That would be Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain would have to be my pick for worst title ever. It starred Hugh Grant, so I think that gives it bonus points in this category.

Here are some more recent titles and brief explanations:

Good titles

Clerks - So simple and basic, just like how it was filmed. What else could the title be?

Akeelah and the Bee - I like how the word "Bee" sounds like two different things.

United 93 - Even though the movie spends plenty of time on things besides that flight, the title holds a lot of tension and emotions. This is, of course, assuming anyone has actually seen this amazing movie yet.

I think the title "World Trade Center" is kinda boring and unoriginal, but I'm not gonna judge it before the movie comes out.

Bad titles

The Ant Bully - Sounds like "Antz," and is it about someone who bullies ants or an ant who's a bully? Or maybe...aw who cares

An American Haunting - Does that imply that the movie "The Haunting" is about a non-American haunting?

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift - almost so stupid it's funny, but not quite. I still think they should have called it "3 Fast 3 Furious."

John Tucker must Die - Every time I hear that name I think of the character Tom Tucker from Family Guy. Also, that slogan thing from the commercials helps make it one of the worst titles this year: "Prepare...to...get...Tucked"

Scary Movie 4 - What was the last series to go past 3 movies? Star Wars? Halloween? They should have stopped at S.M. 3

Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties - They had to do it, they had to put "tail" instead of "tale," as if it wasn't annoying enough already.

quote:

Originally posted by NButler11:
That would be Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain would have to be my pick for worst title ever. It starred Hugh Grant, so I think that gives it bonus points in this category.

Thanx. That is indeed a dumb title. By the way the actress who co-starred was Lucy Liu.

Another bad title was THE POPE MUST DIE(T). This one came out in the eighties and it wasn't all that long after that Turkish guy shot the Pope so the studio was forced to do some last minute scrambling and change the last word in the title from DIE to DIE(T). Since Robbie Coltrane was in the film I guess the title was kind of apropos.

It's hard to beat Napolean Dynamite as a title.

My favorite movie names:

Citzen Kane
Adaptation
Good Night And Good Luck

Far and away best:

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy
and
Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby

[
Far and away best:

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy
and
Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby

[/QUOTE: I agree! Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is fantastic title!]

THE PUFFY CHAIR, an indie film in current release, is kind of a dumb title for a film that is actually pretty good.

Bad:

How about Chasing Liberty? So cheesy it makes me want to die.

Step Up - Just came out...another terrible name.

American Beauty - Terrible name for a great movie

From Justin to Kelly - ...

Good

I think Do the Right Thing is a great movie name. It ties in really well with the central theme of the film.

Back to the Future - Another great title. Very catchy title for one of my favorite movies.

Full Metal Jacket

The Terminator - You know what you're getting when you go see it

I was reading USA Today (not one of the best newspapers) near the end of last year and they said A History of Violence was one of the worst film titles of the year. I kinda like that title, or at least think it deserves to be in the middle category instead of the bottom.

Anyone else have an opinion on it?

quote:

Originally posted by less_success:
Bad:

How about Chasing Liberty? So cheesy it makes me want to die.

Step Up - Just came out...another terrible name.

American Beauty - Terrible name for a great movie

From Justin to Kelly - ...

Good

I think Do the Right Thing is a great movie name. It ties in really well with the central theme of the film.

Back to the Future - Another great title. Very catchy title for one of my favorite movies.

Full Metal Jacket

The Terminator - You know what you're getting when you go see it

Full Metal Jacket is a cool name. So is Apocalypse Now.

quote:

Originally posted by LordSmoogsbottomIII:
Taxi - sounds too much like Taxi Driver, if someone ever mistakenly rented the former, it would be a waste of $5 and the one minute they spend before they realize the horrible mistake they made.

Funny you should bring up accidently renting the wrong movie because of similar titles. It happened to ME! Well, not me specifically, but to my mother when she rented a movie for the family. She came from the video store & was so excited for us to see a movie about kids going treasure hunting with a big, ugly monster-man. Of course, I'm talking about "The Goonies"! She pops in the video & we see a man performing a satanic ritual & soon little green demons are running across the screen. She had mistakenly rented "Ghoulies"! You can imagine the look on my Christian mother's face when she realized what this movie was really about !

As for great movie titles...
"Alien"- So simple, & yet, tells you everything you need to know!
"Back to the Future"- Good for the same reason as the last.
"An American Werewolf in London"- It sounds cheesy, but actually hides a masterpiece of a werewolf movie!
"Inside Man"- A clue to the ending !
"Big Trouble in Little China"- It just sounds wonderful!

Some of the worst...
"Minority Report"- Does this sound like a Sci-Fi/Action movie with intelligent twists & turns?
"Meet the Deedles"- Who would be attracted to this title? Honestly?
"Live Free or Die Hard"- I've hated this title from the moment I heard it!
"Baby Boy"- Ooookay .
"Dude, Where's My Car?"- Once again, who goes to something with a title like this?

Jeepers Creepers
Snakes on a Plane
Anything named after the main character "Duh" how creative...

Now to be a bit off topic, I saw a comment about a movie receiving 4 stars from a certain critic. Critics ratings mean squat these guys wouldnt know a good movie if it slapped them up side the head. It's all political and money driven. If you want a good critique, go watch the movie yourself and if you liked it, it was good and if you didn't like it then obviously you thought it wasn't very good.

One bad title (that I think kept a great movie from being widely seen) was "State of Grace". The movie was originally called "Hell's Kitchen" but was changed during pre-production. Hell's Kitchen describes the Irish gangster theme. If you have never seen it check it out. It stars Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn, Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, John Turturo, and John C. Reilly. The Departed lifted scenes from the movie left and right. I actually think State of Grace is a much better movie than The Departed, problem is, no one saw it.

Worst title for me is one called 'Riding in Cars with Boys', that's stuck in my mind for years now purely by virtue of how bad a name it is. Now it's probably not the sort of thing I'd watch anyway, and I have no idea whether the movie itself is any good, but as a name it's just execrable. Seriously, how could anyone see a title like that and think 'hey, that sounds like something I'd like to see'.

Another poor title, I'm sorry to say, is The Princess Bride. One of my favourite movies ever, but it makes an utterly cool adventure/comedy sound like some kind of saccharine chick flick. Ugh.

Snakes on a Plane *would* be one of the worst, but by virtue of the story behind it manages to balls its way into being one of the best.

Some good ones:
Rumble in the Bronx
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Crimson Tide
Dances with Wolves
Enter the Dragon
Bend it Like Beckham
Dead Poet's Society

I think these are some real lame movie titles:

"Ten Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead"
"Octopussy" and "A View to a Kill"
"Ten Things I Hate About You"

....more to follow........

"JuWanna Man" = awful title, even worse movie

Titles are hard to come up with. I have been researching titling for my newest film and I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on what makes a good title or what about a title draws someone to pick up the DVD off of the rental house or look at it for a film festival.
Any ideas or advice?


[movie titles i think are intriguing and do a good job...
(subject aside)

The Wild Blue Yonder
Rescue Dawn
Augire, Wrath of God
Pretty Woman
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Vertigo
The Terror of Tiny Town [note:1st all dwarf cast]
Dirty Dancing
Finding Forestor
Good Will Hunting
Do the Right Thing
Midnight Cowboy
A Clockwork Orange
Baby Geniuses
Run Lola Run
City of Lost Children
All that Jazz
Erin Brochovich
Walk the Line
Jaws


Puns in a title--not a good idea. Your audience rolls it's eyes and feels like the movie is going to not take itself seriously.

A title should be active and be in present-tense language.

Should give a hint of the subject matter but create a sense of mystery or a paradox. The title should beg a question, meaning, after reading it and hearing something about the film the audience should be wondering something and should be left asking themselves something (like how does that work?), thus encouraging them to watch it. The title should hint or enhance the premise.

Does anyone have any more suggestions for what makes a good title or how to come up with one?

For some movie titles mean little, but I place a lot of weight on the title. It either peaks my interest or makes me ignore it. Titles like "Norbitt (sp? sorry) sound boring and like no one put any thought into it. I even thought Hancock was a weak title. Titles like "New Jack City" and "Good Will Hunting" are great.

Good
No Country for Old Men
Apocalypse Now
The Godfather

Bad
The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Harold & Kumar Go to Guantanamo Bay

I think that X-Files: I Want To Believe is a horrible title. It doesn't give any indication about what the film might be about other than somebody wants to believe in something, which does not sound like an exciting movie to me.