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04 April 2008
Mediocre/Bad Movies redeemed by one moment of brilliance. This gag justified the 'meh' movie it was in all by itself. Know any others?
I love this question, jonmc. I ha-a-ted Talladega Nights, but John C. Reilly's and Michael Clarke Duncan's reactions in the knife gag made it worth sitting through. It was maybe the only funny bit not shown in the previews.
I think the scene in Napoleon Dynamite where he's on the front porch and gets hit in the face with the ham is the best thing in the movie. They should have had him die from that, ending the movie.
Oh, and Talledega Nights is one of the greatest movies ever made. Don't let any lurkers tell you differently.
I was underwhelmed by Talledega Nights. I wanted to like it more than I could.
To this thread, though, I will suggest that Indian Summer, a sorta dumb movie about a kids' camp in Algonquin Park, was almost entirely redeemed by the periodic physical, Chaplin/Keaton-esque bits by Sam Raimi.
I'm going to go with The Usual Suspects. The ending is so, so, so great that it makes people forget how boring the rest of the movie is.
Or not. Sometimes I think I'm the only person in the world who hated that movie, but I did. An hour and a half of dullness capped off with, "But none of it's true!" WTF? I still want my money back.
I, sadly, can't find the scene where Sam's character is boxing with Alan Arkin. He dances about madly, if I recall correctly, and then after a bit of this, Alan Arkin knocks him out cold with one, quiet punch.
Thanks for reminding me of this...man, that boat-tying-up scene still kills me!
I hated The Usual Suspects too; I don't remember a movie that I felt more ripped off by. Ending it with "Oh, he made the whole story up on the spot" was made me want to throw the VHS tape across the room.
The Weather Man is not mediocre, it's got Michael Caine for gassakes, but the mcnuggets really make it for me.
If you've seen it, you know what i mean.
I liked the Wedding Crashers in all its bizarreness, but I didn't think it was brilliant -- except for the scene where he makes a bike out of balloons. It was the only scene where I laughed out loud instead of just chuckling.
er, the ending to The Apple. No, it didn't redeem the film, but, well, it had me asking whether or not someone had slipped something into my drink. Which is more than I can say for most films, David Lynch excepted.
For me, the "pooping back and forth" really saved that Miranda July film. Completely turned it around for me.
i just watch a movie that kind of accidentally snuck it's way to the top of my queue. Feast Of Love. i didn't expect much, it was all very likeable enough to have on while doing things, but then it suddenly became poignant. i think Next Stop, Wonderland was like that for me, in a way, that it grew on me but not so suddenly.
Caddyshack is a really poor movie broken up by fantastic improvisational skits by the likes of Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and the late, great Rodney Dangerfield. The movie itself... not so hot. But they have enough of those moments to make it a classic.
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