Why did it so bad at the Box Office?!
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spongemonkey-1 — 19 years ago(February 13, 2007 02:51 AM)
I'm trying to hack it as a professional screenwriter in Hollywood. Does that count?
Good luck with that.
from what i can tell, you are one of the few people in this thread with decent taste in movies, and you can see beyond what you merely like, and what is actually good.
I realize this is some crazy-ass multi-year thread, but I just got done watching TLKG for the first time and came to IMBD afterwards (also a habit of mine).
I'd have to agree that this flick was full of cliches and cheesy dialog and was only worth watching once.
I know some people will not dig that statement but thats ok.
I like plenty of crap movies, but I am also well aware they are crap, but for some reason I like them and they have merit to me. But that doesn't make them some brilliant masterpiece either.
Oh, and can anyone explain to me WHY on earth they drove the semi with the car and frozen terrorist and Sam Jackson in it, up to the soon-to-be-exploding tanker AND AND AND backed it up???
They did say they were gonna drop the car and the body in a ravine 5 miles from the city. I don't think Niagra Falls qualifies as a ravine. -
KeithFerguson — 19 years ago(February 13, 2007 10:14 AM)
My roommates have introduced me into camp movies and a true appreciation of them (and by that I mean ironic appreciation). When I watched this particular movie, I wasn't coming from that school of movie-going. I wonder if I watch it again if I'll like it any better. I should try it out and post the results.
I did recently see Running Scared and I probably would have hated that movie just as much as Kiss Goodnight if not more if I had seen it before I had my protective shield of ironic detachment. As it is, my only complaint with Running Scared is it is way too long, but it's got some great moments if you like laughing at pure idiocracy captured on film. ("I'm kinda parched.")
45! 22! Fight for freedom 'til we're free!
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jwjordan100 — 18 years ago(February 22, 2008 07:48 AM)
Sorry, but anyone who includes "Dumb and Dumber" in a list of acceptable, let alone good movies instantly loses credibility points. As you point out, your objectivity is suspect, as is anyone's when it comes to assessing entertainment. Everyone has different tastes and points of reference. That it seems to matter to you so much that you be "right" is all we really need to know. Other people obviously enjoyed the movie more than you did. Why does that bother you so much. I personally shared some of your criticisms, but still found it fairly entertaining. So, I guess that means I mystify you. I'll just have to see if I can live with myself knowing that I've disappointed KeithFerguson.
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blackpussycafe — 17 years ago(October 19, 2008 06:30 PM)
your opinion loses alot of credibility saying dumb and dumber and se7en are great movies.
Charlie: Were you always this stupid, or did you take lessons?
Mitch Henessey: I took lessons.
you might try reading books. fun movie. -
ritamilo — 17 years ago(October 26, 2008 03:36 PM)
Geena was married to Renny Harlin when she made this movie, and also "Cutthroat Island" which was a pirate thriller. Her films with Harlin did not do that well at box office. I think that it was difficult for people to perceive Geena as an action heroine. Long Kiss Goodnight had some good moments, but I think it was a tad too long and at the end, I was waiting them to wind it up a little sooner than they did.
I think people had associated Geena with Tootsie, Accidental Tourist, Earth Girls are Easy and other flicks and weren't ready to buy her playing the "spy who came in from the cold."
"truth against the world" - attributed to Boudicca of the Iceni -
chahn-1 — 18 years ago(August 24, 2007 10:23 AM)
While I want to disagree with your comment as a whole, I cannot, as
you are factually correct, to a degree.
I want to disagree because I liked this film very much.
I sometimes break films into two categories: Important vs Enjoyable
.but then I have to admit that this film is not Important,
but it was Enjoyable.
Many of my favorite films fall into this category.
("True Lies" is a good example)
I recommend that everyone get through as many of the Criterion type
of films as they can. These are films that really inform.
But I will never regret the simple enjoyments that un-important films
have brought to me. -
neuroside — 20 years ago(June 04, 2005 01:26 PM)
Hey, about half those reasons you mentioned are what make this move so awesome. number five on your list for example, everything you listed in that one paragraph was what made that movie so freaking amazing, sure its not true to life but movies are metaphors man. if you want reality go watch a documentary, and I'm not talking about any of Michael Moores films either, cause everyone knows he's full of beep
It's only after we've lost everything, that we're free to do anything. -
KeithFerguson — 20 years ago(June 06, 2005 02:41 PM)
I guess that's where we part ways. I must not find as much enjoyment from retardation as my friend here. I spent at least a minute trying to figure out exactly what you meant by 'movies are metaphors' and how that had anything to do with 'Long Kiss Goodnight,' but then I finally just gave up. And while I'm not sure I can all that much, would you mind explaining what you mean by that?
Also, I'd like to take time out to apologize to anyone who sees me as an a-hole. This is like a little release for me and I'm not really like this in real life. I'm much more easy-going and I'm not quite as condescending.
45! 22! Fight for freedom 'til we're free! -
stephanibelle-1 — 20 years ago(November 06, 2005 01:58 AM)
fergman(what a weird name),
this is the absolute first time i ever respond to this online dialog/blog crap. i just recently watched the Long Kiss Goodnight again, for quite possibly the 12th time wih a LKGN virgin. everyone i recommend this to loves it. for pulp B movie escapist entertainment it ranks up there with True Romance. the only movie i ever watched this many times was Aliens. i guess that's coz i'm a chick and i like watching stong, tough women taking on idiot men.
sure The Long Kiss Goodnight is cheezy. jeez, viewing it now i notice the blue sceening is horrendous, and i have to agree the acting isn't so great.i've worked in film and studied it, and it is my belief that if you see decent if not good actors acting badly you should blame the director. scratch any bad acting and you'll find a bad or out-of-their-depth director. and you like Predator? that one note, practically no plot, boy-boy flick? are you kidding? funny, Shane Black was in that (IMDB movie trivia).
i agree the stylist should have been shot, Charlie looks like a hooker half the time BUT the other half of the time she looks awesome, not that many women can carry off that hard look.
the plot holes were addressed above fairly i think. try to remember "it's a movie". how about when they are down in basement about to go into cold storage, that creep Timothy takes Mitch upstairs to kill him. makes no sense, why not kill them all together? could it be that Timothy likes torturing and killing people and needs alittle release? yes, the car escaping the chemical bomb at the end was a bit much, but so are many other famous scenes. i love old John Woo movies, but how many bullets does it take to kill a man in one of his? 15? is that because they are "Hong Kong" bullets? thats what i now call it in those types of scenes; "must be those Hong Kong bullets". and what about those guns? how many rounds do they have, like 25?
watching Samantha become Charlie on the water wheel was just awesome, the power of a truly pissed off woman is one the biggest film's delights, yes just like Ripley in Aliens, and Alabama in True Romamnce. when Charlie realizes that there is no way she can take on Timothy and the CIA and tells Mitch, that it will be last time she'll be pretty coz they're gonna blow her head off, i feel the real depth of it. the acting in these later scenes makes you believe it's almost true. this movie has pieces of that.
there are more one liners in this movie than are necessary but they are fun and mememorable;"chef's do that" when she tells mitch "it'll be just a minute" to save him. the lines about getting out of NJ. Mitch singing what he does. plus the "s***K my beep line is actually delivered well and comes off honestly (although it is a really cheezy line) she imbues it with feeling. much better than my other fav movie, Aliens. Geena Davies is way better than Sigorny Weaver when says,"stay away from her you bitch", and delivers it better than most of bad lines in the Terminator movies. yes, they should have used more of the humourous bits, it could have used an injection of humor all the way around.
for great pulp writing and "high concept" you can't beat the one line value; a school teacher with amnesia who finds out she was an assasin for the CIA - that just can't be beat. the next best high concept was Terminator; a man from the future comes back to the past to protect his leader's/ his son's life.
fergman, i don't know how many movies you watch, i watch a lot, you'd be surprised. maybe it's coz you're not a woman you don't understand how misdirection can work with kids. the kid is supposed to dreaming of the puppy, while the gas ignites the gunpowder.even a hardened bitch like Charlie can't resist the lure of her own kid, even if she didn't want her.
all in all, this cheezy, badly made film always entertains and makes me feel good, and my guests appreciate it too. plus the music is great. maybe you need to watch it again. i hated Pulp Fiction (and still barely tolerate it), but since it has been on tv so much i have begrudgingly come to like certain scenes. i will say that i still don't care for any of the characters except Bruce Willis' and Ving Rhames'. but don't listen to me, i hated Citizen Kane, and comimg from film school its practically sacreligious to say that. but i hated Citizen Kane and i didn't care even the tiniest bit about any character in that movie and that is the kiss of death. i like Kyslovsky films, and i like Tony Scott films. i like some Oliver Stone films (although i don't like Oliver Stone). i liked Lost in Translation. i don't think American Beauty was a particularly good film, but i do think Kevin Spacey and his character's development were great.
i could go on and on about The Long KIss Tonight and maybe i will have to, but i must say, if you watch it expecting nothing you will be pleasantly surprised. PS did you know the ending was re-shot? Mitch was supposed to die. the focus groups just couldn't acce -
KeithFerguson — 20 years ago(November 06, 2005 11:03 AM)
See, if someone had just said this in the beginning, I wouldn't have had to argue so much on this thread. All the posts above and below are me trying to get people to understand this movie is just plain sub-par. The question was 'Why did it so bad at the Box Office?!,' right? So I answered. Most people do not like this kind of movie. Some do. The people trying to defend this movie like it, I assume. This is a waste of time; don't defend it, just go on liking it, like Stephani. I just found it funny that someone could be at a loss to understand why this wasn't a big hit.
By the way, my last name is Ferguson. ferg-man. Eh. It's better than something like 'cyrixxyl0934' in my opinion. Have you been enjoying that president show Geena's in now?
45! 22! Fight for freedom 'til we're free!
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stephanibelle-1 — 20 years ago(November 06, 2005 03:58 PM)
fergman,
i wasn't answering the question: Why it did so bad at the box office, i was answering YOU (i followed the instructions - it said not to change the subject line). we all know Hollywood and the paying public has it's head up it's collective ass, why else explain stupid remakes, sequels and blockbusters?
look we all have our moronic guilty pleasures that we love and we sheepishly have to defend to others who don't see the beauty we do. movies are like every thing else, subjective. like they say, opinions are like ash***les, everyone has one. i have been just as high minded as the next one trying to convince friends that some piece of tripe is just that, but now i know that it is just a reflex reaction on my part thinking i am the worlds foremost authorithy.
i like it, cheese and all, but i'm not at a loss to explain why it did so bad at the box office - we all know Renny Harlin is a hack and men are afraid of strong women who can kill with impunity
infrequently,i come to see movie trivia on films i see and i like IMDb; the last polarizing film like this one was Man on Fire, which i just recently got to. have an opinion on that one?
i don't watch much tv