Not Another Teen Movie (2001) - Gallen's hilarious youth movie spoof

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A group of loud-looking teen characters clutter this poster for Joel Gallen's Not Another Teen Movie

At John Hughes High School the school's #1 hunk makes a bet: That the school's worst-looking girl Janey can be transformed into the prom queen in a short amount of time!

Not Another Teen Movie is written by Mike Bender (Mission: Improbable (2000, TV short)), Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson (Extreme Movie (2008), both), Phil Beauman and Buddy Johnson (Scary Movie (2000), both) and directed by great American filmmaker, debuting Joel Gallen (Top of the Pops (1987, TV show)).

It is a surprisingly successful spoof of American teen movies of the preceding two decades; especially John Hughes' movies, but also the latest teen hits get a serving of amicable ridicule here. The style is low-brow and doesn't shy away from an exploding toilet scene, a babe who's topless throughout the film and so on. Yet it remains affectionate and is loaded with promising stars to-be in very engaged and uniformly overacted, charming performances: Chris Evans (Snowpiercer (2013)), Jaime Pressly (6 Months Rule (2011)), Eric Christian Olsen (License to Wed (2007)) and others are splendid, and Randy Quaid (Kingpin (1996)) is fantastic as Janey's alcoholic father.

 

Watch a funny 1-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 66.4 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.42 times its cost)

[Not Another Teen Movie premiered 7 December (USA) and runs 89 minutes. The film reportedly spoofs at least 44 different movies. Shooting took place from February - April 2001 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release Vanilla Sky and holdover hit Ocean's Eleven, to a 12.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 38.2 mil. $ (57.5 %). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 5.3 mil. $ (8 %) and France with 4.2 mil. $ (6.3 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 3 notches under this one. Gallen hasn't made a theatrical feature since but has instead been busy directing and producing especially TV specials but also TV movies, shorts and documentaries. Evans returned in 2 TV credits and a short prior to his theatrical return in The Perfect Score (2004); Chyler Leigh (Supergirl (2015-21)), who plays Janey, in 9 TV credits prior to her theatrical return in Brake (2012); and Pressly in Survival Island (2002). Not Another Teen Movie is rotten at 30 % with a 4.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Not Another Teen Movie?

Kingpin (1996) - One bowling movie to rule them all

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A blond with nice legs and two fun male stars attract on this colorful poster for Bobby and Peter Farrelly's Kingpin

Roy Munson was expected to become his proud father's bowling comet successor, when his bowling teacher betrayed him, and he lost his bowling hand. Now, many years of hard drinking later, he wants to return to elite bowling; this time as a manager himself, for an Amish bowler prodigy.

 

Kingpin is written by Barry Fanaro (Men in Black II (2002)) and Mort Nathan (Bagboy (2007)) and directed by great Rhode-Islander filmmaker brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber (1994), both).

Bill Murray (Zombieland (2009)) delivers a bravura comic performance as the self-confident bowling opponent, and Woody Harrelson (LBJ (2016)) and Randy Quaid (Moving (1988)) are also unusually energetic in this really low-firing but also really funny movie. Lin Shaye (Texas Heart (2016)) has a fun supporting role as Munson's landlady. Vanessa Angel (Cougar Hunting (2011)) is also full of sparks.

Kingpin has a fun premise in big leagues bowling, and you'll just have to watch it to learn about getting 'Munsoned'. It is ten minutes overlong, but makes up for it with its many hilarious moments, some of which are so funny they threaten to rip you in half with laughter. The film also sports some ingenious costumes and hairdos.

 

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Green Book (2018) - P. Farrelly and a pair of great actors make racial drama thrive with comedic fuel 

Movie 43 (2013) or, The Big Flush  (segment)

Bobby and Peter Farrelly: Dumb and Dumber To (2014) or, Harry and Lloyd: Still Dumb and Lovin' It!  
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Hall Pass (2011) - The Farrelly brothers' probably worst film to date 
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  
The Heartbreak Kid (2007) or, The Seven Day Itch

Me, Myself & Irene (2000) - The Farrelly brothers falter 
Dumb and Dumber/Dumb & Dumber (1994) - The Farrellys brothers and Carrey/Daniels' comedy classic   

 

Watch a short TV trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 25 mil. $

Box office: 32.2 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.28 times its cost)

[Kingpin was released 4 July (Australia) and runs 114 minutes. Quaid was paid 2.25 mil. $ for his performance. Shooting took place from October - December 1995 in Pennsylvania, Nevada and New York. The film opened #5, behind fellow new release A Time to Kill and holdover hits Independence Day, Phenomenon and Courage Under Fire, to a 5.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 25 mil. $ (77.6 % of the total gross). Peter Farrelly later said that the film's box office failure was the biggest disappointment of his and his brother's career, and blamed the Atlanta Olympics, but rejoiced in the strong performance of later video sales of the film. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The Farrelly brothers returned with There's Something About Mary (1998). Harrelson returned in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996); Quaid in Get on the Bus (1996); and Angel in Veronica's Closet (1997, TV-series) and theatrically in Kissing a Fool (1998). Kingpin is rotten at 49 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Kingpin?

Hard Rain (1998) - Spectacle and fun in Salomon's career-killing actioner

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+ Best Heist Movie of the Year + Best Indiana Movie of the Year + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year + Costliest Flop of the Year: 57.6 mil. $ range + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.52 Times its Cost

 

Heavy downpour soaks a man on the run on this strong poster for Mikael Salomon's Hard Rain

Two related armored truck drivers are ambushed by a team of bank-robbers during a torrential rainstorm in a town in Indiana.

 

Hard Rain is written by Graham Yost (Justified (2010-15)) and directed by Mikael Salomon (A Far Off Place (1993)).

Randy Quaid (Davis Rules (1991-92)) is priceless as the greedy sheriff villain in this hugely entertaining action picture. The pace is high from beginning to end; there's humor and charming side characters as well as Christian Slater (Ask My Anything (2014)) and Morgan Freeman (Levity (2003)) skillful as the leads. The score by Christopher Young (The Tower (2002)) is involving, and the action scenes are impressive and sometimes innovative. It is also well done the way Yost manages to get the water element to work for his script, paired with a 3 mil. $ heist.

There are a few loose ends, and the shoot-outs may become a tad too numerous at some point, but Hard Rain is still one heck of an action spectacle.

 

Related posts:

 

Mikael Salomon: 1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Far and Away (1992) - Howard, Hollywood's sweethearts visit the old West with dull result (cinematographer)

Backdraft (1991) - Ron Howard's giant, stupid Chicago-set firefighter movie (cinematographer) 

 

 

Watch the opening title sequence from the film here

 

Cost: 70 mil. $

Box office: 26.6 mil. $ - 31 mil. $ (different accounts)

= Mega-flop (returned between 0.38-0.44 times its cost)

[Hard Rain was released 16 January (North America) and runs 96 minutes. John Woo was slated to direct but bowed out to do Face/Off. 10 companies were involved in the financing and production of the film. A 6 mil. $ set was created in an aircraft hangar in California. Shooting took place from August 1996 - January 1997 in California, Indiana and Toronto, Canada. The ending of the film was changed due to poor test audience feedback. It opened #5, behind holdover hit Titanic, fellow new releases Good Will Hunting and Fallen and holdover hit As Good As It Gets, to an 8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 19.8 mil. $. One source claims the film only made 6.8 mil. $ abroad, while another claims that its final gross was 31 mil. $ (11.2 mil. $ abroad in that case.) Roger Ebert gave the film a 1/4 star review, translating to 4 notches under this one. Slater was imprisoned for about 90 days on drug and violence charges directly following the premiere. Freeman later publicly dissed the film, and Minnie Driver said in an interview in 1997 (so before the film was even released) that she hated working on it due to the wet conditions (...). Salomon turned to TV and a prolific career directing there but did return theatrically with Freezer (2014). Freeman returned in Deep Impact (1998); Slater in Basil (1998). Hard Rain is rotten at 30 % with a 4.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hard Rain?

Goya's Ghosts (2006) - Forman's under-appreciated last major picture

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+ Best Box Office Disaster of the Year

 

 

Intense stars and the painting element are prominent on this enticing poster for Milos Forman's Goya's Ghosts

Late in the 18th century, Francisco Goya is a popular and controversial artist in Spain, who paints a portrait of a powerful monk, who then takes up a fatal interest in one of the painter's other subjects, the girl Ines, which begins a terrible downfall for her.

 

Goya's Ghosts is written by Jean-Claude Carrière (The Night and the Moment (1994)) and Czech master filmmaker, co-writer/director Milos Forman (Black Peter/Cerný Petr (1964)), whose 12th and final big international film it was. It is a biopic of the real Goya, though with several elements and characters entirely fictional.

Forman does it once again here and creates an outstanding film. Stellan Skarsgård (Dogville (2003)), Javier Bardem (Jamón, Jamón (1992)), Randy Quaid (Cold Dog Food (1990)) and Blanca Portillo (Between Your Legs/Entre las Piernas (1999)) as Queen María Luisa are splendid in what is an intellectually presented, epic tragedy. It truly is a film that transports its audience to a distant era and lets us feel the wingspan of history.

Goya's Ghosts does not take the easy route but sticks to the importance of truth, (although paradoxically a substantial part of the story is made up.) Forman's genius shines through several times.

Natalie Portman (Knight of Cups (2015)) is possibly not mature enough for the double part she has here, - but she gives a worthy performance, even if she may probably be miscast.

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Amadeus (1984) or, The Fool Genius and his Teacher  

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) - Forman's 1970s gold-rimmed classic 

Watch a short clip from the film here

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 9.4 mil. $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.18 times its cost)

[Goya's Ghosts premiered 8 November (Spain) and runs 114 minutes. Forman cast Portman upon noticing her likeness to the girl in Goya's painting Milkmaid of Bordeaux. Skarsgård and Quaid were each paid 1 mil. $ for their performances. Shooting took place in Spain from September - December 2005. The film opened #32 to a 159k $ first weekend in 49 theaters in North America, where it only diminished from there, grossing 1 mil. $ (10.6 % of the total gross). North America was the film's 3rd biggest market. Biggest was Spain with 2.1 mil. $ (22.3 %) and Italy with 1.1 mil. $ (11.7 %). The film was nominated for 3 Goya awards (Spain's Oscar). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Forman returned with A Walk Worthwhile/Dobre placená procházka (2009), co-directed with his son Petr Forman. Bardem returned in No Country for Old Men (2007); Portman in My Blueberry Nights (2007); and Skarsgård in Guilty Hearts (2006). Goya's Ghosts is rotten at 30 % with a 4.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Goya's Ghosts?

Days of Thunder (1990) or, Very Little Thunder

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The flashy poster for Tony Scott's Days of Thunder doesn't exactly sell its star Tom Cruise short

QUICK REVIEW:

The prince of racing and his ups and downs.

Thunder presents a thick story that's simultaneously a thin story, you might say. Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015)) is terrific from first shot, while Randy Quaid (Not Another Teen Movie (2001)) and Robert Duvall (True Confessions (1981)) yell and scream, respectively, while trotting around in the background in this dull case, which is an obvious attempt to make a new Top Gun (1986), only in new surroundings.
Nicole Kidman (Eyes Wide Shut (1999)) has charm as Cruise's love interest, - the two got married off-camera in 1990, (and divorced 11 years later), - and the two, understandably, have good chemistry here, but Kidman's role in Thunder is far beneath her talent. And that is a general problem for this weak, only slightly interesting serving of sports nonsense.
It was written by Robert Towne (Shampoo (1975)), with Cruise supplying story elements, and directed by the late English master filmmaker Tony Scott (The Hunger (1983)).
- Not much thunder in this vehicle.

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Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: 60 mil. $
Box office: 157.9 mil. $
= Box office success
[Days of Thunder was released June 27 and runs 108 minutes. It was shot in Daytona and Charlotte, North Carolina from January - May 1990, going no less than 3 months over schedule. The shoot was fraught with problems and a team of producers, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, writer Towne and director Scott, who argued a lot and, reportedly especially the former three, increased the spendings drastically with outrageous production decisions like building a private gym for themselves, giving away designer dresses to woo women, building sets multiple times, throwing expensive parties and pressing cast and crew members to work (expensive) overtime. The result was a nearly doubled budget that could have posed a serious problem for them all. But the film opened #1 to 15.4 mil. $ in North America, where it grossed 82.6 mil. $ (52.3 % of the total gross). The film was Oscar-nominated for Best Sound, losing to Dances with Wolves (1990). It was also successful on video, making at least an additional 40 mil. $ there. - But the bloated budget and diminished quality of the film still makes its success much smaller than Top Gun's, which made back its budget almost 24 times, (Thunder only did so 2.6 times.) Days of Thunder is rotten at 38 % with a 4.8 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Days of Thunder?