Worst film with best cast poll

[chickenfeet2003]

The point of this poll is to identify the stinkiest of a set of real stinkers that, by virtue of their casts, should have been much better. Note, I have included all nominees despite a personal view that one of the movies is not a stinker and that a couple of the others have decidedly less than stellar casts.

Poll stinkers[1]Bonus for having Aldous Huxley as

Comments

[kalypso_v]

I'm not sure whether I'm qualified to vote, as I've only seen half of them (five definitely, and I can't quite remember whether I saw Caligula or not). But it strikes me that Olivier managed to do an extraordinary number of stinkers. I've heard that in later life he was willing to do any old thing in order to provide for his family; with the earlier ones, I suppose it's just that the style has dated horribly, and a period drama seen through the lens of a different era can be hard to take.

Mark Lawson did a piece on him in The Archive Hour; I think it includes the interview with Joan Plowright which I heard in Front Row, and she admitted to finding his performances in films like Rebecca too stagey.

[chickenfeet2003]

I think there's a strong feeling among British actors with a stage background that one has to keep working, even if the roles are stinkers. I think with Olivier part of the problem is that his acting style does look very dated. More so than many other actors of his generation.

[kalypso_v]

Plowright thought his Shakespearean films stood up well, but the "contemporary" ones less so.

[chickenfeet2003]

I'm not overly impressed by his Henry V or Richard III.

[poppycat]

I actually loved Dune, it is one of my favourite films. I am probably a bit biased because I think Tom Cruise sucks, so perhaps my input is less valid than other peoples. Be interesting to see this when you have more results up:)

[chickenfeet2003]

I totally agree about Tom Cruise.

[melted_snowball]

I still liked Top Gun when I saw it in the last couple years (on a plane?). But I think it's the only one of his films I didn't hate, and really, he didn't have to act much in it.

[white_hart]

I'm not sure I've seen enough to make an informed choice; of those I've seen even part of I think one is a brilliant film, two are deeply schlocky but tremendously enjoyable and one is utterly dreadful but has an equally poor cast. So I suppose I'd better vote for the one that I did just think was rather meh, although that may well be nothing to do with the film because I also hated the book...

[psychochicken]

I really like Vanilla Sky. And Corpse Bride - OK, it's no Nightmare Before Christmas, but it's not that bad...

[psychochicken]

I also liked Vanilla Sky - it has an amazing car crash, sexy ladies and a good story. What's not to like?

[intertext]

Caligula is the only movie I've ever walked out on (maybe because it only cost a dollar in the good old days of the Bloor St. Cinema), so I guess that's my pick. I love Casablanca, even though I know it's schlocky, and I thought Vanilla Sky was an interesting failure (though I, too, despise Tom Cruise). How about Eyes Wide Shut? Or does it not have a varied enough cast? I actually liked Dune - that fits in the noble failure category, too.