Crappy Movies with one Great Scene
These are movies I have seen that pretty much sucked, but had one great moment, a fleeting sign of brilliance. In some cases, though, I liked the movie, but one scene was so far above the rest of the movie that I felt like including it on this list. These movies are in no particular order. And, if I mention a movie that you haven't seen, but you want to, consider this your:
***SPOILER ALERT***
(Incidentally, if you look at the years these movies were released, you will have an idea of when my movie-watching was at its peak, and I wasn't so discriminating about what I watched.)
***SPOILER ALERT***
(Incidentally, if you look at the years these movies were released, you will have an idea of when my movie-watching was at its peak, and I wasn't so discriminating about what I watched.)
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- DirectorFrank MarshallStarsLaura LinneyTim CurryDylan WalshWhen an expedition to the African Congo ends in disaster, a new team is assembled to find out what went wrong.Midway through the movie, as they're at the edge of the African jungle, about to begin their river journey, the gorilla expert starts quietly singing the old Mamas and the Papas song, "California Dreamin'." To his surprise - and mine - all the African porters, busily working in preparation, begin singing along.
- DirectorDavid MirkinStarsSigourney WeaverJennifer Love HewittGene HackmanA mother and daughter con team seduce and scam wealthy men.Rushing around, determined to con Gene Hackman out of his money, Jennifer Love Hewitt walks with purpose into a bar. In that moment, the music transitions from urgent intensity to Alison Krauss's tender and relaxed rendition of "Baby, Now that I've Found You." A great and sudden shift of mood.
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsMilla JovovichJohn MalkovichRab AffleckA young girl receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.While imprisoned, Joan of Arc begins to hallucinate that Dustin Hoffman is talking to her. (Man, we've all been there.) She'd found a sword in the grass near a river earlier in the movie, and believed it was a sign from God.
Anyway, Hoffman appears to be a figment of her imagination, and explains to her in a calm and rational voice the numerous different possibilities for how the sword could have gotten there, none of which involved the hand of God. My favorite was the "inexplicable" scenario, in which a soldier, striding along in his chainmail with nothing in particular happening around him, casually tossed his sword aside. It's difficult to describe how hilarious it was to see such a blase act in such a serious movie. - DirectorGeorge LucasStarsEwan McGregorLiam NeesonNatalie PortmanTwo Jedi escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to claim their original glory.We'd already seen it in the trailers, so we knew it was coming. But when Darth Maul's light saber went in both directions, I got the chills.
Also, there was such a rush of exhilaration when the iconic music came up and the opening crawl began that I'd have to count that as a second great moment in this particular movie. - DirectorRich WilkesStarsBen AffleckSam RockwellMegan WardWith college graduation pending, the old gang tries to avoid the inevitability of breaking up and going forward with their lives.Here's a movie with Ben Affleck before he was a star. His character had just graduated from a college in California. He went with his dad to a restaurant on the ocean. As his dad was lecturing him on his future, and what to do next, he glanced out the window, and he saw, out on the dock, a fisherman holding a dead fish and slapping it in the face. It was an out of the blue moment, and had nothing to do with anything, which was what made it great.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsGene HackmanGwyneth PaltrowAnjelica HustonThe eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.There was a scene in which Luke and Owen Wilson (who played neighbors, not brothers) were sitting across from each other in Owen's house, having a conversation. I don't remember the topic of the conversation, though, because I was so busy laughing my ass off at the over-the-top bizarro pictures hanging on the walls behind each of them. The best part of it is that no comment was ever made about the pictures. They're there because those are the kinds of pictures Owen Wilson's character would have hanging on his walls.
- DirectorMartin BrestStarsBrad PittAnthony HopkinsClaire ForlaniDeath, who takes the form of a young man killed in an accident, asks a media mogul to act as his guide to teach him about life on Earth and, in the process, he falls in love with the mogul's daughter.While Brad Pitt's character, Death, was visiting Claire Forlani in the hospital, he had a powerful, fascinating conversation with an elderly and infirm Jamaican woman.
Also, it was kinda cool to see such a graphic depiction of a body being tossed around in traffic. - DirectorGeorge LucasStarsHayden ChristensenNatalie PortmanEwan McGregorTen years after initially meeting, Anakin Skywalker shares a forbidden romance with Padmé Amidala, while Obi-Wan Kenobi discovers a secret clone army crafted for the Jedi.After this came out, a friend asked me how this compared to Episode I. I told him that the good parts are better, and the bad parts are worse, and there's more of both.
I loved the entire scene in the arena - along with the battle that ensued outside of it. But my favorite part was when Yoda went to work on Count Dooku with his light saber. (It would have been better, I think, if he'd won. He's freakin' Yoda, after all.) - DirectorSteve OedekerkStarsJim CarreyIan McNeiceSimon CallowAce Ventura, Pet Detective, returns from a spiritual quest to investigate the disappearance of a rare white bat, the sacred animal of a tribe in Africa.It's been a long time since I watched it. I think it was the opening scene. It was definitely early in the movie.
For some reason, Ace was in a big, fake, mechanical rhinoceros in Africa. Then, the fans to keep him cool stopped working, all at once. So he was stuck inside this cramped thing in the hottest place in the world. And he started to sweat profusely. He starts taking off his clothes to cool down. Of course, it doesn't help. Meanwhile, outside, a mother and daughter on safari spot the very-real-looking rhinoceros, and stay to watch it. Out of options, Ace starts struggling to escape the rhino. He starts crawling out the back end. The mother notices things popping out, and excitedly tells her daughter that the rhino is giving birth. As he gradually makes his way out, a full grown human man, naked, soaking wet, and making sounds of agony, the mother and daughter go from being fascinated to revolted to horrified.
Also, the moment when he screamed at the two arrows in his thighs was funny. - DirectorPeter HyamsStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerGabriel ByrneRobin TunneyAt the end of the century, Satan visits New York in search of a bride. It's up to an ex-cop who now runs an elite security outfit to stop him.Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kevin Pollak are some kind of mercenary team who go around New York City beating people up, or something. They get mixed up with Robin Tunney, who's a Christ-like figure meant to save the world. Also, Gabriel Byrne is the devil. Towards the end of the movie, Pollak gets set on fire when the devil's pee attacks him. (Really.) A little later, with an unharmed Pollak in tow, Byrne confronts Schwarzenegger.
Arnie glowers at his traitorous partner.
Pollak says, "Don't look at me like that, man. You'll be amazed what you would agree to when you're on fire." - DirectorPeter BergStarsChristian SlaterDaniel SternCameron DiazA prostitute is killed during a bachelor party and the attendees turn on each other as the wedding approaches.After all the horrible crap that's happened - the VERY BAD THINGS - and all the death and destruction, Cameron Diaz's nervous breakdown in the final scene was classic, and almost kinda made the rest of the movie worthwhile.
- DirectorSteven ShainbergStarsJames SpaderMaggie GyllenhaalJeremy DaviesA young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.As a whole, I didn't like this movie very much, but I LOVED the ending, in which James Spader (King of the Creepy Sexual Fetishes) took Maggie Gyllenhaal and tenderly nursed her back to health. It was one of the hottest sex scenes in movie history, and those moments wouldn't have worked without the rest of the movie building up to them. So I guess the payoff validated the rest of the movie, and my patience at sitting through it.
- DirectorMichael GottliebStarsCheech MarinEmma SammsVernon WellsDown on his luck and working in a Mexican restaurant in Australia, an American tourist is hired by a icy heiress to pose as an obnoxious new boyfriend in an attempt to make her father accept her current boyfriend.“I’m VERY rich.”
- DirectorRichard KellyStarsDwayne JohnsonSarah Michelle GellarSeann William ScottDuring a three-day heat wave just before a huge 4th of July celebration, an action star stricken with amnesia meets up with a porn star who is developing her own reality TV project, and a policeman who holds the key to a vast conspiracy."We're going to take the ATM machine with us to Mexico - Roland Taverner."
- DirectorSteve RashStarsPauly ShoreCarla GuginoLane SmithHaving gotten a taste of college life, a drastically changed farm girl returns home for Thanksgiving break with her best friend, a flamboyant party animal who is clearly a fish out of water in a small farm town."If you don't register, you don't exist - PA Announcer."
- DirectorDavid S. GoyerStarsWesley SnipesKris KristoffersonParker PoseyBlade, now a wanted man by the FBI, must join forces with the Nightstalkers to face his most challenging enemy yet: Dracula."This little peashooter here, it's a modified version of the Army's objective individual combat weapon. Pick your poison - sun dogs, stakes, heat-seeking mini-rockets. Basically, whatever gets you hard, this puppy'll pump 'em out. Of course, it doesn't have the range of a sword, but, um, w- . . . - Hannibal King."
- DirectorDemian LichtensteinStarsKurt RussellKevin CostnerCourteney CoxA gang of ex-cons rob a casino during Elvis convention week.I'm kinda cheating with this one. It's not any particular scene, but Courteney Cox's entire performance - as the exact opposite of Monica: a sleazy, amoral piece of trailer trash - was the only upside to this movie.
- DirectorTarsem SinghStarsJennifer LopezVince VaughnVincent D'OnofrioAn F.B.I. Agent persuades a social worker, who is adept with a new experimental technology, to enter the mind of a comatose serial killer in order to learn where he has hidden his latest kidnap victim.I'm cheating again with this one. The visual imagery employed throughout the movie in support of a poorly told story was spectacular.
- DirectorJames WongStarsDevon SawaAli LarterKerr SmithAfter getting a premonition about a plane crash on his school trip, Alex, a student saves a few of his classmates. However, their situation gets complicated when death starts chasing them.The entire opening scene, at the airport. After that, the movie drops itself off a cliff. But that was one of my favorite horror movie scenes of all time. They took an utterly implausible scenario, and made you feel like you were in the middle of it.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsWill SmithStockard ChanningDonald SutherlandAn affluent New York City couple finds their lives touched, intruded upon, and compelled by a mysterious young black man who is never quite who he says he is.Similar to "Final Destination" above, the first half-hour or so of this movie is brilliant and fascinating. And then it takes a nosedive. When I first saw the movie in the mid-90's, in the back of my mind, I had the vague notion that Christian-based homophobia was at the root of it. But having seen it recently with a different worldview, it was just that the movie pulled the rug out from under the audience. Too much groundwork had already been laid to make such a huge U-turn like that with the plot, and that far into the movie. By that point, I couldn't care less about a homosexual con artist's disappearance; I just wanted to hear more of the fascinating early dialogue.
- DirectorDale LaunerStarsTate DonovanSandra BullockMary MaraTwo scientists who are hopeless with the opposite sex experiment with a substance that makes them irresistible to anyone who hears them speak.When the gypsy (played by Anne Bancroft) reads his palm, she doubts whether she's seeing his 'love future' correctly. Just to make sure, she spits on his hand, asks if he's gay, and then takes a picture to send to her sister.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerF. Murray AbrahamArt CarneyWith the help of a magic ticket, a young movie fan is transported into the fictional world of his favorite action movie character.There were a bunch of 'potentially good' moments in this unfortunate misfire of a movie. My favorite was when the gangster, played by Anthony Quinn, had difficulty understanding the difference between a 180 and a 360, and then his traitorous henchman (Charles Dance) shot him.
- DirectorBrett RatnerStarsPatrick StewartHugh JackmanHalle BerryThe human government develops a cure for mutations, and Jean Grey becomes a darker uncontrollable persona called the Phoenix who allies with Magneto, causing escalation into an all-out battle for the X-Men.The one redeeming feature of this disappointing third installment was when the Juggernaut chased Kitty Pryde around Alcatraz, each going from room to room in their own way.
- DirectorJohn BadhamStarsWesley SnipesGary BuseyYancy ButlerA tough cop teams up with a professional skydiver to capture a renegade computer hacker on the run from the law.Wesley Snipes is a highly-trained DEA Agent, but a novice skydiver, going undercover to catch some bad guys. On his first jump, he is forced out of the plane by the jumpmaster without warning. He is freaked out on the way down, they land a few feet apart in a river, and then, still freaking out, he walks over to the jumpmaster and punches her.
- DirectorDavid WainStarsPaul RuddJessica AlbaWinona Ryder10 stories, each inspired by one of the 10 Commandments.Cheating again. I did not like any part of this movie. But I was sold on it after watching the trailer. The way they list off the names is the funniest thing I've ever seen in any movie trailer.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsGeorge ClooneyMark WahlbergJohn C. ReillyAn unusually intense storm pattern catches some commercial fishermen unaware and puts them in mortal danger.The Wave. Duh. That was the whole point of this movie. The ****ing wave. It was cool, and I guess that one moment was worth the $7 I put down for my ticket. But 11 years later, this movie is an object lesson for me that one moment of great visual imagery, by itself, is not enough.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsAl PacinoDennis QuaidCameron DiazA behind-the-scenes look at the life-and-death struggles of modern-day gladiators and those who lead them.James Woods plays the team physician for a professional football team. In the middle of a heated debate, he gives a fantastic speech about the choices and sacrifices players make, striving to be champions. Basically he spells out that, if a player is willing to risk his future health for success in the moment, nobody has the right to take the choice away from him.
- DirectorAlan RudolphStarsBruce WillisNick NolteAlbert FinneyA rich car dealer is losing his mind. His son lives in the bomb shelter. His suicidal wife has an affair with his transvestite sales manager.All through the movie, one of the most common motivations for many of the major characters is the fear of having some kind of secret revealed. They're so afraid, in fact, that they don't even notice the secrets of others when faced with them, because they're so busy trying to hide their own secrets.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsDemi MooreViggo MortensenAnne BancroftLt. Jordan, a US Navy topographic analyst, joins the US Navy Special Warfare Group and struggles to prove her worth in a unit dominated by men. But a cynical woman Texan senator has sold her out.As an ex-soldier (though not as gung-ho as the types in the movie), I can appreciate the accuracy and authenticity of the SERE training. Most of the rest of the movie was loaded down in political BS, but that part was great.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsMia WasikowskaJohnny DeppHelena Bonham CarterNineteen-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.They have yet to make a great film version of Alice in Wonderland. The only good part of this movie was the March Hare, and his penchant for throwing pretty much everything he could get his hands on. THAT is the right kind of absurdity for an 'Alice' movie.
- DirectorJan de BontStarsHelen HuntBill PaxtonCary ElwesTwo storm chasers on the brink of divorce must work together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes."Cow . . . Another cow - Jo."
"Actually, I think that was the same one - Bill." - DirectorClint EastwoodStarsRyan PhillippeBarry PepperJoseph CrossThe life stories of the six men who raised the flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in World War II.John Slattery has a great scene as a flag-waving politician who pulls back the curtain to spell out the reality of the situation, and how these Marines can genuinely inspire Americans to support the war effort. It's an interesting speech he gives the men, on the one hand honest and sincere, and on the other hand calculating and manipulative. Since most of the rest of the movie is pretty bland, this is what I remember.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsGreg KinnearBruce WillisCatalina Sandino MorenoAn examination of the health risks involved in the fast food industry as well as its environmental and social consequences.Greg Kinnear is an executive for a major fast food chain, and he goes around doing stuff. He meets with Bruce Willis, who I believe is like the Vice President in charge of quality control for all the food. As they sit down and eat a burger at one of their own restaurants, Willis lays out to Kinnear all the reasons why people need to lighten up about the kinds of things that accidentally get into their food. While I strongly agree with him, I'm not sure that's the guy you put in charge of quality control.
- DirectorGarry MarshallStarsGreg KinnearLaurie MetcalfMaria PitilloWhen letters written to God start getting results, and replies, people everywhere are amazed. The post office, however, is annoyed.There are actually a handful of good moments in this movie. My favorite is when Laurie Metcalf is running down the beach trying to save a man from drowning, takes somebody's towel, and keeps running, yelling, "It's okay! I'm a postal worker!"
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsMel GibsonJodie FosterJames GarnerBret Maverick, needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief.Graham Greene's entire performance.
"PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, MAN!!" - DirectorRoger AvaryStarsJames Van Der BeekIan SomerhalderShannyn SossamonThe incredibly spoiled and overprivileged students of Camden College are a backdrop for an unusual love triangle between a drug dealer, a virgin and a bisexual classmate.Some college kid named Harry overdosed on a drug and his friends took him to the emergency room, where a doctor did a quick check before pronouncing him dead. Harry then woke up in a panic and said, "I'm not dead, am I?"
The doctor replied in a deadly serious voice, "Actually, you don't have a pulse. I think you're dead."
Harry's friends dragged him out of the hospital while swearing at the doctor, and he continued in his deadpan voice: "Come back and let me run some tests. I'm pretty sure I can prove that you're dead." - DirectorEdward NortonStarsBen StillerEdward NortonJenna ElfmanTwo friends, a priest and a rabbi, fall in love with the same woman they knew in their youth, but the religious position of both men denies them romance.Here's another movie - like "The Royal Tenenbaums" - that I don't really think is bad. It's not great either, just decent. But the one great scene is so far above the rest of the movie that I felt I ought to include it.
Ken Leung plays a karaoke machine salesman, but he's really playing a hilariously self-aware Asian stereotype. And he completely owns the scene. The movie is worth watching just for the two or three minutes he's on the screen. - DirectorJennifer LynchStarsJulian SandsSherilyn FennBill PaxtonA surgeon becomes obsessed with the seductive woman he once was in an affair with. Refusing to accept that she has moved on, he amputates her limbs and holds her captive in his mansion.This, I guess, is more of a conceptual thing than an actual moment in the movie. But Bill Paxton playing a self-absorbed douchebag/lothario was just hilarious. The movie was such a mess that I can't completely convince myself that this was intentional. But he's so over the top that I'm not sure the humor was unintentional, either.
- DirectorSimon WestStarsJohn TravoltaMadeleine StoweJames CromwellWhen the daughter of a well-known and well-respected base commander is murdered, an undercover detective is summoned to look into the matter and finds a slew of cover-ups at West Point.John Travolta is a warrant officer in the Army, investigating the murder of the General's daughter, a promising young Captain. James Woods had been her psychiatrist, and is now in jail, and obviously has some kind of knowledge regarding her death. I don't remember if he was suspected of murdering her, or if he'd been charged with obstruction of justice, citing doctor/patient confidentiality as the reason for his silence. Anyway, Travolta is questioning Woods in his jail cell when the following exchange takes place:
Travolta: She violated a code? She lied? She cheated? What?
Woods: Worse.
Travolta: Murder.
Woods: Worse.
Travolta: Rape.
Woods: Worse.
Travolta: What's worse than rape?
Woods: When you know that, you'll know everything.
I know it seems like a cornball line. Well, it is a cornball line. But, dramatic flair aside, he was exactly right. If you figure out what's worse than the worst crimes a person can commit, then you know how the rest of the movie will unfold. - DirectorDominic SenaStarsJohn TravoltaHugh JackmanHalle BerryA covert counter-terrorist unit called Black Cell led by Gabriel Shear wants the money to help finance their war against international terrorism, but it's all locked away. Gabriel brings in convicted hacker Stanley Jobson to help him.Dude gets helmet while he's hacking into some invincible computer network. And Halle Berry's boobs. And the 'bullet time' shot of the explosion in the opening scene. And the hostage who explodes when he falls out of the bus. Actually, this has lots of great moments for such a crappy movie.
- DirectorAndy WilsonStarsDavid DuchovnyTimothy HuttonAngelina JolieA disgraced surgeon leaves his former life and reinvents himself as a gunshot doctor in the criminal underworld.To be fair, this movie is full of super-stylized, ultra-hip, tough-guy dialogue. A lot of it is good, some not so much. Anyway, it's about the misadventures of a disgraced ex-doctor (David Duchovny) who falls in with a crime boss (Timothy Hutton). Here is my favorite exchange, during their first meeting:
Dr. Eugene Sands: Are you gonna hurt me?
Raymond Blossom: You asking because you're afraid or because you want me to?
Dr. Eugene Sands: I'm just trying to plan my day. - DirectorSidney PoitierStarsBill CosbyKimberly RussellDenise NicholasA widowed father tries to support his children after he becomes a ghost in an accident.Early in the movie, Bill Cosby is in the back of a taxicab, and the driver is some kind of hippie who wants to do everything but pay attention to the road. He actually looks over his shoulder, straight back at Bill, as he's talking to him. Because that's the kind of special attention his fare deserves.
Also, Edith is a girl's name. - DirectorBrian GilbertStarsJudge ReinholdFred SavageCorinne BohrerDivorced executive Marshall and his 11-year-old son Charlie casually touch a magical Tibetan skull, releasing a mysterious power that transfers Marshall's mind to Charlie's body and vice versa. Their problems have just begun.Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage are a father and son who magically switch bodies. (Yeah, another one of THOSE movies.) Also, there's some kind of blackmail plot against Judge Reinhold, or something. I've kinda forgotten. It's been years since I've seen it. I just remember that he had to sprint across town to a pay phone in time to answer it. And when he answered, he was so out of breath that he was moaning and wheezing into the phone. His ball-breaking blackmailer thought it was somebody else, got disgusted and yelled, "GET OFF THE PHONE, YOU PERVERT!"
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRichard DreyfussHolly HunterBrad JohnsonThe spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.I'm not sure this one deserves to be included on this list. It's actually pretty good, but Spielberg's made plenty that were better. Anyway, the scene in that restaurant, with Holly Hunter wearing the white dress, and the house band playing "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," I thought that was magical.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxRufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.I know this is on the shortlist for greatest comedies of all time, but I made it all the way through the movie, and didn't laugh once. Until the final scene. When the war ends, and Mrs. Fredonia starts singing the Fredonia national anthem, and all four Marx brothers, some of whom had spent the entire movie protecting her, just start throwing things at her, I was laughing my ass off. Just in time for the movie to end.
I appreciated the "mirroring" scene, but it didn't make me laugh. - DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsPeter WellerJudy DavisIan HolmAfter developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.Don't you hate it when your typewriters wake you up making sounds of agony, and you discover they're eating each other, and then they order you to break your gay cover to seduce your boss's wife as part of a massive conspiracy of double agents in an unnamed African seaport, orchestrated by a man in a woman's suit?
- DirectorPeter SegalStarsLeslie NielsenPriscilla PresleyGeorge KennedyFrank Drebin comes out of retirement to help Police Squad infiltrate a gang of terrorists planning to detonate a bomb at the Academy Awards.Tagline: Mostly All New Jokes
Also, wasn't this the one where OJ Simpson spiked a baby after catching it on the courthouse steps? And Anna Nicole Smith, having failed to seduce a security guard, instead tantalized him with the wondrous delights of ... popping bubble wrap. - DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsKåre HedebrantLina LeanderssonPer RagnarOskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.Not a bad movie, I guess. I enjoyed it, more or less, although I forgot a lot of it the minute it was over. The really awesome part was the ending, in which you see the boy in close-up, being held under in the pool, and then you get a sense of her power just by seeing glimpses of the bullies' final moments from underwater.
- DirectorMichael CorrenteStarsShawn HatosyAmy SmartAlec BaldwinAfter one too many run ins with the law, a punk teenager from a working class background is sent to prep school by his frustrated dad, and learns a thing or two.Not entirely unlike "Heartbreakers" above, the great moment involved brilliant use of music. Having little to do with the plot, there is a sudden switch to a dynamic aerial view of New England's dazzling autumn colors, accompanied by Paul McCartney's "Band on the Run."
- DirectorKen KwapisStarsGinnifer GoodwinJennifer AnistonJennifer ConnellyThis Baltimore-set movie of interconnecting story arcs deals with the challenges of reading or misreading human behavior.Not a crappy movie, but definitely mediocre. Towards the end, the romantic-type girl goes on a rant to some guy who, in his cynicism, had broken her heart. Or something. But her speech was an eloquent and articulate justification of the value of faith.
- DirectorAlbert HughesAllen HughesStarsLarenz TateKeith DavidChris TuckerA Vietnam vet adjusts to life after the war while trying to support his family, but the chance of a better life may involve crime and bloodshed.Black people in ghostface robbing a bank.
- DirectorJonas PateStarsKevin SpaceyMark WebberKeke PalmerUnable to cope with a recent personal tragedy, LA's top celebrity shrink turns into a pothead with no concern for his appearance and a creeping sense of his inability to help his patients.Henry: I'd like to reschedule our appointment next week to 5:00.
Jack: I can't. I start drinking at 5:00. Do you think I'm a sex addict?
Henry: No, but you might be an alcoholic. - DirectorMimi LederStarsKevin SpaceyHaley Joel OsmentHelen HuntA young boy attempts to make the world a better place after his teacher gives him that chance.There was no particular scene. This is more of a conceptual thing. The entire core idea of 'paying it forward' is so great that if people subscribed to it, it could literally change the world. I'm not much for the 'kumbaya' mentality, precisely because of the exact kind of sappiness displayed in this movie. But I think the heart and soul of it is beautiful.
- DirectorJon TurteltaubStarsAnthony HopkinsCuba Gooding Jr.Donald SutherlandWhen noted anthropologist Dr. Ethan Powell, who left society to live in the jungle, is imprisoned for murder, it's up to young psychiatrist Theo Caulder to get through to him.This is VERY loosely based on a novel called "Ishmael," by Daniel Quinn. I mention that because it helps to have read the book. This, like 'Pay It Forward' above, is a crappy story built around a brilliant concept, almost revolutionary in its originality and innovation.
So, a brief explanation of this concept might go as follows: It's kinda complicated to explain, but basically it's a re-imagining of the entire arc of the history of human civilization (as distinct from humankind) from an outsider's perspective.
Unfortunately, the film barely touches on the ideas put forth in the book. In order to try and make it work for audiences, only a trace of the concept is presented. The rest is standard Hollywood plot points filled in to make a full movie. - DirectorChristian AlvartStarsDennis QuaidBen FosterCam GigandetTwo crew members of a spaceship wake up from hypersleep to discover that all their colleagues are missing. Despite this, it appears that they are not alone.The Ending. The clunky, awkward buildup was good enough at its core to keep me interested. But the footage was so poorly edited that I just kept rolling my eyes, especially during the fight scenes. I'm not gonna give it away, but I thought the final reveal, in which we discover where they are, was a very gratifying moment.
- DirectorDavid O. RussellStarsJason SchwartzmanJude LawNaomi WattsA husband-and-wife team play detective, but not in the traditional sense. Instead, the happy duo helps others solve their existential issues, the kind that keep you up at night, wondering what it all means.David O. Russell tends to make movies that actively and aggressively hate ALL of their characters. I guess that's pretty much what's happening in the following exchange, but it made me laugh anyway.
Dawn Campbell (Naomi Watts): There's glass between us. You can't deal with my infinite nature, can you?
Brad Stand (Jude Law): That is so not true. Wait, what does that even mean? - DirectorTom DeyStarsJackie ChanOwen WilsonLucy LiuA Chinese man travels to the Wild West to rescue a kidnapped Princess. After teaming up with a train robber, the unlikely duo takes on a Chinese traitor and his corrupt boss.Early in the movie, Jackie Chan meets two Native Americans, and decides that the best thing to do is fight with them. At one point during the fight, they throw hatchets at him, and they land in trees right behind him. He grabs both hatchets and throws them at these guys. As the two are striding fearlessly toward him, one of them casually catches one, tosses it to his friend, and then catches the other. But what stands out is that he was so blase about it. One of the most badass moments in any movie ever. (Of course, Jackie Chan went on to beat them both up, but it was still an awesome moment.)
- DirectorJohn SingletonStarsOmar EppsKristy SwansonMichael RapaportPeople from all different walks of life, encounter racial tension, rape, responsibility, and the meaning of an education on a university campus.Toward the end, Michael Rapaport has been recruited by the racist group, done his hate crime, and gotten killed. And from everyone else's perspective, he was acting entirely on his own. But the members of the racist group know better. They're watching the coverage on the news with excitement and a kind of joy. But it's the leader of the group, who slowly lets a smile spread across his face, that really creeps me out. He seems more nihilistic, and a whole lot smarter, than the others.
- DirectorPaul W.S. AndersonStarsMilla JovovichMichelle RodriguezRyan McCluskeyA special military unit fights a powerful, out-of-control supercomputer and hundreds of scientists who have mutated into flesh-eating creatures after a laboratory accident.Fairly early in the movie, four of the commandos get trapped in a room with some kind of laser system. It takes three passes for the lasers to take all of them out, but that instant when the Red Queen hedges her bets with the third pass and turned the laser into an inescapable matrix - and the look on the last guy's face as he accepted his fate - was the most memorable part of this movie.
- DirectorKevin SmithStarsShannen DohertyJeremy LondonJason LeeBoth dumped by their girlfriends, two best friends seek refuge in the local mall.Brodie: You know about this game show they got goin' on here? We need you guys to somehow ensure that it doesn't happen.
Jay: Is that it? We were gonna do that anyway. - DirectorRobert BressonStarsAntoine MonnierTina IrissariHenri de MaublancCharles drifts through politics, religion and psychoanalysis, rejecting them all. Once he realises the depth of his disgust with the moral and physical decline of the society he lives in, he decides that suicide is the only option...You'd think that a movie about both politics and religion would be more provocative, but you would be wrong.
The bus crash scene is the only really poignant moment, and since the title is taken from a line of dialogue in that scene, I guess it was always meant to exemplify the theme of the movie. - DirectorJudd ApatowStarsSeth RogenKatherine HeiglPaul RuddFor fun-loving party animal Ben Stone, the last thing he ever expected was for his one-night stand to show up on his doorstep eight weeks later to tell him she's pregnant with his child.I got the feeling I was in the minority on this one. Others seemed to like it a lot more than I did. Anyway, I didn't have a generally high opinion of it. But I loved the scene where Seth Rogen chews out Paul Rudd, then storms out, and without missing a beat, Paul Rudd starts singing 'Happy Birthday.'
- DirectorGore VerbinskiStarsJohnny DeppOrlando BloomKeira KnightleyJack Sparrow races to recover the heart of Davy Jones to avoid enslaving his soul to Jones' service, as other friends and foes seek the heart for their own agenda as well."I got a jar o' dirt! I got a jar o' dirt!"
- DirectorBrett RatnerStarsNicolas CageTéa LeoniDon CheadleA fast-lane investment broker, offered the opportunity to see how the other half lives, wakes up to find that his sports car and girlfriend have become a mini-van and wife.The scene where Don Cheadle pulls a gun. I'd like to think I'd have the presence of mind to come up with such a creative solution to such an escalating problem as he did in that moment. One in which everyone comes out ahead. I would more likely be scared out of my wits, but I'd like to think otherwise.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsMel GibsonDanny GloverJoe PesciMartin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh pursue a former LAPD officer who uses his knowledge of police procedure and policies to steal and sell confiscated guns and ammunition to local street gangs.I think this movie is the weak link in one of the best franchises of all time. But the beginnning credit sequence - with Sting singing a jazzy rendition of "It's Probably Me," and the fire spreading in atmospheric cuts - is one of my favorite openings ever.
- DirectorHarold BeckerStarsAlec BaldwinNicole KidmanBill PullmanA tale about a happily married couple who would like to have children. Tracy teaches art, Andy's a college dean. Things are never the same after she is taken to hospital and operated upon by Jed, a "know all" doctor.This movie was a mess of enormous plot holes and poorly thought out schemes on the part of conspirators. But Alec Baldwin's 'God complex' speech midway through was the pinnacle of the movie.
- DirectorPeter HewittStarsKeanu ReevesAlex WinterWilliam SadlerA tyrant from the future creates evil android doubles of Bill and Ted and sends them back to eliminate the originals."It's the evil usses!"
- DirectorHoward DeutchStarsMolly RingwaldJon CryerHarry Dean StantonA poor girl must choose between the affections of dating her childhood sweetheart or a rich but sensitive playboy.(This isn't a bad movie, although I think it's the weakest of the John Hughes high school movies of the eighties.)
Andrew "Dice" Clay lighting a cigarette outside the club. - DirectorBryan SingerStarsPatrick StewartIan McKellenHugh JackmanThe X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants.This was an infuriating one.
I walked out of the theater thinking it was a good movie. But then I realized that the best scene in any movie of the year - Quicksilver saving the day in the Pentagon - also undercut the rest of the action. If you have a character who's that useful, why wouldn't you do everything possible to take him with you to Paris? - DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsJeffrey WrightMichael WincottBenicio Del ToroThe brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.Bowie doing Warhol.
- DirectorCharles Robert CarnerStarsLarry the Cable GuyJenny McCarthy-WahlbergRichard BullWhen a small-town sheriff witnesses what he believes to be an attempted kidnapping, his effort to save the beautiful damsel in distress sets him down a wild path of comic mishap."I am suave and debonair."
- DirectorAndrew L. StoneStarsLena HorneBill RobinsonCab Calloway and His Cotton Club OrchestraThe relationship between an aspiring dancer and a popular songstress provides a retrospective of the great African-American entertainers of the early 1900s.The last five minutes of the movie, the Nicholas brothers do some of the most acrobatic dancing I've ever seen. Some of it was hard to believe, even as I watched it happen, knowing they couldn't have used any special effects fakery in 1943. They really did that.
- DirectorHarald ZwartStarsLiv TylerMatt DillonMary Jo SmithEvery man has a different recollection of the beautiful young woman who wreaked havoc on their lives during one heated night.Mr. Burmeister (Michael Douglas): Two beers.
Randy (Matt Dillon): Two for me, too.