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Quentin Tarantino went into a rant when he appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast about the hate he received for liking Joker: Folie à Deux. Fans absolutely went berserk on him when he applauded Joaquin Phoenix for one of the best performances he had ever seen in his life. Rogan tried to wind up the Pulp Fiction director in the matter as a joke before apologizing to him.

Quentin Tarantino in a still from Pulp Fiction | Credits: Miramax Films

Tarantino and director Roger Avary also mentioned some of their favorite films that were absolutely hated by the general audiences. Tarantino’s love for Joker 2 comes despite its 32% Rotten Tomatoes score and $206.4 million box office collection that lost the studio nearly $200 million.

Joe Rogan apologizes after riling up Quentin Tarantino about Joker 2 Joe Rogan in The Joe Rogan Podcast | Credits: @PowerfulJRE/YouTube

Quentin Tarantino sparked public outrage when he...

Back in 1994, everyone expected Kevin Costner’s Waterworld to be one of the biggest box office disasters of all time. The press was labeling it “Fishtar” (after the infamous flop Ishtar) or “Kevin’s Gate”, but to the surprise of everyone, it actually did fine at the box office and turned a small profit. However, Costner did indeed have a massive box office disaster just a few years later when he opted to make another post-apocalyptic action movie, The Postman (which he also directed), which opened opposite James Cameron’s Titanic and laid a massive egg in theatres.

Reviews were harsh, with his take of a nomadic drifter posing as the world’s last postman widely mocked for its mix of action and over-the-top sentiment. It swept the Razzies, but even worse was the fact that it only grossed $30 million worldwide, which was disastrous, and ended up torpedoing Costner’s...

Do you remember, in Chimp Crazy, how the real director Eric Goode wasn’t trusted by his subjects because he made Tiger King, so they had to have Dwayne Cunningham step in as a proxy director to get the film made? Well, there is a similar yet extremely different situation...

After leading dark comedy “A Different Man” and Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice,” Sebastian Stan is slated for iconic filmmaker Elaine May’s fifth and final feature, “Crackpot.” However, production is still waiting on a shadow director for the 92-year-old May.

Stan said during “The Big Picture” podcast that he is on board the project, which was first announced in 2019. Dakota Johnson is set to co-lead alongside Stan, but Stan said he still doesn’t know the status of the film — and he’s casting his net in hopes of helping May find a shadow director to insure the movie. It’s a common set practice with older filmmakers.

“I have this thing, I don’t know if it’ll ever get going,” Stan said. “I have this thing that Elaine May was going to direct. It was going to be her last film and her first film since ‘Ishtar.

After many years of radio silence on Elaine May’s Crackpot, a comedy starring Dakota Johnson that was planned to be the 92-year-old filmmaker’s fifth and final directorial feature, we finally got an update earlier this year. During the Madame Web press tour of all things, Johnson confirmed it’s still in development and they are working on casting. Now we have an update on an additional cast member and the one roadblock that’s preventing the film from getting underway.

Sebastian Stan, who now has A Different Man and The Apprentice in theaters, revealed on The Big Picture podcast that he’s attached to the film and what precisely is holding up production. “I have this thing, I don’t know if it’ll ever get going. I have this thing that Elaine May was going to direct. It was going to be her last film and her first film since Ishtar.

by Christopher James

Yes, I've come back here to defend another much-maligned Nicole Kidman comedy. I swear I love her dramatic roles too, but there's always something strange, special and unnerving about Kidman's comedy work, like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs and smile.

Bewitched is Nora Ephron’s Ishtar - a big budget box office failure whose greatest crime is throwing too much against the wall. I’d always rather have a movie that tried to do too much outside of the norm, rather than something deeply middling. Bewitched is most interesting in the ways it swings and misses because Ephron and Kidman both give it their all, striking out gloriously. It’s as if the studio got one note (hire Will Ferrell) and decided to never check on the movie again. Their obviousness is our pleasure...

Reader, you have been lied to! Film history is littered with unfairly maligned classics, whether critics were too eager to review the making of rather than the finished product, or they suffered from underwhelming ad campaigns or general disinterest. Let’s revise our takes on some of these films from the wrongheaded to the correct opinion.

Earlier this year, the Criterion Channel launched a series devoted to films that have won Golden Raspberry Awards, or “Razzies,” prizes ostensibly created to recognize the worst that cinema has to offer. The idea of streaming’s most respected curator of film art showcasing a selection of Razzie winners was one whose time was long overdue, given the Razzies’ astonishingly reliable tendency to be on the wrong side of history; the list of nominations from any given year is typically more useful as a guide for suggested viewing than as an indication of what to avoid.

The Criterion Collection is known for their dedication to championing classic and contemporary movies we should all be seeing, showcasing them with exquisite transfers and film school-level special features. But when it comes to their streaming service The Criterion Channel, the catalog is a bit looser. And it got weird and worse(?) this month, as they added a 14-title retrospective of the Golden Raspberry Awards. Titled “And the Razzie Goes To…”, Criterion’s grouping compiles 14 movies that come complete with bees, turkey time and whatever the hell Tom Green was doing for the duration of Freddy Got Fingered.

Here is the full list of Razzie flicks now available on The Criterion Channel: Cruising (1980), Heaven’s Gate (1980), Xanadu (1980), Querelle (1982), Under the Cherry Moon (1986), Ishtar (1987), Cocktail (1988), Showgirls (1995), Barb Wire (1996), The Blair Witch Project (1999), Freddy Got Fingered (2001), Swept Away (2002), Gigli (2003), and The Wicker Man (2006). That’s more than 80 Razzie nominations, ranging from Showgirls’s...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

And the Razzie Goes to . . .

As much as we hate to give Razzies any sort of promotion, The Criterion Channel has a new series to show just how wrong the execrable organization has been over the past decades. Launching today, they are spotlighting comedic gems like Tom Green’s Freddy Got Fingered, Elaine May’s Ishtar, and Neil Labute’s The Wicker Man, alongside Cruising, Heaven’s Gate, Xanadu, Querelle, Under the Cherry Moon, Cocktail, Showgirls, Barb Wire, The Blair Witch Project, Swept Away and Gigli.

Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel

BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)

In BlackBerry, the rise of a blue-chip tech company sets the stage for the dissolution of a longstanding friendship. Sound familiar? Just wait ‘til you hear the score.

Mubi has unveiled next’s streaming lineup, featuring notable new releases, including Felipe Gálvez’s The Settlers, Éric Gravel’s Full Time, C.J. Obasi’s Mami Wata, and Benjamin Mullinkosson’s The Last Year of Darkness.

This March also brings Elaine May’s Ishtar, four features by Mia Hansen-Løve, and a collection of films shot by women cinematographers, with Claire Denis’ Bastards, shot by Agnès Godard, and more. Next month’s collection also features retrospectives of radical German director Margarethe Von Trotta, experimental animator Suzan Pitt, and additions to their continuing retrospective of Takeshi Kitano.

Check out the lineup below, and get 30 days free here.

March 1st

The German Sisters, directed by Margarethe von Trotta | Radical Intimacy: Three by Margarethe von Trotta

The Second Awakening of Christa Klages, directed by Margarethe von Trotta | Radical Intimacy: Three by Margarethe von Trotta

The Promise, directed by Margarethe von Trotta | Radical Intimacy: Three...

There is, a critic will argue, a great deal of value in finding and discussing the worst films of the year. All the films released in a given epoch are a reflection of the trends and ideas that produced them, and scoring the bottom of the barrel for the worst filmmaking, the worst ideas, and the most misguided thinking will provide a valuable analysis of where we are as a society. Worst-of lists are important and vital and should be written with enthusiasm. They also let critics blow off steam a little bit; we don't have the luxury to skip bad movies or avoid talking about the ones we hate. It's our job.

The Golden Raspberries, or the Razzies for short, however, lost sight of that value a while back. The annual Razzies announcement is usually a snarky affair that only serves to pick on the year's least popular blockbusters,...

Some apotheosis of film culture has been reached with Freddy Got Fingered‘s addition to the Criterion Channel. Three years after we interviewed Tom Green about his consummate film maudit, it’s appearing on the service’s Razzie-centered program that also includes the now-admired likes of Cruising, Heaven’s Gate, Querelle, and Ishtar; the still-due likes of Under the Cherry Moon; and the more-contested Gigli, Swept Away, and Nicolas Cage-led Wicker Man. In all cases it’s an opportunity to reconsider one of the lamest, thin-gruel entities in modern culture.

A Jane Russell retro features von Sternberg’s Macao, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Raoul Walsh’s The Tall Men and The Revolt of Mamie Stover; streaming premieres will be held for Yuen Woo-ping’s Dreadnaught, Claire Simon’s Our Body, Ellie Foumbi’s Our Father, the Devil, the recently restored Sepa: Our Lord of Miracles, and The Passion of Rememberance.

Ask and you shall receive. A couple weeks ago I had some flash of memory about Crackpot, the new Elaine May feature––her first since Ishtar, released during Ronald Reagan’s Presidency––announced in November 2019 with Dakota Johnson attached. A historic number of things transpired in the immediate months hence, four years came to feel like 25, and any and all notice of it turned to dust. In other words: I just wondered if there was some chance.

Not even ten hours later Ben Mekler implored anyone interviewing Johnson on her Madame Web tour to yield an update. Doing the necessary footwork, Brazilian journalist Thiago Gelli did just that. And as she stated:

“We are trying to get that done. It’s so hard to get any movies made ever, at all, but I’m producing it and Elaine will direct it and I’ll star in it, and we’re working on casting.

On June 17, 1972, thieves acting on behalf of Richard Nixon's presidential campaign broke into the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC, the location of the Democratic National Committee headquarters. The group was looking for papers and secrets that would have given Nixon an unfair advantage in the election. Nixon was bafflingly still elected during this kerfuffle and served as president for two more years before enough details about the break-in emerged to warrant his infamous resignation from office. The many, many details of the Watergate scandal have been recorded in innumerable books, documentaries, and Hollywood dramas in the ensuing decades, and Watergate shows are being made to this day; the miniseries "Gaslit" aired in 2022 and "White House Plumbers" in 2023.

The Watergate scandal represented a loss of American innocence for many. It was positive proof that the Republican party was openly corrupt. The scandal was bad enough, but then Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon of all his recorded,...

For us 90s kids, Dick Tracy was an interesting monster of a movie. It seemed to take a lot of cues from Tim Burton’s Batman, which was released the previous summer, but it definitely had a distinct voice of its own. Dick Tracy was another classic pulp adaptation of an urban enforcer that had very dynamic visuals and an over-the-top rogues gallery. It even sported a score by Danny Elfman, which would have his signature atmospheric sound. The movie would introduce a generation of young audiences to the 1930’s film noir/ detective movie genre. Additionally, the movie brought back Warren Beatty after a three-year absence when his last film, 1987’s Ishtar, was a big flop. Having a star like Beatty in a big-budget franchise like this was an enormous asset for the re-budding intellectual property. And the star power wouldn’t even stop there.

Grab your Tommy guns. It...

There’s nothing so freaky about “Freaky Tales,” Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s sci-fi omnibus ode to ‘80s cinema nostalgia that takes the definition of “derivative,” packages a bunch of retro cinematic references smugly into winky “you get it, right?” pastiche, and stretches it to its furthest possible event horizon.

The problem with structuring your film around four interlocking chapters, each with its own segueing title card, is if you’re not down with the first, you’ll be counting down the passage of time groaningly until the next. Last time they were behind the camera, Boden and Fleck had decamped their indie roots, including the lovely “Half Nelson” and “Sugar” — films powered by real characters — for the irresistible Faust’s bargain of directing 2019’s “Captain Marvel.” It seems they have not stripped themselves of the MCU’s cheeky, self-reflexive DNA, here writing and directing a film that thinks...

The real Bonnie and Clyde may have died in 1933, but the legend of the couple's crime spree lives on in the form of songs, stories, and one groundbreaking movie. Arthur Penn's "Bonnie and Clyde" took Hollywood by storm when it hit theaters in 1967, generating controversy for its on-screen violence and sensuality -- and kick-starting nationwide conversations about who deserves to be the subject of a movie. While film fans still talk about these topics today, the movie's brutal final shootout feels mild compared to modern blood-soaked movie scenes.

Still, "Bonnie and Clyde" is a fantastic film, thanks in large part to its great cast. Warren Beatty plays cocky Clyde Barrow to Faye Dunaway's initially innocent Bonnie Parker, while actors Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, and Estelle Parsons round out the Barrow gang. A young Gene Wilder made his big screen debut as one of Clyde's hostages, while Denver...

It's a shame that Nia DaCosta's "The Marvels" failed to draw in mainstream moviegoers because, despite the film's flaws, they're missing out on a star-making performance from Iman Vellani, who steals the film from its lead, Brie Larson, as Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel. For those who've kept up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe's myriad Disney+ spinoff shows, Vellani's brilliance won't come as a surprise. She proved she was the goods during the series' first (and possibly only) season run, and effortlessly brought her charisma to the big screen. She's only 21 years old, and she is going to be unstoppable.

And if Marvel Studios knows what they're doing, they're going to shake off the box office disappointment of "The Marvels" and find a way to do justice by Vellani's Khan. Because she's not only the Marvel Cinematic Universe's brightest new star, she genuinely loves being a part of this world.

On paper, Ishtar looked like it had a lot going for it. Its stars were Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty; between the two, they had two Oscar wins and 16 nominations between them. Behind the camera, Elaine May was respected as both a writer and director. And the film had a budget that, for its time, broke the bank. Yet none of that was enough — the movie was savaged by the critics and all but ignored by audiences, making just over $14 million during its U.S. theatrical run. In fact, the movie’s name became kind of a punchline, synonymous with big-budget Hollywood failures for decades after its release. We once spoke to Hoffman about the film, he told us he didn’t think it was the movie’s fault; he felt the fates — and some studio executives — had aligned against it. (Click on the media bar below to hear Dustin Hoffman) https://www.

Making a top ten list of your favourite movies can be difficult, but is it any easier when you narrow that list down to a single decade? IndieWire asked dozens of filmmakers to put together a list of their favourite 80s movies, and the results are as widely varied as the decade itself. Which 80s movies does Bill Hader hold dear to his heart? What are some of Nia DaCosta’s favourites? Can Edgar Wright actually contain himself to just ten movies? What horror movies of the 80s top Eli Roth’s list?

Bill Hader’s (Barry) Favourite 80s Movies:

Thin Blue Line Road Warrior Blood Simple Evil Dead 1&2 Raging Bull Naked Gun The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On The Hit Raising Arizona Crimes and Misdemeanors Blue Velvet Where is the Friends House Pee Wees Big Adventure Midnight Run Come and See Do the Right Thing My Neighbor Totoro Die Hard Paris,...

Clockwise from top left: Battlefield Earth (Warner Bros. Pictures), Ishtar (Columbia Pictures), Waterworld (Universal Pictures), Event Horizon (Paramount Pictures) Image: The A.V. Club Ever since Jaws birthed the summer blockbuster in 1975, motion-picture studios have saved their priciest, splashiest films for beach season. Every year between May and August you can expect the latest superhero extravaganza,...

Clockwise from top left: Battlefield Earth (Warner Bros. Pictures), Ishtar (Columbia Pictures), Waterworld (Universal Pictures), Event Horizon (Paramount Pictures)Image: The A.V. Club

Ever since Jaws birthed the summer blockbuster in 1975, motion-picture studios have saved their priciest, splashiest films for beach season. Every year between May and August you can expect the latest superhero extravaganza,...

In movies, the word “bomb” has always meant two things, generally at the same time. The first and most important definition of bomb is that a movie has lost a disastrous amount of money. Movies, in general, can’t afford to do that — they’re too expensive to produce. Bombs happen, but as a business model they’re not sustainable. A movie that bombs commercially has never been something to write off as a trivial matter.

The second definition of bomb, which is linked to the first (though not automatically), is that a film is spectacularly bad. It is, of course, not axiomatic that a movie that bombs commercially has failed as a work of art. There are movies we think of as classics that crashed and burned at the box office — like “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Blade Runner” or “Intolerance” or “The Long Goodbye.” It’s become almost...

Kevin Reynolds' 1995 film "Waterworld" was, at the time of its release, the most expensive movie ever made. Thanks to a slew of production problems (not least of which was a floating set that persistently sank) the movie's budget ballooned, ultimately costing Universal Pictures about 172 million. Adjusted for inflation, that's about 306 million. It would be only two years later that James Cameron's "Titanic" would be released, surpassing "Waterworld" in terms of budget; "Titanic" cost, when adjusted, about 338 million. Since then, only five films have cost more than "Titanic." Three of them have the word "Avengers" in the title. The other two have the word "Pirates." 

The production problems on "Waterworld" were well-publicized, and attentive readers of the Los Angeles Times were following the expansion of the film's cost from an already expensive 100 million to 135 million and beyond. Words like "chaos" and "difficult" and "out of control" began leaking from the set.

At last measure, Roland Emmerich's "Moonfall" was the 26th biggest box office bomb of all time. Working on an estimated budget of about 140 million, "Moonfall" has only made about 44 million worldwide. Factor in the film's advertising and distribution budget, and it stands to have lost about 139 million.

Some may be old enough to remember a time when a box office bomb of this size would be the biggest news in Hollywood. Notorious bombs like Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate" (1980), Willard Huyck's "Howard the Duck" (1986), or Elaine May's "Ishtar" (1987) retain their notoriety to this day, stained forever by their box office failure. A film like "Moonfall," meanwhile, is merely another major bomb in a long series of them. One might even have to fight to remember that it came out earlier this year. For perspective, "Moonfall," when adjusted for inflation, lost about 3 million more than "Heaven's Gate." Mere months later,...

Academy president David Rubin and Oscar show producer Will Packer clearly enjoyed escaping from the anxieties of this year’s Oscars for one relaxed evening, as this year’s postponed Governors Awards finally unfolded the Friday before the big night Sunday, in a low-key alternative Oscar universe. These awards used to be presented at the main Oscars, but were cut back in 2009 after it took a full 45 minutes to give them out. Now the Academy Awards ceremony displays a montage of the Governors Awards presentation.

Usually the Governors Awards, voted on by the 53-member Board representing 17 branches, take place in November and function as a black-tie starting gun to Oscar season, while providing the Academy with a revenue-generating event, as studios buy tables and pack them with that year’s Oscar-bound talent. That energy was missing from the subdued proceedings tonight, as Denzel Washington was the only star nominee to...

Ten years ago, Disney’s “John Carter” opened nationwide.

Meant to be a potential franchise-starting blockbuster, it was savaged by critics, who called the film “wanly plodding and routine” (Entertainment Weekly), and “a giant, suffocating doughy feast of boredom” (The Guardian), and was met with indifference by general audiences, who simply didn’t show up..

Quickly, the movie and its fate took on a nearly mythical dimension – it wasn’t just a box office disappointment, it was a staggering creative and commercial failure, the kind of movie that is often mentioned in the same breath as other high-profile misfires like “Ishtar” or “Waterworld.”

But the actual story of “John Carter” – how it was conceived, what happened during production, and how it all fell apart thanks largely to a misguided marketing campaign – is much more complex and much more interesting.

Most Hollywood bombs are perceivable early on, through a toxic combination of untested filmmakers,...

The biggest problem with Pandemic Cinema — an emergent sub-genre largely defined by well-meaning dramas in which famous actors and/or opportunistic up-and-comers struggle with Zoom calls, sterilize their groceries, and otherwise memorialize the morbid tedium of the last 18 months — is that these movies are so hellbent on making us feel seen that they don’t have much to show us in return. Star-studded films such as “Locked Down” and “Together” and festival indies like “The End of Us” all strive to consecrate the surreality of love during the time of Covid, but they’re invariably overwhelmed by the sheer weight of their signifiers. Distanced learning, virtual family meetings, banging pots and pans in support of essential workers at 7 p.m… Representation is one of the most powerful gifts that art can provide; self-recognition is something you can get for free from the bathroom mirror.

And then there’s the fact...

The list of films that have been maligned more than Ishtar is… well, not a very long one. Some would say it stands right there at the top. (Though others would certainly put up a fight for Waterworld.) While that’s not exactly an enviable position, it’s also one that some Hollywood icons have been questioning […]

The post Flashback to the 1980’s: Dustin Hoffman Thinks People Were Wrong About ‘Ishtar’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

When screen acting pioneer Lillian Gish was presented with an honorary Academy Award exactly 50 years ago, she broke new ground as the first female director to receive one, having helmed “Remodeling Her Husband” over half a century earlier. Within the last four years, internationally renowned filmmakers Agnès Varda and Lina Wertmüller have followed her lead. Now, the academy has chosen to recognize the eclectic career of multihyphenate Elaine May, thus making her a member of this exclusive club.

Along with Danny Glover, Samuel L. Jackson, and Liv Ullmann, May is set to be honored at the upcoming 12th annual Governors Awards. The 89-year-old has earned this accolade because her “bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers.” Often cited as a revolutionary comedic genius, her work ethic and achievements have only garnered more respect and admiration over time.

As a child of stage actors,...

Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann will receive honorary Oscars this year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday. Danny Glover will also receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Governors Awards ceremony on Jan. 15, 2022.

“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his dedication...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday that its Board of Governors voted to present the annual Honorary Awards to Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award will be given to Danny Glover. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s 12th annual Governors Awards on Saturday, January 15, 2022, in Los Angeles.

Academy President David Rubin summed up the recipients’ impact, cinematic and otherwise, in the following statement: “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers.”

Rubin added, “Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors voted to present Honorary Oscars to Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Danny Glover, the Academy announced on Thursday.

The four Honorary Oscars will be presented at the Academy’s 12th Governors Awards on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Los Angeles.

“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover...

The latest in our series of writers defending maligned films is an ode to Elaine May’s lambasted 1987 flop starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman

It’s a rare movie bomb that’s such a catastrophe it becomes a byword for cinematic failure. Ishtar, Elaine May’s 1987 comedy about two musicians who become wrapped up in a CIA plot in north Africa, is one of the lucky few.

Negative buzz trailed the film, made on an at-the-time grossly inflated $51m budget, from troubled production to release. Bad box office (final losses came to about $40m) followed savage reviews – typified by Roger Ebert writing that it was “a lifeless, massive, lumbering exercise in failed comedy” – and Ishtar quickly became a punchline. A Far Side comic strip would depict “Hell’s video store” as one which stocked nothing but copies of the film. When Kevin Costner’s Waterworld itself went off the rails in the mid-90s,...

“I got the results of the test back – I definitely have breast cancer.”

The St. Louis movie event of the summer! Tommy Wiseau in The Room plays at The Skyview Drive-in in Belleville (5700 N Belt W, Belleville, Il 62226), at 11pm Thursday June 24th. A Facebook invite can be found Here. Tickets will only be sold at box office on June 24th. The Skyview’s site can be found Here

There are different types of ‘Bad Movies’. It’s become sport to poke fun at bloated star vehicles such as Ishtar, Glitter, or Gigli but those films are usually miserable experiences to actually sit through. There are films that are intentionally bad such as those from Troma studios but Troma knows its audience and anyone seeing a Troma film knows what they are getting into. Tommy Wiseau’s The Room belongs with the group of movies that are so bad that...

a series by Christopher James looking at the 'Gay Best Friend' trope

Don't worry, Teddy (Gene Wilder). Buddy (Charles Grodin) isn't going to take your girl, he's gay.The recently passed Charles Grodin (1935-2021) leaves behind an enviable film career. From Beethoven to Clifford, Grodin mastered being the “straight man” in comedies opposite zany characters. The master of reaction shots, Grodin knew how to wring laughs out of being the “put upon wet blanket.” His career features many other great performances, including The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run, Heaven Can Wait, The Great Muppet Caper, Dave and Ishtar. In all of the many obituaries that have recently been written about him, few have mentioned his role as Buddy in The Woman in Red ...and with good reason. The movie may have won an Oscar (Best Original Song for Steve Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You"), but it has little cultural footprint today.

At a time when we are all in such desperate need for good news, the announcement that Charles Grodin has passed away comes as an especially cruel punch to the gut. In everything he appeared in, he glittered like a rare jewel and perhaps it’s only now that he’d left us, that we’ll realise what an invaluable jewel he was.

In a career that stretched back to the 1950s, Grodin was an actor, director and a successful writer too, more comfortable on stage or sat behind a typewriter. It was on screen though that his magically droll, put-on persona came to worldwide attention.

Smaller parts in films like Rosemary’s Baby and Catch-22 gave way to major roles in The Heartbreak Kid and the 1976 King Kong remake. In everything he did, no matter how talented his fellow cast members were, it was more often than not Charles Grodin...

Refresh For Updates Costars and fans alike remembered Charles Grodin today as one of film’s funniest actors and TV’s most compelling personalities. “So sad to hear,” tweeted Steve Martin, who appeared alongside Grodin in the 1984 comedy The Lonely Guy. “One of the funniest people I ever met…”

“A brilliant comedy actor,” tweeted Albert Brooks. “I had the wonderful experience of working with him in my first feature ‘Real Life’ and he was amazing. Rest In Peace, Chuck.”

Grodin, who appeared in such films as Midnight Run, The Heartbreak Kid, Beethoven, The Great Muppet Caper and on TV as a favored guest of Johnny Carson and David Letterman, died today of bone marrow cancer at his home in Connecticut.

“I loved Charles Grodin so much,” tweeted Kathy Griffin. “He would bust my balls and give me so much shit in a way that left me no choice but to giggle with glee.

Charles Grodin, acclaimed actor of works like “Midnight Run,” “The Heartbreak Kid,” and “Heaven Can Wait” has died at the age of 86. The actor had been fighting a battle against bone marrow cancer. Grodin became synonymous with playing taciturn, deadpan characters that were cultivated in comedies of the 1970s, but also translated perfectly to children’s features of the 1980s and 1990s like “The Great Muppet Caper” and “Beethoven.”

Grodin was born in Pittsburgh on April 12, 1935. He briefly studied at the University of Miami after high school but quickly left to pursue acting, eventually studying at the Hb Studio in New York City under the legendary Uta Hagen.

His first role was as a bit player in Walt Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” in 1954 and he eventually made his debut on Broadway opposite Anthony Quinn in “Tchin-Tchin.” After making appearances on television shows like “The Virginian” and a...

Charles Grodin, best known for the neurotic comic wit he demonstrated in such films as “The Heartbreak Kid,” “Heaven Can Wait” and “Midnight Run” and for his role in the “Beethoven” movies, died Tuesday at his home in Connecticut. He was 86.

The New York Times reported that his son said he died of bone marrow cancer.

After getting his start in television, Grodin graduated to both leading and character roles in motion pictures, usually portraying the exasperated urban neurotic. His dry, understated sense of humor also made him a perfect talkshow guest, and later, host of his own cable show. Grodin also wrote plays and books.

The wry 1972 comedy “The Heartbreak Kid,” written by Neil Simon and directed by Elaine May, highlighted Grodin’s trademark neurotic befuddlement, and won him a Golden Globe nomination. But it was one of the few successful films in his career in which he was center stage.

Charles Grodin, the comic, scene-stealing actor of such films as The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run and Beethoven who later established himself as a curmudgeonly talk show guest without rival, died today at his home in Wilton, Conn. He was 86.

His son, Nicholas, told The New York Times that the cause of death was bone marrow cancer. A spokesperson said Grodin died peacefully at his home.

Born Charles Sidney Grodin in Pittsburgh, Grodin, who studied under Lee Strasberg, made his big-screen debut in the small role as the duped obstetrician who turns Mia Farrow’s Rosemary over to a coven of witches in Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Grodin graduated to leading man by 1972’s The Heartbreak Kid, the Elaine May film that established his career and set the hapless, dry-wit style that would become his signature.

Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2021 – Photo Gallery

Though he would achieve fame on screen,...

Nevertheless, she persisted.

Elaine May, who turns 89 on Wednesday, has enjoyed a late career resurgence, earning a Tony Award for her work in Kenneth Lonergan’s play “The Waverly Gallery” and directing an acclaimed documentary on her friend and frequent collaborator Mike Nichols for American Masters. Even “Ishtar,” her much derided 1987 flop, clawed its way into the black by the early aughts, as emails from the Sony hack revealed.

And yet, it’s impossible not to feel as though movie lovers and comedy fans have been robbed of decades of great work because the entertainment industry never quite knew what to make of May. Her struggles to remain true to her unbending artistic compass in a bottom-line-driven industry derailed her directing ambitions. May’s resume is slender, consisting of just four features, but what’s there is choice. There are three masterworks, “Mikey and Nicky,” “The Heartbreak Kid” and “A New Leaf,...

Anthony Powell, a three-time Oscar winner whose costume designs helped bring Indiana Jones to rugged life and Broadway’s Norma Desmond to extravagant excess, died Sunday. He was 85.

The Costume Designers Guild 892 confirmed the news on Monday night, on their official Facebook page. “Legendary English costume designer Anthony Powell passed away last weekend. He will be celebrated in a small, private gathering due to Covid restrictions and is survived by two nieces,” they said. “Anthony Powell’s passion for his work and for his friends was boundless. The Costume Designers Guild sends our condolences to everyone who enjoyed the pleasure of his company and his unforgettable designs.”

Powell, who won a Tony Award for the costumes of 1963’s School for Scandal, received Oscars in 1978 for Death on the Nile and in 1979 for Tess. He had received his first Academy Award for designing the costumes for Maggie Smith’s eccentric Augusta...

Anthony Powell, the three-time Oscar-winning costume designer known for helping shape the looks of Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones and Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil, has died. He was 85.

The Costume Designers Guild confirmed Powell’s death on Monday night on Facebook, writing: “Legendary English costume designer Anthony Powell passed away last weekend. He will be celebrated in a small, private gathering due to Covid restrictions and is survived by two nieces.” According to a Facebook post from fellow designer Scott Traugott, Powell died on Friday evening.

Powell’s Academy Awards came for “Travels with My Aunt” (1972), “Death on the Nile” (1978) and “Tess” (1979). He was nominated for Steven Spielberg’s “Hook” and “102 Dalmatians.”

He worked with top directors of the 1970s and ’80s including Spielberg, Roman Polanski, George Cukor and William Friedkin.

Born in Manchester, U.K. Powell was a graduate of the Central School of Art and Design in London.

With this week’s release of the long-anticipated “Snyder Cut” of “Justice League,” filmmaker Zack Snyder joins a long, distinguished list of directors who have fought for their final vision to make it to the screen. While Snyder’s path from the so-called “Whedon Cut” of his Dceu film to the nearly four-hour version of his film, hitting both theaters and HBO Max, has been a relatively short (just four years between releases) one, it’s also been one of the most public.

Yet, in many ways, it’s not a new story: for as long as Hollywood has existed, creators have seen their original ideas snipped down, cut up, and presented for ready consumption. Over the decades, many filmmakers have attempted what Snyder has pulled off, often with very different results. Even the entries that appear on this list of best director’s cuts often come with an asterisk: yes,...

The director of Sergio and many docs talks about docs and movies taken from true stories.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sergio (2009)

Sergio (2020)

Reds (1981)

The Two Popes (2019)

Rules Don’t Apply (2016)

Bulworth (1998)

Dick Tracy (1990)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Innerspace (1987)

Ishtar (1987)

The Thin Blue Line (1988)

Man On Wire (2008)

The Fog of War (2003)

American Dharma (2018)

Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru (2016)

The Killing Fields (1984)

The Year of Living Dangerously (1983)

Under Fire (1983)

Salvador (1986)

The Quiet American (2002)

The Quiet American (1958)

A Private War (2018)

The War Room (1993)

The Final Year (2017)

Independence Day (1996)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Bloodsport (1988)

Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (1996)

When We Were Kings (1996)

Soul Power (2008)

High School (1968)

Hospital (1970)

Titicut Follies (1967)

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (2007)

Before Night Falls (2000)

At Eternity’s Gate (2018)

American Factory (2019)

Dina (2017)

Honeyland (2019)

The Act of Killing (2012)

The English Patient (1996)

Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990)

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Purple Noon (1960)

Other Notable Items

Sergio Aragonés

Wagner Moura

Narcos TV...

Thirty years ago this month, Madonna released one of the most fascinating records in her catalogue, I’m Breathless. Attached to her role as the nightclub singer/femme fatale in Warren Beatty’s 1990 film Dick Tracy, I’m Breathless wasn’t necessarily a proper solo album, but one of those “Music From and Inspired By the Film” projects that the world’s biggest pop stars always seem compelled to make (see also: Prince’s Batman or, more recently, Beyoncé’s The Lion King: The Gift). Meant to match Beatty’s...

by Cláudio Alves

As we've seen in our analysis of Elaine May's first three pictures as a director, she was a consummate auteur. It's true that a farce about marital homicide followed by a cruel comedy of adultery which, in turn, is followed by a New York-set character study may suggest a somewhat chaotic filmography. However, her themes were consistent, her work with actors always inspired, and her cinematic language showed a through-line of bizarre human behavior anchored by material realism.

This is never more evident than when autopsying the carcass of May's final picture, Ishtar, where all these threads coalesce and reach their apotheosis in the form of a mainstream flop of epic proportions. Tales of a troubled production had made headlines long before the movie reached theaters and, when its box-office results proved catastrophic, Elaine May's career as a director went down the drain…...

“If all of the people who hate ‘Ishtar’ had seen it,” Elaine May famously said, “I would be a rich woman today.” On Wikipedia’s list of the biggest box-office disasters, with losses over $100 million (at current dollar values), “Ishtar” doesn’t even rate a mention. That’s because the movie lost about $91 million — more in the range of a box-office dud like “Cats.”

But to this day, Elaine May’s 1987 comedy adventure about two floundering singer/songwriters meandering around the Sahara — played by Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman — is considered one of Hollywood’s great box-office debacles, rivaled only by Michael Cimino’s studio-destroying “Heaven’s Gate,” with its loss of $126 million.

Here’s why “Ishtar” outlasted so many bigger money-losers as the poster child for a troubled belly-flop.

Media Coverage

From in front, “Ishtar” was a troubled production. One red flag went up when May (who directed the hit...

Jennifer Lopez is truly enjoying the award season ride.

“This is the industry. This is the town!” Lopez told Variety before accepting her Lafca Best Supporting Actress award on Saturday night. “’Hustlers’ was a movie we made in 29 days, on a low budget. I didn’t take any money for it because I believed in the material. I believed that it was a great role for me. To be standing here tonight is just, like, mind-blowing.”

With Lopez nominated for a Critics Choice Award Sunday, a SAG Award next Sunday, and coming off a Golden Globe nomination last weekend for her supporting performance as veteran stripper Ramona, she was enthusiastic to accept the acting award honor at the annual ceremony, speaking to press on the red carpet at the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City, staying for the event’s two-hour-plus duration, and bringing fiancé Alex Rodriguez as her date.

Although Lopez,...