the whole movie sucks but for reasons only the gods can divine this dude or lady repeatedly come through with a fine performace despite the craptacular material. noooo, their glorious talents will not be held down by manmade forces. name them !

and, please, try not show your bias for fine british villians. not that we should overlook them, but they are an easy choice.

my choice: mickey rourke. his films lately have been less than spectacular but he does give alot of himself. he never shirks from the material and tries to squeeze as much feeling from it as propriety will allow - and then some.
i like the way he quietly seethes. very difficult to control and be effective.

the stinker he almost saved would be stallone's 'get carter'. and a footnote worthy of much musing, imdb states that he appeared in malick's 'the thin red line' but his scenes were unceremoniously deleted. jeez ! ! !

I agree with you on the Get Carter thing.

I would have to pick out Tom Hanks' brilliant performance in the very disappointing The Ladykillers. Hanks has definitely saved the film from general dislike!

I also have to pick Jim Carrey for Liar, Liar and Bruce Almighty. Both films are very average and, at times, cheesy, but Jim is excellent in both and definitely saved them !!!

I'll let you know when others spring to mind!

Of course! The God of good actor-crappy movies syndrome is Christopher Walken. Ive only seen a couple of his flicks but judging from the fact that hes really good in the stuff I saw him in and the metascores his films get, hes a good candidate.

I also think Robin William's performance saved "One Hour Photo" from being a ho-hum thriller.

I hope this doesn't rub anyone the wrong way. I believe "Leaving Las Vegas" to be almost worthless as a film. However, anyone who wants to witness recent great acting should see Nicolas Cage and Elizabeth Shue in that movie. Without their performances, that film would just about be on the level of "The Blair Witch Project", and boy, is that low.

quote:

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written by mark f
Without their performances, that film would just about be on the level of "The Blair Witch Project", and boy, is that low.

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The Blair Witch Project gets no respect. No it isn't the wittiest, scariest, or most convincing movie out there, but I can think of a hell of a lot more movies that are much, much worse (and also waste millions and millions of dollars). I really don't get why Blair Witch attracts such hatred. I know it was made with only two hand held cameras and only cost like three dollars and a donut, but I thought it was much more entertaining than say Scooby Doo or The Big Bounce (I saw it yesterday and it smelled like a rotting animal that someone took a sh*t on).

To compare the worst movies out there to the Blair Witch project just doesn't seem very fair to me.

But say what you will, I honestly don't give a crap. I just felt the need to defend this movie.



Someone give me my poll rights.



K-Dog

You're right, The Blair Witch Project isn't THAT bad, I think everyone was just so disappointed when they saw it, they expected much more from the intriguing premise.

The only scary scene is the final scene for me. But there are much worse films out there.

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Originally posted by Edward Nygma:
You're right, The Blair Witch Project isn't THAT bad, I think everyone was just so disappointed when they saw it, they expected much more from the intriguing premise.

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Neither was "Scooby Doo"! But, say what you will i dont give a crap.

I just felt the need to defend the movie.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: EccentricSam,

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written by Eccentro
Neither was "Scooby Doo"! But, say what you will i dont give a crap.

I just felt the need to defend the movie.

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Clever, except I never said Scooby Doo was bad. Here's a direct quote. "I know [Blair Witch] was made with only two hand held cameras and only cost like three dollars and a donut, but I thought it was much more entertaining than say Scooby Doo or The Big Bounce."

Almost, but not quite.

As for saved stinkers, I think Pirates of the Caribbean would have been an absolutely worthless film had Johnny Depp not been in it. His performance was the only thing I enjoyed watching in that film.

Actually I lied, I also liked watching Keira Knightley.



Someone give me my poll rights.



K-Dog

and of course, lets not forget Garfield!!!

If Bill Murray hadn't been there, the film would have been a worthless piece of crap!

bill murrah may not have saved many stinkers - not that he has been in many - but he does jazz up any film he appears in. directors like his natural persona and don't meddle or kill him with directorial tinkering.

another fine actress who saved a stinker or two is meryl streep. she has appeared in a few dozen films and, not surprisingly, not all were bejeweled with oscars and/or other awards, i.e.
death becomes her, music of the heart (directed by wes craven ?!?!?), and bridges of madison county.

I actually thought Death Becomes Her was really funny, Gldie Hawn and Bruce Willis were both very good too.

I'd also like to mention Chris Farley who saved Black Sheep a film that is funny only thanks to him: David Spade, strangely, wasn't funny in this one. And I think that without Farley the film would have sucked big time

Let us not forget Val Kilmer in Tombstone. I do not know where that performance came from. It was like he was in a different film. But needless to say, it was greatly appreciated by everyone in the theatre.

I reckon Bubba Ho-Tep would have sucked without that amazing performance from Bruce Campbell. What a heartfelt performance. Its only Bruce and Ossie Davis that make me like it.

The contrast of Individual Performance/Overall Film Quality that stands out the most in my mind may be due to its recentness(sp?): Tracy Ullman in a Dirty Shame.

I completely agree with JD in Pirates; but don't forget that Depp was also the closest thing to a reedeming quality in Once upon a Time in Mexico.

Let's see who else...
Willem Dafoe shone in Boondock Saints.
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jude Law both violently upstaged the talentless Mr. Damon and Ms. Paltrow, but couldn't save That Stinker.
Jack Black actually did save School of Rock; Anyone else would have let that garbage fall flat on its cliche.
And Diddle's performance in Gangs of NY was the best aspect of an otherwise 'bleh' movie.

Complementary thread topic: Otherwise good films rendered nigh-unwatchable by the (mis)performance of a sole actor.

My number one: Dances with Wolves.

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"Why is the rum gone?"

quote:

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Originally posted by mmossman:

Jack Black actually did save School of Rock; Anyone else would have let that garbage fall flat on its cliche.

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Garbage?! Cliche!? Ach....your post makes me angry. I dont think you'll like it when Im angry.

quote:

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Originally posted by Eccentro:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by mmossman:


Garbage?! Cliche!? Ach....your post makes me angry. I dont think you'll like it when Im angry.

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Hey! You stole my joke!!!! (see best films of 2004 so far thread)

Okay, "garbage" may have been a little harsh; I'll concede that much. But I'll not cede "cliche". 'SoR' was so cliched, that if it were any more cliched it'd be... um...
What's more cliche than cliche? Trite? Banal? Vapid? Boilerplate?
I don't know.

Tom Hanks almost saved The Ladykillers but was unable to do so

I find myself more and more replying to other posts rather than just giving my opinion and pulling my head in like a good little boy, but here goes.
"Blair witch project" is NOT a bad movie.
"School of rock" is.
Bill Murray has never saved a movie in his life.
"One hour photo" was an uncomfortable movie to watch for me, thanks to Robin Williams' embarrassing performance.
De Niro improves every movie he's in except "Jackie Brown". Tarantino manages to pull a lack lustre performance from De Niro, that no other director has managed to do.

riiiight....

I agree with the Blair Witch Project thing.

BUT, Bill Murray HAS saved The Man Who Knew Too Little , for example.
Robin Williams' performance in One Hour Photo was brilliant and one of his best ever.
De Niro is a great actor but doesn't improve EVERY movie he's in! (how about Rocky and Bullwinkle???)
And, I haven't seen School of Rock...