ever watch a movie that everyone raves about and just think "wtf?!"

[Lucky]

I just rewatched another movie a lot of people dont get, Raising Arizona. Nicolas Cage does a great deadpan as a reformed felon, and a, then, little known John Goodman steals the show as an escaped con, who takes over his life. He basically recreated the part in The Big Lebowski, but this is the original.

Some people do not get the irony in this one. I think it is a scream.

J

Possibly my favorite Coen brothers film. Cage was great, Holly Hunter was amazing. Some of the best lines were given to Trey Wilson (a great character actor), and he made the best of them.

William Forsythe (Goodman's little brother) did a great job. The musical score was outstanding, as was the cinematography. The pace was just right, which I guess means the film was cut well. I don't think there was a slow spot in it.

[Fresno Bob]

I just rewatched another movie a lot of people dont get, Raising Arizona. Nicolas Cage does a great deadpan as a reformed felon, and a, then, little known John Goodman steals the show as an escaped con, who takes over his life. He basically recreated the part in The Big Lebowski, but this is the original.

Some people do not get the irony in this one. I think it is a scream.

J

I've never met anyone with an IQ above room tempature that doesn't like this film. I saw it for the first time as the second movie on a KAL flight to Seoul through a haze of smoke from the back 10 rows of hardcore South Korean smokers. I was one of three roundeyes on the plane and was laughing my ass off loudly the whole time

[Wonderboy]

I just rewatched another movie a lot of people dont get, Raising Arizona. Nicolas Cage does a great deadpan as a reformed felon, and a, then, little known John Goodman steals the show as an escaped con, who takes over his life.

That movie is just one great quote after another.

Prison Counsellor: Most men your age, Hi, are getting married and raising up a family.

Hi: Well, factually they...

Counsellor: They wouldn't accept prison as a substitute. Would any of you men care to comment?

Gale: Well... sometimes your career's gotta come before family.

But perhaps my favorite movie quote of all time comes from Tex Cobb as bounty hunter Leonard Smalls:

Leonard Smalls: You want to find an outlaw, hire an outlaw. You want to find a Dunkin' Donuts, call a cop.

[onejayhawk]

Possibly my favorite Coen brothers film. Cage was great, Holly Hunter was amazing. Some of the best lines were given to Trey Wilson (a great character actor), and he made the best of them.

William Forsythe (Goodman's little brother) did a great job. The musical score was outstanding, as was the cinematography. The pace was just right, which I guess means the film was cut well. I don't think there was a slow spot in it.

Of course. Its a Coen movie after all. Now that I think of it, so is The Big L, with Goodman's similar role. Goodman also teamed with them as the psycho in Barton Fink. It makes sense. So much of his work is based on timing, as is theirs.

I know some very intelligent people that cannot stand Raising Arizona. They do not get the deadpan as humor. It is not true to life, as they see it. They see the deliberate underacting, and see bad acting, as in, "No one would react that way." OTOH, I rarely like their favorite movies.

J

[Lucky]

Of course. Its a Coen movie after all. Now that I think of it, so is The Big L, with Goodman's similar role. Goodman also teamed with them as the psycho in Barton Fink. It makes sense. So much of his work is based on timing, as is theirs.

I know some very intelligent people that cannot stand Raising Arizona. They do not get the deadpan as humor. It is not true to life, as they see it. They see the deliberate underacting, and see bad acting, as in, "No one would react that way." OTOH, I rarely like their favorite movies.

J

Goodman was also excellent as the thief / con man in O Brother, Where Art Thou? And he was in The Hudsucker Proxy. When they find someone they like, they stay with them, like Frances McDormand.

I just learned they edit all their own films, under an alias.

[Phineas to Ferb]

The one that everyone seemed to love that I did not enjoy is Anchorman. Yes, a line or two was funny, but I remember looking at my watch and thinking I hadn't laughed in 25 minutes.

[onejayhawk]

Goodman was also excellent as the thief / con man in O Brother, Where Art Thou? And he was in The Hudsucker Proxy. When they find someone they like, they stay with them, like Frances McDormand.

I just learned they edit all their own films, under an alias.

I have never seen O Brother, Where Art Thou, and I had to look him up for Hudsucker Proxy (no screen time). Any way you slice it, that is a lot of work together. And if you look at the body of Goodman's feature film work, this is his good stuff, including his big breakout film. He always play larger than life, cheerfully threatening types. Its almost like he was miscast on Rosie.

On the subject, notice how Goodman is clearly distinct from the other large comic actors. Physical comedy comes across as painful, but he does intelligent/obsessive/commanding/lethal with total applomb. Imagine John Candy in The Big L nd it sort of works. Put him in Raising Arizona and it is a stretch. Candy might make it work, because he could play bumbling as a front, and bring it off. No way Candy can do Barton Fink (speaking of movies that people do not get). That guy left reality a long way back.

J

[overkill94]

The one that everyone seemed to love that I did not enjoy is Anchorman. Yes, a line or two was funny, but I remember looking at my watch and thinking I hadn't laughed in 25 minutes.

Heresy! I consider Anchorman the funniest movie of the last 10 years or so.

To be honest, I didn't think it was all that funny the first time I saw it, but on the second viewing I could not stop laughing.

[onejayhawk]

Goodman was also excellent as the thief / con man in O Brother, Where Art Thou? And he was in The Hudsucker Proxy. When they find someone they like, they stay with them, like Frances McDormand.

I just learned they edit all their own films, under an alias.

Unsurprising, since the films come across a little OCD, which is exactly thier reputation.

J

[Gregg]

I have never seen O Brother, Where Art Thou, and I had to look him up for Hudsucker Proxy (no screen time). Any way you slice it, that is a lot of work together. And if you look at the body of Goodman's feature film work, this is his good stuff, including his big breakout film. He always play larger than life, cheerfully threatening types. Its almost like he was miscast on Rosie.

On the subject, notice how Goodman is clearly distinct from the other large comic actors. Physical comedy comes across as painful, but he does intelligent/obsessive/commanding/lethal with total applomb. Imagine John Candy in The Big L nd it sort of works. Put him in Raising Arizona and it is a stretch. Candy might make it work, because he could play bumbling as a front, and bring it off. No way Candy can do Barton Fink (speaking of movies that people do not get). That guy left reality a long way back.

J

Johnk Candy could never pull of the intimidating fat guy Goodman could. I know of no role of Goodman's that Candy could do. On the flip side Goodman couldn't pull off Plane,Trains either.

[Bob Kohm]

I
. No way Candy can do Barton Fink (speaking of movies that people do not get).

+1 Barton FInk was an insane, incredible movie and Goodman was amazing in it.

[Bob Kohm]

The one that everyone seemed to love that I did not enjoy is Anchorman. Yes, a line or two was funny, but I remember looking at my watch and thinking I hadn't laughed in 25 minutes.

Agreed. Add Zoolander to that list-- painful to watch.

[onejayhawk]

Johnk Candy could never pull of the intimidating fat guy Goodman could. I know of no role of Goodman's that Candy could do. On the flip side Goodman couldn't pull off Plane,Trains either.

Agreed. Candy was not one to menace. What he could do was someone who bumbles on purpose, has concealed intelligence, and other hidden resources. It would be a different movie, but it could be done for some of the pictures. For example, Raising Arizona is already a lighthearted comedy. Candy could be a kidder where Goodman was a pusher. Some of the scenes, such as the one about balloons, would work even better. It reminds me of a comment that Maud Adams made concerning a script, "It was dark, funny and not uninteresting. But they made it with a cheerleader, so it was a completely different picture." The movie is Pretty Woman. Consider how different it would be with an older, cynical actor, playing a believable hooker in the Julia Roberts part.

J

[fuhrdog]

Add Zoolander to that list-- painful to watch.

This is the one I was thinking about posting...terrible.

[swampdragon]

Agreed. Add Zoolander to that list-- painful to watch.

I would add
Meet The Parents and Something about Mary

maybe I could add all Ben Stiller movies - sorry young man but your real parents are the funny ones