Movies That Ruined Directors Forever

[@PeterRabbit4Eva]

Todd Phillips will be in director’s jail soon right after Joker: Folie à Deux. 😁

[@Syntopikon]

That seems to be the general consensus 😭 I debated on adding him into a future video. I think it would probably get some views, but I decided not to as I don't think the dust has appropriately settled just yet. It seems odd as I include Megalopolis in this one, but that's because Coppola has a 30 year trend of unsuccessful movies at this point as opposed to just this one for Philips.

[@screenwriterjohn]

I would normally agree, but Joker was so big, even the WB will give him another big project. Tenet didn't ruin Chris Nolan.

[@Syntopikon]

But Tenet was also closer to the pandemic, when people were wary of going to the movies.

[@mrng245]

You should also take into consideration if you do make a video about TP that WB are and have been in serious financial trouble and this maybe the last nail that gets them

[@Syntopikon]

@@mrng245 Am I hallucinating, or has this been the case with WB for like 24+ years at this point? It's been nothing but bad merger after bad merger with them. There was Warner-Amex, then AOL Time Warner, then ATT got a hold of it, and now Warner Discovery. It's wild.

[@MinasTsambanis]

Say whatever you want for Megalopolis. The fact Coppola financed this movie from his own pocket shows he has balls.

[@Syntopikon]

Yup. Dude puts his money where his mouth is. That, if nothing else, is infinitely respectable.

[@perfectallycromulent]

Nah. The man had access to the opinions of anyone he wanted. For decades, people said "dude, this is crazy, we don't want to be involved, you're gonna lose your money" and they were right. Why praise someone for following their narcissism instead of the advice of experts?

[@JC2023HD]

I heard he had to pawn his balls in order to finance the movie.

[@Syntopikon]

Partly because it's how we got Apocalypse Now, which is an excellent film and exists in spite of people saying no to him. Of course, that's one hit for far more losses. But if he can eat them, more power to him.

[@mg6945]

Coppola is a great story of Hollywood resilience. He’s spent the past 60 years being anti-Hollywood, working on the other end of California making self-funded indies that bomb but are wholly his own. Every once in a while, he got forced to do a studio gig, and those (other than Godfather) never really turned out great, but he’s continued trucking along. And now he got to make the movie he’s wanted to make for decades, and even though it bombed it doesn’t matter cause he has nothing to lose in this stage of his life and career. I respect him so much

[@Syntopikon]

It's one of the best things about him: the man is a true iconoclast. He does exactly what he wants and no one can tell him otherwise. I'm not even sure I would call Coppola Hollywood. He and George Lucas both specifically left LA and remained in North California + both got out of studio production and into indie production (the prequels + ESB and ROTJ are both self-financed by Lucas). Really, they just needed distributors. I hope Coppola does one more movie, but a bit smaller than Megalopolis.

[@mg6945]

@@Syntopikon yeah Lucas got quite the runaway success. He got to own the rights to the biggest movie of all time. Though unfortunately even he was barred down by his issues (his divorce) and had to give in to the studios. Him and Francis really ran Hollywood from their little corner, and considering that he founded ILM, Pixar, and Skywalker Sound, Lucas still indirectly does.

[@Syntopikon]

Yeah, Star Wars also had a bit of a downturn in the late 80s/early 90s, but certainly came back in a big way. Lucas might be the most important person in filmmaking right after Walt Disney because of ILM, Skywalker Sound, Pixar, and the runaway success of his merchandising play. There was also THX for a while.

[@plasticweapon]

apocalypse now and the conversation "never really turned out great"?!

[@mg6945]

@@plasticweapon neither were studio gigs. Godfather was something Francis was hired for by the studio, not something given to him by a friend like Apocalypse Now was and originated by him like Conversation was

[@valmarsiglia]

I'd love to see another Lynch film, but I mean, the third season of Twin Peaks is basically an 18-hour David Lynch film (and a complete magnum opus), so it's like he's given us nine films.

[@steve_santiago]

“…Speed 2 was either one of the worst sequels ever made or THE worst sequel ever made.” 💀💀

[@Syntopikon]

I still hope we get Speed 3, especially after the recent 30th anniversary panel. Keanu + Bullock... on a plane.

[@steve_santiago]

@@Syntopikon Agreed! I think their chemistry is still there all these years later. And I think Chad Stahelski would be happy to direct.

[@Syntopikon]

Wow, that's actually a great pick. Stahelski's probably my favorite "new" director. The guy understands what plays well on the big screen on a bone-deep level. His Speed 3 would be wildly kinetic. You've convinced me. Chad Stahelski for Speed 3 (with De Bont as a creative consultant or something because I still wanna see his name on the credits). Though maybe not on a plane in this case, because I think Stahelski uses more open areas very well.

[@steve_santiago]

@@Syntopikon Exactly. Plus Keanu would surely be a producer so you know he’ll make sure that the script is well written and that the other supporting roles and especially the villain role will be well cast.

[@4plus20isHappy]

@@Syntopikon Check out the episode with that title of the 90’s Irish sitcom ‘Father Ted’. Milk truck driver can’t go under 4 miles per hour.

[@mitchgross592]

Martin Brest had struggles from the start. He was fired from 1983’s WarGames after 12 days of filming because his tone was too serious and dark.

[@samuelcrows]

Martin brest got ruined by the producers, not by Gigli. They butchered the movie because of the relationship between JLo and ben affleck.

[@Syntopikon]

It's unfortunate, as he's an excellent director. I'm hoping he gets that last movie made. Maybe Affleck & Matt Damon can produce it at Artist's Equity.

[@scottylewis8124]

​@@Syntopikon Rob Reiner is another one worth mentioning. He's responsible for Misery, This is Spinel Tap. But the movie that forever tarnished his reputation was 1994s North.

[@Syntopikon]

@@scottylewis8124 That's an excellent suggestion. I sometimes forget Reiner used to direct movies. Interested in seeing how This Is Spinal Tap 2 turns out.

[@nothingrhymeswithorange5294]

You'll never know the joy of someone who grew up watching VanossGaming seeing Pluto Nash show up unexpectedly

[@thecastiel69]

Hehe..Martin BREST

[@marcen12]

I feel bad for Martin Brest. Directed a terrible movie, studio butchers it, movie gets released to disappointment, Martin gets thrown under the bus...like...

[@Syntopikon]

It seemed like the studio interference was pretty pernicious, so he might've had a good cut before the studio got their hands on it (which I'm inclined to believe based on his past history). But yeah, when it made just $7m on basically $70m, they let him sink. I really want him to make another movie.

[@marcen12]

@@Syntopikon And Gigli apparently isn't THAT bad. It's bad but worst movie of all time? I think a lot of those complaints are from people who never watched the movie. I should know, I was one of them.

[@Syntopikon]

I think a lot of criticism also comes from people that end up reviewing the behind the scenes stuff (in this case, Affleck/Lopez's relationship). It happens to a lot of movies with troubled productions (like Lone Ranger, John Carter).

[@marcen12]

@@Syntopikon Yeah...at that point people were sick of the couple and attacked the film.

[@whimsicalhamster88]

I can’t believe the same guy directed Tremors, City Slickers and Pluto Nash! Thanks for teaching me something new.

[@Syntopikon]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, some directors have wild filmographies. It's always fun to see.

[@AintMadAtIt]

Great video!! David Ayer seems like another director that might never be able to recover from Suicide Squad.

[@Syntopikon]

Actually, I think he might've already bounced back? The Beekeeper almost 4x'd its budget. I'm interested to see how his Stallone movie will do. I like him as a director.

[@welcometothemovies9157]

Bright was successful on Netflix

[@isaiahvoss]

I love Speed & Twister. My favorite films from the 90s. Twister was the first big CGI film I saw on VHS, but Speed I also had on VHS. I didn't see it until years later on DVD. It's too bad Jan De Bont didn't do Twisters as he wasn't called or notified about the "standalone" sequel to Twister. I would've loved to see his vision, although I loved what director Lee Isaac Chung (who directed Minari) did in that universe with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell's characters along with Dorothy returning as DOROTHY V. I work at a movie theater and Megalopolis flopped where I was at. Two coworker's told me how bad but crazy the film. Too bad that Coppola couldn't make a home run compared to Tim Burton's Beetlejuice sequel and other sequels this year like Twisters.

[@Syntopikon]

I hope that De Bont is able to do a Speed 3. I know he, Keanu Reeves, and Sandra Bullock had a panel recently and I don't think the two would be against returning. Yeah, I wish he had gotten the call to do a sequel. But maybe the studio thought he's been out of the game to long. It's unfortunate, but I hope he's able to make at least one more film. One admirable thing about Coppola is that he puts his money where his mouth is. Not many would be willing to eat $140 million for a passion project, but he did. That's certainly respectable.

[@minecratsilentbuild5720]

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman pluto Nash and Van Helsing, and GI Joe The Rise of Cobra are good movies

[@mikaelbiilmann6826]

I like League and Van Helsing, but never saw the other two…

[@valmarsiglia]

The main thing motivating Stephen King's decision to direct a movie was the massive amount of cocaine he was putting up his nose.

[@Syntopikon]

Lol I think he also said that it took him less than a week to write Cujo because he did it in a binge fueled frenzy.

[@cinemaarts8795]

I have no idea how long you've been planning this video but I'd be very flattered if I inspired you to talk about Stephen Sommers from the last time you talked about directors who ruined their careers with one film!

[@Syntopikon]

I think you (and others who suggested it) might've. I looked at the comments and noticed I liked your comment. So thanks! I added a shout out in the description.

[@RamblesBrambles]

Totally underrated, they don't make em like they used to! Happier times...

[@parth5k]

Francis Ford Coppola is such an interesting filmmaker, with his newer films I feel like they were initially either hated or looked over but looked more favourably with time. Twixt is the perfect example; a movie with a vast majority of negative ratings when it initially released, but now it’s looked at more neutral or loved. I personally love Coppola’s new & old work and looking at this filmmakers whole career is so interesting and shows artists never stop learning.

[@Syntopikon]

That's one thing about Coppola that sets him apart from others. He makes the movies he wants, the way he wants, and. he'll spend his own money to get there. Guy almost went bankrupt 3 times over his creative vision.

[@alexrogers9051]

If they would have done Van Helsing a little bit more serious with mainly practical effects it could have been great but movies back then were heavy in bad CGI.

[@Syntopikon]

I think we forget that 2004 is just a few years into the transition from film to digital filmmaking. You could finally do new things you couldn't do before, so people were experimenting. Van Helsing, I think, was mostly (or entirely) shot on film, but they also incorporated plenty of motion capture which was newer then.

[@jesseowenvillamor6348]

Van Helsing is a good movie.

[@welcometothemovies9157]

Honestly the FX in league of extraordinary gentlemen was more realistic

[@jesseowenvillamor6348]

@@welcometothemovies9157 I actually loved that movie. Can't understand why it flopped.

[@welcometothemovies9157]

@@jesseowenvillamor6348 league? I loved it. Now I wanted to see how his ghost rider movie would've turned out

[@screenwriterjohn]

Back in 2003, a movie needed to make more than twice what its budget was, domestically. LXG is underrated but it was also a flop. Family Guy did a bit about it.

[@Syntopikon]

Yeah, the international market was a lot smaller then. Budgets have gotten insane now, though. It's wild.

[@theniceperson22]

​@@Syntopikon It is insane that movie budgets are becoming so big now. If you look at history, movies were slowly increasing in budgets, but also in profits. Since the 90s, that's when budgets really were sky rocketing, like Titanic was 200m in the late 90s, then the budgets got even bigger in the 2000s, 2010s, and this decade. The electric state is coming out next year on Netflix and so far it has a 320m budget, which will be the most expensive streaming movie ever and probably be for some quite time. Then you have the creator having a 80m dollar budget that looks like 200m or more, but he was using different methods to make the movie cheaper and still looking gorgeous and that cast wasn't even paid a lot. It was inevitable for budgets to increase, but they shouldn't be so high these days. The red one has a 250m budget and 100m of that was because of Dwayne Johnson for getting 50m and showing up late to make further delays. Actors shouldn't be getting paid so much these days, it's sad. The next two avengers movies will definitely be more than 500m, but they will become successful of course.

[@theantithesis1]

I am surprised the Rainmaker is not considered a success for Coppola, but the listed box office tells of a middling film.

[@oophorror2251]

Saw it in theaters. It’s got a great cast. I think it would done better had he cast Ed Norton. He chose Matt Damon instead but he was overexposed. Dropping four movies a year makes audiences sick of you.

[@justsatire4683]

Black noir was supposed to be the lead in Beverly Hills cop😢

[@stuartkenny7430]

Here's two more directors to look at who had success then it went south. Ken Russell and Terry Gilliam. In Ken Russell's case, he was one of Britain's best directors, making his name with films on composers and artists for the BBC. He was nominated for an Oscar for Women In Love (1969), folk by The Devils (1971), The Boy Friend (1971), Tommy (1975) and Altered States (1980). Then his career fizzled up in the 1980's, after failing to get Evita made and the studios didn't want to know, despite a deal with independent outlet Vestron Pictures, once the 90's came, Russell was box-office poison, despite making visually stunning films. Then there's Terry Gilliam, Monty Python legend who moved into films with Jabberwocky (1977), Time Bandits (1981) and the exemplary Brazil (1985). Gilliam was able to make visually stunning films with low budgets, then came The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), whose production problems caused by a lying producer and Columbia dumping it put Gilliam in the doldrums. But, he got back into Hollywood's good books with The Fisher King (1991), Twelve Monkeys (1995) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). Then his career went awry again when he tried making The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in 2000, which collapsed spectacularly. Gilliam lumbered on with The Brothers Grimm (2005) and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), both were nightmarish productions. But, before he finally got Quixote made, he did two low budget films, Tideland (2005) and The Zero Theorem (2013), which proved he could make low-budget films that looked good.

[@auckman2281]

Poor Martin Brest. From Beverly Hills Cop and Midnight Run to Gigli. How sad.

[@Syntopikon]

Yup. I hope he get's that one more chance. He's a good filmmaker when left to his own devices.

[@edwardong8660]

David Lynch is in a class of his own. He's never been interested in the commercial side of things, and everyone in Hollywood knows this. 'Dune' was such a terrible experience for him that he vowed never to make concessions again. (This is detailed in his memoir 'Room to Dream.') 'Twin Peaks: The Return,' in a way, is a cinematic experience even though it's a TV series, and the extended TV series format is the only way he could've told the thoroughly mindbending story. Lynch will always be able to find risk-taking folks, especially in France, where he's revered, to finance his movies, no matter how weird they are. So I think we'll still get to see more stuff from him down the line, but one thing is sure: it won't be something you'd see in your local cineplexes.

[@kenon6968]

10:35 I just realized that I haven't even seen one of Coppola's films since Jack, can't even say that I have even heard about Tetro and The Rainmaker

[@Syntopikon]

One day, I'd like to do a video or two that specifically examines the rise of some of the New Hollywood (Spielberg, Lucas, etc.) and the decline of the others (Coppola, Friedkin, etc. All of them have some great movies but at the tail end of the 70s and early 80s, they began to wildly diverge.

[@oophorror2251]

Mike Judge’s Extract is still criminally underrated while the rest finally got their cult classic status.

[@andrewtaylor940]

Paul Feig probably deserves mention. He even jokingly predicted his somewhat deserved banishment to director jail.

[@Syntopikon]

Was that prior to Ghostbusters? I know he had some solid mid-budget hits in the years since then.

[@andrewtaylor940]

@@Syntopikon His mid budget hits were before Ghostbusters. Bridesmaids, and the McCarthy spy movie. He could do smaller intimate talks women comedies. Ghostbusters showed he could set money on fire while having absolutely no camera skills. If you feel like torturing yourself, watch the original scene from the ghostbusters, where they get the car. Watch it with an eye for technology and cinematography. The Ivan Reitman seen is a masterpiece. Take note of how few cuts there are or rather are not. Then watch the Paul Feige take on it. Paul films movie like he was filming a 2 camera static camera sitcom. All he knows is Left View, Right View. Point them at the actresses and wait for the funny to happen. You could do a masters thesis comparing those 2 movies. How every single thing in the original is in service to the plot. The car, the firehouse, they define Ray. He is the man child of the trio of I’d, Ego and Superego. Everything in the movie informs the story. Whereas Feig is just going all cargo cult, trying to copy the original, without understanding the layers and symbolism of what he is stealing.

[@mindcrome]

One of my first film classes and I've always known this told me the most important thing and it rings true every time. You are only as good as your last project, that's what your always against.

[@Syntopikon]

Yup. It's a pretty daunting task, honestly, especially if you're someone like Coppola. The fact that he did Apocalypse Now after Godfather Part 2 is wild.

[@petermj1098]

Not true. Alfred Hitchcock’s last movie was Family Plot and he is still a legend. John Carpenter’s last movie he made was The Ward and he retired but he is still a legend. Akira Kurosawa’s last film was a movie called Madadayo people barely talk about but he is a talked about legend.

[@mindcrome]

@@petermj1098 I'm talking about your only remembered in the eyes of the studio X willing to give you money on the last project you worked on that's all they see. Even before Coppola put out his movie he was having trouble getting funding because "Jack" was a complete failure, same with "The Hudsucker Proxy. He was largely seen as washed up, or just not good anymore. Movie executives don't care about legacy, they care about the upcoming quarter.

[@Dr.JitendraPrasadRayHIMSSRHU]

The man in the thumbnail wrecked the entire Star Wars franchise 😂😂😂

[@mikaelbiilmann6826]

I guess Ridley Scott is too big now to be touched. His Prometheus and Covenant would have killed any other director’s career. They certainly killed the Alien franchise for me. Well done, Ridley!

[@Syntopikon]

Scott also has the bonus of funding part of his productions out of pocket, so he also takes on some of the risk. Including his commercial work, I don't think he'll ever not be able to get a project funded.

[@barbiquearea]

Carl Rinsch, who had directoring work in music videos, a few short films and commercials got his big break in 2013, with the Keanu Reeves staring flop, 47 Ronin completely torpedoed his career in film before it had a chance to get off the ground. He went to directing commercials and music videos and short films and was stuck there until 2018 when Netflix picked up his screenplay for a scifi original show that he and his wife had been writing for years. They also hired him to direct the show. Unfortunately, his show never got off the ground. Because instead of filming his series, Rinsch blew the show's budget of $55 million that Netlix gave him on ridiculous purchases for himself. These included extravagant gifts for himself, such as several luxury sports cars, trips to Vegas and a crypto-coin. It wasn't until 2021 that Netflix wised up to his embezzlement and shut his project down. Suffice it to say, his directing days are over.

[@mikaelbiilmann6826]

In the land of Sue, why didn’t they sue him?

[@DioBrandoWRYYYYYY]

"Megalopolis would be a sour note to end on". Buddy if Francis made another movie it would be another Twixd. The man completely lost his touch after Dracula (his last good movie), the best thing he could do is shut up and never direct again. The man was a legend who did a lot for the advancement of cinema, once, but not for 30+ years now. He's made some real stinkers too and ignoring that feels a bit like pretending that the emperor isn't naked.

[@Basackwrds]

Gobble, gobble...one of us one of us.

[@cinemaarts8795]

Is that a reference to Freaks? If so, it didn't necessarily kill Tod Browning's career, it was mostly that he couldn't really adapt his style to sound and seems like he wasn't even interested.

[@Basackwrds]

@@cinemaarts8795 i combined references. The gobble gobble is from Gigli at the nadir of ots cringe. The freaks ref is just based on similar sounds and an effort to be clever😁

[@andersdenkend]

I want to mention Stephen Sommers "Deep Rising" as well. Great b-movie action film with an a-budget!

[@Y2Kproduction1]

Megaolpolis didn’t ruin Coppola

[@davemac9563]

Yeah he was already ruined since apocalypse now

[@samuelcrows]

​@davemac9563 he made the outsiders, rumble fish, and the rainmaker after apocalypse now.

[@Syntopikon]

Megalopolis is more of an extension of a decline that's been ongoing since Dracula.

[@WildFungus]

@@Syntopikon wow man, that doesn't tell me anything about why you don't think the movie is good you're just throwing it under the bus, which is fine I do it a lot it's human nature but you're normally very forgiving of this sort of thing so I'm curious.

[@motor4X4kombat]

That was Jack

[@Ciborium]

Oh man! I really like "Heart and Souls". So many recognizable names in that movie, including BB King playing the National Anthem.

[@lipingrahman6648]

What are you talking about Meet Joe Black was loved by the audience who saw it. I love that film. Though it was a financial failure.

[@Syntopikon]

As did I, though this was at a time when critical reviews - that is, from professional critics - had more sway than they did now, and could impact performance (though it was on a pretty steep decline from a decade or two prior to that). The financial issue was the biggest problem, though, and it didn't help that Gigli (which followed Meet Joe Black) only made a tenth of its budget.

[@lipingrahman6648]

@@Syntopikon fait enough, though I think Gigli is stupidly hilarious 😂

[@shinndig1293]

The Transformers movie sequels pretty much cemented Michael Bay as an incompetent hack who was largely responsible for the declining quality in Blockbuster cinema at the time and permanently tainting the brand IP name.

[@mikaelbiilmann6826]

Him and Ronald Emmerich… aren’t they the over-the-top disaster movie directors? So ridiculous that I stopped watching their movies after 1 movie

[@arthurlima122]

Great video. Have you considered doing a video on the History of Miramax?

[@Syntopikon]

That's a good one. I haven't considered that, but I have been thinking about a history of the 90s in film. Miramax would be a huge part of that. But perhaps it might be worth splitting it out (or doing multiple videos in that vein i.e. Miramax, the Disney Renaissance, rise of people like Tarantino, Smith, etc.) Food for thought for me. Thanks!

[@straingedays]

Pluto Nash is a good fun movie, I've watched it many times and cannot understand why it bombed so badly and continues to be universally disliked. I'll only agree that its budget was outrageously overblown, and its terrible box office return was undeserving.

[@WildFungus]

you're often very easy on movie I would dismiss out of hand for being bad, like oh it's not the director writers fault at all. And so I'm a little surprised to hear you do so to Megalopolis which I haven't seen yet but I'm guess you did not like it.

[@Syntopikon]

I've been trying to refine how I conceive of whether or not a movie is good or bad, and what I've arrived at so far is: it's complicated. There are so many ideas and peoples that it's difficult to decide whether or not a bad movie is solely attributable to a director or writer (especially where studio interjection might be the case). But that's not the case with movies like Megalopolis, Joker 2, or Heaven's Gate. There - and especially with Megalopolis - the director has the final say over what the movie looks like. In those cases, they must accept the blame because they had total control. Megalopolis was entirely self-funded (and written and directed) by Coppola, so he's the only one responsible for how good or bad it is.

[@WildFungus]

@@Syntopikon Thank you for answering me I just was taken aback, and I appreciate your shedding a little context and perhaps even being a little harder on films as well. Keep on keepin' on Syntoptikon

[@WildFungus]

@@Syntopikon it looks like 'what if the Hudsucker PRoxy wasn't trying to be funny' to me if I'm being honest.

[@Syntopikon]

@@WildFungus I appreciate the constructive critique! Your timing was spot on, as last night I started writing a video essay on who to blame for flops and good/bad movies, so it's something I've been thinking about quite a bit.

[@anwarjaramogi4392]

Pronounced, "Yan".

[@seliamila1005]

I DONT GIVE A SHIT WHAT ANYONE OR THE STUPID STUDIO SAID VAN HELLSING IS A FUCKING GEM! ITS AWESOME

[@NebLleb]

6:20 What? No mention of Deep Rising?

[@garypasquill2355]

Deep rising is a spiritual successor to Kong island

[@NebLleb]

@@garypasquill2355 No it's not. It's a 1998 Creature Feature.

[@briansays2286]

❤Lynch

[@hypercomms2001]

What about Michael Cimmino???!

[@Syntopikon]

He's a good one, but I already spoke about him a few times in previous videos do I didn't add him here. I do touch on him again in a future video, though not much.

[@branagain]

Speed 2 is the worst MOVIE ever made.

[@Syntopikon]

Could've been at least 30% better with Keanu. He and Bullock have great chemistry.

[@beesh1019]

Uh

[@QUANTUMJOKER]

Mulholland Drive is one of the best movies ever made? I don't know about that, brother.

[@Syntopikon]

Not everyones cup. of tea, that's for sure. But I think that's part and parcel of a Lynch movie.

[@QUANTUMJOKER]

@@Syntopikon Lynch is a very polarized filmmaker for me: he's made some great films (The Elephant Man, Lost Highway, The Straight Story; I don't like Eraserhead, but it's very good for what it is) and some good films (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Wild At Heart; Dune is a beautiful mess), but I think Blue Velvet is overrated, I don't like Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire is atrocious.

[@Syntopikon]

I think that's the partial mark of a great director. Some things land, others don't. Roger Ebert once said this about David Lean: "I have a friend who says a new David Lean movie is like a new Picasso. It may not be a great Picasso, he says, but by God it’s a Picasso and worth seeing for that reason if for no other. I suppose that’s true of Lean and all great directors: Their work is interesting just because they’ve signed it, and the failures help to illuminate the successes." That's I usually feel about filmmakers. I'm happy to see what lands for me and what doesn't. What doesn't helps me appreciate what does (and, perhaps, I may come around to it later).

[@lk4136]

the critics top 10 list is horse shit....

[@Syntopikon]

I think the universal opinion is that everyone else's top 10s (or IMDBs 250, frankly) are the worst lol

[@lk4136]

@@Syntopikon no its horseshit, corrupted by the requirement to adhere to a narrative- the cultural doctrine as approved by the cosmopolitan elites...

[@CappyLarou]

Controversial opinion incoming, The godfather and The godfather too are overrated pieces of crap. The only movie Francis Ford Coppola ever made that was any good was Apocalypse now.

[@fizzyfuzz5878]

I don't know how it's aged, but I remember finding Van Helsing really unique and cool. Roger Ebert gave it a 3 out of 4 stars and said, "At the outset, we may fear Sommers is simply going for f/x overkill, but by the end, he has somehow succeeded in assembling all his monsters and plot threads into a high-voltage climax. Van Helsing is silly, spectacular and fun".

[@Syntopikon]

That's one thing I liked about Ebert: he always reviewed movies based on what he thought their intent was. He didn't try to shoehorn everything into a preconceived notion about what makes for a good movie - he understood that two wildly different movies can be 3/4 because they're trying to do different things and succeeding at them in their own ways. It aged well, in my opinion. I rewatched a bit of it yesterday and it's still a fun movie.