The Ladies Man (2000) or, Leon Phelps: Master of Love

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Star Tim Meadows radiates confidence and apparently sits on Manhattan - and cloud nine - on this poster for Reginald Hudlin's The Ladies Man

Leon Phelps is the radio personality 'the Ladies Man' who is nevertheless fired due to his vulgar program as he also falls in love with his producer. - But how can he combine that with his intense love life?

The Ladies Man is written by Dennis McNicholas (Saturday Night Live (1999-19)), Andrew Steele (The Jon Stewart Show (1993-95)) and co-writer/star Tim Meadows (Semi-Pro (2008, actor)), and directed by Reginald Hudlin (House Party (1990)). It is based on a character from long-running sketch-show Saturday Night Live.
It doesn't esteem itself all that well as a film. It is very coarse and sporadically funny, and in fact I still found parts of it very funny, especially scenes with Will Ferrell (Drunk History (2010, TV-series short)), which elevate The Ladies Man considerably. There's also a musical number that's a riot.
Billy Dee Williams (The Visit (2000)) is another welcome co-star here, great with a twinkle in his eye as the narrating bar owner, and finally Meadows is very likable as the foolish Leon.
The Ladies Man is in no way a significant film, - but I wonder if it in any way inspired Ferrell and Adam McKay's somewhat similar but infinitely better Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). On a late night with low expectations it makes for completely a-okay entertainment.

Watch a 1-minute clip from the film here

Cost: 24 mil. $
Box office: 13.7 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.57 times its cost)
[The Ladies Man premiered 10 October (USA) and runs 84 minutes. Shooting took place from August - October 1999 in Toronto, Ontario and Chicago, Illinois. The film opened #4, behind holdover hits Meet the Parents and Remember the Titans and fellow new release Lost Souls, to a 5.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 13.6 mil. $ (99.3 % of the total gross). The 27k $ rest of the paltry gross came from Australia and Germany. The film was released in at least 4 more markets, but these don't figure on its Box Office Mojo, (they may likely have been even smaller than those for Australia and Germany.) Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 3 notches harder than this one. Hudlin returned with Serving Sara (2002). Meadows returned in 6 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in Wasabi Tuna (2003). The Ladies Man is rotten at 11 % with a 3.22/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Ladies Man?

Batman (1989) - A huge, glitzy, empty joker

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A poster for Tim Burton's Batman

QUICK REVIEW:

Gotham City's gangster problem numero uno, played by Jack Palance (Shane (1953)), is exterminated, but the replacement is no better...
Michael Keaton (Jackie Brown (1997)) is good, but very yuppie-ish as Bruce Wayne. Batman has quite a few awkward 80s qualities, - among others songs by Prince composed for the movie. The first Batman of Warner Bros.' initial film series is strangely frigid, and the interest on behalf of the audience never grows out of the curious but essentially passive.

Jack Nicholson as the Joker

The main reason to watch Batman is, of course, top-billed villainous Jack Nicholson (Chinatown (1974)), who goes theatrical and all-in as the total wacko. Nicholson himself was no fool, however; he got paid an astounding 6 mil. $ salary for his part + a considerable gross percentage, which ran up to somewhere between 60-90 mil. $!

Jack Nicholson's goofing around in Batman earned him more money than few other movies have ever made their star

Batman was a huge production with impressive special effects, but, - though many people seem to love it, - it is certainly not among director Tim Burton (Batman Returns (1992)) best films, and it also isn't among the top 3 best Batman films.
Burton has himself expounded on his negative thoughts about it, calling its production "torture. The worst period of my life!" - As its budget spiraled upwards from 30 mil. to 48 mil. $. In retrospect he has said; "I liked parts of it, but the whole movie is mainly boring to me. It's OK, but it was more of a cultural phenomenon than a great movie." - And he is totally correct.

Related review:

Tim Burton: Batman Returns (1992) - Burton gives us the ultimate, Gothic spin on Gotham City and its sinister characters 
Beetle Juice (1988) - Burton and team serve one of the best horror comedies ever 

Watch the original trailer here

Budget: 48 mil. $
Box office: 411.3 mil. $ (+ 750 mil. $ of merchandise!)
= Huge blockbuster + first film to reach 100 mil. $ within 10 days of release

What do you think of Tim Burton's first Batman?