leslie Caron and Oliver Reed, too…
….there’s just a lot to love about “Funny Bones,” isn’t there, Leah?
Totally off the grid here, but I watched Lubitsch’s “The Shop Around the Corner” last nite for the first time since college (a double feature w/”It’s a Wonderful Life” at NYC’s late, great Theater 80 St. Marks), and was surprised at how creaky and stagey it seemed.
I’m (semi) embarrassed to admit that I might actually prefer Ephron’s “Shop” “reimagining” “You’ve Got Mail.”
The look on Meg Ryan’s face in the climactic Central Park scene when she finally realizes that it’s Tom Hanks who’s been her internet inamorata all along puts a tear in my eye every damn time.
And tears of joy are always the most satisfying, aren’t they?
Confession: “Sleepless in Seattle” and “Mail” are two movies I can never stop watching whenever I run into them on cable….guess I’m just an old softie at heart, lol.
Major variations re “Paris 36”: Klady estimates 45K from 7, Mojo estimates 72K from 7. Since that pic had better bookings than “Sugar” the higher estimate looks more plausible.
As for jeffmcm I’d like to serve him a nice hot cup of STFU.
‘Even with the dead-to-me Christian Bale stinking up the screen with another of his supremely boring Charlie Sheen imitations…’
that’s fucking priceless, movieman, lol
(i don’t know if you saw my 2:18 post re: evans, seemed to get our wired crossed there)
The reason Mann has yet to get an Oscar nom is because (Ali excepted), all of his movies are marketed as summer action movies rather than Oscar fare.
Still, it’s hard to believe Heat didn’t get an Oscar-nod for Mann.
Having seen F&F before it came out (I did so as a favor, I only saw the first one once and didn’t see the other two) it really is a perfect sequel because it delivers the various combos the audience wanted:
– Hot chicks next to cars.
– Hot cars going really fast
– Cars ramming into bad guys
– plot in less that 10 words
-and most importantly, the ORIGINAL cars.
did all of those things. but yeah, i’m shocked at this opening. I thought it’d do $50M tops. But wow.
Mann was nominated for The Insider.
Mann was nommed for “Insider”? Really?
I’m not surprised that I forgot since it was probably my least favorite Mann to date (excepting “The Keep,” natch).
Russell Crowe’s abysmal “American” accent was probably the culprit. (Although I did like Christopher Plummer’s Mike Wallace.)
Really, Leah. I simply cannot understand how that ever-so-twee wee bairn from “Newsies” and “Empire of the Sun” has suddenly become Hollywood’s go-to guy for $150-million-plus tentpole extravaganzas. Did Bale sell his soul to Satan? Charlie Sheen? (Or are they the same person/being?)
On another (mostly unrelated) note: is Michael Douglas doing a Bob Evans imitation in “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” (or whatever the **** that hellish-looking Jenn Garner/Matt McConaughey rom-com is called)or what? Sure looks that way to me.
“As for jeffmcm I’d like to serve him a nice hot cup of STFU.”
Chucky, I didn’t even say anything to you today. Yesterday I was completely justified in pointing out your illogical and nonsensical posting. Today I would ask how you justify bashing your hated ‘name-checking’ when it succeeded with one movie (Fast & Furious) and not with another (Adventureland)? The obvious answer is that it’s an irrelevant factor that audiences care about as much as what font the posters are in.
And please don’t pretend like you’re a rational person when you persistently prove otherwise. When you start making sense, we can talk.
I see Fast & Furious has a Saturday drop. What’s the over/under on next weekend’s drop? Will it beat Friday the XIIV?
Bet it drops MORE than Watchmen.
Yeah, and Ishtar? Not so bad, it just shouldn’t have cost so bloody much to make.
I just saw ADVENTURELAND and I am SPEECHLESS.
To watch K-STEW in this movie is what it must have been like to behold James Dean in 1955.
Expect nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Eisenberg), Best Actress In the History of the Universe (K-STEW), Best Supporting Actress (Margarita Levieta), Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Reynolds).
That movie OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWNED.
And that Scott Baio/Scott Colomby dude was the greatest thing ever.
Only issue: Despite the 1987 musical choices and a few random fashions, why did everything else about it SCREAM 1980? Why not just set it in ’80?
BOW.
“I see Fast & Furious has a Saturday drop. What’s the over/under on next weekend’s drop? Will it beat Friday the XIIV?”
I was wondering the same thing. Is sub-$20 million a fair guess?
Lex- My major gripe with “Adventureland” is that its western PA setting seemed awfully Long Island-Jewish.
Did they film it at Pittsburgh’s Kennywood Park (an hour from my home btw) because no Long Island (or New Jersey) amusement park would grant them a shooting permit? Considering the lack of defining characteristics they got from their actual Pennsylvanial setting, I’m guessing…uh, yeah, probably.
And while I’ve loved Ryan Reynolds since “Van Wilder,” I never quite believed him as a wannabe rocker forced to work as a handyman at some rundown Pittsburgh amusement park (and trysting with nubile teens in his mom’s basement). Maybe he’s played too many grown-up roles in recent years (“Chaos Theory,” “Definitely Maybe,” “The Nines”) for me to make the required leap of faith.
But I do hope that you remember I’m the one who first alerted you to K-stew’s “Adventureland” genius several weeks ago…
Movieman….
Good points, but to my clueless eye, I thought the locale work seemed pretty good, very naturalistic and convincing. But I’ll grant you that no one was rocking a setting-appopriate thick accent, which some of those kids definitely would have had; Every PA mook I’ve ever met has a thicker regional accent than Monument Ave-era Denis Leary.
Name-checking = cronyism. Oscar-Pimping = cronyism. All who believe cronyism is cool must love Big Government.
If you can’t get a job in Cali you can always feed on the trough in D.C.
jeffmcm@433: My post from yesterday was completely logical and several people on this forum backed me up. As the saying goes, you can dish it out but you can’t take it.
Own him, Chucky! OWN HIM!
Chucky: Here, take this steel chair and bash him.
LexG: Monument Avenue rules.
Movieman: If you looked up the term “guilty pleasure” in the dictionary, you’d see a poster for Van Wilder next to it.
…the guiltiest of pleasures indeed, Joe.
I’ll be the first to admit that “Van Wilder” is puerile, gross and (to be kind) indifferently directed, but Reynolds is just so damn appealing/charming/fill in the blank (SNL-era Chevy Chase w/ beaucoup sex appeal) that resistance is futile.
Imagine, say, a late ’80s Judd Nelson playing Van, and you’ll appreciate Reynolds’ mastery of the role.
…make that: “Reynolds’ complete and utter mastery of the role.”
Too bad the Kal Penn-toplining “VW” sequel was so inconsequential and dull.
movieman, why do you hate Christian Bale? Because he stars in blockbusters? Then why do you like Johnny Depp? In the last five years, Bale has worked with Herzog, Malick, Mann and Nolan. The only weak link in there is McG, but you being a movie critic shouldn’t judge a movie before you’ve seen it. You did it with TDK and now you are doing it to Terminator Salvation. Why has he sold out, if he stills gives good performances in the big tentpole movies, like Depp. Everyone sells out at some point, like Penn playing a Stooge. Bale is a long way away from becoming Nic Cage.
movie — they shot at kennywood but dressed it to resemble the now gone adventureland in farmingdale, ny (where mottola worked)….
and, fwiw, ‘newsies’ sits on my bad movies we love shelf…..
Monco- I actually have more respect for McG (“Full Throttle” was the best LA valentine since “Into the Night,” and “We Are Marshall” made me cry) than I do for Bale.
He’s an insufferable little twit who happens to do a pretty decent vocal imitation of Charlie Sheen.
And where do you get the idea that I prejudged “Dark Knight”? Geez. I gave it a mixed 2 1/2 star review (upgraded to a “mildly favorable” 3 stars after a second viewing on dvd). Like most sentient grown-ups I’m bored to tears at the prospect of another “Terminator” flick (especially after the 2003 Claire Danes stinker), but “Public Enemies” is one of the few big studio pics of the summer that I’m actually enthused about.
Will McG turn me into a believer? I hope so.
Will Mann disappoint? Hopefully not.
But I certainly haven’t written my reviews of either film yet.
Furthermore, I seriously doubt whether Bale will ever become the actor that Depp is (he lacks the range or depth of character), although I will admit that he gave the best performance of his career in Malick’s tragically misunderstood/underrated “New World.”
I simply can’t fathom why Bale is currently getting all of the tentpole-hero roles (at least the ones not going to Shia LaBeouf). Seriously: what’s wrong with American actors?
Dude simply isn’t that good.
…and no way does Chris Nolan belong in the same company as master auteurs like Herzog, Mann and Malick….
I still think Nolan’s best film is his 2002 “Insomnia” remake.
Moviemaker: Funny you should mention Chevy Chase in that context.
http://www.movingpictureshow.com/archives/mpsNatLampoonVan.htm
monco, so movieman doesn’t groove on the actor that is christian bale, big deal, people are allowed to not care for certain actors, it’s an inalienable right! no skin off your nose…(tho say what you will about bale he was freakin’ legend in ‘the machinist’)
’empire of the sun’ – my third fave spielberg
insomnia – the best nolan
chucky, nobody backed you up
scoot, my ‘bad movies i love’ shelf is chokka!
titles, leah?
movieman: Dude, somehow your April Fool’s Day joke about preferring You’ve Got Mail to The Shop Around the Corner got dated April 5th instead of the 1st. 🙂
scoot, i just wrote out an epic list of the ‘bad movies i love’ that i happen to own – most of them on VHS – complete with accompanying blather, and i lost it all somehow trying to preview it before posting – just ‘poof’, gone, and i’m too fucking annoyed-slash-heartbroken-slash-tired to try to reconstruct what i wrote right now, just so you know, i’m not being rude and ignoring you or anything. i might give it another go tomorrow if i get the chance 🙁 sad me
Joe- Glad to see that we’re on the same page re: Reynolds, “Van Wilder” and the whole (C) Chase thing. Great minds do think alike, lol.
But I kind of dug “Big Trouble,” too.
Don’t get me wrong, Yancy. I’m a Lubitsch fan(atic) from way back (“Trouble in Paradise” is one of my all-time faves), but
“Shop” simply didn’t hold up for me last weekend (“creaky” and “stagey” were just two of the adjectives that sprung to mind).
And remember, I said that I “might actually prefer” Ephron’s “Mail.”
Personally I wish that more H’wood rom-coms were as effervescent, witty and beautifully played as Ephron’s two Hanks-Ryan starrers. That’s probably why I never get tired of them.
Leah- The next time you get a “sign in” directive after attempting to post a comment, go back to your original posting, copy it, sign in (again!), paste it and you’ll still have your initial post without having to start from scratch.
I learned that the hard way, and it’s saved me a lot of trouble/grief since Typepad became such a cruel mistress.
Don’t have a comprehensive list of Bad movies I love but Grease 2 has got to be the top of the heap, can’t seem to turn it off when I come across it on cable (and it seems to play every other weekend).
And I don’t think anyone else has mentioned this but if the F&F estimate holds it will have beaten Lost World to become Uni’s best opening of all time. I couldn’t beleive that Lost World held the title for so long (all the other majors have 100+ openers) and that of all the movies to beat it this one gets the title.
Factor in ticket-price inflation and “The Lost World” had a better opening, plus it was a holiday-weekend release in the States.
Speaking of “The Lost World” it’s one sequel that’s better than the original and holds up on its own.
If you factor in inflation, there are plenty of Universal Films that had a bigger opening. And you can make the argument that the holiday release would work towards its advantage inflating the gross and therefore make F&F more impressive. My point I was trying to make was that in this day of mega-openers Universal has never crossed 75 which I found strange.
And I could not disagree more with you on Lost World, I like it a lot more than most people (hell I even enjoyed 3 and will be there if they ever get the fourth off the ground) but it is certainly not better than Jurrasic Park. Vaughn is awful as the macho hero, Goldblum is annoying in the lead, and having the kid stowaway was a terrible idea. I did like the action sequences and there were plenty of tense moments but it just didn’t have the sense of wonder that Park had.
Plus they left out the two great action sequences from the book, a motorcycle/Dino chase that slalomed through a herd of Brontos, and the discovery of a batch of chameleon-like Raptors.
“Speaking of “The Lost World” it’s one sequel that’s better than the original and holds up on its own.”
Au contraire, The Lost World is by far the worst movie in Spielberg’s canon and one of the worst films of the past 20 years.
I would put Hook, Crystal Skull, and Last Crusade beneath Lost World on the Speilberg List and I think I’ve seen about at least a hundred films in the past 20 years that were inferior to Lost World.
Agreed. For me the worst movie in Spielberg’s career is Hook, although it’s a close race between it and Always. Hook wins because Always is boring, but not aggressively irritating.
I have also seen multiple hundreds of movies made since 1989 that are worse than The Lost World.
Seeing that 1997 had Flubber, The Postman, Batman and Robin, Kull the Conquer, Spawn, Speed 2, A Simple Wish, G.I. Jane, Nothing to Lose, Home Alone 3, Addicted to Love, For Richer or Poorer, and a Mortal Combat sequel, it wasn’t even one of the worst films of that year.
In a fair universe, Vince Vaughn would have been eaten in The Lost World due to unloading the hunter’s rifle. The T-Rex would be coming at Vaughn, and the hunter tires to shoot it…but clicks empty and Vaughn gets killed. As is, he just helped to kill many OTHER people. In fact, you could pretty much put the entire death toll on Vaughn since they wouldn’t have been stuck on the island to begin with if he hadn’t sabotaged the other camp.
And he was supposed to be one of the heroes!
“I have also seen multiple hundreds of movies made since 1989 that are worse than The Lost World.”
Not I. Considering the budget, the pedigree of the cast and crew and my personal expectations going into the film, I can safely say that it was my least favorite filmgoing experience of the past 20 years. My loathing for The Lost World remains vivid, and I haven’t seen the damn thing since I almost walked out on it back in ’97.
Okay, but there’s a big difference between ‘least favorite’ and worst. I mean, you have to at least give the movie credit for its technical accomplishments, Spielberg’s command of the set pieces, Kaminski’s cinematography, etc etc. I mean, the gymnastics scene with Goldblum’s daughter is ludicrous, but it’s still better than anything in Mr. Magoo (also 1997).
Based on budget and expectations you can certainly make the case, and of course everyone has their own taste.
There was a little blink or you miss it bit that always infuriated me about the Vaughn character. They make a big deal about the good guys having no impact and simply observing but when they are heading down the trail after getting the camp trashed, Vaughn very clearly LITTERS. So this intense greenpeace guy doesn’t get the most simple environmental message of the last 40 years that every grade school kid knows, which is DONT THROW YOUR SHIT ON THE GROUND.
LOST WORLD was the first Spielberg film where I felt he was simply phoning it in. But the worst thing is if they had actually filmed Crichton’s novel it coulda been great.
TOKYO DRIFT is awesome. The opening credits high school montage scored by that Mos Def/DJ Shadow song owns anything in 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS.
And Lucas Black should be the fourth-biggest star in American film (after Cruise, Wahlberg and Walker.)
I wish I could be more like Lucas Black. I’d go around being awesome all day. That guy needs to be in more shit. Which reminds me, I need to find my taped-off cable copy of Deepwater.
And I think Justin Lin might be pretty awesome, as I’ve liked BLT, Annapolis, and both his Furious movies…
That Bruce Lee thing he did can’t be THAT bad, can it?
Also that Eurasian chick in THE DRIFT is hot as hell and Lucas Black should’ve taxed that shit like fucking IRS.
I’ve only seen two Justin Lin movies, Tokyo Drift, which made me snoozy but at least had some good action sequences and color, and Finishing the Game, and you know that saying about how there’s nothing worse than bad comedy? Finishing the Game is very, very bad comedy. It’s literally like a bunch of lame high school kids got together to make their own Waiting for Guffman.
“Agreed. For me the worst movie in Spielberg’s career is Hook, although it’s a close race between it and Always. Hook wins because Always is boring, but not aggressively irritating.”
In a completely unintended way, Hook has actually gotten better with age. Given that it was made just before CGI took over, you can actually make the case that it’s the last authentic old-school HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER!, in that it tries to wow us with enormous sets and crowds of extras, you know, actual physical production values. Give it a reappraisal on Superbit DVD, and if by force of will you can blank out the dopey stuff, there’s some gold in there.
Oh and Lex is on the money with his praise of Lucas Black, that dude doesn’t get the props he deserves. Watch him be awesome in Jarhead, and his Winchell in Friday Night Lights just breaks your heart.
Excuse me – has IO posted lately?
http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story/Man-shoots-himself-during-Watchmen-movie/H0qmxSQyCkim5hh80WuOSA.cspx
“Okay, but there’s a big difference between ‘least favorite’ and worst. I mean, you have to at least give the movie credit for its technical accomplishments, Spielberg’s command of the set pieces, Kaminski’s cinematography, etc etc. I mean, the gymnastics scene with Goldblum’s daughter is ludicrous, but it’s still better than anything in Mr. Magoo (also 1997).”
I never saw Mr. Magoo, so you got me there.
But overall, I dismiss your argument. There is no difference between “worst” and “least favorite” in my opinion. Film, an artform, cannot be quantified by any reasonable metric, so personal opinion is all one can go by when assessing the relative merit of movies.
I’ve seen Troll 2 and I’ve seen Jurassic Park 2. The former is better than the latter.
IMO.
I guess I’m just questioning your criteria. Granted, in an art form, personal opinion can’t ever be truly ‘rational’ or quantifiable, but I think we can do our best
The Lost World, by virtue of having redeemable features, is superior to Mr. Magoo, which has none.
(Troll 2 is highly entertaining, for sure. But unintentionally.)
moveiman: thanks for that good advice, i normally do copy my comment if it’s longer than a few lines because i’ve lost stuff in the past when typepad seems to disconnect on some whim, but i was tired last night, making what happened all the more deflating, no doubt.
re: ‘the lost world’, i don’t know if it’s spielberg’s worst movie, he’s done a few real stinkipoopers, but to my way of thinking it’s the worst page-to-screen adaptation of a crichton novel ever, and that’s saying a lot.
like cadavra said, the novel as written could have made a brilliant action/ adventure flick, but instead david koepp and spielberg inexplicably butchered crichton’s tale for no good reason whatsoever and turned it into a big heartless, pointless, messy piece of shiny, forgettable, non-entertaining hockum. the thing is, a movie can be ‘well-made’ and still be terrible; ‘the lost world’ is a PERFECT example of this. just a big waste of a talented cast and an opportunity in general. blech.
anywhoo, these are some of the ‘so bad they are good!’ flicks for which i have a soft spot in my movie library (though tbh they don’t have their own shelf, they’re just scattered willy-nilly in with the other well-behaved movies), mostly on VHS, in no particular order:
congo
grizzly (70’s version, in case i missed a remake)
they live (carpenter’s)
corvette summer
the warriors
cannonball run
commando
airport ’77
ghost shit (i mean ‘ship’, and the fact munder is one fine bit of kiwi scruff does help)
flash gordon
cobra
red sonja
howard the duck
what dreams may come
hudson hawk
red dawn
commando
DOA (quaid/ryan version)
superman IV
howling VI: the freaks
of course, a ‘bad’ movie is a totally subjective term and ‘movies so bad they are good’ is even more subjective, i get that. these are just the some of the ones i bothered to collect out of the bargain bins over the years because they are ‘so deliciously bad’ in my book
They Live and The Warriors aren’t ‘so bad they’re good’. They’re both legitimately good.
jeff, i should probably watch ‘the warriors’ again, i haven’t seen it in yonks, but i’ve always thought it deliciously bad – and taken waaay too seriously (hill’s ‘director’s cut’, which i don’t own but i saw a while back, is very bizarre; he’s taken a terrific cult ‘so bad it’s good’ movie – imho – and made it just plain flat-out bad! what’s up with that?)
forgot to mention re: crichton adaptations, i’d rather watch the deliciously bad hilarity that is ‘congo’ than the big, soulless bore that is ‘the lost world’ any day, at least ‘congo’ has cheek
Leahnz, THE WARRIORS is a pretty respected and integral part of Walter Hill’s oeuvre, and taken on its own mock comic book epic terms, is his best film in a lot of ways. I didn’t see his reboot tho…and THEY LIVE is certainly one of Carpenter’s minor great films – -just for the anti-Reagan theme in the very Reagan era….
leah — thanks…i don’t know why but it always fascinates me…congo and airport ’77, yay!
top of my list:
the apple
showgirls
inside daisy clover
valley of the dolls
beyond the valley of the dolls
phantom of the paradise
raising cain
the big cube
the group
myra breckenridge
magic christian
skidoo
can’t stop the music
these were movies i absolutely, positively had to own…and they get watched maybe once a year….
yeah, i knew people would likely defend ‘the warriors’ and i’m aware it’s revered as a cult classic, but i stand by my opinion that it’s ‘so bad it’s good’ because…that’s my opinion. i grew up with it (and many of hill’s films), i’m not overawed by it as many people seem to be; i happen to find it ridiculously overdone and overrated, and that’s why i love it, because it takes itself so absurdly seriously.
as for ‘they live’ (a staple in our house, my boy watches it quite a bit, he loves it – as do i) it’s unbelievably cheesy and badly acted and silly, but absolutely terrific, one of my fave carpenters (‘so bad it’s good’)
thanks for sharing, scoot! (i didn’t see your list somehow before i posted)
Leah, you have Commando on there twice. Is one supposed to be the sequel. Personally, it wouldn’t have made the list. I think I would’ve had Night of the Comet, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, DC Cab and The Last Starfighter on that list as well. Maybe a Cheech & Chong movie but I think a couple could be recommended w/out shame.
As for They Live, how does a film w/one of the top quotable lines of dialog in the history of cinema along with along with arguably THE greatest fight scene in North American history make the list???
that should be N American “cinema” history. I hope you guys wouldn’t think I’d put it above Hagler/Hearns or Arguello/Pyror.
Not to mention a stunningly brilliant high-concept — it can’t be compared to any of the lamentable HOWLING sequels…plus Roddy Piper is damn good.
uh, ‘commando’ is on there twice because i’m retarded! (there’s a ‘commando’ sequel?)
perhaps i should clarify my ‘bad movies i love’ sub-categories, of which to my mind there are 4:
1) movies that may exhibit some misguided flair or imagination, but are just so horrendously bad they’re a hoot (‘congo’, ‘howard the duck’, ‘howling 6’, ‘flash gordon’)
2) action or horror movies that are cringe-inducingly cheesy, silly, preposterous, often badly acted and cornball out the wazoo, all of which makes them bad, but they’re possessed of charisma and characters you root for, oddly compelling and effective in their own way (‘they live’, ‘commando’, ‘cobra’, ,’red dawn’, ‘ghost shit’)
3) movies that take themselves sooo seriously as to be ridiculously over-dramatic, overwrought and overblown (such as ‘the warriors’, ‘airport ’77’, ‘what dreams may come’)
2) movies that try really hard to be ‘good’ but are just plain lame, nothing truly inventive or remarkable about them and yet for some bizarre reason they hold your attention right to the crappy end (such as ‘DOA’, ‘hudson hawk’, ‘corvette summer’, ‘grizzly’; these are perhaps the most baffling of the ‘bad movies i love’ to me, as i couldn’t really say why i like watching them as opposed to other bad movies i have no desire to watch ever again…very mysterious)
of course the four categories often intermingle, making for a delight soup of badness to love!
i do realise 4) actually follows 3), not 2) (i’m not that retarded)
My opinion is that if you think the fight scene in They Live is one of the greatest fights ever, you were most likely in high school when you saw it. That shit is WAY overrated by nostalgic fans. I’m sorry, but a ten minute fight in the middle of a semi-good movie over putting on a pair of shades…not quite making that for me!
Although I love Congo so what do I know?
And I adore CORVETTE SUMMER…Saw it at the drive-in!
CONGO, like LOST WORLD, was a terrific Crichton novel that got butchered en route to screen.
I must defend RAISING CAIN–DePalma engaging in a little self-mockery, with a whale of a performance by the always marvelous John Lithgow and an almost-as-good one from the divine Frances Sternhagen; the scene where Gregg Henry pretends to break the fourth wall by kinda-sorta telling her to stay with the Steadicam had me on the floor.
Things learned from the last 5 posts:
1) 50ish Christian is way too old for his Portland Hippie politics.
2) In addition to being aggessively irrelevant, unpleasant, unfunny, petty, clueless, ironic, uncreative and a name-dropping poseur TOOL, Big Perm is like 19 years old, 25 tops. Something I’ve suspected since his admission that he’s never been cognizant of black-and-white TVs existing in his lifetime. Though the Kami-esque reckless sociapathy of youth of his bullshit name-drop-heavy hayseed posts should’ve made all that shit evident long ago. Come back in ten years when you’ve attained some pathos, college kid.
Oh, for the record, I barely give a shit what Bitch Perm does or says, and when he posts on straight movie shit he’s capable enough of being interesting and sometimes I agree with his points, and if he just posted like a smart film dude, there’d be no issue. I just don’t know why the guy’s MO is to post like a TOTAL PRICK about shit, always with this snide downcast asshole attitude. (I like They Live fine but his thoughts on it aren’t entirely inaccurate or enough to persuade me one way or another; Just his tone is always so un-light and un-fun and prickish and, well, unpleasant.)
People here talk about ME slumming. BP is perfectly capable of regulation film nerd chat, but he’s the fucking CROWN ROYALE (whatever that means) of the impotent boasting that IO and the Lexman get accused of.
But, oops, he doesn’t use all caps so he’s all good with the status quo, but me and IO are fucking EVIL for employing the MOST INTIMIDATING CAPS LOCK DEVICE.
Hey, son, it’s all working out for you in life? Seriously, mad fucking props. But if you’re really pulling the scams you claim, you wouldn’t be on the Cold Blog boasting, you’d be doing it. Fess it up, we know it’s part of your MO not to give anything up but to seize on everyone else’s honesty, but come on, man:
You’re like 18 years old with your backwater hick ass.
“50ish Christian is way too old for his Portland Hippie politics.”
Where did that come from? Because I liked CORVETTE SUMMER? I’m closer to your age Lex, so not sure where you get your political age/stats from…And are you saying that people over 50 aren’t liberal or progressive?
Remember Lex, only willful fools think Bush owns. And since the average age for FOXNews viewers is 60ish, you’re actually way too young to be so old…and yet you’re too old to be acting like you’re still 18. I await an all-caps report from your experience at HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE…
50 YEAR OLDS should be more realistic and face the music: The world is bullshit, there’s no improving it, everyone on the plant is an asshole, life sucks, and poor people are kind of annoying anyway. Like, just make some money or something. Rich people are fucking awesome. Or just drink up and ADMIT your contempt for others.
And, yeah, that’s kind of snide, but most of the rabid liberals both here and on HE would jaywalk against 300 speeding cars of oncoming L.A. traffic to avoid breathing the same air as someone beneath their station, or go out of their way to condescend to someone not as in “the game” as they are. So excuse me if I take anyone’s trendy bullshit liberal politics with a GRAIN of fucking salt.
Because across the HB and the HE, I don’t exactly see you OBAMANIACS upholding your ROYAL LEADER’S spirit of bonhommie and openheartedness.
Big Perm – the gauntlet was thrown down to name an equal or better fight scene. That’s it. Not premise behind or plotting device, fight scene. Sure, the Chuckles the Clown episode of Mary Tyler Moore barely gets a chuckle now and people’ll sit through the entire Exorcist wondering when the scary parts are coming, we got all that. But until you rattle off 9 or 10 better fight sequences, heck name enough to push it out of the top 5, I’ll maintain my position.
PS, wasn’t it just last week I mentioned my college days of getting blitzed in the parking lot before going to midnight showings of They Live??
Man, taking positions to arguments that aren
I agree They Live is an actual good movie as opposed to a guilty pleasure. Kudos for the Cannonball Run shout-out. Can anyone have a so bad they’re good list without a Burt Reynolds film? Here are some of mine;
Grease 2
Streets of Fire
Great White Hype
Walker
Smokey and the Bandit 2
The Rookie (Eastwood/Sheen)
Psycho (Van Sant’s version)
A Fine Mess
King Kong (Jeff Bridges as Wolfman Jack version)
The Beastmaster
Real Men
Stephen Sommers Mummy movies
Incredible Shrinking Woman
Flash Gordon
Besides the incredible cheesiness, Flash Gordon had the second greatest theme song in the history of film.
Is there a c
Wow, who pissed in Lex’s mouth? For someone who doesn’t care about me he sure did write a lot! In a typical whiny douchebaggy way. What’s the matter Lex, realize once again that your life is shit?
Triple Option…let’s see, better fights…in order to make a more fair comparison to They Live I won’t count fights with weapons like swords and such.
The ending to Drunken Master 2…hell, ANY Jackie Chan movie made in the 80s but to be fair I’ll only use his top one.
The bathroom fight in The Warriors.
James Bond’s fight in the train in From Russia with Love.
Arnold vs T-1000.
Indiana Jones airplane fight. I’d also suggest the fight on the conveyor belt in the sequel.
For cheesy 80s fights I’d prefer even The Karate Kid or Roadhouse.
Bruce Lee!
Donnie Yen in Sha Po Lang…pick one!
I like Bourne vs the assassin in the first one.
Jet Li in Fist of Legend. My favorite is where he fights the other student.
These are all off the top of my head and I’m sure there’s more, but in my opinion any of these fights are better than the one in They Live. They all have more energy and are germane to the characters and have bearing on the story.
Can I also second the love that Cadavra brings for Raising Cain? That movie is so batshit and nonsensical I have no idea what DePalma was going for. I wish he would make another movie like that.
Also, I’d like to mention that I have no idea what Triple Option is saying in hislast sentence. I assume it’s aimed at me but I don’t take stock of what he posted weeks ago and wasn’t really using his words to make a joke at him…so I guess fail on me, for some vague reason.
Big Perm – Half that list are Asian films. I clearly stated North American.
Ahnuld – makes the list.
Indy? I’d say great immediate tension but not a better battle.
“Sweep the leg!” Talk about living in nostalgia. Will have to go back and review as a whole. A little too stop-go-stop-go to compete w/the fluid motion of They Live though.
“Rich people are fucking awesome. Or just drink up and ADMIT your contempt for others.”
You are so nullifyingly clueless about me or actual reality that it’s pointless to try and debate you on any level…but I’m a liberal sucker. Otherwise I would treat your stale Tom Leykis philosophical droppings with the hand up they deserve…
You hate yourself Lex, we got it. Don’t project your hatred onto others. A classic symptom.
Hey, I said Karate Kid was cheesy. No nostalgia there.
And you never said “name me a Noth American fight.” You said “name me a fight.” I see waaaay up above you used “North American,” but I was going off your last posting where you just said to name fights. So I did.
And if you’re not counting the premise, but just the pure technical quality of the fight…sure it’s good, but not like, AMAZING. It’s mostly one guy hits another a few times, he falls down. Gives hand. Headbutt, a few more punches. On and on.
The fight in 48 Hours was good. Clockwork Orange had a great fight (would you consider that an English movie?). End of Lethal Weapon. Cape Fear fight in the boat. A lot of old Westerns had pretty decent ones.
Anyone seen Dark of the Sun, aka The Mercenaries? Awesome fight in the end of that one. Raging Bull. Rocky. Stallone busting out of jail in First Blood.
Die Hard.
I absolutely love The Mummy and The Mummy Returns! I haven’t most of the films listed besides Ghost Ship, Van Sant’s Psycho, about half of What Dreams May Come, and a tiny bit of Congo.
You must see ALL of Congo.
And if you haven’t seen Warriors or streets of fire they would make a great double feature. Early Walter Hill is fantastic, though I would stay away from the Driver it stars that black hole of hollywood charisma Ryan O’Neal. I can understand the star appeal of almost everyone else in the history of movies, but why they kept putting that guy in front of a camera perplexes me.
The Driver is a half-assed Le Samurai and O’Neal is boring, but Dern is fun and the chases are fantastic.
Deadfall. Nic Cage’s performance in that one is the one ring to rule them all.
Deadfall is CLASSIC. It’s a completely standard sort of boring movie…until Nic Cage shows up. He’s obviously doing anything he wants with nobody telling him “no.” And he singlehandedly makes the movie awesome. I wish we’d see a few more Nic Cage weird performances like the old days. People now act like he’s lost his acting ability, but I say he acts exactly the same now as when he started, it’s just that now he’s in serious movies instead of Raising Arizona. He’s lost nothing, he just hasn’t changed.
Zandalee FUCKING RULES.