My Year of Flops (subtitled The A.V. Club Presents One Man's Journey Deep Into the Heart of Cinematic Failure) is a 2010 book by film critic Nathan Rabin based on his columns on the website The A.V. Club . [1]
My Year of Flops (subtitled The A.V. Club Presents One Man's Journey Deep Into the Heart of Cinematic Failure) is a 2010 book by film critic Nathan Rabin based on his columns on the website The A.V. Club . [1]
Starting in 2007, Rabin set out to provide a revisionist look at critical and commercial cinematic failures at a weekly basis. [2]
Rabin's critique for each film fall into three categories: Failure, Fiasco, and Secret Success. [3] [4]
In 2011, Rabin expanded the scope of the My Year of Flops column into a successor feature, My World of Flops, to include TV shows, books, and musical albums. He began with Aaron Sorkin's 2006 TV series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and ended with the 2016 comedy film The Brothers Grimsby before opening his own personal site called "Nathan Rabin's Happy Place". [11] [12] [13]
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn is a 1997 American mockumentary black comedy film directed by Arthur Hiller, written by Joe Eszterhas and starring Eric Idle as a director unfortunately named Alan Smithee, a traditional pseudonym used in Hollywood for directors disowning a project. The film follows Smithee as he steals the negatives to his latest film and goes on the run.
Freddy Got Fingered is a 2001 surreal black comedy film directed by Tom Green in his feature film directorial debut and written by Green and Derek Harvie. Green stars in the film as a childish slacker who wishes to become a professional cartoonist while dealing with his abusive father's behavior. Its plot resembles Green's struggles as a young man trying to get his television series picked up, which would later become the MTV series The Tom Green Show. The title of the film refers to a plot point where Green's character falsely accuses his father of sexually abusing his brother, the eponymous Freddy.
A box-office bomb, box-office flop, box-office failure, or box-office disaster is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production budget, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after release has technically "bombed", the term is more frequently used for major studio releases that were highly anticipated, extensively marketed, and expensive to produce that ultimately failed commercially.
Dirty Work is a 1998 American buddy black comedy film directed by Bob Saget. The film follows long-time friends Mitch and Sam who start a revenge-for-hire business, and work to fund heart surgery for Sam's father Pops. When they take on work for an unscrupulous businessman, in order to be paid, they create a revenge scheme of their own. Traylor Howard also stars and notable cameo appearances include Don Rickles, Rebecca Romijn, John Goodman (uncredited), Gary Coleman, Chevy Chase, David Koechner, Chris Farley, and Adam Sandler (uncredited) as Satan.
József Antal Eszterhás, credited as Joe Eszterhas, is a Hungarian-American writer. Born in Hungary, he grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. After an early career as a journalist and editor, he entered the film industry. His first screenwriting credit was for the film F.I.S.T. (1978). He co-wrote the script for Flashdance, which became one of the highest grossing films of 1983, and set off a lucrative and prolific run for his career. By the early 1990s, he was known as the highest-paid writer in Hollywood, and noted for his work in the erotic thriller genre. He was paid a then-record $3 million for his script Love Hurts, which was produced as Basic Instinct (1992), and following its success, news outlets reported he earned seven-figure salaries solely on the basis of two-to-four page outlines.
Pennies from Heaven is a 1978 BBC musical drama serial written by Dennis Potter. The title is taken from the song "Pennies from Heaven" written by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston. It was one of several Potter serials to mix the reality of the drama with a dark fantasy content, and the earliest of his works where the characters burst into extended performances of popular songs.
All the King's Men is a 2006 American political drama film written, directed and produced by Steven Zaillian based on the 1946 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of the same name by Robert Penn Warren. All the King's Men had previously been adapted into a Best Picture Oscar–winning film by writer-director Robert Rossen in 1949. The film narrates the rise to power and demise of the Governor Willie Stark, taking his office in the American South. The fictional character is loosely based on the life of Louisiana governor Huey Long, in office between 1928 through 1932. Elected as a U.S. senator, he was assassinated in 1935. The film co-stars Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, Jackie Earle Haley and Frederic Forrest in his final film appearance.
Elizabethtown is a 2005 American romantic tragicomedy film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Its story follows a young shoe designer, Drew Baylor, who is fired from his job after costing his company an industry record of nearly one billion dollars. On the verge of suicide, Drew receives a call from his sister telling him that their father has died while visiting their former hometown of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Deciding to postpone his suicide and bring their father's body back to Oregon, he then becomes involved in an unexpected romance with Claire Colburn, who he meets near the start of his journey. Elizabethtown stars Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Alec Baldwin, and Susan Sarandon.
"Another One Rides the Bus" is a 1981 parody of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" by American comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic. The song describes a person riding in a crowded public bus. It was recorded live on September 14, 1980, on the Dr. Demento Show, hosted by Barret "Dr. Demento" Hansen. Accompanying Yankovic was Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, who would go on to be the parody artist's long-time drummer.
Slapstick of Another Kind is a 1984 American comic science fiction film starring Jerry Lewis, Madeline Kahn and Marty Feldman. It was filmed in 1982, and released in March 1984 by both The S. Paul Company/Serendipity Entertainment Releasing Company and International Film Marketing. The film was written and directed by Steven Paul and is based on the novel Slapstick (1976) by Kurt Vonnegut.
Town & Country is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Chelsom, written by Buck Henry and Michael Laughlin, and starring Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Garry Shandling, Andie MacDowell, Jenna Elfman, Nastassja Kinski, Charlton Heston, and Josh Hartnett. Beatty plays an architect, with Keaton as his wife, and Hawn and Shandling as their best friends. It was Beatty's and Keaton's first film together since 1981's Reds, and Beatty's third film with Hawn, after 1971's $ and 1975's Shampoo.
The Hollywood Hall of Shame is a 1984 book by brothers Harry and Michael Medved. The authors had previously written or been involved in the creation of similar books exploring "bad movies" or "cinematic mistakes": The Fifty Worst Films of All Time, and The Golden Turkey Awards.
The A.V. Club is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. The A.V. Club was created in 1993 as a supplement to its satirical parent publication, The Onion. While it was a part of The Onion's 1996 website launch, The A.V. Club had minimal presence on the website at that point.
Best Defense is a 1984 American action comedy film, starring Dudley Moore and Eddie Murphy. The original music score was composed by Patrick Williams. It was released by Paramount Pictures.
Mafia comedy films are a subgenre hybrid of comedy films and crime/gangster films.
Nathan Rabin is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for The A.V. Club, a position he held until he left the Onion organization in 2013. In 2013, Rabin became a staff writer for The Dissolve, a film website operated by Pitchfork Media. Two of his featured columns at The Dissolve were "Forgotbusters" and "Streaming University".
A Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is a stock character type in fiction, usually depicted as a young woman with eccentric personality quirks who serves as the romantic interest for a male protagonist. The term was coined by film critic Nathan Rabin after observing Kirsten Dunst's character in Elizabethtown (2005). Rabin criticized the type as one-dimensional, existing only to provide emotional support to the protagonist, or to teach him important life lessons, while receiving nothing in return. The term has since entered the general vernacular.
Fat Actress is an American comedy television series starring Kirstie Alley. In the United States, it aired on Showtime from March 7 to April 18, 2005. The series was created and written by Alley and Brenda Hampton.
Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star is a 2011 American black comedy film directed by Tom Brady, written by Adam Sandler, Allen Covert, and Nick Swardson, and produced by Sandler, Swardson, Covert, Jack Giarraputo, and David S. Dorfman. Starring Swardson, Christina Ricci, Edward Herrmann, Kevin Nealon, Don Johnson, and Stephen Dorff, it tells the story of a man-child whose reserved parents were famous porn stars and plans to follow in their footsteps.