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Capone says Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser go to EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES to deliver crap!!!
Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
Less than a month ago, I named the ensemble drama CROSSING OVER as the single worst movie I saw in 2009. The overwrought film that dealt with the many aspects of immigration literally buried itself with do-gooder intention, terrible writing, and largely phoned-in performances, including what I would consider the single laziest and least-inspired work I've ever seen from Harrison Ford. But Ford's latest work, EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES, might be just a tiny bit worse, but not because Ford isn't trying. If anything, he's trying waaaaay too hard, as is the movie-of-the-week screenplay that lays the groundwork for one of the most overly sentimental films I've seen outside the Lifetime network in a very long time.
The film is actually the real-life story of John Crowley (Brendan Fraser, looking puffier than ever) and his wife Aileen (Keri Russell), who find out that two of their three children have a rare genetic disorder known as Pompe disease, which attacks the musculature and inevitably results in death before a child reaches the age of 10. In doing copious research on the disease, which has so few victims that very little research has been done and no pharmaceutical companies have bothered trying to find a medicinal treatment, Crowley keeps coming across the name of a University of Nebraska professor, Dr. Robert Stonehill (Ford), whose research is fairly theoretical up to this point but doesn't have the funding to see his ideas through.
Crowley flies to Nebraska where he meets the rough, ragged, and short-tempered Stonehill, a man who is used to being a one-man show and not having to play with others in his lab; he doesn't even see patients, nor does he want to. But when Crowley promises to raise the necessary funds to cover the research costs, Stonehill agrees to partner with the ambitious and desperate man. Despite this being a true story, the character of Dr. Stonehill is a composite. If you didn't know that going in, the fact that Ford has chosen to play him as this ill-mannered curmudgeon might not bother you as much. But even if I hadn't known Stonehill was fictional, he feels 100 percent manufactured for this movie. It's apparently not enough that he is attempting to create a drug that stops the progression of this fatal illness; he must also have his hard heart melted by the love the Crowley parents have for their children. The sick-kid manipulation is in full effect in EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES.
Now I'll admit, the ways director Tom Vaughan (WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS) and screenwriter Robert Nelson Jacobs (THE WATER HORSE), working from the Geeta Anand book "The Cure," come up with to make the very internal process of research a little more palatable for a visual medium get the job done. And when the film sticks to the science and the ways in which Crowley and Stonehill worked around the medical establishment to find this cure, EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES feels like it might have a shot at telling a compelling, lean story. Instead what we get are excuses to watch Ford yell and scream and throw things (I don't remember if he actually throws things, but in my head, I feel like he did). Ultimately, Ford's antics overshadow any good that might have come out of this movie.
Things only get worse (for the audience, not the Crowleys) when Stonehill's research progresses to the point where they can take their findings to a pharmaceutical company, which wants to add Stonehill to one of their teams to come up with an actual medicine. Crowley immediately sees that the way the company is set up to actually have researchers working in competition rather than together as a unit will not result in finding a cure in time to save his children's lives, so he sets out to change he corporate structure (personified by the woefully underwritten Dr. Kent Webber, played by Jared Harris, who does little more than look befuddled and act as a human roadblock).
When you compare a movie like EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES to something like the far superior 1992 work LORENZO'S OIL, in which the parents themselves take a hand in the research that ultimately leads to a cure for their son's rare illness, you immediately see how one can made a beautiful film about living with illness and being inspired to act on behalf of your child when the world around refuses to do so. What we get, instead, is contrivance after frustrating contrivance. I'm certainly not against seeing Harrison Ford give us a taste of his acting chops every so often; I've certainly enjoyed him when he hasn't been in action or sci-fi mode, but with this film, I feel like he's trying to prove something about his abilities. And I don't think I need proof or a reminder that Ford knows how to play a jerk. EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES is an embarrassing exercise in pathos, one that sacrifices any real opportunity for drama by focusing too much on finding the Tin Man a heart and trying to make the audience cry. If it makes the filmmakers feel any better, I cried watching this movie, but it was because I was in excruciating pain.
-- Capone
therealcapone@aintitcoolmail.com
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Pass.
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Ford is in danger of killing his iconic image stone dead.
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On TV the commercials say that this movie is as good as the blind side.......SOLD!
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All the signs pointed to this blowing chunks and yet....it's blowing chunks..
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Fucking epic delivery. My favorite in a commercial since "YOU THE MAN NOW, DOG!!!"
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nuff said
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Had me 100% convinced that this was a made-for-tv movie, until I saw it starred Harrison Ford and Bug-eye Fraser, and then I was still about 40% convinced it was made for tv...that was all I needed to see...
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Scowley face #1. Scowley face #2. Scowley face #3...<br><br>I think Harrison's Ford last good movie was The Mosquito Coast. And The Fugitive was good too. He rarely ventures from the scowley face roles...
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Sad but true.
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It is the first production coming out of CBS films.
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Like father like son.
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constant class. Ford, on the other hand, is a sleepwalker these days.
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should get together again. They need each other!
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Just sayin'
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Harry liked Godzilla & The Phantom Menace. Herc thinks Entourage is better than Arrested Development. Capone, you're been different. I trust you. Well done.
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Period. Looking forward to his comedy this summer, 'Morning Glory.' 'Extraordinary Measures' not so much. And to say that 'Crossing Over' is one of the worse films of 2009 is a gross overstatement. Yes, the film sucked, but there were plenty of other shittier films out there that year. That, and the Weinstein brothers tore the film apart (surprise, surprise).
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You Have It Then You Lose It.This looks like oscar bait bullshit anyway
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after watching the trailer. A bad comedy. Maybe it's Brendan Fraser's stupid face. Would the film play better if you imagined canned laughter?
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... is that he never melted to shmaltz. why are Holylwood movies behind TV on this type of storytelling sophistication? Who fucking cares about watching a so-called stone-hearted person melt to big eyed kids? What kind of retards mistake that for good drama?
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proof that he's a replicant after all...
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Blade Runner jokes never cease to crack me up. Good job, friend!
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"What do you think about your mother?"<br><br>The kid replies: "I'll tell you about my mother". And shoots. The kid's name? Greedo. Ford's last though was "I should had shot first! And great day to have forgotten to bring the wip!"
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The amish to the rescue of Ford's dying career. Besides, there's always carpentry for him when all else fails.
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Not just my favorite star, but my favorite actor. today, i don't give a shit if he makes a movie or not. Indy 4 killed all the remaining interest i had in his career.
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Nope, me neither.
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Jan. 22, 2010, 6:21 a.m. CST
Ford has been bitter & bored with movies for a long time now
by Wookie_Weed
It's so obvious he hasn't been happy in a long time with movie making. He just looks like he's over it, even though he keeps making movies. I think he just loves the business so much, and has pride, he doesn't want to quit while at such a low. Which keeps perpetuating the problem. Read more here: http://tinyurl.com/yer3hkc “I grew up in a system where the studios spent a lot of money on the development of stories and ideas and bought books and they really developed the scripts. That doesn’t happen anymore."
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We'll never see them at their peak again (except maybe Spielberg), particularly Ford. And the sad thing is, there's nothing in Hollywood today that even remotely suggests we'll see anyone like them again. Clooney maybe, but I dunno. It's just not looking good with all the remakes and reboots and the way scripts & projects are developed these days.
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So don't expect too much. Harrison Ford agreed to the role because he wants to support studios who support new projects.
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...what happened to you! My mum and sister ordered Crossing Over on digital when I visited them for Christmas because of Ford- and they like Ashley Judd- and he seemed and acted sooooo bored! I mean to do that in interviews is one thing (I thought he was sick of superstardom and the media in general) but in a film? What? And to a lesser extent Fraser- he does have the acting chops- excellent in The Quiet American and I thought was a good leading man in The Mummy- but in this he...just looks...awful- and podgy!
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Didn't see Crossing Over, but Indy 4 was brought down more by Ford's bored off his ass acting than the terrible script, bad direction, and gross misuse of the whole cast. Sorry for bringing Indy 4 into the conversation but it's indicative of Ford's recent state of mind. Seeing him stoned or drunk off his ass at the Golden Globes last week on top of the horrible performances he's given in bottom feeder movies the past ten years, stick a fucking fork in the guy. His recent choices make Deniro's last ten years look worthy of Deniro.
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it won't close! It won't go away - it just stays there and if I try to close it it opens in a window. F*** that ad. F*** that movie.
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i've never even seen the dorian gray ad!
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AICN should have more class than to run "hostile" ads. Having said that, I don't see it either, and my filters are completely passive, unlike adblocker...
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for some reason I get such a kick from Blast From the Past that just pretend his crappy movies don't exist
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I've been saying for years that the real Harrison Ford was shot by a real bullet on the set of REGARDING HENRY. Since then, he has become progressively worse (sleepy, dumb, confused, etc.). My work is done here...
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....Harrison should have left it at that.
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Then there's a good chance it may not be that bad. Watch out if Harry likes it, though.
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How can this NOT be awesome...?
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...Random Hearts- shocking, actually thinking about the amount of clunkers that Mr Ford has on his CV is actually pretty strong...considering it used to be water tight: Star Wars Trilogy, Indiana Jones Trilogy, Witness, The Fugitive- even minor stuff like Working Girl and Presumed Innocent were quality and well received and he was good in them. Sigh...The ennui he projects onscreen now is depressing...
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He's turned into a joke.
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He will always be Indiana Jones to me, so he make as many shitty movies as he likes, as long as he makes one more Indy flick before he dies.
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With Gene Hackman?
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With Anthony Garcia.
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The MEASURES Trilogy of medical horror.
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Jan. 22, 2010, 8:53 a.m. CST
FACT: FORD MOVIES MOSTLY SUCK BALLS
by Giant_Dick_Bag_Filled_With_Taco_Meat
Mostly.
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How can you not be moved by the plight of these poor helpless waifs. Shame on you.
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Harrison's finger gets cut off and runs wild in Hollywood, going on an ass pokey, chocolate starfish rampage....only Bruce can save them!
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Ford,Pacino,Deniro,Murphy,
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Now get out of the way, Ford. <P> And take Fraser with you.
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i been posting all my shit on that one! Fuckin hell.<p>
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Indy 4 should’ve come out in the mid 90s...maybe 94 or 95..Indy 5 in 2003 (inbetween SW like with the OT and Raiders) and Indy 6 in 2008 (as it did)<p> i cant think of anything that good he or Spielberg were working on in 94/95 and 02/03...and Lucas coulda come up with the stories while he was hard at work on the SW prequels<p> instead we'll be lucky if we get an INDY 5 (i hope we do - summer 2012 be the best bet)
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"Fuck off!"
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anyone read this? was pretty good - felt like an adapation of a proper Indy movie (unlike every other Indy comic ive read)<p> but anyone care to explain WTF happened at the end with the aliens??
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And isn't this a remake of that crapfest starring Gene Hackman called "Extreme Measures?"
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Ford should cameo in STAR TREK 2<p> picture him as a Starfleet Admiral (April?) giving Kirk his orders like Kirk was always getting in TOS on the main viewer...<p> JJ Abrams produced Fords forthcoming 'Morning Glory' (wonder if that'll be any good?), Abrams is apparently a HUGE SW fan plus Ford visited the Trek09 set so it aint impossible..<p> and talking of SW if Ford (and Lucas) want to bust Avatar from the top of the BO tree they should do a Solo movie (like Jackman doing the Wolverine movie)... not Episode VII or Clone Wars - itd be like an extention of the OT. Solo was the character everyone wanted to see more of anyway. only dont get Lucas to direct or write for that matter...exec produce only...let Spielberg finally direct a SW film <p> yknow i guess it wouldnt be impossible to do it WITHOUT Ford with someone like the Firefly guy. but theyd have to get Ford in there to cameo as Solo prime <p> anyone read that Solo/Indy cross over comic a while back? maybe something like that would work (not crashing on earth and having Indy discover the Falcon - just a film that focuses on Han and Chewie)
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His best work in years.
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SW, (AP NOW), EMPIRE, RAIDERS, BLADERUNNER, JEDI, DOOM, WITNESS...he even filmed a scene for ET but it was cut<p> theres just no competetion to that - people have mentioned Sly, Pacino, DE Niro, Arnie, Clint etc hit runs - but no modern day actor compares to Fords SW/Indy/Blade Runner run...NO ONE<p>
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With Nathan Fillion.
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His voice and face are just too... dumb sounding/looking for him to ever be taken seriously. Stick to shitty Mummy movies.
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Im suprised no ones mentioned this so far - its too obvious yes? seriously this film deserves an extra star just for that bit of casting..<p> wonder if they shot the shit together discussing the merits of each series over a JB outside a dimly lit porch after a hard days shoot?...<p> then again judging by this - maybe not:<p> Harrison Ford was so frustrated with Extraordinary Measures co-star Brendan Fraser's fluffed lines, he had "tech talk" scenes stuck to his forehead. The Indiana Jones star, who was also a producer of the film - about a real-life father's struggle to save his daughters with the help of a pioneering scientist - was keen to save time and money on the shoot and grew weary of Fraser's inability to get his tongue around complex medical terms. The Mummy star recalls, "We'd spent an entire day... and it came (to me) and all I had to do was come up with one or two lines and, for the life of me, I couldn't get it right... It's the pinnacle moment. "Harrison's like, 'F**kwit...' I said, 'I'm sorry, man, I can't get the line.' He says, 'Yes you can, there's money on the line.' "He reached over and grabbed a piece of gaffer tape, wrote it (the line) and stuck it to his forehead... and I read the line off of his forehead."
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Get this man some Ritz Crackers!
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like Michel Keaton in Clean And Sober, the role that turned his career arouond. Even more than the eventual villian he played in What Lies Beneath.
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so thats why its like a giant tub of lukewarm vanilla pudding.
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If you're talking in terms of box office, I'd say that between the LOTR and POTC trilogy, Orlando Bloom's got him beat and then some. Acting-wise, well Ford's work in Jedi, with his facial expressions and physical mannerisms, I thought he was in an old Ma & Pa Kettle movie. Aw shucks Han.
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Adjust those box office numbers for inflation and ticket prices and I guarantee you Ford's films have destroyed Bloom's. Besides, Bloom's a terrible actor, whose only decent role has been his mostly silent rendition of an elf.
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I WANT MYYY SON BACK! - A. Jolie I ALREADY WORK AROUND THE CLOCK! - H. Ford I AM GOD. - A. Baldwin
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Remember that next time you decide to praise his latest movie.
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... Ford will be 70 by then. Think about it.
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Nowdays, his only really profitable movie was him reviving past glories and foooling people into the theaters because of nostalgia. That movie, of course, is that debacle that is Indy 4, a movie i keep trying to convince myself it doesn't exist.
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If you want a movie about a sick kid with a similar title that actually kicks all kinds of ass, look for Desperate Measures with Michael Keaton and Andy Garcia.<P>My apologies if someone above has already suggested this.
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Big question is how many films has Bloom carrie don his own. Ford has many films that weren't big SFX ensemble pieces. I don't remember Elizabethtown or Kingdom of Heaven making very much, hence why he's practically disappeared other than the last POTC film.
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But he doesn't seem able to progress to the next stage in his acting career. He should be doing stuff like Connery & Caine: playing older dudes, playing memorable, supporting roles rather than leading parts. Maybe he hasn't got it in him.
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..and Star Trek 2 would be a good start<p> we do need an Indy 5 though...once hes done with that - then do the supporting roles like Connery, Caine etc...he really needs to find something like Connery in Untouchables...a gruff supporting role in a ***** star film which would bad him a best supporting oscar <p>
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W. Shatner
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It's over, Han! OVER!
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then watch as i see my $ make up the Box Office wkend from $2780 to $2792<p> im gonna fool myself into thinking im watching Indiana Jones vs Rick O Connell - both having been frozen or thrown forward in time, changed their names and decided to work in a hospital...<p> kinda like enduring 'Righteous Kill' - only made possible by having to imagine McCauley lived became a cop and teamed up with Hanna
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Capone, I've seen pictures of you teaching one of your shitty little seminars - hahaha - and you dump on Harrison Ford? What have you ever done with your life but give thumbs up or thumbs down to movies? You've never put a damn thing on the line creatively. Ever. Ford is a fucking legend and the characters he's inhabited are iconic. CROSSING OVER doesn't deserve your contempt - it was a decent ensemble drama that probably exists in a far better version in Weinstein's "films I've destroyed" vault. But it had excellent performances across the board. It's only real problem is its timing. It's missed the immigration debate window and too many crappy ensemble character films had already come out - but Ford did a laudable job in the role. How you could sit across the table from the man and do an interview with him after already determining that you thought EM sucked - and that you hated CO is one of the most douche baggy, two faced acts of your pathetic journalistic career. How the fuck could I ever trust a "writer" who puts AWAY WE GO on his list of top films of 2009, while dissing Ford's return to form in CROSSING OVER. I challenge all these talkback readers who are talking shit about Ford and CROSSING OVER to actually see the film. I'm betting most of you writing about it haven't even seen it and are just repeating the bad reviews you've heard about. The film has 6.9 rating on IMDB, which is above average and rates better on IMDB than most of Ford's recent films, including his Jack Ryan flicks and CRYSTAL SKULL. And that's after Weinstein reportedly cut out over 20 minutes of character development and some major scenes with Sean Penn. You probably got turned down by some stale piece of the ass the night you went to see CROSSING OVER and couldn't handle seeing Alice Eve's gorgeous tits on display multiple times. For that reason alone, CROSSING OVER should be essential viewing.
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as the guy Marion left Indy for...Shia takes a back seat, Marion cameo only...<p> plot - er...aliens again? Atlanis? Hollow Earth theory? Hell Hole of Siberia? Eden or Tree of Life ? (like The Fountain)
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The commercials make this movie look cheap. The story sounds amazing, but I would rather spend 15 minutes on the internet reading about it than 1:45 min watching Brendan Frasier (whom I can't stand) "act".
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lower the budget, hire younger unknown actors, get the Webb guy directing
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Then it says, 'Coming to Theaters'. What?!
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aka EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES 4.0 in the rest of the world
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He plays a character who, because of his superpowers, cannot kill himself. No matter how hard he tries.
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I worked in drug development as an intern at a pharmaceutical company and never met a single person who acted like Ford's character. All the scientists were really nice. psi
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You watch Lifetime???
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this could very well go on forever
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Jan. 22, 2010, 5:34 p.m. CST
Most things Brendan Fraser touches turn to crap
by Alice Cooper Stalker
Haven't seen this movie. Can't say it's completely his fault...but lots of the movies he's been in are no good. Don't know if it's him or if he just has a knack for getting involved in doomed projects.
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...pretty much killed any desire I had to see this movie. Because this review is exactly what I thought it would turn out to be. Thanks, Capone.
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YOU HEAR ME, YOU FUCKS! I WAS THE #1 FUCKING BOX OFFICE DRAW IN THE WORLD! YOU ALL WORSHIPPED ME GROWING UP, NOW YOU'RE TALKING MAD SHIT? I'M GOING TO FIND ALL OF YOUR ANCIENT MOTHERS AND FUCK THEM! AND HAVE ROMAN POLANSKI TAPE ME DOING IT, AND RELEASE IT ON VIDEO. IT WILL BE ENTITLED: FRANTIC 2: INDIANA BONES YOUR FUCKING MOTHER!!
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I am, unfortunately, already working around the clock.
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Knock him if you must, but if any of you bumped into Ford and had a chance to talk to him, you'd be a) completely tongue-tied (remember, you'd be staring at Hans Solo and Indiana Jones) and b) preoccupied with hiding your boner. I don't care how straight you are, admit it, you'd be stiff.
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Jan. 22, 2010, 6:46 p.m. CST
Fraser in a crap movie?? surely you jest....and don`t call me Sh
by theDannerDaliel
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Someone seriously needs to tell Ford about the big gigantic stinking pile of crap he produced over the past decade(s! oh gods!). Capone obviously passed on the opportunity to even subtly criticize his latest addition to the shit-pile and who can blame him? My theory for Ford's attraction to crap: The man doesn't watch movies (he openly admits it), thus doesn't know what a good movie looks like (absence of any kind of reliable taste) and hence -with all the power and money he's got- is only producing and acting in utter crap. Too silly to regret, I guess....but it's still making me a little sad. All the missed opportunities.
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He only has one expression, that of total disgust. And when he attempts to smile, it looks totally forced. He just seems like a miserable person. Like he despises everything and everyone around him. I used to tolerate his movies because, well, he's fucking Han Solo and Indiana Jones. But now whenever I see a Harrison Ford movie on TV, I change the channel immediately.
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That's exactly what I mean! It's like his face is frozen that way! Sooo irritating. He's like a bitter old man anymore. It's a shame, really.
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Or Quint...Drew. Harry. Whatever your name is. I think I will pass on this one, would rather just watch A New Hope again.
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I have a soft spot for that one medical movie with Hackman and Grant.
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About the time the movie came out, they realized it didn't stop the disease, it just slowed it down. Unfortunately, Lorenzo died a year or two ago.
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Jan. 22, 2010, 10:24 p.m. CST
Aleister Crowley does not exist in this dojo.
by johndillingers20inchseveredcock
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Despite grant.
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The movie made only 2 million on its first day of release..
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When you see the making of a new hope...Ford is wired and excited that he's working and that he's in something successful...heck he looks like he's having a great time on the set...The mystery is..what killed that enthusiasm..did he have an accident and is perpetually sedated? Ther must of been a turning point when he bacame a douche like clooney.
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No fucking wonder he is boring.
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The previews were pretty bland-like a lifetime movie only on the big screen. Nobel story turned into a lackluster pic.
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Jan. 23, 2010, 5:46 p.m. CST
Ford has never made it a secret he doesn't think much of acting
by Redmond
Said so years ago in an interview with Tom Brokaw. He finds the whole enterprise silly. Translation: he's doing it for the $$$. Probably even more so after his divorce.
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First, it's an hour and a half of arduously watching a child suffer. Second, Nick Nolte is to Italians what Dick Van Dyke is to British English. What a piss-poor casting decision that was.
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Jan. 24, 2010, 6:40 p.m. CST
"an hour and a half of arduously watching a child suffer"
by Royston Lodge
That's entertainment!
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That makes you wrong again, Capone. Just saw 'Extraordinary Measures' and thought it was a decent flick. Great story, beautiful movie, nice job by Harrison, and the best performance of Brendan's career by far.
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