Wonderful Things in Mediocre (or Just Plain Bad) Movies

[Annber03]

@MagnusHex - great call with Urban Legend! I remember really liking that movie as a teenager, and then I saw it again a few years ago and, yeah, like you said, it's got a lot of flaws to it.

But yes, that opening scene is really well done and genuinely creepy. I get a kick out of the fact that you weren't familiar with the "killer in the backseat" legend - I would've thought that'd be one that would have popularity in various parts of the world, but then again, America has a particular kind of history with cars that doesn't seem to be as big a thing in some other parts of the world, so that could explain that, too. It's interesting how different areas of the world have their own legends and stories of that sort, and what ones gain popularity and what ones aren't as well known and whatnot. 

[proserpina65]

On 1/22/2022 at 12:33 AM, andromeda331 said:

How did they get Michael Sheen?! 

Probably the same way Jaws: the Revenge got Michael Caine.  By offering him a lot of money.

[kiddo82]

Scream 3 is easily the weakest in the series for me but the climax is still pretty fun.  The line "Oh why don't you stop your whining and get on with it?  I've heard this shit before!  You know why you kill people, Roman, do you?  Because you choose to, there is no one else to blame!  Why don't you take some fucking responsibility!?" makes up for a lot of sins.  I just feels so good to hear and it's aged better than it was probably ever intended to.  

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Scream 3 is easily the weakest in the series for me but the climax is still pretty fun.  The line "Oh why don't you stop your whining and get on with it?  I've heard this shit before!  You know why you kill people, Roman, do you?  Because you choose to, there is no one else to blame!  Why don't you take some fucking responsibility!?" makes up for a lot of sins.  I just feels so good to hear and it's aged better than it was probably ever intended to.  

That's my favorite part. So many movies and TV shows would have her agree with him or some crap. Nope, not Sidney. Go Sidney!

[Spartan Girl]

Dudley Do-Right was dumb, but it’s got some moments. Alfred Molina clearly put his all being into Snidley Whiplash and this line was classic:

Also this moment deserves some mention since in light of current pop culture discourse about villains and antiheroes:

 

[Spartan Girl]

Ghost of Girlfriends Past sucked but I have to give it credit for having Matthew McConaughey calling out the double standard of Lacey Chabert being mad at his brother for cheating on her years back with her bridesmaid before they were serious, and yet NOT being mad at said bridesmaid even though she was her friend and equally culpable. And even better, him also figuring out that she was just using the affair to cover up the fact that she was getting cold feet.

[Shannon L.]

In Regarding Henry, Annette Bening's performance in the scene where the doctor is explaining Henry's condition after being shot and what to expect of his recovery is practically a master class in acting. 

[Spartan Girl]

Wrong thread

Edited October 1, 2023 by Spartan Girl

[Spartan Girl]

Tyler Perry's movies might be pure soapy melodrama, but you gotta give him credit for making his villains irredeemably awful and stating flat-out that whatever sob story they've got doesn't excuse jack shit,  nor does it stop them from getting their justly deserved comeuppance.

[Spartan Girl]

Santa Claus: The Movie is…not a great Christmas movie, but I did love when he took Joe on a sleigh ride and made his whole night.

Although instead of dropping him off at Cornelia’s and promising him that he’ll visit him again next year, he should’ve just taken him back to the North Pole with him right then and there instead of waiting to the end of the movie. Maybe he thought Cornelia would help get him to a safer and more permanent home, but still!

[Shannon L.]

Protocol with Goldie Hawn.  It was so bad that when I quoted it here in our movie quote thread, no one knew what movie it was from or had ever heard of it.  But, there are some cute scenes, imo, and it's a guilty pleasure of mine. It was made in 1984. The first AIDS case was discovered in 1981, so the pandemic and the fear and hatred of gay men was in full swing.  This movie has a gay couple. They aren't main characters, but shown a few times.  There are no awful comments made about them, neither are a stereotype, although, one is every so slightly more effeminate than the other and he gets excited about a fan letter Sunny, the main character, gets from Liza Minelli, but not in an over the top ridiculous way. They are shown laying in the same bed, one shirtless.  When Sunny is confronted about living with two men, she matter of factly says "No. I live in a small portion of a house with two men who live together. You understand the difference."  That was the final word.  No more comments or nasty looks. 

For a movie made in 1984, I think that's pretty awesome.

[Spartan Girl]

Superman VI: The Quest For Peace: Lois’s speech to radiative-poisoned Clark about how shed say goodbye to Superman hits so hard now that Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder are both gone:

I'd want to tell him that I'll always cherish the time we spent together, and I never expected anything in return. And no matter how few minutes I saw him for, it always made me happy. And I would tell him that I love him and that I'll always love him. And ... no matter what happens on this world, I know he tried his best to help us.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[andromeda331]

The Contender is a terrible movie about a Senator nominated by the President to become Vice President after the previous one died and gets attacked by everyone over her history, and other crap while trying to get confirmed. The one good thing is the President keeps ordering the stranges food combinations to see if he can stump the White House kitchen staff like a shark steaks sandwich. He finally stumps them when he asks for a grilled muenster cheese on rye. Their out of muenster. 

[BlueSkies]

On 9/30/2023 at 1:42 PM, Shannon L. said:

In Regarding Henry, Annette Bening's performance in the scene where the doctor is explaining Henry's condition after being shot and what to expect of his recovery is practically a master class in acting. 

I loved the scene as well where Henry's daughter spilled I think milk all over the table and she's afraid he's going to go ballistic on her but he doesn't.  We see he's changed.

 

Love that film.  

[BlueSkies]

The Man From Left Field with Burt Reynolds & Reba McIntyre.  Was a tv movie.

 

While I liked it I can see how somebody might find it cheesy.  The plot revolves around a lone drifter who was a former pro baseball player but completely loses his memory only for it come back.  

 

 

But yeah there's a scene in the flick two middle school age kids are in their rooms looking at baseball cards together and stats.  And their mom tells them not to stay up too late.  I thought that was kind of a beautifully understated innocent scene.  The scene did not involve kids talking about losing their virginity, downloading or looking for porn, or keg parties they were going too.

 

It reminded me a lot of the part of life growing up I enjoyed a lot before unfortunately some of those things I mentioned came up all too much or at all among my classmates.  

[methodwriter85]

On 3/7/2023 at 12:36 AM, kiddo82 said:

Scream 3 is easily the weakest in the series for me but the climax is still pretty fun.  The line "Oh why don't you stop your whining and get on with it?  I've heard this shit before!  You know why you kill people, Roman, do you?  Because you choose to, there is no one else to blame!  Why don't you take some fucking responsibility!?" makes up for a lot of sins.  I just feels so good to hear and it's aged better than it was probably ever intended to.  

That monologue kind of illustrated to me that Scott Foley just isn't good of an actor despite Neve Campbell really trying to elevate that scene.

Scream 3 in my opinion was hampered by two fundamental problems- forced rewrites because of the Columbine shootings happening just before they started production, and the Ghostface being played by an actor that just wasn't that good. Especially with that storyline of there only being one Ghostface- you needed to have a Ghostface that could bring the pathos, and I don't think Scott Foley did. I still love that reveal but I kind of wish they had cast Matt Keeslar instead as Roman Bridger. Or hell, Patrick Dempsey might have been too old but I bet he could have brought it. (He kind of does later on in the movie 

Spoiler

Thanksgiving.)

 

[Blergh]

On 3/21/2024 at 8:14 AM, Shannon L. said:

Protocol with Goldie Hawn.  It was so bad that when I quoted it here in our movie quote thread, no one knew what movie it was from or had ever heard of it.  But, there are some cute scenes, imo, and it's a guilty pleasure of mine. It was made in 1984. The first AIDS case was discovered in 1981, so the pandemic and the fear and hatred of gay men was in full swing.  This movie has a gay couple. They aren't main characters, but shown a few times.  There are no awful comments made about them, neither are a stereotype, although, one is every so slightly more effeminate than the other and he gets excited about a fan letter Sunny, the main character, gets from Liza Minelli, but not in an over the top ridiculous way. They are shown laying in the same bed, one shirtless.  When Sunny is confronted about living with two men, she matter of factly says "No. I live in a small portion of a house with two men who live together. You understand the difference."  That was the final word.  No more comments or nasty looks. 

For a movie made in 1984, I think that's pretty awesome.

I never thought of that back then! That's refreshing to consider.

However, one thing about that movie I did (and do) like is that they had actual nascent broadcast and cable news programs and networks 'cover' many of the events in Sunny's story sometimes complete with the theme music. I know it's an odd thing to like but the historian in me actually is somewhat grateful to that movie for having captured  what we viewers were having to deal with re news programs,networks,etc. in the mid-1980's! Of course, the irony is that the 'coverage' wasn't that much of an exaggeration to how they covered actual news stories back in the day .

[Blergh]

Sherlock Holmes (2009) was tough to watch with Robert Downey, Jr. chewing up the scenery via interpreting the title character as a psycho opium craving  nut who just happened to have an uncanny ability to sniff out clues (and Jude Law seemed too out of place as Watson).

However, it had ONE saving grace: a surprisingly gritty yet realistic depiction of 1890's London as the cosmopolitan metropolis that was the capital of the most far-flung Empire at the time AND the largest city in the world. I mean, too many movies set in that time seemed to depict London being nearly empty with only a few hoity toity types and a few Cockney servants and Jack the Ripper victims thrown in. This movie depicted that the streets were PACKED and often filthy thanks to horse traffic, coal furnaces,etc.. . and also that ,thanks to citizens from Great Britain's  four nations to say nothing of its far flung colonies getting drawn to it for a variety of reasons, it was rather  ethnically diverse!

Oh, and I was glad to see, among other landmarks, the almost finished Tower Bridge in its glory!

Now to find a way to edit all traces of the title character out of it and let it be shown as a tribute to London in a rather dynamic time of its history. ..

[Fool to cry]

On 5/11/2024 at 5:17 PM, Blergh said:

Sherlock Holmes (2009) was tough to watch with Robert Downey, Jr. chewing up the scenery via interpreting the title character as a psycho opium craving  nut who just happened to have an uncanny ability to sniff out clues (and Jude Law seemed too out of place as Watson).

However, it had ONE saving grace: a surprisingly gritty yet realistic depiction of 1890's London as the cosmopolitan metropolis that was the capital of the most far-flung Empire at the time AND the largest city in the world. I mean, too many movies set in that time seemed to depict London being nearly empty with only a few hoity toity types and a few Cockney servants and Jack the Ripper victims thrown in. This movie depicted that the streets were PACKED and often filthy thanks to horse traffic, coal furnaces,etc.. . and also that ,thanks to citizens from Great Britain's  four nations to say nothing of its far flung colonies getting drawn to it for a variety of reasons, it was rather  ethnically diverse!

Oh, and I was glad to see, among other landmarks, the almost finished Tower Bridge in its glory!

Now to find a way to edit all traces of the title character out of it and let it be shown as a tribute to London in a rather dynamic time of its history. ..

I hope you gave the sequel a chance because Jared Harris is a great Moriarty.

[Blergh]

On 8/10/2024 at 10:37 AM, Fool to cry said:

I hope you gave the sequel a chance because Jared Harris is a great Moriarty.

I did give it a chance .

However,   speaking strictly for myself, I was rather disappointed by it mostly avoiding London instead opting to have it largely set in a Swiss fantasy fortress Moreover, I also considered its Moriarty to somewhat OTT and boring[yeah, boo me] . IMO, no surprise that there has been no third movie in that series (despite the rather obvious tag at the end to try to compel that to happen). Oh well.

 

To each one's own. ..

Edited August 12 by Blergh

[proserpina65]

On 8/11/2024 at 8:39 PM, Blergh said:

I did give it a chance .

However,   speaking strictly for myself, I was rather disappointed by it mostly avoiding London instead opting to have it largely set in a Swiss fantasy fortress Moreover, I also considered its Moriarty to somewhat OTT and boring[yeah, boo me] . IMO, no surprise that there has been no third movie in that series (despite the rather obvious tag at the end to try to compel that to happen). Oh well.

 

To each one's own. ..

I had very little familiarity with Jared Harris when I saw the Sherlock Holmes sequel, and had that been the only thing in which I'd ever seen him, I'd think he was a terrible actor because his performance was so boring.  Fortunately I've seen him in many other things since which have made me completely revise my opinion.  Still hate his performance in that movie, though.  (And I actually like the first movie.)

[andromeda331]

21 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I had very little familiarity with Jared Harris when I saw the Sherlock Holmes sequel, and had that been the only thing in which I'd ever seen him, I'd think he was a terrible actor because his performance was so boring.  Fortunately I've seen him in many other things since which have made me completely revise my opinion.  Still hate his performance in that movie, though.  (And I actually like the first movie.)

He was good as George VI in the Crown. I was really surprised by that since Colin Firth was so good as him in the King's Speech. 

[Spartan Girl]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine had one good moment when they’re trying to lure Logan back in with the whole “Your country needs you” bit.

Logan’s response? “I’m Canadian.” And promptly drives off.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣