Jeepers Creepers (2001) - Memorable terror

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Something frightening covered under tied together leather (or skin) pieces make up this eerie poster for Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers

A brother and sister drive through rural America together, when an old, rusty truck smashes aggressively past them. SPOILER This leads them to discover an underground mass grave, and soon a flying, man-eating monster is after them.

 

Jeepers Creepers is written and directed by Victor Salva (Clownhouse (1989)). 

It is a really good horror movie with a strong Stephen King vibe. The first half of the film, - that is, until the monster is revealed, - is to most audiences the more scary half. 

Gina Philips (Love and Debate (2006)) and Justin Long (Dear David (2023)) are good as the terrorized siblings, and the last image of Long (minus eyes) is pretty cool (in a horrific, evil way of course.) If you didn't know any more about convicted pedophile Salva, this film might earn him your respect.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 10 mil. $

Box office: 59.3 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 5.93 times its cost)

[Jeepers Creepers premiered 20 July (München Fantasy Filmfest) and runs 91 minutes. The film came about due to American Zoetrope founder, master filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola's continued support for Salva, despite his having molested a boy actor on his debut Clownhouse, (Coppola, at whose house some of the abuse took place, subsequently attempted to sue the boy for breach of contract, when the arrest of Salva impeded the film's chance of success.) But also a studio craze for horror was spurred by the incredible success of Blair Witch Project (1999), and UA and MGM bought the distribution rights for 2.5 mil. $. Shooting took place from July - September 2000 in Florida. A million was reportedly cut from the budget during production, forcing Salva to change the ending. The film opened #1 to a 13.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#3), grossing 37.9 mil. $ (63.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 8.7 mil. $ (14.7 %) and Mexico with 2.4 mil. $ (4 %). Salva returned with Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003). Philips returned in The Anarchist Cookbook (2002); Long in Crossroads (2002). Jeepers Creepers is rotten at 44 % at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Jeepers Creepers?

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?

Showgirls (1995) - Verhoeven's outrageous, ridiculous, hilarious Hollywood anomaly

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A nubile, long-legged blond figure adorns this dark poster for Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls

Nomi arrives in Las Vegas without her suitcase but with her head full of dreams. And luckily she soon befriends Molly, a seamstress who introduces her to the town's adult dance scene.

 

Showgirls is written by Joe Eszterhas (Flashdance (1983)) and directed by Dutch master filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Wat Zien Ik (1971)), whose 11th feature it is. 

It is an anomaly in Hollywood history: The first and only wide release NC-17 rated movie, Showgirls is likely the big studio pic with most bare breasts, a giant budget and no major stars. It is a lustful, young-boyishly-enthused, strange work that could only come from Verhoeven.

Elizabeth Berkley (Meet Market (2004)) is wild and electric as Nomi, (and writhes almost convulsively in her sex scenes), but in the context of the fever dream-like film her ridiculed performance actually could hardly have been better. Gina Gershon (P.S. I Love You (2007)) camps it up as the show's star Cristal. Robert Davi (The Hot Chick (2002)) is ideal as a creep, and Kyle MacLachlan (Free Jimmy (2006)) is funny (and shows off his great ass) as a rich playboy.

The melodrama gets another gear here. The photography (by Jost Vacano (Supermarket (1974))) and execution is highly competent and vivid, and the result is an outrageous, ridiculous, hilarious bucket of juicy, rich entertainment, a good/bad reflection on the American performance culture. The dance acts are phenomenal, and once the news sensation of the nudity evaporates, Showgirls still has more and more laughable developments to offer. It may be exploitation, (as Quentin Tarantino has called it), but in any case Showgirls is delivered with a major twinkle in the eye. 

Related posts:

Paul Verhoeven: Hollow Man (2000) - Superb effects in Verhoeven's miss 

Top 10: Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Basic Instinct (1992) or, Irresistable Desire!  

Top 10: Best erotic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

The Fourth Man/De Vierde Man (1983) - Verhoeven's amazing Dutch sex thriller nightmare

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $

Box office: 37.7 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.83 times its cost)

[Showgirls premiered 21 September (California) and runs 131 minutes. Eszterhas became the highest-paid screenwriter in movie history for Showgirls: He was reportedly given a 2 mil. $ advance based on an idea scribbled on a napkin at a meeting with Verhoeven, and then another 1.7 mil. $ once the film began production. Verhoeven was paid 2 mil. $ for directing; and Berkley was paid 100k $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from August - December 1994 in Los Angeles, California and in Nevada, including in Las Vegas. Distributor United Artists reportedly dispatched hundreds of employees to cinemas in the US to make sure no patrons snuck into showings and that the 17 age requirement was upheld. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Seven, to an 8.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 20.3 mil. $ (53.8 % of the total gross). The film was banned in Ireland for blasphemy. Berkley was dropped by her agent following the film's release and was ignored by other agents. Although theatrically a huge flop, the film since became a cult favorite, accruing a reported 100 mil. $ through its video release. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Verhoeven returned with Starship Troopers (1997). Berkley returned in White Wolves II: Legend of the Wild (1996). Showgirls is rotten at 23 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Showgirls?

Heaven's Gate (1980) - Much to admire in Cimino's incredible western epic disaster

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An incredibly dramatic sky and the three central stars set against a frayed Stars and Stripes make up most of this impressive poster for Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate

Two men fight over the same woman and a bloody plan to murder 125 immigrants in Wyoming's Johnson County in the 1890s.

 

Heaven's Gate is written and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Michael Cimino (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)).

Kris Kristofferson (Blade (1998)), Christopher Walken (Kiss Toledo Goodbye (1999)) and Isabelle Huppert (White Material (2009)) are the three actors who form the center of this possibly the - financially speaking - most spectacular flop in cinema history. Heaven's Gate is full of lavish and incredible images (cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond (Deliverance (1972))) and a production width and beauty of rare fabric. The problem is more with the narrative and the grotesquely prolonged, detached, abstract structure of it all, and with dialog scenes in which the dialog is nearly unaudible. 

 

Related post:

 

Michael Cimino: The Deer Hunter (1978) - Cimino's great, colossal Vietnam epic

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 44 mil. $

Box office: 3.4 mil. $ (North America only)

= Box office disaster (returned around 0.11 times its cost)

[Heaven's Gate premiered 18 November (New York) and runs 219 minutes. Though the plot has historical basis, several things are invented and changed for the film. Cimino had submitted the original Heaven's Gate script in 1971 but failed to find support for it until after the runaway success of Deer Hunter (1978). He was given an 11.6 mil. $ budget and carte blanche. Shooting took place from April 1979 - April 1980 in England, Montana, Idaho, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. At the 6th day of shooting, legend says, the shoot had already fallen 5 days behind on the schedule. An entire street was built and then taken down to be re-assembled, because Cimino thought it should be 6 feet wider. An irrigation system was devised and placed underground for a central battle scene so that the grass would be freshly green and contrast, as intended, with the red blood. Cimino demanded up to 50 takes of the same scene. John Hurt waited around so long on the shoot that he was able to fly away and star in The Elephant Man (1980) and come back to continue work on Heaven's Gate. Though United Artists considered firing Cimino many times, they ultimately never set the foot down. Nearly 220 hours of footage was shot, a new record. Cimino's first cut ran five hours and 25 minutes, 15 minutes longer than the final cut should, Cimino informed the baffled executives. Unsurprisingly, the studio executives refused to release the film at that length, and Cimino cut it down to 3 hours 39 minutes. This version was shortly released but then pulled back. Months later UA released a 149 minute cut, which played for a few weeks, before it was also pulled. It made 3.4 mil. $ in North America. Regrettably the gross numbers from foreign markets are not public, but the 0.11 time return above figures on a 5 mil. $ projected final world gross, - which is likely set too high. The film was nominated for the Best Set Decoration/Art Direction Oscar, lost to Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It was shown in competition in Cannes. Roger Ebert gave the film a 1.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notched under this one. The film's flop was deciding in United Artists getting bought up by MGM and thereby losing autonomy and their status as a successful independent studio. It was also instrumental in the Hollywood power change away from young New Hollywood directors such as Cimino, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and others, and back to tighter controlled studio pictures and high concept 'package' arrangements. Finally the controversy concerning animal cruelty on the production of Heaven's Gate, - involving horses, cows and chicken killed for scenes, - gained the American Humane Society the momentum to become standard monitors of animal safety on all major American productions. Cimino in his own words was after Heaven's Gate never again able to make the films he wanted to make, - but he did continue making films. Though critically smashed at the time, the film has grown in esteem since and was hailed as a masterpiece at a 2012 Venice Film Festival restoration screening, much to Cimino's delight. Cimino returned with Year of the Dragon (1985). Kristofferson returned in Rollover (1981). Heaven's Gate is rotten at 59 % with a 6.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Heaven's Gate?

GoldenEye (1995) - Brosnan arrives in Campbell's dumb Bond mess

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Flanked by two sensual women and his steadfast Walter PPK gun, Pierce Brosnan's Bond hovers over a menagerie of action-promising elements on this fiery poster for Martin Campbell's GoldenEye

 

A space-based weapons system gets stolen by a Russian crime syndicate headed by a former colleague of MI6 agent 007, James Bond.

GoldenEye is written by Michael France (Hulk (2003)), Jeffrey Caine (Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)) and Bruce Feirstein (The Best Legs in Eight Grade, TV movie (1984)) and directed by Martin Campbell (The Sex Thief (1973)). It is the 17th film in the Bond franchise and probably the stupidest of the lot.

There is no visible chemistry between Pierce Brosnan (Robinson Crusoe (1997)) as the new, 5th actor to play Bond, and Sean Bean (Sharpe (1993-08)) as villain, agent 006, Alec Trevelyan. Both Famke Janssen (Hide and Seek (2005)) and Minnie Driver (Big Night (1996)) impress me as unsexy Bond 'babes.' Alan Cumming (Nicholas Nickleby (2002)) appears as a bizarre hacker, who freezes to death.

The dialog seems to be wholly missing in long stretches of this debacle, and the plot is without mitigating qualities; among other things Bond trashes through an Eastern-European major city in a tank. Elegance is dead in this charmless stinker. Desmond Llewelyn (Thunderball (1965)) is one of few elements from previous Bond movies to reappear, and his scenes are among the film's few light moments.

 

Related posts:

Bond franchise: Spectre (2015) - Mendes' second Bond delivers 
Skyfall (2012) - Mendes elevates a slickly produced modern Bond to thrilling heights 
Die Another Day (2002) - Tamahori makes a thrilling, grand piece of Bond escapism 
A View to a Kill (1985) or, Once a Gentleman, Always a Gentleman! 
For Your Eyes Only (1981) - Glen debuts with wacky, action-packed Roger Moore Bond

Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) - Connery's last Bond adventure is a colorful romp 

Goldfinger (1964) - The 007 template gets perfected in fabulously entertaining third spectacle 
From Russia with Love (1963) - Several remarkable elements make Young's 2nd Bond an enduring classic  
Dr. No (1962) - Bond # 1 is one attractive package

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 60 mil. $

Box office: 352.1 mil. $

= Huge hit (returned 5.86 times its cost)

[GoldenEye premiered 13 November (New York) and runs 130 minutes. 6 years passed since the release of License to Kill (1989), before the 17th Bond film was released, primarily due to legal battles following the sale of MGM/UA to Pathé Entertainment in 1990. Prior Bond actor Timothy Dalton's 3-movie contract elapsed due to the long unproductive period, and though he was invited back to the role, he passed, as producer Albert R. Broccoli wanted him to only return for several more films and not just one last. Pierce Brosnan was cast over Paul McGann, after Mel Gibson, Hugh Grant and Liam Neeson had passed on the role. Brosnan was paid 1.2 mil. $ for his performance. The script was the first not directly linked to an Ian Fleming novel. Shooting took place in Skt. Petersburg, Russia, Monaco, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, France, England, including London, from January - June 1995. The film opened #1 to a 26.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#2-#3) and grossed 106.4 mil. $ (30.2 % of the total gross). The film was the 4th highest-grossing in the market over-all of the year and the most successful Bond movie since Moonraker (1979). It was nominated for 2 BAFTAs. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Brosnan returned as Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). Campbell returned with The Mask of Zorro (1998). Brosnan returned first in The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson (1996). GoldenEye is certified fresh at 79 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of GoldenEye?

24 Hour Party People (2002) or, Tony Wilson's Factory

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Steve Coogan's large head and the styles of the European dance set of the latter part of the 20th century make up this poster for Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People

Tony Wilson is a TV-host and a music pioneer in 1970s Manchester, and in the dozen or so years to come he helps punk and rave groups to emerge and break out on his Factory Records.

24 Hour Party People is written by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Millions (2004)), based on the actual Wilson and his record company, and directed by Michael Winterbottom (Butterfly Kiss (1995)).
Steve Coogan (The Look of Love (2013)) is terrific as Wilson, and the film has an original concept, in which Wilson himself comments the story directly to us from time to time, breaking the fourth wall.
24 Hour Party People has some funny episodes, and the title sequence seems designed to induce epileptic seizures. The music, save for that by Joy Division, is unimpressive, and the majority of the musicians around Wilson appear to be faceless losers.

Related post:

Michael Winterbottom: The Killer Inside Me (2010) - Despite minor qualities, Winterbottom's adaptation is a nasty failure

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 2.8 mil. $
= Uncertain 
[24 Hour Party People premiered 13 February (the UK) and runs 117 minutes. Shooting took place in England. The film opened #59 to a 34k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #32 and in 37 theaters (different weeks), grossing 1.1 mil. $ (39.3 % of the total gross). The rest of the film's gross sheet is incomplete; but it only grossed 379k $ (13.5 %) from its apparent 2nd biggest market, production home the UK. It won 1/2 British Independent Spirit award nominations and was shown in competition in Cannes, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to 3 notches higher than this review. Winterbottom returned with In This World (2002). Coogan returned in 6 TV and video projects before his theatrical return in Coffee and Cigarettes (2003). 24 Hour Party People is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.27/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of 24 Hour Party People?

Ghost World (2001) - Zwigoff's adaptation is a flawless coming-of-age masterpiece

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The skirted teenage girl protagonists stand opinionated and firmly placed in a vacuum on this smart and funny poster for Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World

Enid and Rebecca are best friends. Done with high school and seemingly ready to move in together to embark on adult life, Enid begins a relationship with a much older record collector named Seymour, which brings her to doubt herself, the world and her future tremendously.

Ghost World is written by Daniel Clowes (Art School Confidential (2006)), based on his same-titled 1997 graphic novel, and Wisconsinite master filmmaker, co-writer/director Terry Zwigoff (Louie Bluie (1985, documentary)), whose fiction debut it is.
It is a film that will fool some to rate it under its value due to its surface look of being a 'small' film, (which is a questionable summation of any film generally.) In terms of scale it is a small movie but not in terms of themes or achievements, and as importantly there simply is not a fault to put one's finger on in Ghost World.
Thora Birch (The Competition (2018)) as the evolving Enid; Scarlett Johansson (The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)) as her voice of reason friend Rebecca, and Steve Buscemi (Mr. Deeds (2002)) as the hilariously funny dejected Seymour are all fantastic.
The music (score by David Kitay (Smiley Face (2007))) and acerbic, poignant descriptions of modern US society in the film help its unique effect of smarting while making one laugh. The cinematography (by Affonso Beato (Treason (1998))) and costumes are very 1990s/independent/Americana. Ghost World is an unequaled gem.

Related posts:

Terry Zwigoff: Art School Confidential (2006) or, World of Phoney
Bad Santa (2003) - Zwigoff sticks dynamite under Christmas in this modern dark comedy classic 
Crumb (1994, documentary) or, The Artist As a Cartoonist

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 7 mil. $
Box office: 8.7 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.24 times its cost)
[Ghost World premiered 16 June (Seattle International Film Festival) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, from March - May 2000. The film opened #30 to a 98k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #20 and in 128 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 6.2 mil. $ (71.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 587k $ (6.7 %) and France with 357k $ (4.1 %). The film was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, lost to Akiva Goldsman for A Beautiful Mind. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, 2 AFI awards, won 2/3 Independent Spirit award nominations and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Zwigoff returned with Bad Santa (2003). Birch returned in 5 TV and video credits prior to her theatrical return in Silver City (2004); Johansson in An American Rhapsody (2001); Buscemi with a voice performance in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) and physically in The Grey Zone (2001). Ghost World is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.83/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ghost World?

Lions for Lambs (2007) - Streep and Cruise's star powers save Redford's boring political drama

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Three major Hollywood stars in dignified black and white stare at us on this poster to get us to go watch Robert Redford's Lions for Lambs

A college professor convinces a student to engage himself in the world. Two of his ex-students are killed on tour in Afghanistan. And a US senator is presenting the new military strategy for the war in the far-away Middle Eastern country to a journalist.

Lions for Lambs is written by Matthew Michael Carnahan (State of Play (2009)) and co-produced and directed by Californian master Robert Redford (Ordinary People (1980)).
Tom Cruise (The Last Samurai (2003)) as the senator and Meryl Streep (Dark Matter (2007)) as the journalist are both good, and their performances and star power make up much of the reason to watch this otherwise boring political war drama, which feels overly constructed.

Related posts:

Robert Redford: Pete's Dragon (2016) - Lowery plays Disney remake safe (actor) 
All Is Lost (2013) - Chandor's Redford-lost-at-sea is compelling filmmaking (actor)
A Bridge Too Far (1977) or, Epic Shit Hits the Fan (actor)
The Sting (1973) or, Partners in Hoax (actor)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) or, Friendly Outlaws (actor)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 35 mil. $
Box office: 63.2 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.80 times the cost)
[Lions for Lambs premiered 18 October (New York) and runs 88 minutes. Shooting took place in Washington DC, Virginia and in California, including Los Angeles, ending in January 2007. The film opened #4, behind holdover hits Bee Movie and American Gangster and fellow new release Fred Claus, to a small 6.7 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed only 15 mil. $ (23.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 8.3 mil. $ (13.1 %) and Spain with 6.5 mil. $ (10.3 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, equal to its rating here. Redford returned with The Conspirator (2010). Streep returned in Mamma Mia! (2008), Cruise in Tropic Thunder (2008). Lions for Lambs is rotten at 26 % with a 4.8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Lions for Lambs?