How is Russell Crowe's Provence-set feature, A Good Year, playing in, well, Provence? Do I have to bleep out the word merde? Phrased differently, the French press have summarily derailed the film's depiction of their country, with one newspaper's critic blasting it as "appalling from start to finish," saddled by "clichés of an ochre Luberon made for a loaded Anglo-Saxon elite." I'm not 100 percent sure what that means, truth be told, and I studied French in high school — got a lot of D's, mind you — but I think it translates into "le film le sucks."More at Reuters. Le parapluie vert!
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Which film follies were not just dramatically anemic, but memorably cash-poor as well? In alphabetical order, as detailed by Variety:— All the King's Men ($7 million domestic gross versus a $55 million production budget, and despite an all-star cast)— Sharon Stone's Basic Instinct 2 ($5 million versus $70 mil)— Flushed Away ($61 mil versus $150 mil, though I cannot imagine it's any worse an animated film than Happy Feet, which my sons and I barely endured on Sunday afternoon. Subtle message that kids' film has.)— Flyboys ($13 mil versus $60 mil)— Hugh Jackman's The Fountain ($9 mil versus $53 mil)— Freedomland ($12 mil, despite a cast that included Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore and Edie Falco)— Russell Crowe's A Good Year ($7 mil, hampered by misguided marketing)— Lady in the Water ($42 mil versus $75 mil and a slew of critical barbs aimed at M. Night Shyamalan)— Poseidon ($60 mil versus $160 mil)— The Wicker Man (a $23 mil take ...
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