Igby Goes Down (2002) - Steers' debut is a New York gemstone

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+ Best Huge Flop of the Year + Best Youth Movie of the Year

 

Off-center and pensive sits co-star Kieran Culkin upside a blue wall on this poster for Burr Steers' Igby Goes Down

Igby Slocumb is 17 years old and from a wealthy family, but he wants to break free and find his own path in life. Which is easier said than done.

 

Igby Goes Down is written and directed by debuting Burr Steers (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)).

It is a morbid, funny and tragic dramedy. Kieran Culkin (No Sudden Move (2021)) is strong as Igby; Claire Danes (Evening (2007)) is terribly cute, - until she chooses Ryan Phillippe's (Antitrust (2001)) Ollie over his younger brother Igby, - and Susan Sarandan (The Client (1994)) and Jeff Goldblum (Hotel Artemis (2018)) are funny. 

The film is very New-Yorker intellectual and too much at times. Bill Pullman (The Equalizer 2 (2018)) doesn't really work as Igby's mentally ill father, and the good-spirit Mickey-Mousing of the opening music is grating. But although Igby Goes Down, like its title character, isn't flawless, it is an original and brisk movie.

 

Related posts:

 

Burr Steers: Charlie St. Cloud (2010) - Steers and Efron's second collaboration is lukewarm

17 Again (2009) or, Teentainment Deluxe

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 9 mil. $

Box office: 6.9 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.76 times its cost)

[Igby Goes Down premiered 23 May (Seattle International Film Festival) and runs 98 minutes. Phillippe was paid 500k $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from February - April 2001 in New York. The film opened #24 to a 306k $ first weekend in 10 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #15 and in 156 theaters (different weeks), grossing 4.7 mil. $ (68.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd an 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 689k $ (10 %) and Germany with 499k $ (7.3 %). The film was nominated for 2 Golden Globes and an Independent Spirit award and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. The film is among the last to show the original World Trade Center twin towers before they were destroyed by Islamic terrorists 9/11 2001. Steers returned with 3 TV credits prior to his theatrical return 17 Again (2009). Culkin returned in Lymelife (2008); Danes in The Hours (2002). Igby Goes Down is certified fresh at 75 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Igby Goes Down?

The Hunger (1983) - T. Scott's under-appreciated, erotic horror masterpiece

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The sensuous and the menacing meet in this striking, highly detailed poster for Tony Scott's The Hunger

In New York an immortal, beautiful woman lives with her vampire lover, who suddenly starts aging at a rapid speed. An aging-focused scientist is sought out and starts to overtake the man's position...

The Hunger is written by James Costigan (On Borrowed Time (1957)) and Michael Thomas (Countryman (1982)), adapting the same-titled 1981 novel by Whitley Strieber (The Wolfen (1978)), and directed by English master filmmaker Tony Scott (Loving Memory (1971)), whose 2nd feature it was.

Scott's finest film, The Hunger is a visual treat, (cinematography by Stephen Goldblatt (For the Boys (1991))), hyper-stylized with dream compositions and lights, beautiful sound work and music choices, (score by Denny Jaeger (What Waits Below (1984)) and Michel Rubini (Manhunter (1986))). Susan Sarandon (Lovin' Molly (1974)), otherworldly beautiful Catherine Deneuve (Changing Times/Les Temps qui Changent (2004)) and über-cool David Bowie (Zoolander (2001)) give formidable performances. The make-up jobs are unparalleled, the special effects radical and troubling.

The film's handling of its central themes of immortality and love seems to encourage its audience to take on and rejoice in our own mortality. The Hunger is a fierce and absolutely fantastic masterpiece.

 

Related posts:
 
Tony Scott: Stoker (2013) - Chan-wook Park's over-styled American debut revolts and bores in turns (producer)  

Unstoppable (2010) - T. Scott's mechanically exciting final movie
Déjà Vu (2006) - T. Scott cuts a helluva suspense-cake!
Domino (2005) - T. Scott's bounty-hunter biopic a complete misfire, mega-flop  

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Enemy of the State (1998) - T. Scott, Bruckheimer, Marconi ahead of their time in outing NSA in exciting thriller 

Days of Thunder (1990) or, Very Little Thunder

 

 

Scott talks about making the film many years later in a video here

Cost: Reportedly 10 mil. $

Box office: Reportedly 10.2 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 1.02 times its cost)

[The Hunger was released 29 April (USA) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place from March 1982 - ? in New York and in England, including in London. SPOILER The final balcony scene with Sarandon's character was a studio-mandated addition. The film opened #5, behind holdover hit Flashdance, fellow new release Something Wicked This Way Comes, holdover hit Tootsie and fellow new release Valley Girl, to a 1.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 5.9 mil. $ (57.8 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 1.5/4 star review, translating to 5 notches under this one. Scott returned with Top Gun (1986). Deneuve returned in Le Bon Plaisir (1984); Bowie in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983); and Sarandon in The Buddy System (1984). The Hunger is rotten at 55 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Hunger? 

The Meddler (2015) - Stars elevate Scafaria's mother-daughter romcom

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The two central stars in front of a purple-pink background with palm tree contours makes up this poster for Lorene Scafaria's The Meddler

 

Marnie has, after she has also become a widow, moved to Los Angeles, where her adult daughter lives, but she meddles a bit much in her life.

The Meddler is written and directed by Lorene Scafaria (Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)). Scafaria's own personal relationship with her mother is the basis of this warm, bright film.

The drama may be in the lightweight category, but The Meddler is an enjoyable time that leaves you with a smile on your face, which is always welcomed.

Rose Byrne (Take Away (2003)) and a delightful Susan Sarandon (Little Women (1994)) elevate the film with depth and comedic knack, and the story gets sound backup from J.K. Simmons (3 Geezers! (2013)), Cecily Strong (Staten Island Summer (2015)) and Jerrod Carmichael (Ferdinand (2017)) as the Apple guy.

The Meddler is a soft present.

 Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 3.2 mil. $

Box office: 5.4 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.68 times its cost)

[The Meddler premiered 14 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 100 minutes. Shooting took place in New York and California, including Los Angeles. The film opened #35 to a 57k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #12 and in 464 theaters, grossing 4.2 mil. $ (77.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 372k $ (6.9 %) and Spain with 354k $ (6.6 %). Scafaria returned with This Is Heaven (2018, TV movie) and theatrically with Hustlers (2019). Sarandon returned in Hell and Back (2015) with a voice performance and physically in The Other Side of the Lake the Purple Girl: Episode IV - The New Visitor (2015); Byrne in Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016); Simmons in Ultimate Spider-Man (2012-15) and theatrically in Worlds Apart (2015). The Meddler is certified fresh at 85 % with a 7.03/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Meddler?

Solitary Man (2009) - Forgettable, undistinguished NY egotist dramedy

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Silver fox Michael Douglas takes center stage with a good handful of supporting stars floating around him on this poster for Brian Koppelman and David Levien's Solitary Man

A swindling, irresponsible, aging womanizer with extremely cold and harsh surroundings winds up a waiter at his only real friend's place, and refuses to end his life's course of running solo.

Solitary Man is written by writer-director Brian Koppelman (Runaway Jury (2003)), who co-directed with David Levien (Knockaraound Guys (2001)).
Michael Douglas (Coma (1978)) stars as the egotistical protagonist in this overly talky drama, which lacks some humor and/or characters that stir up some sympathy.
The film has a strong cast, and there's something weighty in its theme. I just personally enjoyed pals Douglas and co-star Danny DeVito (Wise Guys (1986)) more in their low-brow romantic family adventures of the 1980s, Romancing the Stone (1984) and Jewel of the Nile (1985).

Related post:

Brian Koppelman, David Levien: Runaway Jury (2003) - Gun violence trial as Hollywood show (co-writers)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 5.6 mil. $
= Mega-flop (returned 0.37 times its cost)
[Solitary Man premiered in September (Toronto International Film Festival, Canada) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in New York from November - December 2008. The film opened #34 to a 94k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #14 and in 177 theaters (different weeks), grossing 4.3 mil. $ (76.8 % of the the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Brazil with 393k $ (7 %) and Argentina with 227k $ (4 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 3½/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. Koppelman and Levien have both stayed from directing since, returning to writing and producing. Douglas returned in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010). Solitary Man is certified fresh at 79 % with a 6.82/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Solitary Man?

The Lovely Bones (2009) - Despite qualities, Jackson's metaphysical crime drama is a wasteful jumble

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Saoirse Ronan in an ugly getup finds a man lurking by the field on this creepy poster for Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones

Susie is a 14 year-old girl, who gets murdered by a neighbor in an underground cave. She then finds herself in a world between Earth and Heaven, as the search for her killer takes place in her native Kentucky.

The Lovely Bones is written by Fran Walsh (The Frighteners (1996)), Philippa Boyens (King Kong (2005)) and New-Zealander master co-writer/co-producer/director Peter Jackson (Dead Alive/Braindead (1992)), adapting Alice Sebold's (Lucky (1999)) same-titled 2002 novel.
The film has some grand CGI scenes of the 'between-world' that Susie finds herself in, which are incredibly handsome, and there are also suspenseful scenes, as well as Susan Sarandon (Robot & Frank (2012)) and Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos (1999-07)) both giving ravishing performances.
But The Lovely Bones just isn't very profound in my opinion, and it's hard to tell if Jackson actually had ambitions beyond making something handsome here. Sebold's novel is likely difficult material to adapt, and Jackson just isn't enough of a serious-minded dramatic director to succeed with it. It obviously also weighs down that a young Saoirse Ronan (I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007)) is cloyingly miscast in the lead part as Susie.

Related posts:

Peter Jackson: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Jackson's megalomania gives birth to the first third of an enormous fantasy whopper
The Frighteners (1996) - FX-driven ghost comedy madness
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Braindead/Dead Alive (1992) - Jackson's best film ever is a gore classic!   
Bad Taste (1987) or, Peter Jackson's Hungry Aliens in New Zealand

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 65 mil. $
Box office: 93.6 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.44 times the cost)
[The Lovely Bones premiered 24 November (the UK) and runs 135 minutes. The rights for Sebold's novel were already sold, before it was finished. Scottish master filmmaker Lynne Ramsay was in talks to direct for a long time but was eventually detached for straying too far from the novel. Hot off his Lord of the Rings (2001; 02; 03) success, major studios were excited to back the huge-budgeted, commercially dubious, metaphysical crime drama. Shooting took place in Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, and in Wellington, New Zealand from October 2007 - ?. SPOILER Jackson reshot the killer's death scene, after test screenings indicated that audiences wanted to see him suffer a lot more. According to LA Times an additional colossal 85 mil. $ were spent on the global marketing and distribution of the film, making its flop much more costly. The film opened #30 to a 116k $ first weekend in 3 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #3, behind holdover hit Avatar and newcomer The Book of Eli, and in 2,638 cinemas and grossed 44.1 mil. $ (47.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 9.3 mil. $ (9.9 %) and Japan with 6.8 mil. $ (7.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 1.5/4 star review, translating to two notches harder than this one. It was nominated for an Oscar: Best Supporting Actor (Stanley Tucci (Big Night (1996))), lost to Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, 2 BAFTAs and many other honors. Jackson returned with Universal ride short King Kong 360 3-D (2010) and theatrically with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). Mark Wahlberg (The Gambler (2014)) returned in Date Night (2010), Rachel Weisz (Chain Reaction (1996)) in The Whistleblower (2010) and Ronan with a voice performance in The Secret World of Arrietty/Kari-Qurashi no Arietti (2010) and in the flesh in The Way Back (2010). The Lovely Bones is rotten at 32 % with a 5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Lovely Bones?

Elizabethtown (2005) - A cute piece of Crowe's world; just roll with it!

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+ Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Romance of the Year + Best Feel-Good Movie of the Year + Best Kentucky Movie of the Year

This sprawling collage-style poster for Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown shows some of the vivid life and warmth that the film offers

A young shoe designer, whose project for several years has turned into a giant failure, travels to Kentucky, because his father has passed away there, and on his way he meets a special girl by the name of Claire.

Elizabethtown is written and directed by great Californian filmmaker Cameron Crowe (We Bought a Zoo (2011)), who cements his very particular sensibility here with a romance dramedy that is a bit as Roger Ebert has described it; the ultimate 'meet-cute'.
Both Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)) and Kirsten Dunst (Wag the Dog (1997)) are delightful here, and their characters are unbelievably sweet, cute and as good as flawless. Susan Sarandon (Hell and Back (2015)) is also good in Elizabethtown. Near the end Bloom reminds us that his character is, in fact, suicidal, but this reminder, in the context of the romance and lively characterization so far, is just about impossible to buy.
Real life isn't much like what's presented here in my experience, but I wish it was, and I am happy to dig out my inner sentimental teenage girl to enjoy everything cooked up in Elizabethtown. - Because besides its being too much in some ways, Elizabethtown is also a rarity, (it is devoid of violence, cursing and drugs) a folksy and actually funny film! It also benefits from Crowe's knack for picking good music, deals with death in a fine way and is an all-around lovely and warm time.

Related posts:

Cameron Crowe: 2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

We Bought a Zoo (2011) - Crowe's terrific family film

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $
Box office: 52 mil. $
= Big flop
[Elizabethtown premiered 4 September (Venice International Film Festival, Italy) and runs 123 minutes. Jane Fonda was cast in Sarandon's part but dropped out; Ashton Kutcher was cast in Bloom's part but didn't strike up enough chemistry with Dunst and "left the project"; Dunst dropped out of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village to play in Elizabethtown. Shooting took place in Kentucky, including in the real Elizabethtown, Arkansas, Oklahoma, California, Oregon, Nebraska and in Memphis, Tennessee from July 2004 - ?. The film opened #3, behind fellow new release The Fog and hold-over hit Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-rabbit, to a slight 10.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it fell from the top 5 in its second week and grossed 26.8 mil. $ (51.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 4 mil. $ (7.7 %) and the UK with 2.8 mil. $ (5.4 %). The film was nominated for a Grammy. Roger Ebert agreed with Film Excess in giving the film a 3/4 star review. The term 'manic pixie dream girl' was coined by critic Nathan Rabin to describe Dunst's "bubbly, shallow cinematic creature" character in the film. Crowe returned with documentaries The Union (2011) and Pearl Jam Twenty (2011) and fiction feature We Bought a Zoo (2011). Bloom returned in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), and Dunst returned in Marie Antoinette (2006). Elizabethtown is rotten at 29 % with a 4.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Elizabethtown?

Jeff Who Lives at Home (2011) or, Signs of Jeff

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The very small-typed tag-line above the picture of Ed Helms as a boy reads, 'The first step to finding your destiny is leaving your mother's basement.' For Mark and Jay Duplass' Jeff Who Lives at Home

QUICK REVIEW:

Jeff lives in his mother's basement and gets as his day's assignment to fix a shutter in a door. That leads him on an 'adventure' with his brother and later also their mother.

Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)) is back as comical male #1 of today as the pot-smoking Jeff, who follows different signs in his uneventful life to look for his destiny. Ed Helms (We're the Millers (2013)) is perfect as his dope of a brother, and Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise (1991)) is predictably good as their mother.
As an audience member you don't take an incredible lot with you from the dramedy romance Jeff, but it matters less as the film is so good and makes you roar with laughter so many times.
It is well-written and directed by New Orleanian brothers Mark and Jay Duplass (Cyrus (2010)) and very unusually, - and almost completely successfully, - shot hand-held and with plenty of zooms by Jas Shelton (C.O.G. (2013)). Jeff Who Lives at Home is one of the year's most pleasant and funniest films, one to watch.

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 7.5 mil. $
Box office: 4.7 mil. $
= Huge flop
[After premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, Jeff got its release many months hence in March 2012 and didn't score the audiences it deserved. It made 4.2 mil. $ in North America (89 % of the total gross), and its poor distribution was handled by Paramount Vantage.]

What do you think of Jeff Who Lives at Home?
Seen other movies by the Duplass brothers?
If so, how was/were it/they?