August Spies

I repeat. Battlefield earth

Not Prince Hamlet

Strictly speaking, it was a "Seven Samurai" rip-off.

Jeff

Stephen Maturin

Love Story . Nothing else even comes close.

Manta

:notworthy

Yes. I apparently was overtaken by a pod person & rented the thing. BAD idea. Didn't make it though the first 30 minutes.

-k

Perchance

Hello, NialScorva.

Up to this point I would agree with you- although I honestly don't know if the movie was trying to make the robot seem creepy, or if that's only a reaction that the audience may place onto the movie.

This is where I depart. I didn't get the impression that one was supposed to stop feeling sorry for him. After all, the "gods" of this univese (mechas and/or writers) gave him what he wanted. I thought that was an affirmation that what he wanted was fine, and even supposed to be sweet.

I don't know about "sacrificing her forever." After all, was there really any way that he could have had her back, once she'd been dead two thousand years? (Except for the way they chose, of course).

I didn't have as much of a problem with him wanting his "mommy" all to himself. I saw it as a reflection of the way that (some, at least) children think of their parents. Their parents are there to tend to their needs. An adult protagonist might be thinking in these terms, but David, with a child's mentality, wouldn't.

I saw it as a commentary as well, but endorsing it (and arguing that we should accept David as human, even though so much of the story was about his differences from humanity).

****

Actually, after thinking about it, there's another thing that puts me into black rage:

The ending cheated.

I like speculative fiction, but it has to have rules. Why make the mechas/aliens able to bring her back for only a single day, at the end of which she dies? Cheating. Deus ex machina.. I would feel the same way if I were reading a fantasy novel and had the hero, who had previously been granted only three wishes, suddenly have a fourth wish in order to get himself out of danger. Bent rules, or rules set up for no other reason than to throw something like this into the plot, infuriate me.

Making the clone able to live for only one day served that purpose and that purpose alone, in my eyes. Blatantly manipulative. The ending might make you cry, but it couldn't follow its own rules.

I hate stupid loopholes. Loopholes in general are fine, but they have to be explained, and they have to make sense.

-Perchance.

Jayjay

Haven't seen AI, but this talk about stupid loopholes reminded me of anothe recent Spielberg flop: Minority Report. There was no consistency at all how the precognition was supposed to work... sometimes, the precogs saw what would've happened if the police hadn't intervened, sometimes they saw stuff that would happen if there was intervention. Sometimes people were able to change their minds regardless of what was supposed to happen, sometimes they couldn't. Just horrible.

ElectEngr

Two nominations:

1) "Charllie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen"

I Think Angie Dickerson kept her cloths on through the entire movie on this one.

and

2) "How to Beat the High Cost of Living"

Later,ElectEngr

Azathoth

I'll throw a few more out there.

Iron Warrior:To this day,I have only a vague idea of the plot.It almost seems like they strung scenes together randomly.Watching this movie is a test of endurance.

Star Crash:A thinly veiled Star Wars rip off.Highlights include the hero using a "Light Sword" (hello Lucasfilm legal dept),the Evil Overlord guy's space fortress-base that looks like a giant hand.And last,but not least,David Hasslehoff as the hero.

Night of the Lepus:Giant Killer Bunnies,Deforest Kelly.Enough said.

jess

wow. A real eye opener.

I would say I have good taste, because I agree that a good chunk of these movies sucked.

Then again, I have the remaining third on DVD.

oh well.

And it was Steel Dawn. We have it on video. Not one redeeming quality, and that includes Patrick Swayze. Red Dawn was a different PS flick, and quite enjoyable when you are a pre-teen girl.

Jay Jay: I thought that was the point of the precogs--- that their power wasn't understood or predictable. All of your comments were right (add in the fact that the 'vison' may not account for all the facts), and that was the message.

Additions:

one more person who hated the directors cut of Blade Runner. I much prefer the old version, which was at least decent sci fi with a 'what if', not mastubatory crap. Harrison was worth the time.

Parapsychics.

Moulin Rouge.

MIB one (I woulda walked out, but that would have made hubby join me, and he liked it)

Speed Zone 55. We were the only people in the theatre. (cannonball run 3)

Mars Attacks

Tank Girl

The (new) Haunting (special effects saved it though from being a total waste, the way MR was)

oh, the amount of bad movies!

Yellow3

Really? I enjoyed Independence Day, despite it being dumb, dumb, unabashedly dumb. It was a ton of eye-candy, just enough story and characterization to tape the bits that weren't eye-candy together, and had a fast-moving plot with stupid bits that weren't big enough to trip it up (not that I noticed, anyway). Especially good in the theaters, where the whole roller-coaster experience really works.

Of course, then you stop for even five minutes and think about it, and the whole thing kind of falls apart. But so does The Matrix (what are the humans breathing? There aren't any damn plants left on Earth!).

Mars Attacks had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. It was just unmitigated pain from start to finish. Independence Day was at least a fun and mindless ride.

- Jen