Chewers 100 worst films with great Art.

2. Dune (1984).

Saw this in the theater upon release (yes I'm old) and left the theater dazed and confused. The Cinematography, costumes, the whole look of the film, where so right. It was Dune, a fully realized and accurate version of the novel on the big screen. I even dug the music, especially Brian Eno's contribution. Everything else: so, so wrong.

Ha! Dune was the first film to come to mind too.

3. Judge Dredd (1995)

The production design, costumes, makeup, & practical FX work for the ABC Warrior & Mean Machine Angel. Dredd's uniform is one of - if not the - best comic-to-live-action costume translations ever. Absolutely stunning.

"And how can this be?  For he is the Quisatz Hadderach!"  Definitely Dune.

4.  Waterworld - I enjoy Waterworld even though the world at large hates it.  The production design is phenomenal, Herculean, amazing.  The cinematography by Dean Semler is gorgeous and perfect.  I would have said the same thing about Dances With Wolves (a movie that was basically made by Semler's incredible photography) but that was well reviewed at the time.

Great pick with Resident Evil. The 3D was so astounding it almost convinced me the movie was worth watching. I still insist that even though Paul Anderson can't write for shit, he's got a great eye.

Paul Anderson can fill this thread on his own. Every single film he's directed looks amazing, sounds amazing. The rest is always a disappointment, even with the films of his I actually like (Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Event Horizon).

This thread should be devoted to Tarsem's filmography. His films are superb to look at but personally I have to force myself to get through them. 

5. The bad film:  Hook (1991)

What's great about it:  The score

Oh the late 90s, when I was still snuggled up warmly in my "Spielberg Can Do No Wrong" cocoon.  How I miss those days.  Then Hook came crashing in and told me he could be very, very wrong.

But I remember getting the soundtrack CD a month or so before the film came out and being absolutely blown away.  Judging by the score, this was going to be an epic adventure ripe with longing for lost childhood butting up against more mature, adult emotions.  The main theme was gold, "Hook-Napped" was appropriately ominous and menacing, "You Are the Pan" sounded downright apocalyptic and not at all joyous, and "The Ultimate War" seemed to promise just that.  Listening to this score, I pictured an emotionally resonant and satisfying film that touched on Spielberg's every strength.

Instead we got Robin Williams in tights and a fat kid pretending to be a bowling ball.  I'll stick with the movie this score conjured up in my head, thanks.

Oh shit I didn't notice the thread's format. Sorry Tim.

6. The Cell.

It was the first time I caught myself being bored out of mind by a film while being unable to move my eyes from the screen. I remember almost no detail from the actual story but the image of D'Onofrio descending the stairs while his 'wings' were slowly unfolding behind him will probably never leave my top ten most striking cinematic images.  

7. Superman Returns

What's great about it: Brandon Routh.

Such a wrong headed attempt to tie this film to the Donner films of the late 70's and early 80's but despite all this, we got a great Superman out of the deal.   Brandon Routh just works as both Clark Kent and Superman in a way that hasn't been seen since Christopher Reeve took the part so many years ago.   Also props for excellent cinematography and special effects.

Brandon Routh. YES. The guy was absolutely aces & it's hurts than he got Lazenby'd so hard. He didn't deserve it & nothing I've seen of Cavill has made me believe he isn't just an "actor" playing the part as opposed to Routh makes believe that he IS Superman. If any deserves the full heat of that film's failure it's Singer, his two awful screenwriters, & the WB executives who wrote the blank check for that hollow mess of a fanwank.

By the way, first person to try and say the effects and cinematography were the only good things about Ang Lee's Hulk will be sent bees. Nothing fancy there. No poetry. Just a swarm of bees that will still the word WRONG into a sensitive part of your body. Just fair warning.

Quote:

Originally Posted by yt 

"And how can this be?  For he is the Quisatz Hadderach!"  Definitely Dune.

 

4.  Waterworld - I enjoy Waterworld even though the world at large hates it.  The production design is phenomenal, Herculean, amazing.  The cinematography by Dean Semler is gorgeous and perfect.  I would have said the same thing about Dances With Wolves (a movie that was basically made by Semler's incredible photography) but that was well reviewed at the time.

The opening sequence of waterworld is one of my favorites, I loved the boat. Too bad they started talking and Dennis Hopper appeared to be channelling an anime villian.

9. The Bad Movie: HEAVEN'S GATE (1980) d. Michael Cimino

What's good about it: The epic production design & photography

Having recently seen Cimino's cut of Heaven's Gate, I can safely attest that it is not a good film. But that has everything to do with the script, it's clunky dialogue, & the editing, which jumbles the narrative & characters' motivations into an indecipherable mishmash. Though few, there are moments of genuine greatness where Cimino's eye & cinematic vision clicks the film to life in with breathless detail.

The scene that floored me early on in the film was of Kristofferson's arrival in Wyoming. The establishing shots of the bustling, dusty town are immaculately immersive with jawdropping detail and you see every penny of this cinematic money pit onscreen. Kristofferson's entry into the town's general store is akin to time travel: the natural light that lightly illuminates the room through kicked up dust & cigar smoke, the period costumes & makeup, etc. From Deadwood to Boardwalk Empire, superior detail in period productions is not uncommon, but in Cimino's film, the sheer amount of it & the infamously prohibitive cost of it's realization makes the feat a historical one off.

I think HEAVEN'S GATE is one of the great movies of the 80's.

I still believe there's a great movie somwhere in "Heaven's Gate". It's just a matter of chipping away at the hours of self indulgence that surround it. 

Sometimes I think someone should take a shot at remaking it, focusing primarily on the Johnson County War storyline, but then you'd lose all that amazing cinematography and set design. It's just really too bad Cimino didn't have more discipline.

The major problem I have with it is primarily with the handling of Walken's character. In the film's first half he's appears - clearly - to be the movie's villainous antagonist. Then out of nowhere in hour two, the film switches gears & presents him as a sympathetic romantic co-lead who's in a love triangle involving Huppert, a character he had no interaction with at all. I'm guessing this has more to with editing but still, it's pretty ruinous.

I agree. There IS greatness in that mess somewhere. While there's a ton of leaden expository dialogue that's unfixable, the Harvard scenes, the violent, pointlessly overlong climax, & the clueless mishandling of John Hurt's character could all be improved with the right editor.

Heaven's Gate is totally the apotheosis of this subject.  So beautiful, just incredible to watch, but such a mess.  I'm still a Cimino lover.  There was something to his films that is so rare.  I'm not articulate enough, but there's a grandeur and an intimacy to his films.  He was a true master of the form and paired with a great script (The Deer Hunter), what he gave was cinema at its best. 

I think a lot of period movies could be in here  -the costumes look great, the sets and lcoations are amazing, but most period films are just so full of themselves that they blow. Especially when they feature some celebrity lead actress as their main draw. They'll even have great performances by supporting actors, but they're so engrossed in the lead that they turn it all to shit.

Not really for the list, but as an example: 

Vanity Fair with Reese Witherspoon: Gorgeous visuals. I love the focus Mira Nair brings to the INdia-mania and orientalism, the rich colors, the stunning costumes....but they defang the dark material to turn it into a rags to riches with a happy ending and plucky protagonist.

The Duchess: Gorgeous costumes. Amazing Ralph Fiennes, but so bogged down in homaging the Duchess of Devonshire and selling Kiera Knightly as a great actress, it makes me sick. It's costume porn, essentially. 

Just, blergh. 

Agree, Wayward. I came in here to nominate Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette," an absolutely gorgeous film that left me cold. A lot of people like that movie, however, so I'm hesitant to call it the "worst" of anything.

My official nominee:

10. The bad film: "Gangs of New York"

The strengths: brilliant art direction and a stunning performance from Daniel Day-Lewis

Unfortunately, these elements were in service of a limp story and two terribly miscast leading roles. The Dicaprio/Diaz stuff stops the movie cold for me. I consider this Scorcese's worst film, the one film of his lacking in passion.

I really like Gangs of New York a lot.  It's like Les Miserables written by Dickens doing a fantasy flick for some reason.  It was an awkward first watch, I admit.  But I think it was the commentary with Scorsese when he says something like " Right away you're asking the audience to go with you on the tension between the movie and the opera, and I'm hoping they go with the opera"  and that was like -click- for me.

Anyway

11.  Event Horizon

The star of the show:  The ship and the production design generally.

Paul "WS" Anderson avoids it becoming obvious that it wasn't budget or inexperience holding 'Shopping' back, by hiring very very well.  Some of the best in the biz distract us with some jaw dropping imagery and sets.

(actually the cast, the sound design and score should probably get a mention too)

(this kinda already got a mention I see.  I find most of his movies more bad than good.  This one I actually thought was a good movie for a while and is still kinda fun to watch for a good portion of the run time.  Yeah, I'm deviating from the "MK is secretly great" underground)

12.  The Movie: "Sucker Punch"

What's awesome about it:   The set pieces.

Zack Snyder wants to say something in this film but he either doesn't know what exactly he wants to say or doesn't know the cinematic grammar to say it with.   What he does have is a gift for staging kick ass action sequences and this movie is no exception.   There's scenes here that are amazing to watch and there's real artistry on display.   Too bad they're in service of a movie that's at best  a noble failure.   Still those action sequences!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mangy 

Agree, Wayward. I came in here to nominate Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette," an absolutely gorgeous film that left me cold. A lot of people like that movie, however, so I'm hesitant to call it the "worst" of anything.

 

My official nominee:

 

10. The bad film: "Gangs of New York"

 

The strengths: brilliant art direction and a stunning performance from Daniel Day-Lewis

 

Unfortunately, these elements were in service of a limp story and two terribly miscast leading roles. The Dicaprio/Diaz stuff stops the movie cold for me. I consider this Scorcese's worst film, the one film of his lacking in passion.

 

 

 

 

Well, I would argue that the point of "Marie Antoinette" was to leave you a little cold. I wouldn't quite lump it in with the vanity pictures like Vanity Fair and The Duchess. Especially because those films try to sell you these figures as ahead-of-their-time feminist heroines who are just so damned sassy/plucky/put-upon and boy-aren't-they-pretty. But the sheer production value....

but I'll leave you all to make the list. I'm just chiming in here. 

I really like Event Horizon, I know the director has put out some stinkers, but I dont count this film among them.

I find Gangs of New York endlessly watchable, Bill the Butcher transcends and dominates the film. Yes Dicaprio and Diaz are the least interesting things in it, but John C. Reilly, Brendon Gleeson and Jim Broadbent are excellent. Liam Neeson plays the lost father role for the first time setting up a niche career for himself.

Not to mention that Miramax demanded a shorter cut of the movie so who knows what Scorcese's three hour cut would have looked like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dynamotv 

12.  The Movie: "Sucker Punch"

 

What's awesome about it:   The set pieces.

 

Zack Snyder wants to say something in this film but he either doesn't know what exactly he wants to say or doesn't know the cinematic grammar to say it with.   What he does have is a gift for staging kick ass action sequences and this movie is no exception.   There's scenes here that are amazing to watch and there's real artistry on display.   Too bad they're in service of a movie that's at best  a noble failure.   Still those action sequences!

What he's getting at, however, is in such desperate need of being said that I cant help but embrace the attempt. It'll be at the bottom, more than likely, but this is still gonna wind up on my Best of the Year list.

But, yeah, the action is still top notch.