It is impossible to make an intentionally campy film. The whole point of camp is that it never realizes that it is camp. For example, “Valley of the Dolls” is genius camp because it is so wonderfully wrong at every imaginable turn, with the gifted cast trying and cluelessly failing to create alchemy with their material. If the actors started winking at the audience or smirking at their material, then it is not camp – it is just plain dumb.
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Initially planned as a TV special to air when “Saturday Night Live” was on hiatus but rejected by NBC for being too risque and vulgar, “Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video” created a minor brouhaha in 1979 when it was theatrically released. Viewed today, however, there is absolutely nothing edgy or provocative to be found in Michael O’Donoghue’s spoof of the classic shockumentary “Mondo Cane.” In fact, the film is downright tame and dull by contemporary standards.
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The decision by Warner Bros. Discovery to shelve its feature film “Batgirl” (with a budget somewhere in the $70 million to $100 million-plus range) caught both film industry professionals and casual movie lovers by surprise. Yet there is a precedent in Hollywood for creating a major film release and then yanking it from a release schedule.
For your consideration, here are 10 examples of Hollywood films that got the “Batgirl” treatment.
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For every Bill Murray and Will Ferrell who made the successful transition from “Saturday Night Live” to big-screen acclaim, there were more who either never made the jump or had a spurt of movie stardom before petering out. ArmchairCinema.com’s Jerry Dean Roberts returns to the “Online Movie Show” podcast to discuss why some SNL comics became movie stars and others didn’t.
Richard Donner was one of the great action directors, a man who could tackle almost any movie and add his own distinct flavor to it. Although mostly a film titan in the eighties, Donner continued a long and illustrious career directing genre films well in to his eighties and left behind a humongous legacy of iconic films, hit films, and films that will live on for many, many years in the hearts of movie buffs everywhere.
In remembrance of the cinematic titan, I thought I’d list my five favorite films from his humongous oeuvre.
What are your favorite Richard Donner films? Let us know in the comments!
Everyone who’s on the internet has heard of the Billy Murray stories, like the time he did the dishes at a house party, the time he rode a golf cart alone, or the time he stole a fry from a random stranger. These stories are numerous and sometimes seem hard to believe, which is why filmmaker Tommy Avallone went looking for the truth.
Your enjoyment of “Space Jam” may depend on your nostalgia factor and your love for Michael Jordan. Ultimately, “Space Jam” is a serviceable kids and family animation hybrid that teams up one of the most iconic sports heroes of the nineties with one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. Michael Jordan’s popularity was somewhat waning in 1996 thanks to his stint playing baseball, and “Space Jam” is something of an image boost that also happened to be a pretty huge marketing success during the mid-nineties. With toys, music, VHS tapes, and everything else, “Space Jam” was a pretty big pop culture storm that built a larger and loyal audience.