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brandinh's review
2.0
2.5 stars
I wanted to like this, I really did. I enjoyed the author's previous work very much. I just didn't enjoy this read as much as I had hoped. I hadn't seen or heard of most of the films and reading about very bad films isn't quite as much fun as I had expected.
I wanted to like this, I really did. I enjoyed the author's previous work very much. I just didn't enjoy this read as much as I had hoped. I hadn't seen or heard of most of the films and reading about very bad films isn't quite as much fun as I had expected.
jakewritesbooks's review
5.0
An excellent book. Nathan Rabin, a braver soul than I, does a great job picking apart movies that flopped and why they did. I laughed to tears at some of the better ones. I'll have to pick up his pop culture memoir at some point.
count_zero's review
4.0
This book is something that I would consider a seminal work of film criticism, and in its own way shows how the internet and home video have changed film and film criticism.
Because of the internet, and the ability to take films home with us, the obscure films, the flops and the bombs have a chance to get legs, find their audiences later on, and get the fan base and success that they have so richly deserved, as with Joe Vs. The Volcano & The Rocketeer. Alternately, they preserve failure and the bizarre cinematic decisions that lead to those failures for all time, as is the case with films like Mame and Pennies from Heaven.
Honestly, if you want consider yourself a big fan of film, I'd definitely consider this book worth reading.
Because of the internet, and the ability to take films home with us, the obscure films, the flops and the bombs have a chance to get legs, find their audiences later on, and get the fan base and success that they have so richly deserved, as with Joe Vs. The Volcano & The Rocketeer. Alternately, they preserve failure and the bizarre cinematic decisions that lead to those failures for all time, as is the case with films like Mame and Pennies from Heaven.
Honestly, if you want consider yourself a big fan of film, I'd definitely consider this book worth reading.
choicelight's review
4.0
This book is absolutely hilarious! I was a little skeptical at first glance, because I hadn't heard of all of the movies that Rabin was reviewing. But he gives enough background to each movie, that you don't need to have seen it to really know what he's talking about. It was a super quick read, and so much fun, that it often left me in tears from laughing.
missnicelady's review
3.0
Rabin's affection for these awful movies can be infectious. Now I kind of want to see "Ishtar."
theladyinreds's review
2.0
I put this on my Christmas wishlist because I���m a fan of the A. V. Cub website and had enjoyed the handful of ���My Year Of Flops��� entries I had read on-line. As such, I really wanted to like this book, and I really kind of hated it.
The ridiculously long preambles? Hated them. After a few essays, I couldn���t help screaming ���What the hell is this movie about? When was it made? And who the hell is in it?��� because I usually didn���t have any answers to these things until 5-10 paragraphs into the essays.
I didn���t laugh at the jokes. I didn���t find them funny. I often found them mean. And I can���t say I cared much for the profanity and off-color commentary either.
As critical essays, I didn���t think they worked well either. The set-up of what the movie was about, when it was made, and who the principal players involved were often incredibly confusing. The tangents were also incredibly frequent and of unbelievable length.
In the afterword, the author writes that ���I began My Year Of Flops not to bury cinematic failures but to praise them. I have strayed early and often from that mission, yet I���ve tried my damnest to live up to the good intentions I laid out in my introduction.��� See, I didn���t pick up on hardly any of that intended affection for these movies. I really wish I had, because that���s what I was interested in reading, but I just didn���t see it there.
To borrow the author���s own rating scale, I���m going to call this one a failure I wish had been a secret success.
The ridiculously long preambles? Hated them. After a few essays, I couldn���t help screaming ���What the hell is this movie about? When was it made? And who the hell is in it?��� because I usually didn���t have any answers to these things until 5-10 paragraphs into the essays.
I didn���t laugh at the jokes. I didn���t find them funny. I often found them mean. And I can���t say I cared much for the profanity and off-color commentary either.
As critical essays, I didn���t think they worked well either. The set-up of what the movie was about, when it was made, and who the principal players involved were often incredibly confusing. The tangents were also incredibly frequent and of unbelievable length.
In the afterword, the author writes that ���I began My Year Of Flops not to bury cinematic failures but to praise them. I have strayed early and often from that mission, yet I���ve tried my damnest to live up to the good intentions I laid out in my introduction.��� See, I didn���t pick up on hardly any of that intended affection for these movies. I really wish I had, because that���s what I was interested in reading, but I just didn���t see it there.
To borrow the author���s own rating scale, I���m going to call this one a failure I wish had been a secret success.
wtb_michael's review
3.0
A passably entertaining compilation of Rabin's AV Club column revisiting and reviewing major movie flops, from the big names (Waterworld, Cleopatra, Heaven's Gate) to the obscure (Skidoo, OC and Stiggs etc). Rabin is a pithy, funny writer, but (betraying its weekly column origins) this is very much a book you dip in and out of rather than one that you should read in one hit.
mediumdave's review against another edition
4.0
Really fun. I loved the web series so I'm happy to have it in book form on my shelf.
Also, as an aside, perfect for reading in the bathroom. I'm just sayin'.
Also, as an aside, perfect for reading in the bathroom. I'm just sayin'.
ashleybwells's review against another edition
5.0
This book could not be any more delightful if it came with a free kitten. Nathan Rabin is a hilarious, erudite, and charming guide through the world of cinematic failure in its infinite variations. The idea of looking for (and often finding) something redeeming in the movies rejected by both audiences and critics is a lovely one, and Rabin's subtext seems to be that the world is better off for having all these movies in it, even the "floppiest" flops. I'll happily follow that kind of generosity of spirit to the ends of the cinematic universe. And as a bonus, it also made me howl with laugher. Keep em coming!