(Welcome to Tales from the Box Office, our column that examines box office miracles, disasters, and everything in between, as well as what we can learn from them.)
"This isn't art. It isn't even great trash. It's a con game, and we bear the claw marks." That's what critic Rita Kempley wrote for the Washington Post in a particularly scathing review of Roland Emmerich's 1998 movie, "Godzilla." It was the first attempt by Hollywood to bring the classic monster to life in America, and it was a spectacular failure. That's what Warner Bros., Legendary, and director Gareth Edwards were working against while crafting 2014's "Godzilla." Skepticism was built in. They had to prove that a film within this franchise made outside of Japan could work.
They did that and then some.
"Godzilla is one of the world's most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be...
"This isn't art. It isn't even great trash. It's a con game, and we bear the claw marks." That's what critic Rita Kempley wrote for the Washington Post in a particularly scathing review of Roland Emmerich's 1998 movie, "Godzilla." It was the first attempt by Hollywood to bring the classic monster to life in America, and it was a spectacular failure. That's what Warner Bros., Legendary, and director Gareth Edwards were working against while crafting 2014's "Godzilla." Skepticism was built in. They had to prove that a film within this franchise made outside of Japan could work.
They did that and then some.
"Godzilla is one of the world's most powerful pop culture icons, and we at Legendary are thrilled to be...
- 5/18/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Hollywood comedies are a dime a dozen. Yet, many receive flak for their attempts to tickle our funny bones, while only a select few earn rave reviews or accolades from critics. Honestly, I can only think of a handful of comedic films that made their way to the tops of end-of-year lists, while also recalling hundreds more that drew the ire of bigwigs like Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel for accomplishing what they set out to do.
Don't get me wrong. Bad comedies exist, but everyone's sense of humor is different. Some people get a good chuckle from the physical pratfalls enacted by Chris Farley, while others revel in the low-brow antics of Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey. At any rate, the purpose of a comedy is to supply laughs and entertain its audience. The purpose of this article is to highlight a handful of poorly reviewed comedies that are...
Don't get me wrong. Bad comedies exist, but everyone's sense of humor is different. Some people get a good chuckle from the physical pratfalls enacted by Chris Farley, while others revel in the low-brow antics of Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey. At any rate, the purpose of a comedy is to supply laughs and entertain its audience. The purpose of this article is to highlight a handful of poorly reviewed comedies that are...
- 12/11/2022
- by Jeff Ames
- Slash Film
David Lynch has made a lot of great movies, but "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me," might be his best. It's a prequel to his hit TV show "Twin Peaks," one that follows Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) around throughout the final week of her life. After two seasons of hearing about Laura in the past tense, this movie reminded us of something most murder mystery shows tend to lose sight of: that the victim was a real person with a full life, not just a mystery to be solved. "Fire Walk With Me" is a sad, terrifying, deeply emotional film, one that gives Laura a voice for one of the few times in the series.
Unfortunately, the movie was both a financial and critical disappointment at the time. "Twin Peaks" fans who wanted a resolution to the second season's massive cliffhanger were disappointed that the movie didn't resolve any of that.
Unfortunately, the movie was both a financial and critical disappointment at the time. "Twin Peaks" fans who wanted a resolution to the second season's massive cliffhanger were disappointed that the movie didn't resolve any of that.
- 8/28/2022
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
In the 1990s, Jim Carrey was an unstoppable force.
After a stint on “In Living Color,” where he created a rococo list of characters like Fire Marshall Bill and Vera De Milo, the rubber-faced comic seamlessly made the transition to the big screen. Despite a critical drubbing, “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” became a sleeper hit in the spring of 1994, grossing more than $100 million on a $15 million budget. Carrey followed that up with blockbusters like “The Mask,” “Dumb and Dumber,” and “Batman Forever,” assuming the role of the Riddler, a part once earmarked for Robin Williams. As fans flocked to see his latest movies, Carrey’s salary ballooned. When he first played Ace Ventura, Carrey pulled in $450,000, but by the time he was spiking Jeff Daniels’s coffee with ex-lax in “Dumb and Dumber,” the comic earned a cool $7 million for his efforts.
So it made sense that when it came to compensation,...
After a stint on “In Living Color,” where he created a rococo list of characters like Fire Marshall Bill and Vera De Milo, the rubber-faced comic seamlessly made the transition to the big screen. Despite a critical drubbing, “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” became a sleeper hit in the spring of 1994, grossing more than $100 million on a $15 million budget. Carrey followed that up with blockbusters like “The Mask,” “Dumb and Dumber,” and “Batman Forever,” assuming the role of the Riddler, a part once earmarked for Robin Williams. As fans flocked to see his latest movies, Carrey’s salary ballooned. When he first played Ace Ventura, Carrey pulled in $450,000, but by the time he was spiking Jeff Daniels’s coffee with ex-lax in “Dumb and Dumber,” the comic earned a cool $7 million for his efforts.
So it made sense that when it came to compensation,...
- 6/14/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s first English-language film, “The Human Voice,” is akin to a Douglas Sirk fevered-dream. An unnamed woman (Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton) has been waiting for three days for a phone call from her long-time love who has left her for another so he would arrange a time for him to pick up his luggage and his dog. And then the phone rings. In less than 30 minutes, Swinton emotes every passion from joy to anger to suicidal despair during her photo call.
Critics were effusive in their praise at the Venice International Film Festival and New York Film Festival with Sony Pictures Classic picking up the live-action short film. “Despite its origins as a play. “The Human Voice” is well-suited to being filmed,” said Gary M. Kramer in Salon. “Swinton’s expressions, from a silent sigh in the opening moments, to her look of shock enhanced by her unkempt,...
Critics were effusive in their praise at the Venice International Film Festival and New York Film Festival with Sony Pictures Classic picking up the live-action short film. “Despite its origins as a play. “The Human Voice” is well-suited to being filmed,” said Gary M. Kramer in Salon. “Swinton’s expressions, from a silent sigh in the opening moments, to her look of shock enhanced by her unkempt,...
- 10/1/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Rarely are transformational works well-regarded in their time. Vincent Canby of The New York Times compared The Godfather Part II’s dialogue to “cartoon captions,” and wrote that the movie was “stitched together from leftover parts” — like Frankenstein’s monster. The Fast and the Furious was called “Rebel Without a Cause without a cause” by Rita Kempley of The Washington Post. Rolling Stone’s David Fear claimed Detective Pikachu “is strictly for the fans, in the best and worst possible ways.”
It’s claims like these that seem reasonable, but time proves them wrong,...
It’s claims like these that seem reasonable, but time proves them wrong,...
- 5/10/2019
- by Charles Holmes
- Rollingstone.com
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