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Author Topic: on the subject of new and old movies...two thumbs down to Better off Dead???
Muffy Tepperman
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I found this youtube clip of Rupert and Ebert.....they hated Better off Dead.......!!!!!

It's so funny for me to see this now of then....when so many people now say "new movies suck" and then they were saying a movie I hold so dear to my heart sucks!

they couldn't get off the fact of the garage door breaking which was not even in my opinion a major part of the movie at all.......I know Cusack never liked the movie either???? I'm so clueless........It almost ****ed me off to watch this clip and them give it two thumbs down.........interesting......so what do you guys think?

you tube clip

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JAY LEE
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I've been watching all the Siskel and Ebert vids on youtube, and have come to the inevitable conclusion that they are the worst film critics in the history of man! they are not bad cuz they don't like what I like. But they miss the entire point of several (easy to follow) movies, they nit pick on random an unimportant details, they misread the motivation of some characters completely, they bitch about convoluted plots in the most basic of films and whine about lack of depth and story in films that have it to spare.... why these two guys have some semi iconic status is truly beyond me!

Sorry for going a little off topic with my crazy ranting, just had to get it out:)

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LISA LISA
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I could barely hear what they were saying, I had my volume turned up as loud as I could get it.

I never realized that John Cusak was in the Journey of Natty Gann-boy did Meredith Salenger look super young.

Better off Dead was one of those movies, that I would see bits and pieces of it, and it wasn't until the Rewind and people saying how much they liked it that I decided to watch it the whole way through.

I liked it when I watched it the whole way through, but for some season-like Gene Siskel ..I can't remember much about it.

It is a bummer to see Siskel and Ebert. Boy does Roger Ebert look rough now in real life, I forgot what happened to him, I know he talks through his computer....and Gene Siskel died, so it's a bummer to know when that review was done, they were both alive and well.

Gene Siskel really hated Better off Dead.

To me....what I am starting to feel about movies...new or old....someone out there somewhere must like them or they would never have gotten made, and probably every movie appeals to someone. There are so many movies that I totally hate that other people love.

My husband loves the movie "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka", and he and my son love "Office Space"...I can not get through those movies without going crazy...to me it's like torture to watch them.

But, what's weird now...is that alot of my current friends my age...would rather die than to watch some of the 80's movies that I LOVE.

I think alot of why people like the movies they like are if they can relate to a certain character in the movie.

I started thinking about why I like the movies I like, and it's because I can relate to someone in the movie, they either remind me of myself, or someone I know, or you have been in a similiar situation.

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Sir Sammy Hain Esq.
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Usually Siskel was much better than Ebert. Ebert in my mind is a complete and total tool. Granted I felt some of the side stories of Better Off Dead were kind of stupid namely the mothers cooking. But the main storyline I felt was really good and true to life. Besides how can you go wrong with a character like Charles, and Johnny the paperboy, and two chinese drag racers where one does a spot on Howard Cosell Impersenation? One of my favourites from the 80s that I still can watch today and enjoy as much as I did when I first saw it.
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80'sRocked

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I like the movie. It's not near the top of my list, but it is enjoyable.
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jdocster McFly you Irish bug

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Hey muff,

Who is Rupert?

"I found this youtube clip of Rupert and Ebert.....they hated Better off Dead.......!!!!"

Just kidding... [Smile]

Siskel & Ebert where closet lovers... [Roll Eyes]

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Muffy Tepperman
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should I even edit and correct myself......Jdoc? hahaha I don;t know where I came up with that Roeper, siskel, rupert lol all of their opinions I never agreed with anyway hahaha

yeah and Jdoc.......Where or were [Wink] muwhwhahahaha

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jdocster McFly you Irish bug

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quote:
Originally posted by Muffy Tepperman:
should I even edit and correct myself......Jdoc? hahaha I don;t know where I came up with that Roeper, siskel, rupert lol all of their opinions I never agreed with anyway hahaha

yeah and Jdoc.......Where or were [Wink] muwhwhahahaha

Muffy,

Did I do the where were thing again? Man! I before E except after C, Where were... I'm a goober sometimes. Were (where) you aware of that? [Big Grin]

I'm glad we can laugh at ourselves. [Smile]

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aTomiK
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One of the best crazy black comedies ever! I rented the film in ´87 and have loved it since.

Too bad that Cusack don´t like it...

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Muffy Tepperman
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I wouldn't have it any other way Jdoc! [Big Grin]
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mamamiasweetpeaches
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Out of the wtwo of 'em I always preferred Ebert, he usually has/had tastes closer to mine -although he NEVER gave Horror movies a fair shake...and I love me some Horror movies! I feel this way about Leonard Maltin too....he has pretty good taste in movies but , man, is he rough on the Horror genre!

P.S: I LOVE BETTER OFF DEAD and if I ever meet John Cusack thats the first thing I'm gonna say to him -"whatsamatter you? you don't like BETTER OFF DEAD????"

I like IM GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA a lot.

The appeal of OFFICE SPACE totally goes right over my head (my best friend LOVES it)

I much rather watch 70s & 80s movies than anything from the '90s or '00s.

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Ronnie
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i don't think i have ever payed attention to those guys... why should their opinions count so much? we are all movie critics here. i would go by what certain people on this website say than what siskel & company and think.

i do not know of anyone who disliked BETTER OFF DEAD.
it's sad that cusack doesn't like the movie, i just adore the heck out of him..

sam made a good point about the mother's cooking plot, i think all the food scenes are a bit wonky, even when he's cooking at the burger place. but overall, it's a cute story.

i'll watch cusack any day of the week.

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Dexter Motley Morgan
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Critics are usually talentless, bitter, people who are mad at the world because they can't get into showbiz so they create drama and bad reviews for publicity. I never listen to what critics say because 9 times out of 10 if they hate it I like it and vice versa. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Office Space is in my top 2 comedies of the 90s right there with tommy Boy. Anyone whose ever worked in an office or for a big corporation can appreciate its brilliance lol. There's practically one person just like everyone of the characters in the movie in the office I work in: someone always worried about downsizing, somebody right on the brink of flipping out, someone always fussing about minute details, someone always overly chipper especially on Mondays, a crappy printer that always eats paper,etc........

[ 08. June 2008, 11:07: Message edited by: MotleyRulz ]

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pork pie mcfly

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Better off dead is one of my favourite films.
Ok it has a few weaknesses but thats what makes it so fun to watch after all these years.

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jdocster McFly you Irish bug

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quote:
Originally posted by MotleyRulz:
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Office Space is in my top 2 comedies of the 90s right there with tommy Boy. Anyone whose ever worked in an office or for a big corporation can appreciate its brilliance lol. There's practically one person just like everyone of the characters in the movie in the office I work in: someone always worried about downsizing, somebody right on the brink of flipping out, someone always fussing about minute details, someone always overly chipper especially on Mondays, a crappy printer that always eats paper,etc........

I see it every day. one of my pet peeves is people that constantly forget their passwords. I just don't understand how you can forget your password after using it for several days.

Some people need to use an Etch-a-Sketch instead of a computer. [Roll Eyes]

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TheUltimateShield
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I hate to split opinion down the middle here, but while I share people's disdain for Ebert (and Rupert for that matter! *wink*), I actually must say Im not a fan of the movie either.

Everyone's points are valid, their review is stupid. Normally when someone says "they missed the point..." it's because there is no point or because the point is so microscopic, anyone besides fanboys would miss it, but in this case, they did. I say that not because I like the movie, again, I actually dislike it, but because it was meant to be weird and offbeat, and if you didnt get that five minutes in, something's amiss. Ebert sucks, always has. He didnt like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" either, you can see that written review on his site.

But yeah, personally for me, while I disagree with those two, Im not a fan. I saw that it wasnt meant to be real life or teach me anything and that it was toying with conventions, but nevertheless, I think there's a lot of people out there who just dont like the style of humor in the movie. By the way, Im actually a fan of "One Crazy Summer." I think the cult status for those two films should be flipped, with BoD being the nearly forgotten one, sorry to offend anyone! Just my spin

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mamamiasweetpeaches
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Im also not totally nuts about the goofier stuff like the Moms cooking climbing off the plates (!) but I think they HAD to add some of that goofier stuff in there to keep it light-hearted. I mean, how else were they gonna get away with scenes of a teenager trying to hang himself and still have the movie be a comedy?????
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Sir Sammy Hain Esq.
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That's what Badger the little brother was for. That's what Johnny the paper boy wanting his two dollars was for. There was enogh light-hearted moments in the movie that were funny stuff where the mothers cooking didn't need to be included.
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JAY LEE
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Agree with Sammy, I don't need dancing burgers and crawling goo! I own the movie, but I've only watched it once!
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HeadRusch
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See I think thats what makes the movie great...its one part "Typical 80's teenage Film", with the nerds and the stereotypical asians and the goofy stuff going on. Today these movies are the "Scary Movie part 19" type flicks that come out seemingly every year..or six weeks....

But then this film is also EVER SO f'ked up [Smile]

The Van Halen dancing hamburger and the sentient dinner mom whips up, the kinda pull this film out of the "standard 80's teen flick" and dangerously close to the NAKED GUN and AIRPLANE types of absurd humor. Not close enough, mind you, but at least it makes it unique. Props to Better off Dead for doing something unique. Hell its so 80's to even try to do that [Smile]

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jdocster McFly you Irish bug

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quote:
Originally posted by HeadRusch:
See I think thats what makes the movie great...its one part "Typical 80's teenage Film", with the nerds and the stereotypical asians and the goofy stuff going on. Today these movies are the "Scary Movie part 19" type flicks that come out seemingly every year..or six weeks....

But then this film is also EVER SO f'ked up [Smile]

The Van Halen dancing hamburger and the sentient dinner mom whips up, the kinda pull this film out of the "standard 80's teen flick" and dangerously close to the NAKED GUN and AIRPLANE types of absurd humor. Not close enough, mind you, but at least it makes it unique. Props to Better off Dead for doing something unique. Hell its so 80's to even try to do that [Smile]

Head,

Good points! In the 80s you would see inanimate objects dancing to popular music. remember the California raisins? Sooooooo 80s... [Smile] One of the reasons we like the "cheesy" 80s is because it was so obviously "cheesy" This was the birth or the infancy of that type of animation/special effects (actually it was in the 70s) and it was part of the popular culture. The accepted "norm" of the day. These days, it's really just an everyday thing.

This is why some posters here don't like all of the new CGI stuff, because it can be a bit overblown and in your face, and quite frankly, unbelievable at times. Who here has seen "Live Free or Die Hard"? I really liked the movie but the scene where the car flips through the air like 10 times and lands on the two cars without hitting Brice Willis... Come on people... Of course I keep an open mind =) It's just ENTERTAINMENT!

But I digress... I think that's why we ALL like the 80s cheesy stuff...

[Big Grin]

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JohnG6
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Better Off Dead had some of the greatest scenes and one-liners of all time!

It's a damn shame, people be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy like that.

It's got raisins in it...you like raisins.

I'm real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky.

I'm gonna activate your dental plan!

My grandmother, she dropped acid and hijacked a schoolbus full of penguins.

I gotta go, Beth. The Christmas tree's on fire.

I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS!!!!!

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