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Which promising movies fell shortest of expectations?
When we first heard the news that J.J. Abrams had been hired by Disney to continue the adventures of Luke Skywalker and company as the director of Star Wars: Episode VII, we were almost beside ourselves with enthusiasm. After all, as the director of Star Trek (2009), Abrams proved that he could revitalize a classic sci-fi franchise while remaining true to its core concepts and respectful of its legacy. Added to that the fact that Abrams will be shooting from a script written by Academy Award-winner Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) and Episode VII is bound to be the greatest Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi, right? We'll see. We're keeping our fingers crossed, but gearing down from "enthusiastic" to "hopefully optimistic."
Studios don't set out to make bad movies, yet they churn them out each and every year. Sure, most bad movies are doomed from the get-go, be they saddled with a bad script, a director who lacks vision, a cast made up of eye candy instead of actors, or some combination thereof, but even movies that seem to have everything going for them can still turn out to be dreadful. A movie about cowboys fighting aliens starring Indiana Jones and James Bond directed by the man who brought us Iron Man? Sounds awesome! Too bad Cowboys and Aliens turned out to be just another one of those movies that should have been great, but ultimately left us feeling unsatisfied and disappointed.
You've griped about them to your friends, now tell us which movies you found to be the biggest disappointments, the ones that simply failed to live up to expectations.
Rate the Top 10 Most Disappointing Movies >>
Posted 01.25.13 by BrentJS -
So far, our look at David Hughes" Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made? has focused on movies that remained stuck in "Development Hell," never to see the light of day. In our fourth and final chapter, we examine Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, one of the rare examples of a movie that spent years in Development Hell, but somehow managed to break free and find its way to the big screen (though many die-hard fans of the franchise wish that it hadn't), where it earned a place in Hollywood history.
Sit back, grab a handful of popcorn, and prepare to have your mind blown as we journey to Development Hell in the final installment of Tales from Development Hell: The Greatest Movies Never Made?.
Part 4: Keeping Up with the (Indiana) Joneses >>
Posted 03.26.12 by BrentJS -
How much rugged handsomeness can fit in one box? Several hours' worth, it turns out. Paramount Pictures is releasing all of the exciting Indiana Jones adventures (and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) in a Blu-ray box set this fall.
Along with all four movies in "the highest possible high definition," the box set will also include a collection of documentaries, featurettes, and interviews, as well as "a few new surprises." It may seem a tad early to start putting a Christmas wish list together, but with this announcement, March seems like as good a time as any to start. A 39-year-old Harrison Ford in high def? It's enough to make anyone's Christmas very merry indeed.
Along with the announcement, a boxed set trailer was also released that serves as a great reminder of why we love Indy so much.
watch the trailer >> Posted 03.01.12 by Mandy -
George Lucas, the man fanboys love to hate, is done with the movie business.
Lucas' latest movie, Red Tails, tells an important story about the Tuskegee Airmen's struggle against racism while flying combat aircraft during World War II. Lucas, who spent nearly 20 years getting the movie produced, has already publicly revealed the difficulty in trying to sell it to Hollywood studios, citing that "nobody wanted it" because they didn't "feel there was enough of an audience out there for it." Lucas went ahead and financed the movie himself.
Perhaps the difficulty of making Red Tails, combined with the continued rage that fanboys emit every time Lucas alters one of his Star Wars movies, is the reason he told The New York Times: "I'm retiring. I'm moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff."
more about Red Tails sequels, Indy 5 and fighting fanboys >> Posted 01.18.12 by Ryan -
Since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was released in 2008, fans have been wondering when the next chapter of the franchise was going to arrive. While Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may have had a polarizing effect on fanbase opinions, $768 million in worldwide box office receipts proved there was still plenty of interest in Indiana Jones.
In September of 2009, Harrison Ford admitted he, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas all "agreed on what the fifth adventure will concern," which he later described as "crazy, but great."
Last year, it was rumored Indiana Jones 5 (working title) might include a trip to the Bermuda Triangle, but months later, Ford said he had yet to see " anything on paper" for a fifth installment.
could Indy die? >> Posted 07.17.11 by Ryan -
Shia LaBeouf is something of a rarity in Hollywood. Not only does the 25-year-old actor have starring roles in two major movie franchises — Transformers and Indiana Jones — but he is also one of the few actors who is not afraid to criticize his own movies. LaBeouf slammed Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, saying that he "wasn't impressed" by it and that "the heart was gone." LaBeouf also trashed Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, saying that he "dropped the ball on the legacy" and even claimed that the series' star, Harrison Ford, "wasn't happy with it either."
None of LaBeouf's Transformers co-stars commented on his statements — and director Michael Bay even seems to agree with LaBeouf — but Ford has finally broken his silence about LaBeouf's criticism of Crystal Skull, blasting his onscreen son for not supporting the movie.
what did Ford say and what's up with Indy 5? >> Posted 06.30.11 by BrentJS -
Today's Challenge: Memorial Day is a popular day for going to the movies and the two biggest earners ever for the holiday are Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Can you find a link to connect these two holiday blockbusters?
Our first Facebook movie game, ClusterFlick, plays off that old "six degrees of separation" theory — you know, the one that has a certain Kevin at the center of the Hollywood universe. It's easy to play, but not so easy to win. The goal is to use the major cast of movies to get from Point A to Point B in the smallest number of moves.
Play ClusterFlick >>
Posted 05.30.11 by reelz -
Many fans of the Indiana Jones franchise were disappointed with the fourth installment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — turns out Shia LaBeouf is among them. LaBeouf, who joined the franchise as Indy's son Mutt, told The LA Times that he felt he was to blame for the movie's shortcomings.
why does LaBeouf blame himself? >> Posted 05.18.10 by Ryan -
While Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull left some die-hard fans of the franchise scratching their heads (aliens?) and others shaking their heads in disgust (Mutt as Tarzan?), the movie reviewed well, scoring a respectable 77% on aggregate review site RottenTomatoes. It could also be classified as a colossal success, having grossed more than $780 million at the worldwide box office, making the question of a sequel almost a foregone conclusion.
Shia LaBeouf, who played the aforementioned Mutt in Crystal Skull, was the first to drop the news that Indiana Jones 5 was in the works back in June 2009, but most of the recent updates have come from Indy himself, Harrison Ford. Ford said in September 2009 that the story was "in the process of taking form" and that, assuming the script is good, he would be "very happy to put the costume on again." Then, in Ocotober 2009, Ford said that writer-producer George Lucas had come up with a "crazy but great" story.
When Ford next spoke about Indiana Jones 5 in January of this year, he discussed some of the characters he would like to see return in the new movie, including more Mutt and Marion (played by Karen Allen), possibly as Indy's wife. Now, Ford has confirmed to the BBC that a story has been agreed upon and Lucas is hard at work on the script.
Steven [Spielberg] and George and I are sort of agreed on a germ of an idea and we're seeing what comes of it. The process works like this: We come to some basic agreement and then George goes away for a long time and works on it. Then Steven and I get it in some form, some embryonic form. Then if we like it we start working with George on it and at some point down the line it's ready and we do it.
For fans of the franchise, here's hoping that "some point down the line" is sooner rather than later, considering Ford will turning the ripe old age of 68 on his next birthday.
Posted 03.02.10 by BrentJS -
Writer/director/producer George Lucas gave the world two of the most thrilling and imaginative franchises in movie history with Star Wars and Indiana Jones. But despite legions of devoted fans and six of the ten highest-grossing sci-fi pictures of all time, he recently told Jon Stewart that he expected his life to turn out much differently than it has.
Lucas appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote his new book, George Lucas's Blockbusting, but spent most of the segment discussing Star Wars. Stewart opened the segment by chiding Lucas about a few plot holes — such as Luke and Leia Skywalker growing up under the nose of the Emperor and the Empire without being detected — and asked Lucas how he feels when fans criticize his work. Lucas commented, "Life is duality," and pointed out that there are now three generations of Star Wars fans who enjoy different parts of the overall mythology, from the original trilogy to the new trilogy to the Clone Wars animated series.
It's a work of fiction. It's a metaphor. It's not real. And, therefore, you can either like it or not like it ... whatever.
A recent rumor has Lucas planning an all-new trilogy, this time in 3-D, and there has been talk of a fifth Indiana Jones movie, but Lucas said that he is "having fun now doing television," referring to Clone Wars, saying that it is "a lot more goofy and fun" than making movies.
Posted 01.07.10 by BrentJS