Telling that it was only February and yet two of the films (Her Alibi and Kinjite) ended up on their Worst of 89 show whilst the best film that week was one that was nearly 30 years old.
Indeed, it was known as the "dumping grounds" for a reason. Including tons of movies that were meant to play at Christmas but turned out poorly, and were sent to the winter months instead. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS was one of the first smash hits from a studio to come out of a February release.
Siskel & Ebert including "Her Alibi" in their worst of the year show and actually summed it up better than this original review. They stated it was basically a TV sitcom plot stretched into a movie. That really kind of nails it. They whole thing is contrived, almost like a classic "Laurel & Hardy" comedy updated. I get what they were doing, but that kind of contrived banter and situations was just old, even 35 years ago. But the movie is best remembered for one of the few non modeling gigs for Paulina Porizkova, who was actually considered one of the best looking women in the world at that time.
It's interesting that they gave the documentary of Sarafina two thumbs down since they also gave the same two thumbs down to the movie version of the musical with Whoopi Goldberg that came out 3 years later.
Roger Ebert's print review of HER ALIBI included this classic bit: "You know a movie is bad when you find yourself looking at your watch. You know a movies is really bad when you find yourself shaking your watch to make sure it hasn't stopped!" THREE FUGITIVES adline: "They rob banks. She steals hearts."🤢
Her Alibi = 6/10. Not nearly as awful as the two critics made it sound. Sure, it has goofy elements that suggest live action cartoon but that's also part of what I like about it. I credit the actors for making ridiculous material watchable and even charming. Three Fugitives = 4/10. Martin Short tries hard, too hard to make this terrible script funny. The only scenes I liked involved Nolte and that kid. Lawrence of Arabia = I need to catch up with this one, haven't seen it in years.
Credit to S&E for wading through decades of shite. Especially in the 80s and 90s where 98% of the movies were bad or mediocre, like Spielberg and DePalma were saying (even back then) the industry had become concerned with pumping out formula void of originality
This is exactly why these guys think the 80s was the worst decade for cinema. The New Hollywood movement (which made their jobs such a delight) died out after Heaven’s Gate and One From The Heart tanked, indies, foreign films, and documentaries were given limited distribution, and they were frustrated with Hollywood’s blockbuster mentality shortly after Jaws and Star Wars have come out. Thankfully, their film was restored by the indie boom of the 90s.
Yeesh these movies sucked. Especially Three Fugitives. My God that movie made me gnash my teeth. I barely made it through one VHS watch. Mores the pity since it was one of 3 or 4 movies made in Tacoma, WA at the time when my hometown was being touted as a new hotspot for film production. I Love You To Death is one of my favorite films and also filmed in actual locations in Tacoma. Three Fugitives blows ass. The other one I remember being filmed here is The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. It's not so great either.
@@terryjackson324 It was just ok. Ernie Hudson stole it and I did date a girl who was involved in the local production aspects so those are the 2 high points for me.
