There are also the types of people that fight for their flops. They stand up for them and will get in heated discussions that make the Friday night party at your friend’s house either extremely awkward or 10 times more awesome. Every flaw that audiences and critics point out is shot down with justifications and explanations and they will not rest until your opinion is identical to theirs.
I’d say I’m a mix of the two sides. I can totally admit a movie is complete crap, but still enjoy it, but there are some movies that get ripped on that I believe are far better than most people think and wish more people would give it a second, deeper, look at.
Some examples of ‘flops’ I stand by are:
The Fountain
Darren Aronofsky’s science fiction love story that spans 1,000 years didn’t even make 1/3 of its production budget back, and it’s not necessarily a surprise. The storytelling relies the viewer to decipher a lot of things on their own and its beautiful but extremely unconventional styling of the future and space travel would leave the mass movie going public scratching their heads. I’m not calling general audiences dumb, but I do notice that a sequel to Baby Geniuses got made. But what people who haven’t seen this are missing is one of the most original films of the decade with a heart breaking love story and visuals that rival sci-fi classics. Clint Mansell’s wonderful score take this film to an even higher place and is worth listening to as its own masterpiece.
Constantine
I can still hear all the fanboys whining that Keanu Reeves wasn’t blonde, British, or in a brown coat. But let’s not forget that in the comics The Joker does not have a Glasgow grin scar, Spider-Man doesn’t have organic web shooters, and the X-men didn’t wear black jump suits, and all those movies were pretty well received. I’ve only read a handful of the John Constantine: Hellblazer comics and thought they were ok, but I thought Francis Lawrence’s directorial debut based on the DC/Vertigo comic was amazing. It had sleek Blade Runner-esque look, some interesting takes on Heaven, Hell, demons, and angels, and was just a fun time on top of that. Keanu Reeves portrayal as a rogue exorcist who knows Heaven exists, but guaranteed to go to Hell was honestly one of his strongest performances and shows he can carry a movie without saying “woah”. All that along with Rachel Weisz looking her best and Peter Stormare in the most unique take on Lucifer make this a movie I watch again and again.
Halloween II
Most agree that Rob Zombie’s Batman Begins origin approach to his Halloween remake was pretty good. Unfortunately, most also agree that his sequel was horrible. I’m gonna have to disagree. Zombie’s original remake of the classic slasher was great, but I thought his follow up in Halloween II was nothing short of brilliant. Scout Taylor-Compton’s performance as Laurie Strode made me really believe these events happened and this girl was truly tormented and the character of Michael Myers actually had just that, character. Most saw the return of Sheri Moon-Zombie in the ‘white horse’ scenes as a bit too supernatural and out of place for the franchise, but I saw a unique psychological view of the Myers family and gave more insight and emotional weight to Michael Myers. Overall what did it for me was Zombie’s complete lack of fear in making this movie. He wasn’t afraid to completely turn the franchise on its head, try new things, and take it in a darker, more serious direction than any other slasher movie, even if it meant losing some fans in the process.
Those are just some of mine. I could do about 10 more blogs on movies of this nature, and maybe I will down the road. Leave a comment below with your favorite flops and why you think they deserve more credit.
This may not be a flop necessarily, but I still don't understand why more people have never seen this movie, and why it's not on people's list of near sci-fi masterpieces:
ReplyDeleteSunshine
-Directed by Danny Boyle, perhaps one of the better directors around these days.
-Written by Alex Garland, who I'll admit has some garbage in his repertoire, but wrote the Beach and 28 Days Later, both also directed by Boyle.
-Incredible performances by some great acting talent, Cpt. America for one, in probably the best performance of his career to this date.
-Don't even get me started on the score by John Murphy, maybe only bested by the previously mentioned Clint Mansell.
-And the movie is just so visually breathtaking, and suspenseful in the same vain as Ridley Scott's original Alien.