150 Movies You Should See Before You Die Read Online Free
Author: Steve Miller
Tags: epub, ebook
), Andie MacDowell ( Anna Baragli ), Richard E. Grant ( Darwin Mayflower ), Sandra Bernhard ( Minerva Mayflower ), and James Coburn ( George Kaplan )
On the day once-renowned cat-burglar Hudson Hawk (Willis) is released from prison, he is forced to help a pair of crazed billionaires (Bernhard and Grant) and a renegade CIA operative (Coburn) retrieve the hidden pieces of Leonardo Da Vinci's greatest invention: a device that will turn any metal into gold. All Hudson wants to do is go straight … or at least get a good cup of cappuccino.
Why It Sucks
The actors reportedly had a good time making this movie, but the audience sure doesn't have a good time watching it. The jokes often turn on obscure film buff references — which probably struck the writers as hilarious but to us sound lame. The film's pacing and tone swing from frenetic slapstick to slow-moving black comedy, to a simple-minded action movie spoof. Bruce Willis spends so much time mugging at the camera that you expect to hear rim shots.
Thumbs Down Rating:
The Crappies
The Worst Writing Award goes to … Steven E. de Souza and Daniel Waters for alluding to (though not, thank God, showing) Sandra Bernhard, Richard Grant, and Leonardo de Vinci naked and eating sushi in the back of a limo. California rolls will never taste the same again.
And the Worst Acting Award goes to … Bruce Willis. The guy can do comedy — as Moonlighting proved — but in this movie he confuses being funny with overacting.
They Really Said It!
Darwin Mayflower: History, tradition, culture are not concepts. These are trophies I keep in my den as paperweights!
Betcha Didn't Know
George Kaplan, the CIA agent played by James Coburn, is also the name of the spy everyone is hunting in Hitchcock's North By Northwest (1959).
The film cost around $65 million to make but barely made $17 million during its theatrical run in the United States.
Trivia Quiz
What was the premise of the television series Moonlighting ?
A: A police detective works nights as a stand-up comedian.
B: A stand-up comedian works as a private detective on the side.
C: A golf pro hunts werewolves during every full moon.
D: A detective agency is run by a former model and a wisecracking tough guy.
Answer: D. A detective agency run by a former model and a wise-cracking tough guy. (Willis starred as the tough guy, David Addison.)
ISHTAR
Columbia Pictures, 1987
PRODUCER Warren Beatty
WRITER Elaine May
DIRECTOR Elaine May
STARS Warren Beatty ( Lyle Rogers ), Dustin Hoffman ( Chuck Clarke ), Charles Grodin ( Jim Harrison ), and Isabelle Ajani ( Shirra Assel )
A pair of wannabe singer/songwriters (Beatty and Hoffman) is booked by their indifferent agent for a gig in a civil-war torn area of North Africa. They are soon ignorantly bumbling their way through the schemes of vicious dictators, coldhearted CIA operatives, and rebel forces looking for divine signs that their revolution will be successful.
Why It Sucks
Some “comedies” are painful to watch because the main characters are so damn … dumb . The idiocy and naiveté on display from Beatty and Hoffman goes beyond comedic knuckleheadedness (remember Abbott and Costello?) and into stupidity so deep viewers can't help but feel embarrassed for them. The financial crater this movie created virtually assured that they'd never appear together in a film again.
Thumbs Down Rating:
The Crappies
The Worst Writing Award goes to … Elaine May, the punchlines for whose jokes can be sighted several miles away.
And the Worst Director Award goes to … Also Elaine May for constantly disrupting the film's comedic flow with heavy-handed speeches about friendship, hanging onto dreams, and the evils of American imperialism. Really. In a comedy.
They Really Said It!
Lyrics from a song by Rogers & Clarke : Telling the truth can be dangerous business. / Honest and popular don't go hand in hand. / If you admit that you can play the accordion, / No one'll hire you in a rock
On the day once-renowned cat-burglar Hudson Hawk (Willis) is released from prison, he is forced to help a pair of crazed billionaires (Bernhard and Grant) and a renegade CIA operative (Coburn) retrieve the hidden pieces of Leonardo Da Vinci's greatest invention: a device that will turn any metal into gold. All Hudson wants to do is go straight … or at least get a good cup of cappuccino.
Why It Sucks
The actors reportedly had a good time making this movie, but the audience sure doesn't have a good time watching it. The jokes often turn on obscure film buff references — which probably struck the writers as hilarious but to us sound lame. The film's pacing and tone swing from frenetic slapstick to slow-moving black comedy, to a simple-minded action movie spoof. Bruce Willis spends so much time mugging at the camera that you expect to hear rim shots.
Thumbs Down Rating:
The Crappies
The Worst Writing Award goes to … Steven E. de Souza and Daniel Waters for alluding to (though not, thank God, showing) Sandra Bernhard, Richard Grant, and Leonardo de Vinci naked and eating sushi in the back of a limo. California rolls will never taste the same again.
And the Worst Acting Award goes to … Bruce Willis. The guy can do comedy — as Moonlighting proved — but in this movie he confuses being funny with overacting.
They Really Said It!
Darwin Mayflower: History, tradition, culture are not concepts. These are trophies I keep in my den as paperweights!
Betcha Didn't Know
George Kaplan, the CIA agent played by James Coburn, is also the name of the spy everyone is hunting in Hitchcock's North By Northwest (1959).
The film cost around $65 million to make but barely made $17 million during its theatrical run in the United States.
Trivia Quiz
What was the premise of the television series Moonlighting ?
A: A police detective works nights as a stand-up comedian.
B: A stand-up comedian works as a private detective on the side.
C: A golf pro hunts werewolves during every full moon.
D: A detective agency is run by a former model and a wisecracking tough guy.
Answer: D. A detective agency run by a former model and a wise-cracking tough guy. (Willis starred as the tough guy, David Addison.)
ISHTAR
Columbia Pictures, 1987
PRODUCER Warren Beatty
WRITER Elaine May
DIRECTOR Elaine May
STARS Warren Beatty ( Lyle Rogers ), Dustin Hoffman ( Chuck Clarke ), Charles Grodin ( Jim Harrison ), and Isabelle Ajani ( Shirra Assel )
A pair of wannabe singer/songwriters (Beatty and Hoffman) is booked by their indifferent agent for a gig in a civil-war torn area of North Africa. They are soon ignorantly bumbling their way through the schemes of vicious dictators, coldhearted CIA operatives, and rebel forces looking for divine signs that their revolution will be successful.
Why It Sucks
Some “comedies” are painful to watch because the main characters are so damn … dumb . The idiocy and naiveté on display from Beatty and Hoffman goes beyond comedic knuckleheadedness (remember Abbott and Costello?) and into stupidity so deep viewers can't help but feel embarrassed for them. The financial crater this movie created virtually assured that they'd never appear together in a film again.
Thumbs Down Rating:
The Crappies
The Worst Writing Award goes to … Elaine May, the punchlines for whose jokes can be sighted several miles away.
And the Worst Director Award goes to … Also Elaine May for constantly disrupting the film's comedic flow with heavy-handed speeches about friendship, hanging onto dreams, and the evils of American imperialism. Really. In a comedy.
They Really Said It!
Lyrics from a song by Rogers & Clarke : Telling the truth can be dangerous business. / Honest and popular don't go hand in hand. / If you admit that you can play the accordion, / No one'll hire you in a rock
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