Bad Movies By Great Directors

[KnoxHarrington]

Pretty much every great director has at least one piece of shit in their body of work. You can't be perfect all the time, after all. So what do you think are bad movies by great directors?

To me, one of the best examples is "Eyes Wide Shut", Stanley Kubrick's last film. I think that in that movie, his perfectionism ran wild and sucked any bit of life out of the movie. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are not great actors anyway, but Kubrick keeps such tight rein over their performances that they become like marionettes.

And the plot is ludicrous. It's from a '20s novel heavily influenced by Freud's theories, which have been largely rejected by this point. That makes it oddly dated: we're supposed to believe that a doctor who lives in New York is so shattered by the revelation that his wife once thought about fucking another guy that he goes into some sort of spiral? And do the ultra-rich really need some sort of weird sex club? Don't they just fuck whoever they want anyway? And on top of that, wouldn't a woman as sophisticated as Nicole Kidman's character is supposed to be just laugh in the face of that sleazy European guy who hits on her at the beginning?

It's beautifully made, true, but it really has a weird sterility to it, and some pretty odd notions on human nature. It's obvious that Kubrick had built up his own world, and that world didn't have much relation to ours, that he knew how a camera works, but had forgotten how human beings worked.

[TheMojoPin]

1941 by Spielberg.

Bringing Out the Dead by Scorsese.

Everything De Palma, Riley Scott and Coppola in the last 15+ years.

[jetdog]

The Departed


(ducks and covers...)

[jetdog]

To me, one of the best examples is "Eyes Wide Shut", Stanley Kubrick's last film. I think that in that movie, his perfectionism ran wild and sucked any bit of life out of the movie. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are not great actors anyway, but Kubrick keeps such tight rein over their performances that they become like marionettes.

And the plot is ludicrous. It's from a '20s novel heavily influenced by Freud's theories, which have been largely rejected by this point. That makes it oddly dated: we're supposed to believe that a doctor who lives in New York is so shattered by the revelation that his wife once thought about fucking another guy that he goes into some sort of spiral? And do the ultra-rich really need some sort of weird sex club? Don't they just fuck whoever they want anyway? And on top of that, wouldn't a woman as sophisticated as Nicole Kidman's character is supposed to be just laugh in the face of that sleazy European guy who hits on her at the beginning?

It's beautifully made, true, but it really has a weird sterility to it, and some pretty odd notions on human nature. It's obvious that Kubrick had built up his own world, and that world didn't have much relation to ours, that he knew how a camera works, but had forgotten how human beings worked.

This really sums up my disapointment with this movie nicely, very well written.
I think the soundtrack (however minimal), which is something that Kubrick excels at, also suffered from a detached point of view.

[Dre]

Although I completely enjoyed the film, and find the quotes funny, mainly because of the numerous times it is referenced on O&A, I found "The King of Comedy" to be Scorsese's weakest and film with least quality, in the respect of his body of work. But, this can also be theorized to stem from the fact he made this film coming off of a coke addiction, but I still thought it was his weakest work.

Also, I agree with the assertion of the fact that "Eyes Wide Shut", although it was his last, was Kubrick's weakest quality film.

And, finally, I really found "Punch Drunk Love", to be my least favorite, and thus, (in my mind), weakest PT Anderson film, out of all the rest of his great body of work.

[TheMojoPin]

Aren't we talking "bad" as opposed to "weakest?" With some directors, even their weakest film kicks most everyone else's asses.

[Dre]

The Departed


(ducks and covers...)

QFT. So many people, who aren't like most good movie buffs, like myself and lots of people on this board and others, aren't that familiar with most of Scorsese's great work, (unfortunately), and think that movie was so great, when in reality, it was probably one of his weakest, and the Academy threw him a bone for robbing him of the Oscar plenty of other years. I.e. Goodfellas, Casino, Raging Bull etc.

[Dre]

Aren't we talking "bad" as opposed to "weakest?" With some directors, even their weakest film kicks most everyone else's asses.

Very, very true.

[Chris from TX]

The Ladykillers -Coen Brothers

[jetdog]

Hachi-gatsu no kyôshikyoku by Akira Kurosawa

or "Rhapsody in August"

starring Richard Gere, very mild and melodramatic, childish.

[Dre]

The Ladykillers -Coen Brothers

:clap:

Great one my friend, I completely missed that one. Their only "bad" film, if you can even say that.

[AKA]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - the only movie I slept at in the theatre

[fezident]

DEJA VU by Tony Scott.


THE BROTHERS GRIMM by Terry Gilliam. Oh... that reminds me, TIDELAND was a disaster too. Still love Gilliam though. He gets a pass.

[TheMojoPin]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - the only movie I slept at in the theatre

Uhhhh...huge Robert Wise fan? I don't think I've ever heard of anyone calling him a great director.

[TheMojoPin]

DEJA VU by Tony Scott.

Heh, I think Tony Scott is the flipside of this...name the good movies by the shit director.

[donnie_darko]

i still dont get the fuss over the departed

revolver was kind of weak.

[fezident]

I love Tony Scott:

TRUE ROMANCE.
MAN ON FIRE.
SPY GAME.
ENEMY OF THE STATE.
REVENGE.
BEVERLY HILLS COP II.
and I actually liked DOMINO. It was an interesting experiment.


TOP GUN does nothing for me. DEJA VU was a misfire.

[TheMojoPin]

I can safely say that Domino is easily one of the worst wastes of film I have ever seen without a trace of hyperbole.

What was the experiment? See if he can drive the audience bonkers with an overload of MTV-style edits ad filmmaking techniques that were cliche a decade before? OK, TONY, WE GET IT. YOU LIKE BURN CUTS. It's become as annoying and hackish as George Lucas and side wipes.

I do really like TR and Crimson Tide, though.

[underdog]

I can safely say that Domino is easily one of the worst wastes of film I have ever seen without a trace of hyperbole.

This is craziness.

Just the fact that Kiera Knightly got naked a lot should raise it out of worst movie ever category.

[fezident]

I enjoyed the frenetic energy of DOMINO just as much as I enjoy the intimacy of, say, MILLION DOLLAR BABY.

Sometimes I like to forget that I'm even watching a movie. I like to feel like I'm in their world. Other times, I like to be reminded that I'm watching a movie. I like to actually see the process. DOMINO lives right there. I enjoyed how visually extreme it was.

[Badinia]

Altman's "Pret A Porter", which really annoyed me when it came out but now just looks cartoonish,

and "Dr. T and the Women", which I tried really hard to like because my friend was in it.

And he follows that up with "Gosford Park" the next year, which is great!

[Hottub]

Penelope Spheeris brought us The Decline of Western Civilization I and II, Wayne's World and Dudes. Then followed up with Beverly Hillbillies, and Little Rascals. Blech.

[patsopinion]

i read the thread topic and i read "band movies by great directors"
and i immediatly thought of scorsse's "im not there"

[TheMojoPin]

I enjoyed the frenetic energy of DOMINO just as much as I enjoy the intimacy of, say, MILLION DOLLAR BABY.

Sometimes I like to forget that I'm even watching a movie. I like to feel like I'm in their world. Other times, I like to be reminded that I'm watching a movie. I like to actually see the process. DOMINO lives right there. I enjoyed how visually extreme it was.

The whole thing just reeked of the worst kind of post-Tarantino knock-off, or a film studtent desperate to cram as much gimmicks and shallow tricks into the filmmaking because they have enough story for about 20 minutes of film. That, and the characters aren't even that intersting, and if they were, they'd all be pointlessly reprehensible and one dimensional...which can often be fine, but Scott wants this movie to be "deep" and a scathing commentary on modern media obsession.

And I find the Kiera Knightly nudity moot because, for one, she has the body of a starving boy, and two, there's porn.

Oh yeah...Mo'Nique.

*Shudders*

Though I also was not impressed by Million Dollar Baby at all either, so we're just two ships passing in the night.

[underdog]

And I find the Kiera Knightly nudity moot because, for one, she has the body of a starving boy

And?

[Drunky McBetidont]

Penelope Spheeris brought us The Decline of Western Civilization I and II, Wayne's World and Dudes. Then followed up with Beverly Hillbillies, and Little Rascals. Blech.


i still have the soundtrack on vinal from decline of the western civilization. that punkumentary really fueled my teenage angst. i would love to watch part 2. but i think that one was based on heavy metal. i was always more into the punk scene (black flag, circle jerks, fear, minor threat, X, the germs, dead kennedys, etc)

i gotta see if those are on netflicks!!!

[TheMojoPin]

And?

Touche.

[danner1515]

You know, I've seen most of Scorsese's films, and I always find myself scratching my head when I hear people rattle on about how great Raging Bull is. It's good, but masterpiece? Nah. For my money, it's only his third or fourth best film. Apparently, Ron thinks the exact same thing about Goodfellas. Different strokes.

Since no one's mentioned him yet, I think Tim Burton's worst movie was that awful Planet of the Apes remake. I really didn't care for Big Fish either.

[Pitdoc]

What a way for a genius like Kubrick to go out. .. Not only does a guy like Tom Cruise freak out because his wife had a FANTASY, but then he spends the REST of the movie trying to get laid..and CAN'T( He looks like Tom Cruise!!) .The even more ridiculous thing was that he would go around town and show people his medical license, and they give him information like he was a cop!!

..and as for a pick by me..Anybody who loved this years" Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" might be suprised that Sidney Lumet directed "The Wiz"

[Franklyn]

this is a great question but I found I had a hard time with it. My favorite directors are generally considered to make bad or unknown movies. Tim burton, david lynch and Jim henson are my favs and out of them all the only film I didn't love is "lost highway" but i wouldn't call it shit.
directors i like generally keep me happy. directors i dont like gereally keep putting out things i dont like. oh i think "wes cravens new nightmare" was terrible.