Soar Loser?!?!?

THEY COME ALONG OUT of the BLUE NEAR the END of EVERY YEAR: MOVIES MADE for the SOLE PURPOSE of PLEASING ACADEMY AWARD® VOTERS. AND EVERY YEAR, THERE ARE ONE or TWO THAT FAIL SPECTACULARLY.

AMELIA IS, in MANY WAYS, a FLAMING WRECK of a MOVIE. IT STARS 2-TIME BEST ACTRESS WINNER HILARY SWANK in a ROLE SHE SEEMED PERFECTLY SUITED FOR. BUT YOU'd HAVE to GO CLEAR BACK to HER 2007 DUAL DUDS P.S. I LOVE YOU and THE REAPING to FIND WORSE REVIEWS for SWANK. IT CO-STARS RICHARD GERE, WHOSE TRACK RECORD DOES INCLUDE a PREVIOUS WORST ACTOR NOMINATION, BUT WHOSE RECENT FILMS HAVE BEEN MORE LIKE BIG-SCREEN EQUIVALENTS of LIFETIME CABLE MOVIES THAN RAZZIE® CONTENDERS. ITS DIRECTOR WAS (AT LEAST UNTIL NOW) a CRITICAL DARLING. AND IT's FROM the OSCAR® WINNING CO-SCREENWRITER of RAIN MAN. 

SO, WHERE DID IT GO WRONG? FROM the GIT-GO, APPARENTLY -- IT SEEMS DIRECTOR NAIR HAD NO FLAIR for the SUBJECT, SWANK NEVER GOT a HANDLE on BRINGING the FAMED AVIATRIX to LIFE, and GERE SLEEP-WALKED HIS WAY thru HIS ROLE.

THE REVIEWS EVEN SUGGESTED IT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE BAD ENOUGH to BE of INTEREST to OUR VOTERS, INSTEAD of to VOTERS for THOSE OTHER AWARDS®.

FEEL FREE to LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK BELOW... 

FUN FOOTNOTE: APPARENTLY BELIEVING THEY CAN BUCK POOR WORD-of-MOUTH, ROTTEN REVIEWS and BAD B.O. FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES PAID a PREMIUM to PURCHASE a PROMINENT FULL PAGE AD in THE L.A. TIMES the FRIDAY AFTER THIS FILM OPENED. THE AD QUOTES SUCH STALWARTS of CINEMATIC SHILL-DOM as REX REED, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER and the KING of QUOTE-HACKS-for-HIRE, PETE HAMMOND. IF THIS DOESN'T TURN THINGS AROUND for AMELIA, NOTHING WILL. 

OH, WAIT, WHEN SOMETHING BOMBS THIS SPECTACULARLY, NOTHING WILL TURN THINGS AROUND!

SWANK: "As a two-time Oscar® winner, I have no idea, Dick -- What's it like being a RAZZIE® nominee??"

GERE: "First of all, let me congratulate you on escaping a nomination for your 2007 double-whammy of P.S. I LOVE YOU and THE REAPING, then mention that MY Worst Actor nod for KING DAVID was nearly 25 years ago..."

 

I knew his movie would tank at the box office, considering it's should have been released in say, December, when Oscar worthy movies usually come out and there's nothing else to see in theaters. When I watched the "making of" segment for this movie on HBO, even that bored me to tears --  not a good sign. I'm thinking they just walked through this one.

Like HeadRazz said, this one's all about being Oscar Bait, and not much else.

All I got to say: "It's about time!"

Compared to....WHAT? This is a $40 million movie that has pulled in a paltry $4.7 million to date. The people who made this movie could have generated better box-office numbers stringing together 4 episodes of The Flying Nun.

Unquestionably, this is in the running for the title of "Biggest Box-Office Flop of 2009".

Originally posted by saturnwatcher Compared to....WHAT?

Compared to this weekend. Duh.

This is a $40 million movie that has pulled in a paltry $4.7 million to date.

Ok. Jeez! You don't have to get so offensive.

I do so love saturnwatcher's comebacks against trolls.

I REALLY liked this film. In fact I think was the best new film I've seen in several years.

It was a good break from all the sex, violence, and toilet humor in Hollywood films these days.

Both times I saw it in the theater, I was the youngest person there. (I'm 29) Having learned about Amelia Earhart in first grade, I've always been interested in her.

I also noticed that the negative reviews written by critics were written by men and/or people under 50. Carrie Rickey (Philadelphia Inquirer)  and Roger Ebert both gave positive reviews to the film.  I would say this is Oscar worthy even though the acting wasn't too great, it is the story of a great pioneer and feminist icon. I'm not at all a feminist, but I think the negative reviews for the film may have been partly because of latent misogyny on the part of the critics, or they are too young to appreciate her achievements.

It is a shame the people don't appreciate movies like this anymore. 40 years ago, it would have been a hit!

look at the vote demographics on IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1129445/ratings

Women and people over 45 gave it the highest ratings. Also do people only know how to give it 1 or 10 stars ? Honestly, does it deserve only one when compared to Baby Geniuses 2 or 10 when compared to Citizen Kane? I'd give this film an 8 or 9.