Choose the Worst Movie: No Conclusion, Just Opinions!

[Dewey1960]

I guess it only seems like 200 minutes!

ChiO then admitted:
Okay, you've beaten it out of me: I saw it on my 14th birthday...and then (and everytime since) when, at the close, Sir Alec says to Rita Tushingham (surpassed in stiffness only by Geraldine Chaplin), "It's a gift.", I turn into a blubbering blob. Rationality ain't my strong suit.

There's no room for cheap sentimentality in a serious poll such as this, my good man!

[Mr. Arkadin]

I'll go with Zhivago being a pretentious, boring film. One other aspect about Zhivago is that he's not a man I can find any pity or respect for. There are better Russian authors (Solzhenitsyn) and better films made from their work.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20jcjUUmHo4[/youtube]

[Ann Harding]

I completely agree: Zhivago has never looked even remotely Russian to me. With Julie Christie looking like the icon of London 60s, Omar Sharif direct from the desert plus Alec Guiness... a great bore....
I used to like Ryan's Daughter, but the last time I saw it, I found it was dated excpet for Mitchum's performance.

But I have seen a 70 mm print of Lawrence of Arabia after restoration: this is a very good picture with a brilliant script.

[bdp]

"Head (a travesty, along with the New Monkees)"

Head was the greatest visual work the Monkees ever did, far more interesting than any given episode of the very hackneyed TV show.

You want travesty, track down the TV special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee.

[klondike]

"Head (a travesty, along with the New Monkees)"

Head was the greatest visual work the Monkees ever did, far more interesting than any given episode of the very hackneyed TV show.

You want travesty, track down the TV special 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee.

On the subject of those pesky Monkees: beyond travesty & innovation, there's also droll & quirky brilliance on a frayed shoestring -
Mike Nesmith's Elephant Parts.

[ChiO]

bdp said:

Head was the greatest visual work the Monkees ever did, far more interesting than any given episode of the very hackneyed TV show.

And, afterall, how many other movies have Frank Zappa and Annette Funicello and Victor Mature and... Timothy Carey?

[srowley75]

Don't mean to hijack, but...

ChiO, I assume you've seen The World's Greatest Sinner?

I found a copy online to download. Sounds pretty interesting.

-Stephen

EDIT: Never mind, I see you evidently have. I'll have to post my opinion when I finally get around to watching it.

[Hollis]

Just out of curiosity, what other "visual works" did the Monkees ever do? Pose for an album cover? Three cheers for Boyce and Hart!!!

Hollis

[movieman1957]

The Monkees never did a lot more as a group but Mickey Dolenz was a successful TV director in England and Mike Nesmith almost invented the music video for the purpose of putting them on TV by setting up a company for that purpose.

I think the aforementioned "Elephant Parts" was made as a filler for pay TV between movies. At least that is the way I remember seeing it.

[bdp]

Just out of curiosity, what other "visual works" did the Monkees ever do?

The TV series, Head, and the TV special. I favor Head out of all of those, and I prefer Mike Nesmith as a songwriter to Boyce & Hart.

One problem with the TV series was that it was an attempt to create an 'American Beatles' but a circa 1965 Beatles; by the time the show hit the air the Beatles had advanced to the Revolver album, so the Monkees from that standpoint were passe before they ever hit the airwaves. Also I think Nesmith and Tork sort of forgot what they had signed on for, a lightweight TV show about a fictional struggling pop group - the more the Monkees themselves got involved on the TV side of it the faster it sank, and the fact that the 33 1/3 TV special was such a catastrophe shows just how important the control of Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider was to the enterprise.

[traceyk]

Nothing to do with the Monkees (as much as I love them-I actually have one of their albums...and play it)

To the bad movie list, I have to add Skidoo. I realize that drugs and the counterculture was becoming big business, but sheesh.
Two Faced Woman (except for Constance Bennet)