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Author Topic: Your Favorite Unsuccessful Movies Michael Coate Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1904 From: Los Angeles, California Registered: Feb 2001 posted 08-24-2005 12:33 PM                     What is your favorite unsuccessful movie? Pretty broad topic... By unsuccessful, I mean any of the following: --not successful financially at the theatrical box office --not critically successful; mixed-to-bad reviews --movies that you like but in discussion you find most others have never heard of or seen the movie in question --or, movies you are convinced that you're the only person on the planet who actually liked it I'll kick off this thread with a couple of flicks that come to mind. Into The Night (Universal/1985/dir: John Landis) "Into The Night" is possibly the movie directed by John Landis that the least number of folks are familiar with. This thing came and went quickly in early 1985. I missed it in the theater but caught the second half of it on HBO by mistake when a time-shifting error caused me to record this instead of the program intended. I'm sure I muttered to myself something like, "What the hell is this crap?" both to describe my reaction to not getting the recording intended but also in trying to figure out just what it was I was watching. But as I found myself laughing frequently and getting excited recognizing the many filmmaker cameos, I realized "crap" wasn't an appropriate word to describe the movie. After scanning through the HBO guide, I finally figured out the title of the movie and watched (and recorded) it in its entirety during another broadcast. I went on to watch it numerous times. Seems like in the ensuing years, every time I'd mention or describe the movie, people either hadn't heard of it or seen it, or they thought I was describing Martin Scorsese's similar "After Hours." In the movie, Jeff Goldblum plays an insomniac whose life is in the crapper due to a cheatin' wife and a lousy job. His carpool buddy and co-worker (frequent Landis collaborator Dan Aykroyd) suggests a vacation. While sitting in his car at the airport debating whether to go through with his friend's suggestion, Goldblum gets mixed up with Michelle Pfeiffer, who's on the run from a gang of jewel thieves. Together, they flee, with an assortment of funny and weird stuff happening along the way. Part of the appeal of "Into The Night" is in catching the many Landis-isms such as a "See you next Wednesday" reference and cameos from a LOT of filmmaker friends. Some of the filmmakers and entertainers that make an appearance include David Bowie, David Cronenberg, Paul Mazursky, Amy Heckerling, Paul Bartel, Jim Henson, Rick Baker, Colin Higgins, Daniel Petrie, Lawrence Kasdan, Roger Vadim, Cal Worthington, and Carl Perkins. And Landis appears as one of the thieves. Jake "Body by Jake" Steinfeld appears in some humorous scenes. Lots of recognizable L.A. locations. Music score by B.B. King. And, of course, this was released by Universal, so in versions that include the "When in Hollywood, visit Universal Studios" clip at the end, watch for the "Ask for Babs" bit (those who've seen Landis' "Animal House" will get it). The movie also stars Irene Papas, Vera Miles, and Kathryn Harrold. If one considers "Into The Night" similar to Scorsese's "After Hours," most folks seem to prefer "After Hours." I happen to prefer "Into The Night." I probably haven't described the movie in a way that would make one want to rush out and watch it, but part of that is because the best way for me to describe "Into The Night" is that it simply has a certain indescribable charm. Beware of censored TV versions which feature alternately-shot scenes to avoid nudity that appeared in the R-rated theatrical edition. ______________________________ Innerspace (Warner Bros./1987/dir: Joe Dante) Well, I must admit I used to play the "guess how much money such-and-such will make" game, and from the time I first saw this movie's trailer with "Little Shop Of Horrors" around Christmas time of '86, I thought "Innerspace" had $100 million blockbuster written all over it. Steven Spielberg producing... Fun-looking trailer... good cast... Man, was I wrong! But...I loved this movie, and saw it three times in the theater, including once at the GCC Avco Center (Screen #1) in Westwood Village, CA when that place was a top-notch, first-class place to see a movie. Lt. Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid), down on his luck following a breakup with his girlfriend Lydia (Meg Ryan), volunteers for a top secret medical experiment in which he will be miniaturized in a capsule and injected into a rabbit. OK, there's the sci-fi and fantasy elements and the obvious "Fantastic Voyage" (1966) inspiration. But, Tuck doesn't end up in a rabbit... During an attempt by hi-tech thieves to steal the miniaturization technology, he ends up being shot up hypochondriac Jack Putter's (Martin Short) ass! The film turns into an odd genre-hybrid thing with elements of adventure, action, science-fiction, thriller, fantasy, and comedy, with Tuck enlisting the aid of Jack and ex-girlfriend and reporter Lydia to help restore him to normal proportions before his oxygen supply runs out. I enjoyed the movie tremendously and, in my estimation, the odd genre combination worked, and worked well. Cast also includes Kevin McCarthy, Henry Gibson, William Schallert, and Wendy Schaal. Academy Award winner for ILM's visual effects. Movie features the usual dose of Joe Dante humor, sight gags, homages, and cameos. Dante regulars Robert Picardo and Dick Miller appear, and Jerry Goldsmith provides a serviceable score (somewhat obscured by the numerous songs included in the mix). Among the movie's many featured songs are two Sam Cooke classics ("Cupid" and "Twistin' The Night Away," the latter of which a cover version by Rod Stewart also appears). Watch for cameo by famous animator Chuck Jones. And also watch for cinematographer and frequent Dante collaborator John Hora, ASC (though he didn't shoot "Innerspace") as the lab dude who injects Martin Short with the miniature Dennis Quaid. Side note: I met director Joe Dante at a sci-fi/horror convention in '88 and asked him to sign my "Innerspace" one-sheet poster. He was pleased to do so, although he couldn't help but remark on how disappointed he was with Warner Bros.' marketing of the film. He hated the domestic poster (and signed the poster: "To Mike, Too bad this isn't a better poster! -- Joe Dante") and attributed the film's box office failure on it. The ad slogan for the U.S. release was "An adventure of incredible proportions," with the art depicting the miniature pod being held between two fingers. Perhaps they should have stuck to their earlier slogan of "Adventure in a different vein" (which appeared on some promotional material given out at sci-fi conventions in early '87). Dante's preferred character collage-oriented international poster art, by the way, ended up being used for the movie's video release. One of the first titles issued on VHS and laserdisc in letterbox format. About the only thing I didn't like about "Innerspace" is that it should have been made in 'scope!  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 08-24-2005 01:51 PM                     Judge Dredd- entertaining and funny to see Stallone try to bang his way out of this one.. So bad, that I wouldn't mind seeing this one again. Battlefield Earth Definitely had potiental and started strong that opening week in the Boxoffice. Once again,entertaining (trim it down some and you could easily have a kid show), but can agree with the critics how bad (an embarrassing) Travolta had to lower himself down for this clunker.  |  IP: Logged Jesse Skeen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1517 From: Sacramento, CA Registered: Aug 2000 posted 08-24-2005 02:41 PM                     Don't have time to comment on them, but here's my list: 187 Get Over It This Boy's Life Newsies Center Stage Brain Candy (Kids In The Hall) The War Why Do Fools Fall In Love Volcano Daylight Ed Wood Hideaway  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 08-24-2005 03:53 PM                     Baseketball - Don't like South Park, Team America was ok, but for some reason this film had me in stitches.  |  IP: Logged Clint Koch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1435 From: San Luis Obispo, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 08-24-2005 05:21 PM                     The Burbs with Tom Hanks and many others. Big Trouble in Little China with Kurt Russell. Stargate with James Spader and Kurt Russell.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 08-24-2005 05:33 PM                        Sadly, there are way too many of these to mention. Of recent releases, I can think of the following: Sky Captain Goodbye Dragon Inn Lost Skeleton of Cadavra Sweet Sixteen Gerry Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys Kid Stays in the Picture SLC Punk Forgotten Silver (short) The Dish Million Dollar Hotel ...and a bunch of others. And that's just from the last five years or so. To my knowledge, all of these would be considered to have had "unsuccessful" theatrical releases in the US.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 08-24-2005 05:51 PM                     Interesting topic. Hmm. I don't have very many movies that would qualify as odd or bad by the public within my DVD collection. Here's a couple that could fall into that unsuccessful category. Mystery Men (Universal/1999/dir. Kinka Usher) This movie had a very short life in movie theaters. It just didn't click with most people. Just about anyone I know who has seen this movie hated it. But I liked it quite a bit. The movie made fun of all sorts of comic book superhero conventions and had some pretty cool visuals. The cast was pretty impressive. Ben Stiller was the lead, but having supporting players like Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush, Greg Kinnear, Wes Studi, Hank Azaria, William H. Macy and the very gorgeous Claire Forlani helped things quite a bit. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eigth Dimension (Fox-Orion/1984/dir. W.D. Richter) I'm not even sure why I like this movie. But I do. It has a lot of odd stuff in it and watching it in 2005 -this show screams out 1980s very badly. Peter Weller is better known for "Robocop," but I think he did a good job with this show, walking a fine line between appearing cool while doing some fairly wacky things. Speaking of wacky, I don't think I've ever seen John Lithgo in a more wacky role (as the villian, Dr. Lizardo). I also have a copy of "Billy Jack" in my DVD collection. I've never watched it (although I have seen the movie before when I was a kid). One of my best friends sent copies of this DVD to several on his Christmas gift list just to be an asshole for the holidays. quote: Clint Koch Big Trouble in Little China with Kurt Russell. Stargate with James Spader and Kurt Russell. I have both of those on DVD! Wanna see something painfully bad? Check out the music video of director John Carpenter and his band performing the end title track to "Big Trouble in Little China" (on the 2nd disc of the 2-disc SE DVD).  |  IP: Logged Brian Hogan Expert Film Handler Posts: 119 From: Charlotte, North Carolina, USA Registered: Jul 2001 posted 08-24-2005 06:03 PM                     rock 'n' roll high school forever (1990) and gigli (2003) are two that come to mind. the first was on tv all the time back in the day and was sweet cause it was so bad. the second was sweet cause it took the piss hardcore, but no one got it. namrok!  |  IP: Logged Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 08-24-2005 07:33 PM                        quote: Bobby Henderson and the very gorgeous Claire Forlani I'm pretty sure the reviews were horrid and most people would pass, but I'm a big fan of UHF. It probably made about $1.50 and that includes soundtrack album sales. Okay, so it's widely available on DVD ... I guess cult classics can't really count.  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 08-24-2005 08:56 PM                     UHF rules!  |  IP: Logged Matt Fields Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 545 From: Ohio, United States Registered: Jun 2005 posted 08-24-2005 09:51 PM                     Brain Donors  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 08-24-2005 10:08 PM                     Used Cars (an absolutely GREAT movie) Night Shift (never did much in the theatres) Popeye (if you don't get the humor in Popeye, you won't get my humor) Buckaroo Banzai (it is a cult classic with lines known by many that might not know the film...boot-tay, boot-tay...."no matter where you go, there you are.") Space Camp (it was okay for me, for what it was) DC Cab (perhaps because it was from where I grew up or that it was a whos-who of stars). That Thing You Do (I forgot that wasn't a popular hit...it was a very good movie, non the less) Mars Attacks (it is everything it needs to be) I'll think about some others. [ 08-25-2005, 05:10 PM: Message edited by: Steve Guttag ]  |  IP: Logged Wayne Keyser Master Film Handler Posts: 272 From: Arlington, Virginia, USA Registered: May 2004 posted 08-24-2005 11:01 PM                     Smoke Signals - Coming to terms with a failed father on the "rez" (reservation) as it really is. Circle of Iron (now on DVD under its original title "The Silent Flute") - Zen "lite", okay, but then it IS just a movie - sold as chop-socky, and more than a little goofy, it has some thoughts and magical moment sprinkled throughout. Hollywood Boulevard - Made by Joe Dante ("Rock 'n' Roll High School", "Gremlins," "Small Soldiers," "Amazon Women on the Moon") and Alan Arkush ("Crossing Jordan") for Roger Corman on a bet that they couldn't bring it in for under $60,000. Favorite line: Paul Bartel as a Grade-Z director to guy in Godzilla suit: "Now, your motivation is to stomp on as many people as possible."  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 08-24-2005 11:21 PM                     Orgazmo and Brain Candy (Kids in the Hall) both did pathetic business, but rate a solid 5 out of 5 stars.  |  IP: Logged Brian Michael Weidemann Expert cat molester Posts: 944 From: Costa Mesa, CA United States Registered: Feb 2004 posted 08-24-2005 11:23 PM                        I've been keeping an eye out for Brain Candy on DVD, but nowhere seems to want to keep it in stock. I guess I'll just have to Amazon.com that one, one of these days.  |  IP: Logged

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