Isn't She Great (2000) - Bergman's career-ending writer biopic

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Lush pink and the adored stars are the selling points on this bright poster for Andrew Bergman's Isn't She Great

Jacqueline Susann has a humble dream of becoming rich and famous, and when she meets the agent Irving Mansfield they prove a magical match, since he believe just as much in her, - or more, in fact!, - than she does herself.

 

Isn't She Great is written by Paul Rudnick (Sister Act (1992)), based on the 1995 New Yorker profile Wasn't She Great of super-selling author Jacqueline Susann by Michael Korda (Another Life (1999)), and directed by Andrew Bergman (So Fine (1981)).

Bette Midler (Divine Madness (1980)) and Nathan Lane (Modern Family (2010-19)) are top stars and both quite funny here, - especially Lane, - although the story comes off as a bit implausible, including that Midler's sexually oriented Jacqueline here should marry the not exactly arousing Lane...

Another thing to wonder about in Isn't She Great is the couple's economy together, which seems enormous right from the get-go: In New York, no less, although both of them are rarely working and failed professionally at the outset. Isn't She Great is a film for fans of the two stars most of all.

 

Related post:

 

Andrew Bergman: Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) - Stars flare up in breezy romcom (writer/director)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 36-44 mil. $ (different accounts)

Box office: 3 mil. $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.07 times its cost)

[Isn't She Great was released 28 January (USA) and runs 95 minutes. Shooting took place from January - April 1999 in Quebec and New York. The film opened #17 to a 1.3 mil. $ first weekend in 750 theaters in North America, its peak there, where it grossed 2.9 mil. $ (96.7 % of the total gross). It was released in 6 other markets but has only registered an unspecified 40k $ foreign gross at Box Office Mojo. Roger Ebert gave it a 1/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Bergman was never hired as director again but did return with a couple of more credits as a writer. Midler returned with a cameo in What Women Want (2000), in Bette (2000-01) and in an actual role in The Stepford Wives (2004); Lane in Love's Labour's Lost (2000). Isn't She Great is rotten at 24 % with a 4.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Isn't She Great? 

Top 10: Best Hollywood-set movies

 

 

1. A Star Is Born (1937) - William A. Wellman

 

 

2. The Artist (2011) - Michel Hazanavicius

 

 

3. Somewhere (2010) - Sofia Coppola

 

4. Barton Fink (1991) - Ethan and Joel Coen  

 

5. Inland Empire (2006) - David Lynch

6. Bowfinger (1999) - Frank Oz

 

7. Bolt (2008) - Byron Howard, Chris Williams

 

8. Hitchcock (2012) - Sacha Gervasi

 

 

9. Maps to the Stars (2014) - David Cronenberg

 

10. This Is the End (2013) - Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen  

Selected from 25 titles labeled 'Hollywood'

Previous Top 10 lists:

Best action movies
Best adapted movies
Best adventure movies
Best 'big flop' movies
Best B/W movies
Best true story movies
Best 'big hit' movies
Best biopic movies
Best 'box office success' movies
Best car chases in movies
Best comedies
Best cop movies       
Best crime movies 
Best debut movies   
Best Danish movies
Best Disney movies 
Best documentaries 
Best dramas
Best drama-thrillers
Best dramedies

Best drug-themed movies

Best UK movies

Best epic movies

Best erotic movies

Best family movies

Best fantasy movies

Best films about filmmaking 

Best first-of-franchise movies 

Best 'flop' rank movies

Best Twentieth Century Fox titles 

Best French movies

Best franchise movies 

Best future-set movies 

Best gangster movies

Best gay-themed titles

Best German movies 

Best ghost horror movies 

Best gore movies

Top 10: Best HBO titles

Best heist movies

Best high school titles 

Best historical titles

What do you think of the list?
Which Hollywood-set movies would make your personal Top 10?

Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015) - Whannell debuts with solid creeper sequel

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A girl frightened terribly, seated in her bed, makes up this effective poster for Leigh Whannell's Insidious: Chapter 3

A father and his teenage daughter and son are recovering from their loss of their wife and mother to cancer. But the girl's attempts at contacting their lost kin in the afterlife invites a demon close to them.

 

Insidious: Chapter 3 is written and directed by debuting Leigh Whannell (Wolf Man (2025)), who also co-stars in his returning role as one of the demon hunters. It is the 3rd film in the Insidious franchise (2010; 2013) and is a prequel to the two first films.

A meticulously told story with a good performance by Stefanie Scott (Beautiful Boy (2018)) as the main character girl, once again succeeds in making an Insidious movie a place of creeping fright and scary moments. Lin Shaye (Waffle Hut (2021, TV movie)) as a psychic demon hunter is again a major asset for the series. 

Whannell makes a simple, well-made horror here.

 

Related posts:

Insidious franchise: Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) - Whannell and Wan's deflated tormented family sequel

Insidious (2010) - Wan's thrilling, scary ghost horror

Leigh Whannell: The Invisible Man (2020) - Whannell's cold and disheartening modern version (writer/director)

Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) - Whannell and Wan's deflated tormented family sequel (co-writer, actor)

Insidious (2010) - Wan's thrilling, scary ghost horror (writer, actor)

Saw III (2006) - Good performances in Bousman's grisly third trappings (writer)

Saw II (2005) - Bousman's effective reality show-like horror sequel (co-writer)

Saw (2004) - Wan and Whannell's landmark horror beast (writer, actor)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 11 mil. $

Box office: 112.9 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 10.26 times its cost)

[Insidious: Chapter 3 was released 28 May (Denmark, Slovakia) and runs 98 minutes. Shooting took place from July - August 2014 in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release Spy and holdover hit San Andreas, to a 22.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 4 (#4), grossing 52.2 mil. $ (46.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 6.1 mil. $ (5.4 %) and Russia with 5.8 mil. $ (5.1 %). The franchise returned with Insidious: The Last Key (2018). Whannell returned with Upgrade (2018). Dermot Mulroney (August: Osage County (2013)) returned in Extant (2015, TV-series)) and theatrically in Truth (2015); Scott in Hayley Kioko: Girls Like Girls (2015, music video) and theatrically in Jem and the Holograms (2015). Insidious: Chapter 3 is rotten at 56 % with a 5.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Insidious: Chapter 3?

Under Stjernerne på Himlen (2025) - Eurovision biopic is sentimental in the most wonderful way

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Anders Matthesen's profile against colored spotlights on a stage makes up this simple poster for Kasper Gaardsøe's Under Stjernerne på Himlen

Danish rock musician Tommy Seebach changes tone and conquers international dance floors in 1979 with his Eurovision hit Disco Tango. But after a decade of hits, his fame fades, and the spotlight moves on. Tommy wants to reconquer the stage, but the costs of his endeavor rise.

Under Stjernerne på Himlen is written by Stefan Jaworski (Rita (2013, TV-series)) and Jannik Tai Mosholt (Anti (2016)), based on the life of Tommy Seebach, and directed by debuting Kasper Gaardsøe (DNA (2019, TV-series)). The original Danish title translates to 'under the stars on the sky'.

Opening with the Disco Tango pomp and splendor, the film soon arrives at Seebach's increasingly difficult predicament from the 1990s onward: Past his glory and relying on the bottle for support and comfort. Anders Matthesen (Toscana (2022, VoD)) shows more dramatic range and skill than he has been afforded space for in prior performances, and Neel Rønholt (Tinka og Kongespillet (2019, TV-series)) is good as his sweet, patient and forgiving wife. Their three children are central to the film, which is mostly a story of a family's coping with the father/husband's suffering from alcoholism. They also give fine performances, and the production's vivid design, costumes and hairpieces help recreate the eras depicted vividly.

Though there are light moments and some humor, the film is mostly a sentimental drama, building up to Seebach's at first triumphant return to national celebration with the lullaby written for his daughter (the film's title is named after the song), which ends in disaster, when the song flops badly at the Eurovision in Ireland, and Tommy goes off the deep end as a result. Caspar Phillipson (Maria (2024)) is very good as Seebach's songwriting partner Keld Heick. 

Under Stjernerne på Himlen succeeds with a simple but effective, tender, loving portrayal of a man, his struggles and his family with plenty for others to reflect in and be moved by.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Too early to say

= Uncertain

[Under Stjernerne på Himlen was released 20 March (Denmark) and runs 106 minutes. Shooting took place in Denmark. The cost is unreported so far, and the gross receipts are yet to be counted from the first weekend. The film is not slated to release in other markets as of yet. Gaardsøe does not have his next project announced yet. Matthesen returns in Det Andet Offer (2025). 82 IMDb users have given Under Stjernerne på Himlen a 7.8/10 rating.]

What do you think of Under Stjernerne på Himlen?

In Old Chicago (1938) - King delivers splendid period drama

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A dashing poster with three very teeth-smiling painted stars up front for Henry King's In Old Chicago

From the loving, dynamic O'Leary family comes Chicago's new mayor around the year 1870, but his brother Dion comes on collision course with him concerning the future of the growing metropolis' wood-built slums...

 

In Old Chicago is written by Sonya Levien (Hit the Deck (1955)) and Lamar Trotti (Cheaper by the Dozen (1950)), adapting the 1936 story We the O'Learys by Niven Busch (Continent's Edge (1980)), and directed by Henry King (Who Pays? (1915)). It depicts the real-life 1871 Great Chicago Fire with a mostly fictional story of the O'Learys at its center.

A thoroughly splendid and spectacular piece of escapism with delightful performances from especially Tyrone Power (Witness for the Prosecution (1957)), but also from Alice Faye (State Fair (1962)) and Don Ameche (So Goes My Love (1946)) and from Alice Brady (Three Smart Girls (1936)) as Mrs. Molly O'Leary, the mother. A compelling story with good song and dance numbers at Dion's bar, good visual ideas and a brisk pace. The blazing inferno at the end is incredibly staged and accomplished. In Old Chicago is a tremendous picture.

 

Related post:

 

Henry King: The Bravados (1958) or, Complications of Revenge!

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Estimated 1.8 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 4.91 mil. $ (estimated North American gross)

= Big hit (projected return of 4.38 times its cost)

[In Old Chicago premiered 6 January (New York) and runs 111 minutes (roadshow version)/96 minutes (theatrical version). Shooting took place from June - September 1937 in Arizona and California, including in Los Angeles. The film arrived as part of a wave of big budget films that ended with a spectacular disaster: San Francisco (1936, earthquake), The Good Earth (1937, locust plague), Made at Night (1937, shipwreck). It was among the most expensive films ever made at the time, and the climactic fire sequence cost reportedly 150k $ to stage, burning for 3 days on the Fox backlot. The cost is rumored to have been "over 1 mil. $" with IMDb listing it as reportedly 1.8 mil. $. A 1.964 mil. $ North-American rental figure from Variety in 1990 points to a domestic gross around 4.9 mil. $. The film was also launched abroad prior to WWII, and a cautious foreign estimate of 3 mil. $ would give it a 7.9 mil. $ final gross, enough to make it a big hit even if the 1.8 mil. $ estimate holds up. It was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning 2: Best Supporting Actress (Brady) and Assistant Director (Robert D. Webb). It lost Best Score (Louis Silvers) to Charles Previn for One Hundred Men and a Girl, Picture to The Life of Emile Zola, Sound to The Hurricane and Writing - Original Story to William A. Wellman and Robert Carson for A Star Is Born. King returned with Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938). Power returned in Alexander's Ragtime Band; Faye in Sally, Irene and Mary (1938); and Ameche in Happy Landing (1938). In Old Chicago is fresh at 67 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of In Old Chicago?

Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) - Saldanha's terrific first sequel

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The titular ice age thaws on this humorous poster for Carlos Saldanha's Ice Age: The Meltdown

Our dissimilar friends from Ice Age (2002) are forced to migrate on, when the ice cap breaks up and starts to melt.

Ice Age: The Meltdown is written by Peter Gaulke (Say It Isn't So (2001)), Jim Hecht (Taina (2002, TV-series)) and Gerry Swallow (Black Knight (2001)) and directed by Carlos Saldanha (Ice Age). It is the first sequel in the Ice Age franchise (2002; 2009; 2012; 2016).

The endearing characters are on a fanciful adventure in a terrifically good-looking animation, which takes a massive technical step forward from the first one four years prior. The sound work is especially outstanding. 

The big new invention in the story, which is again interwoven with amusing vignettes of 'rat/squirrel' Scrat's misadventures with his acorn, is that Manny the mammoth meets and falls in love with a female mammoth (voiced by Queen Latifah (Chicago (2002))), who first has to realize that she is not a possum! Ice Age: The Meltdown is full of fun and may be the best in the film series.

 

Related posts:

 

Ice Age franchise: Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) - Lots of fun in 4th IA chapter

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) or, Ice Age 3: Add Dinosaurs! 

Ice Age (2002) - Fun-filled animated adventure

Carlos Saldanha: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) or, Ice Age 3: Add Dinosaurs!  (co-director) 

Ice Age (2002) - Fun-filled animated adventure (co-director)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 80 mil. $

Box office: 667 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 8.33 times its cost)

[Ice Age: The Meltdown was released 29 March (Belgium, Netherlands, Jamaica, Indonesia, Philippines) and runs 91 minutes. The film opened #1 to a 68 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained #1 for another weekend and spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#4), grossing 195.3 mil. $ (29.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 61.6 mil. $ (9.2 %) and the UK with 52.3 mil. $ (7.8 %). It was the year's 3rd highest-grossing film and the highest-grossing animation of the year. The-Numbers.com estimate that the film additionally made at least 137.8 mil. $ on the domestic home video market alone. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Saldanha returned with Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), which is also the next chapter in the franchise. Ray Romano (Paddleton (2019)) returned in Grilled (2006); John Leguizamo (The Menu (2022)) in ER (2005-06) and theatrically in The Groomsmen (2006); and Denis Leary (Rescue Me (2004-11, writer)) in 4 video and TV credits prior to his theatrical return in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Ice Age: The Meltdown is rotten at 56 % with a 6.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ice Age: The Meltdown?

Isle of Dogs (2018) - Anderson goes to the dogs in overrated folly

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Probably the largest ever canine cast assembled on a single poster, here for Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs

The nephew of the Japanese dictatorial mayor Kobayashi loses his beloved dog Spots, when all canines are placed in exile with their dog flu virus on a garbage island, and so the boy ventures out to find him.

 

Isle of Dogs is written, co-produced and directed by Texan master filmmaker Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket (1996)), whose 9th feature it is. Roman Coppola (Asteroid City (2023)), Kunichi Nomura (Lost in Translation (2003, actor)) and Jason Schwartzman (The Darjeeling Limited (2007)) contributed story elements.

With incredible-looking animation, mostly stop-motion and doll-based, Isle of Dogs is nevertheless still even less engaging and even more vexing than Anderson's first animated venture, Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009). It is weird and without sweeping characters, as they are cerebrally oriented, alienated dogs or strange humans with few expressions, respectively. 

Accompanied by a droning, "witty" score (by Alexandre Desplat (Lee (2023))), which makes Isle of Dogs even more tooth-pulling. Without laughter, and with a starry voice ensemble that don't elevate matters but only increases the bewilderment at this doggone picture.

 

Related posts: 

Wes Anderson: 2023 in films - according to Film Excess 

Asteroid City (2023) - Enjoy Anderson's crisp star parade desert adventure from the comfort of a theater seat 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Top 10: The best adventure films reviewed by Film Excess to date
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - A very very good dream 
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - A 1960s island youth romance present 

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - Anderson's technically, visually admirable but a bit tiring animation 
The Darjeeling Limited (2007) - Anderson beautifies but still wins with India-journey favorite  

 

  

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 35 mil. $

Box office: 64.6 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.84 times its cost)

[Isle of Dogs premiered 15 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 101 minutes. The film opened #15 to a 1.6 mil. $ first weekend in 27 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #7 and in 1,947 theaters (different weeks), grossing 32 mil. $ (49.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 8.3 mil. $ (12.8 %) and China with 6.8 mil. $ (10.5 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars, losing both: It lost Best Score to Ludwig Göransson for Black Panther and Animation to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTAs and 2 Golden Globes, among other honors. The film additionally grossed an estimated 4.7 mil. $ on the domestic home video market alone, according to The-Numbers.com. Anderson returned with The French Dispatch (2021). Bryan Cranston (Better Call Saul (2022, TV-series)) returned in 3 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in El Camino (2019). Isle of Dogs is certified fresh at 90 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Isle of Dogs? 

The Brutalist (2024) - Brady impresses with major immigrant love story

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A rich man looks at a laborer on this evocative poster for Brady Corbet's The Brutalist

 

László Tóth, a great Hungarian-Jewish architect, arrives in America as a refugee following WWII, split up from his beloved wife Erzsébet, and he initially finds work at his cousin's furniture store.

 

The Brutalist is written by Mona Fastvold (Vox Lux (2018)) and co-writer/co-producer/director, great Arizonian filmmaker Brady Corbet (The Childhood of a Leader (2015)). The title is ambiguous, referring to the architectural style practiced by the protagonist but may also refer to several of the lead characters.

Commanding remarkable length, (this epic runs past 200 minutes), Corbet and his team manage to keep the story moving and compelling throughout. Centrally stands the engaged performances of Adrien Brody (The French Dispatch (2021)) as the wrought László and Felicity Jones (On the Basis of Sex (2018)), who gives a beautiful performance as his devoted wife. The film is in large part a love story of the two of them, and this love is the majestic force that powers The Brutalist.

Around them hovers Guy Pearce (Back from the Outback (2021)), mercurial, handsome and conflicted as the wealthy Van Buren, who becomes László's patron. There are rich supporting parts that are filled out by esteemed performances from Isaach de Bankolé (S.W.A.T. (2019, TV-series)) and Joe Alwyn (Boy Erased (2018)). The film's vivid experience of an immigrant in America is heightened by inspired work from the production design, locations and costumes to Lol Crawley's (Dau (2019)) fabulous VistaVision 70mm photography and Daniel Blumberg's (The World to Come (2020)) bold and strong score.

SPOILER László's troubles come to a head, when Van Buren rapes him, somewhat out of the blue, during their trip to Italy for marble. The event provides food for thought as to Van Buren's motivation for the entire enterprise, (the construction of a lavish community center on top of a hill), but the rape itself is relayed in just one shot that seems to last all of thirty seconds or so. It is somehow too short, - and seems unrealistic in its brevity. The film wraps up with a speech given about Tóth's body of work at a career retrospective exhibition decades later in Venice, and though I suppose the intent is for us to leave on a positive note, something along the lines of 'love overcomes', the speech's 'it is not the journey but the destination' feels a bit misplaced in the context of the very old and tired-looking László who is there in a wheelchair to be celebrated. These are minor asides to a noteworthy and highly accomplished film, which feels like a biopic but is actually entirely (inspired, of course, by life) fiction.

Related posts:

 

Brady Corbet: Saint Laurent (2014) - Bonello's overly self-confident biopic (actor) 

While We're Young (2014) - Baumbach offers another observant, clever downer (actor)

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) - Durkin's chilling psychological thriller debut (actor)

Funny Games (2007) - Haneke recreates his strong critique of movie violence consumption for the American audience (co-star)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 9.5 mil. $

Box office: 47.3 mil. $ and running

= Big hit (has so far returned 4.97 times its cost)

[The Brutalist premiered 1 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 215 minutes. Filming began in 2020, where the ending in Venice was shot. The rest of the filming, delayed due to the China Virus pandemic, Ukraine War, pregnancies, deaths and other issues, took place from March - May 2023 in Hungary, including in Budapest. The film opened #12 to a 266k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 1,612 theaters. The film has one announced market left to release in: Lithuania on April 4. The film was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 3; for Best Actor (Brody), Cinematography and Score. It lost Best Picture to Anora, Supporting Actor (Pearce) to Kieran Culkin for A Certain Pain, Supporting Actress (Jones) to Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez, Director to Sean Baker for Anora, Original Screenplay also to Baker for Anora, Editing to Anora and Production Design to Wicked. It also won 4/9 BAFTA awards, 3/7 Golden Globes, was nominated for an Independent Spirit award and won an AFI award, among many other honors. Corbet has not announced his next project yet. Brody returns in Emperor (2026); Jones in Train Dreams (2025); and Pearce in Killing Faith (2025) and The Woman in Cabin 10 (2015). The Brutalist is certified fresh at 93 % with an 8.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Brutalist?