The best movies that flopped at the box office
What is your favorite movie that flopped at the box office? -- Chris
I couldn't possibly name just one! In a culture as market
addicted as ours, lackluster box office performance is more of a
stigma than ever, yet it's shocking to discover how many films
that we think of as classics today were barely popular in their
time. The granddaddy of them all might be ''It's a Wonderful Life,''
simply because it now seems the definition of a crowd-pleaser. In
1946, however, it may well have been too dark for an audience
still reeling from World War II. ''The Wizard of Oz'' was not a
success, and neither was a little movie called ''Citizen Kane.''
Moving closer to our own era, inspired films that have generated
minuscule grosses include ''Something Wild'' ($8.4 million), ''Ed Wood'' ($5.9 million), and one I've always felt particularly close to:
Martin Scorsese's volcanic ''Mean Streets,'' which barely made pocket
change back in 1973 (it grossed all of $3 million). Having said
that, there's a part of me that simply wants to name ''Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,'' a movie one would have thought
audiences would be lining up for. On that score, it's a major
disappointment -- but then, perhaps that just makes it the latest
example of a noble tradition.
What song on the radio makes you cringe, but in the right scene in the right film it somehow works? -- Cameron
''All Out of Love'' by Air Supply. When Philip Seymour Hoffman
and Camryn Manheim slow dance to it in ''Happiness,'' it's geeks-in-love heaven.
(Got a movie-related question for Owen or Lisa? Post it here.)
