Back with a new topic for the week...
Pick a movie in any director or actor's filmography that you would like to simply erase. A movie that made you lose a little respect for that individual or that bombed so bad that it caused a career downward spiral that you wish had never had happened (or for any other reason you can think of). But just pick 1 film, because I hope this will be a recurring topic from month-to-month.
Oh, and just so you know Hook and Jack are disqualified from consideration, because they honestly never happened... no matter if you have warm fuzzy nostalgic feelings for them or not, they're not up for discussion.
My pick, in dishonor of his recent decision to become The Incredible Hulk is Edward Norton. Personally, I think he's too good an actor to be resorting to cheesy comic book movies directed by that Transporter guy and this has paycheck written all over it. But on top of that, Norton has been making a number of craptacular mainstream films due to commitments (The Italian Job) or the fact that he lost his damned mind (Red Dragon) and Hulk looks like a continuation of this trend.
However, my choice for the film to scratch out is Keeping the Faith. Edward Norton's directorial debut was a freakin' romantic comedy? Are you kidding me? And this is the film he chooses to follow up Fincher's masterpiece Fight Club with?
Now Keeping the Faith is hardly something to get riled up over. It's trivial. It's not terrible. But it seems so out of touch with what Norton does best (act?) that I can't believe he felt it would be a good idea. This is an actor whose best roles came in nihilistic tales, skinhead roles, or as a choir boy murderer. Plus, Norton seems like he'd be a natural for the director's chair, so when he chooses a project that required little effort or directorial touch, I scoff.
The main reason I want to erase Faith is to give Norton a second chance to debut his own film. Maybe that would have helped us avoid Dragon and The Italian Job. Hell, he's had the movie Motherless Brooklyn lined up for over three years as his follow-up in the chair... I've read that book. That should have been his debut. So when/if it ever finally opens, I'll brainwash myself into thinking it's only the beginning of the auteur part of his career.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Scratch That (#1)
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8 comments:
My pick is for Johnny Depp’s Nick of Time. Now granted Johnny Depp is not known for his fantastic roles in movies, I like a majority of what I have seen. Nick of Time is a completely different story. I absolutely hated this movie. I could not even finish it. To let you now how big of a statement that is for a Johnny Depp movie, I did finish his The Ninth Gate. That movie was pretty awful, but I got through it. Nick of Time however makes me just want to cry to think Johnny Depp did it. I don’t even really remember the plot that well (for what I did see of it), but I do remember absolutely hating it. I tried to talk myself into the fact that it didn’t exist lol, but that didn’t get rid of it.
Not gonna give my choice yet....got some thinking to do. But I will fight back against the comments made about The Ninth Gate.
The Ninth Gate is one of the most awesomely bad films ever made. It sucks....but it sucks awesomely. Meaning? I would choose to watch The Ninth Gate over either Pirates of the Caribbean flick any day.
I know this isn't in keeping with the post per se, but Im instead going to acknowledge the awfulness that has been Ben Kingsleys last four years. He was on a role with both Sexy Beast and House of Sand and Fog, than he must have filed for bankruptcy because it must be all about the paychecks now. He did Thunderbirds, Suspect Zero, Sound of Thunder, Bloodrayne and Lucky NUmber Slevin. What the hell happened, Ghandi!
Bill Murray as Garfield. Need I say more.
Let me close quickly by saying, last time I saw Nick of Time, I remembered liking it. I was 13, but I think I found the whole real time aspect to be a novel idea. I think we all can agree that it isn't a novel concept anymore. Besides his worst movie has to be that atrocious Astronauts Wife. That sucked hard.
Dude. I dug Lucky Number Slevin. Nothing all that spectacular, but compared to the rest of the crap that he had done in the given time period, it is certainly a high point.
It's another case of style of substance, but it was fun, bloody, violent, and the acting overall was good. Nothing compared to the greatness he has achieved at other times during his career, but just about a billion times better than Bloodrayne and Suspect Zero.
Oh...and agreed about Astronaut's Wife. Man that was a big ole steamer.
Wow, I kind of love how this post turned into a backhanded slap at the face of Johnny Depp.
Nick of Time, The Ninth Gate and The Astronaut's Wife. Great stuff. Hell, I'll break my own rule and throw From Hell in as another craptacular Depp film.
And I'm sure we all like Depp (well probably), but he does get involved in his fair share of bad films. I guess that's what you get with taking risks on lower profile projects - for every Ed Wood we eat up, we get a Chocolat that doesn't quite digest.
I thought From Hell was great. Really dug the graphic novel, and I dug the flick even more. Also one of the rumored suspects as Jack the Ripper is a distant relative of mine, so I find the story fascinating. Anyways I think the Hughes bros are great, and wished they made more flicks. I think they have one coming out soon though.
Though I will say Chocolat wasnt good. I found it boring fluff. Though it made me hungry for chocolate, though when am I not.
Really? A From Hell supporter?
Honestly, I don't remember much of that film, but what I do... I didn't much like. Heather Graham was brutal and I thought they horribly butchered the story of Jack the Ripper. I, like you, was very intrigued in it before I saw it. But I thought it was much like The Libertine where a good-to-great Depp performance was completely undermined by poor, lifeless direction and even art direction so bland it carried over to the experience of the film.
Eh, at least you agree that Chocolat was a total bore.
There are so many choices. So, I'll come up with a few.
Marlon Brando. I know he did some bad flicks...but bar none...the worst...The Island of Dr. Moreau. It was toward the very end of his career...only 3 films after this one. This was a truly awful film. A needless remake of a decent film...and a horrible adaptation of a great novel. And worse. A bad performance from a once great actor. This movie just made me sad...and the worst part was...that he never really got a chance to make it up to us. To go out with a bang. Luckily, we have so many more wonderful performances that we can forgive him this disaster.
Peter Sarsgaard: Man. I am in love with Sarsgaard. And his lovely wife. Petey here was on a roll. Shattered Glass, Garden State, and Kinsey. And he celebrates how? By doing The Skeleton Key and Flightplan. Dear god why? Luckily for us...he then did Jarhead. But still....Flightplan?!?!?
I was going to say Julianne Moore. I think she is an incredibly talented actress...but it seems like for every good movie she does, she does an awful one. Case in point: Children of Men to Next.
Ok....good for now. As for the Johnny Depp debate. I like From Hell as well. And Chocolat sucked pretty damn hard.
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