foolish wives is a 1922 american silent drama film produced and distributed by universal pictures under their super-jewel banner and written and directed by erich von stroheim .

the drama features von stroheim , rudolph christians , miss dupont , maude george , and others .

when released in 1922 , the film was the most expensive film made at that time , and billed by universal studios as the " first million-dollar movie " to come out of hollywood .

originally , von stroheim intended the film to run anywhere between 6 and 10 hours , and be shown over two evenings , but universal executives opposed this idea .

the studio bosses cut the film drastically before the release date .

in 2008 , foolish wives was selected for preservation in the united states national film registry by the library of congress as being " culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant " .

foolish wives

) to shut down production on
foolish wives
- something the egomaniacal director refuses to do , despite indy ' s efforts . ironically , one of the actual cast members of
foolish wives
was
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nice review ! foolish wives is probably the most accessible erich von stroheim , but accessibility really wasn ' t his bag . i love the grand folly that is his trademark , and foolish wives ranks among the favs !
mrs . hughes can be seen reading a book with the title
foolish wives
, written by erich von stroheim .
from foolish wives ( erich von stroheim , 1922 ) . this figure is not covered by the creative commons attribution 4 . 0 international license .
the group dismantling foolish wives . relations between evs and universal had soured over cost overruns and the director’s unwillingness to endorse a less than two - part foolish wives . whole sections and subplots were junked . scenes stroheim planted in the first half to pay off in the second became meaningless distraction as much of his dramatic equation lost effect . by the time the train reached new york , over half of foolish wives was gone . universal’s reception
foolish wives is a great old film . stroheim had a keen eye for the bizarre and for details . this dvd has its flaws but all in all quite acceptable .
one of the great mad follies of the silent era , foolish wives ( what a divine title ! ) is the american middle - class ' s libido run amok .
foolish wives in 1080p - along with the extras - is an essential . this is important film history and we can now own the most complete version . . . on
my main interest in erich von stroheim ' s 1922 silent film classic
foolish wives
is in the use of lavish background sets and the glittering costumes which represent . . .
celebrity paradox / recursive canon : when she ' s not flirting with count sergius or blowing off her boring husband , helen is reading a book by erich von stroheim called foolish wives .
god’s wisdom is foolish to the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ , & the world’s wisdom is foolish to god – 1 cor . 1 : 18 f , rom . 1 : 18 f
from foolish wives ( erich von stroheim , 1922 ) . this figure is not covered by the creative commons attribution 4 . 0 international license . reproduced with permission of the copyright holder , kino lorber , inc .
we have said that
foolish wives
is not for the prude . for instance , we can imagine with what chuckles of unalloyed satisfaction the new york state board of censors dived into it with eyes and shears agleam .
erich von stroheim liked to refer to the traduced and truncated version of foolish wives as “the skeleton of my dead child . ” looking at the film today , it’s plain to see there’s still plenty of meat on those bones .
seven hundred thousand , though inter - office memos indicate $ 1 , 124 , 498 was needed to complete foolish wives . whatever the expense , universal got as much in free press and patron anticipation they’d been whipping up over a two - year period . von stroheim had started out in the money directing continental exotics . the first two , blind husbands and the devil’s passkey , looked like beginnings of a profitable and ongoing thing . foolish wives would mark his
and one half hours . many felt it was too long , and some laughed at wrong places . stroheim said that wouldn’t have happened had they left alone the version he’d submitted . universal gremlins worked mischief in the central ’s projection booth by continuing to cut foolish wives throughout the theatre’s engagement . what started with fourteen reels was eventually whittled to twelve . patrons would actually see less at an evening show than counterparts did at the same day’s matinee . the foolish wives roadshow was a shrinking affair
marietta looks child - like and vulnerable . from foolish wives ( erich von stroheim , 1922 ) . this figure is not covered by the creative commons attribution 4 . 0 international license . reproduced with permission of the copyright holder , kino lorber , inc .
whose wives are they anyway ? was first produced at the delray beach playhouse , delray beach , florida , on october 1st , 1998 .
blind husbands and foolish wives revolve around an abject male presence . more embryonic in blind husbands , fully articulated in foolish wives , the male villain’s abjection is expressed in the films through three , overlapping channels . one is the villain’s appearance ; another is the range of motives and actions associated with him ; and the third is the conflictive and terrible appeal he has for his victims . to these visual , performative , and narrative elements , a final one must be added , which is the films’ unsatisfactory ending : von steuben and karamzin are dead , yet the american wives’ re - commitment to their marriages is far from convincing , troubled by the gap between their husbands’ infinite dullness and stroheim’s wicked attraction .
in an episode of the young indiana jones chronicles ( 1992 ) , entitled
hollywood follies ,
a young indiana jones ( played by sean patrick flanery ) is sent to hollywood by carl laemmle to order erich von stroheim ( played by dana gladstone ) to shut down production on
foolish wives
- something the egomaniacal director refuses to do , despite indy ' s efforts . ironically , one of the actual cast members of
foolish wives
was harrison ford , a noted silent movie actor ( and no relation to the
indiana jones
series star ) .
versions previous to this are lost ) . stroheim’s martyrdom was such as to secure a place for foolish wives on all - time best lists despite its sole survival as the truncated edition he saw and renounced at a museum of modern art showing during the forties . critics had to proceed on faith and plenty of imagination when lauding any stroheim beside silent favorites surviving intact . the foolish wives of lennig’s heroic effort runs to 143 minutes ( he combined the leavings of us footage with materials from an italian archive ) . the end result was said to approximate what audiences saw in the
the foolish wife is played by miss dupont , and the envoy - husband mostly by rudolph christians , altho there are some shots with robert edeson doubling for mr . christians , who died during the making of
foolish wives .
the adventuresses are adroitly done by maude george and mae busch , and dale fuller , a former keystone comedienne , contributes a striking bit as the maid who so effectively brings out the monte carlo fire department .
but one should not forget the comic side of the film , its scathing irony , even its farcical moments . in many respects , foolish wives anticipates two subversive works that open and close the 1930s : buñuel ' s l ' age d ' or and renoir ' s la règle du jeu .
how to cite this article : girelli e ( 2017 ) “beauty in the lap of horror” : the gothic appeal of erich von stroheim in blind husbands ( 1919 ) and foolish wives ( 1922 ) . palgrave communications . 3 : 17082 doi : 10 . 1057 / palcomms . 2017 . 82 .
51 . first list of plural wives , document 1 , in andrew jenson papers , ms 17956 , box 49 , fd 16 , church history library .
by comparison i would recommend dr . mabuse ( also from 1922 ) . though it is almost twice as long , there is a lot more going on and much more impressive use of camera work . foolish wives burdens the viewer with too many title cards whereas dr . mabuse visually tells the story .
54 . see discussion in todd compton , in sacred loneliness : the plural wives of joseph smith ( salt lake city : signature books , 1997 ) , 153 .
this
foolish wives
video is a must for fans of erich von stroheim . erich was in his prime in this film , utilizing all his usual
props
that the book
stroheim
by arthur lennig chronicles . reading that book gave me a deeper appreciation of erich ' s talent as an actor as well as director .
proverbs 14 : 1 , “the wise woman builds her house , but the foolish tears it down with her own _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . ”
foolish wives ’ monte carlo is a luxurious tourist destination and a displaced persons camp , with squares and broad streets to get lost and be unknown in . the film’s action repeatedly flows from vast public spaces to tiny private ones . the decisive moments take place in a hovel ; in the space between a household altar and a keyhole ; in a maid’s bedroom .
eliza r . snow , who was “well acquainted” with fanny , also confirmed that a plural marriage occurred when she personally added fanny’s name to an 1886 list of joseph smith’s plural wives . 51
wisdom and folly are both personified and contrasted in the early chapters of proverbs . the first contrast between the wise woman and the foolish female is whether they listen to wisdom or folly .
one can imagine the scenes deleted from the film involving the details surrounding karamzin’s murder . after karamzin sneaks into ventucci’s house ( ostensibly to rape the man’s daughter ) and a duped maruschka kills herself , ventucci is seen pulling karamzin from a closet ( a black cat darts across the frame ) before dumping his body into a sewer . foolish wives is a seductive film , but it’s also supremely sad because von stroheim sees something morally and emotionally debilitating in the way his characters forcibly cling to facades , from dupont’s disillusioned would - be feminist to the “cousins” who don’t own up to their true identities until cops pull off their wigs . “take off that monocle , ” says helen’s husband to karamzin before punching him in the face . there is a place and breaking point for everyone here , and foolish wives is disillusionment von stroheim style .
foolish wives came out during hollywood’s silent era , budgeted at a little over $ 250 , 000 , and ended up costing somewhere between $ 1 . 2 and 1 . 4 million , depending on who you ask . to say it was a massive gamble is an understatement , and as noted by variety at the time : “ … . was 11 months and six days in filming ; six months in assembling and editing ; consumed 320 , 000 feet of negative , and employed as many as 15 , 000 extras for atmosphere . foolish wives shows the cost – in the sets , beautiful backgrounds and massive interiors that carry a complete suggestion of the atmosphere of monte carlo , the locale of the story . and the sets , together with a thoroughly capable cast , are about all the picture has for all the heavy dough expended . ”
erich von stroheim , dubbed
the man you love to hate ,
gave 1920s audiences even more reasons to hate him as a lecherous phony count in foolish wives , which he also wrote and directed in typically lavish style . a con man posing as a russian count named sergius karamzin ( erich von stroheim ) rents a villa in monte carlo along with his two
cousins ,
princess . . . read more
we have stepped away from the narrow path of criticism . to return to
foolish wives .
von stroheim himself gives an almost uncanny performance of karamzin - dissolute , dapper , monocled , a reckless player with passion , drinker of perfume , base student of feminine psychology , unscrupulous thief , scoundrel guilty of all the sins on the calendar ; yet fascinating withal . we guarantee you won ' t forget his count karamzin .
in short , the wise woman welcomes and pursues anything that will help her better know , love and serve the lord jesus christ . her goal in life is his glory and honor . the foolish female pursues the fulfillment of her own selfish desires . if she professes to be a christian , the glory and honor of the lord will be secondary to her own proud and foolish ideas about what she thinks is best .
what isn’t quite so easy to swallow these days is foolish wives’ inadequate storytelling methods . the silent era has never been a favorite of mine , and although i can appreciate the technological limitations and the talent of the stars to make their characters come to life for viewers who cannot hear them speak , the lack of dialogue really does hamper the story’s momentum and energy . for a film over two hours , to take so damn long in achieving anything , introducing characters of no or little value , and having the plot simply plod along instead of able or jog , foolish wives is excessively frustrating . the whole “seduction” plot the count undertakes is lengthy and overly drawn out , and much of the humor of the era is lost thanks to too simplistic a style . this isn’t a criticism as much as an observation of the limitations film - makers had at the time .
foolish wives , von stroheim ' s third feature as a director , presents close analogies with his first two as the last part of a triptych on the
innocent abroad ,
a new triangle comedy with the blind husband ( this time an american ambassador ) , his foolish wife , and the devil with his passkey ( von stroheim himself playing a pseudo - russian count ) . far superior to blind husbands ( 1919 ) , and probably to the devil ' s passkey ( a lost film , 1920 ) , its action is again set in europe , monte carlo succeeding the austrian dolomites of the first film and the paris of the second .
additionally , of the thirty - three women listed by todd compton as being plural wives of joseph smith , twelve do not have an officiator , ceremony or witness to their marriage / sealing . fanny alger and mrs . lucinda
the book ‘foolish wives’ within the film claims that the european finds a moral code vital while the american , motivated by the urgency of money - making , forgets even to react to its absence , a claim approved by karamzin and then disproved by the rest of the film , including ‘von stroheim’ and stroheim’s square - up endings . amorality has been depicted in order to lend the morality of stroheim’s very moral fiction the urgency of lived experience .
von stroheim has apparently never been popular with the
100 per cent americans
of our photoplay . these folk went to
foolish wives
seeking something - and they professed to find it in the way von stroheim presents karamzin as shrewdly winning the foolish wife away from her american husband and also ( here is the deadly count against the director ) , in the way he paints the envoy as a sort of good - natured boob . knowing the caliber of some of our american representatives abroad , we find nothing but realism in this . but the parlor patriots , who recently were weeping over the subtle propaganda of the pola negri photoplays , call it
studied insolence .
not long ago , the museum of modern art graciously permitted me to run its copy of “foolish wives , ” on condition that if i became overstimulated or mushy , i would not pick the veneer off the chairs or kiss the projectionist . such fears , it presently turned out , were baseless . the showing roused me to neither vandalism nor affection ; in fact , it begot such apathy that i had to be given artificial respiration and sent home in a wheelbarrow .
defined by an oddly repulsive appearance and alien characterization , a devastating power over the opposite sex which blends eroticism with terror , and a personal , horrific connection to the forces of nature , von steuben dominates blind husbands , not least because of stroheim’s superb performance . in foolish wives , the stroheim character retains von steuben’s key traits , but these are developed to construct a truly diabolic figure ; equally , the film’s disturbing elements greatly exceed the unsettling aspects of blind husbands .
another moment of humiliation occurs at the end of the play when katherina , having won petruchio’s wager for him by being the first wife to obey and having also fetched the more wayward wives , is asked by petruchio to throw a favoured hat on the ground and step on it . the outspoken widow , interestingly , does not approve of katherina’s behaviour , calling katherina’s blind obedience ‘a silly pass’ . even the supposedly simpering ( yet , when you look closely at her exchanges with men throughout the play , much more successfully assertive ) bianca agrees , criticising and questioning her : ‘fie , what a foolish duty call you this ? ’ the widow and bianca see this is an unacceptable way to treat your wife and that katherina is foolish to tolerate it .
my final category this morning is a wise mother verses a foolish mama . everything i have said so far also applies to those who are mothers , but there are additional responsibilities that you have that will reveal your level of either wisdom or foolishness .
the tragedy is that our society seems to have an increasing number of foolish fraus and a decreasing number of wise wives . if you want to be wise , then humble yourself to believe and trust the lord jesus christ . make it your goal to know him and submit to his will . then be sure to seek instruction in wisdom from those that are godly and wise that you may be wise , and be thankful for those who correct and even rebuke you ( proverbs 9 : 8 - 9 ) .
the long - evolving
million dollar movie
written and directed by erich von stroheim ,
foolish wives ,
has reached broadway at last . its reception was an interesting commentary upon our modes and manners . for von stroheim , of the junker physiognomy , was accused of everything from arch treason to studied insolence before all things american . that is , he was accused of all save one thing : demonstrating a superb directorial technique . we feel sure that von stroheim will forgive us for adding this accusation to the others .
the give and take of fantasy and lucidity in these films is still challenging . stroheim had wanted to be a writer almost as soon as he had given up on being a soldier . do his films propose a determinist view of human nature because he was a determinist ? if so , it’s a point - of - view his own attempts and attainments would seem to refute decisively . or is it because that’s the kind of view a great writer of the sort he wanted to be ( zola , norris ) would take ? stroheim’s references to fictional books by himself in blind husbands and here ( the significance of which has been discussed by jonathan rosenbaum 3 ) indicate the importance of the literary dream . stroheim’s star persona was a lie he used to tell the truth , but the truth escapes even what ‘stroheim the author’ claims to show . the book ‘ foolish wives ’ by ‘erich von stroheim’ is a story about the moral superiority of americans . yet foolish wives – the stroheim film – is , despite every interference , about the inescapable materiality of class .
the comedian , accustomed to the humming machinery of hollywood’s maturity ( in which he had become a fairly intermittent toiler ) , saw “foolish wives” as an old movie that was the victim of changing styles ; he looked upon it as he might have looked upon a former gibson girl , now shapeless and wizened , who happened to stroll into his office in her once - trendy garb . but here’s how , despite his failure to enjoy stroheim’s visual and dramatic achievement in revival , he sums up the filmmaker’s singular moral ( or immoral ) vision :
in foolish wives von stroheim also gives the final—and most brilliant—touch to his portrait of the cynical seducer , equally eager for money and sex . his physical appearance is as recognisable as chaplin ' s , with his military cap , his whip , and his monocle . unlike don juan who seeks his own downfall or casanova who is constantly in love and taken in by his own illusions , von stroheim embodies here an energy and sensuality in their purest form and seeks to destroy the world around him until his final death , not unlike a de sade character .
similarly , joseph asked about a plurality of wives and received an answer that dealt , not only with polygamy , but with the entire new and everlasting covenant of marriage , which includes plural marriage but is not limited to it . plural marriage itself is not mentioned until verse 34 .
the ashley maureen cosmetics company has been sold and two of its vice presidents , david mcgrachen and john baker , have planned a weekend off before the new c . e . o . arrives on monday . with their wives safely off on a shopping spree in new york city , they check into the oakfield golf and country club intending to
golf their brains out .
they unexpectedly encounter their new boss , ms . hutchison , and she insists on meeting the wives , commenting blithely
no one who went golfing for a weekend without his wife would ever work for me .
so . . . david and john have to produce wives . john persuades tina , the hotel ' s sexy receptionist , to play the role of his wife , but the only one who can pretend to be david ' s wife is . . . john ! inevitably everything goes wrong as john moves in and out of bedrooms , changing from male to female at a frantic pace . hilarious chaos ensues when the hotel phone system goes on the blink , tina has too much champagne and can ' t keep her clothes on , and , yes , the real wives arrive !
description : as artistically brilliant as it is gleefully perverse , foolish wives is erich von stroheim ' s epic - scale account of an american diplomat ' s wife ( miss dupont ) who falls under the spell of a phony russian count ( von stroheim ) . with his trademark eye for visual metaphor and gritty detail , von stroheim infuses the artistocratic splendor of monte carlo ( rebuilt in all its majesty on the universal backlot ) with an air of moral depravity . the result is a grimm ' s fairy tale romance that is no less fascinating today than it was 80 years ago .
foolish wives
has moments - indeed , whole stretches - of greatness . it is not for the provincial or the prude . von stroheim has taken the one real theme of life - sex - and played upon it with continental discernment and , let us say , abandon . where the pollyanna american viewpoint dresses up sex in tinsel and spangles , von stroheim looks upon it with the worldly and half cynical , half humorous viennese viewpoint of a schnitzler . briefly , where we love to dress our sex illusions in santa claus whiskers , von stroheim sees only the stocking at the fireplace .
foolish wives is a 1922 film directed by , written by , and starring erich von stroheim . here von stroheim plays count wladislaw sergius karamzin , who may or may not be an actual russian count . he is in monte carlo in 1919 along with his two partners in crime , princess vera and princess olga , who are pretending to be his cousins but are definitely neither his cousins nor russian princesses . in any event , all three of them are definitely con artists , funding their stay in monte carlo by passing off counterfeit banknotes created by ventucci , another one of their partners in crime .
the opening text ( on the disc - release format ) of foolish wives recounts the problematic history the film has had throughout the nearly 100 years it’s been around . to steal from the text itself , foolish wives ( erich von stroheim’s third directorial effort ) ran at a massive twenty - one reels upon its completion – von stroheim intended the film to be cut in half and shown over consecutive evenings , according to the info i dug up online . the studio , universal pictures , refused this idea , and cut out over five reels of footage prior to release . a later version , cut in half yet again – to seven reels total – meant the film ran at about 117 minutes , a brief interlude for a movie intended to be some kind of monumental epic . the version i watched , a restoration version clocking in at an almighty 2 hours and 20 minutes ( remember , this was a silent film , made in 1922 , so length came at considerable cost ) , remains now the most complete version of the original cut von stroheim completed , although it must be said that even at 2 hours and change , there’s little redeeming value in a film this long , featuring this little story .
as artistically brilliant as it is gleefully perverse , foolish wives is erich von stroheim ' s epic - scale account of an american diplomat ' s wife ( miss dupont ) who falls under the spell of a phony russian count ( von stroheim ) . with his trademark eye for visual metaphor and gritty detail , von stroheim infuses the artistocratic splendor of monte carlo ( rebuilt in all its majesty on the universal backlot ) with an air of moral depravity . the result is a grimm ' s fairy tale romance that is no less fascinating today than it was 80 years ago . first time ever on blu - ray !
while we have no firsthand accounts of the prophet’s counsel on marriages to women in their teens , a pattern which began in nauvoo and was carried over into utah is instructive . this protocol taught that polygamous husbands should allow young wives to physically mature before beginning a family with them . eugene e . campbell described brigham’s latter instructions :
consistent with his overall prejudices , palmer discusses joseph smith’s first plural marriage as if it was an adulterous relationship ( pp . 10–11 ) . however , in a 1904 letter mary elizabeth rollins reported : “joseph the seer … said god gave him a commandment in 1834 , to take other wives besides emma . ” 49 joseph soon complied .
sister pratt , the lord has given you to me as one of my spiritual wives [ somewhat like a concubine , or a wife for the night ] . i have the blessings of jacob granted me , as god granted holy men of old , and as i have long looked upon you with favor , and an earnest desire of
the firemen stretch a net and the count - master egotist first and last - adjusts his monocle and leaps to safety . a second later the foolish wife half falls , half jumps to the rescuing net . here von stroheim might have ended his theme , but he went onward to show the ultimate fate of the dissolute russian .
i was left to all kinds of temptations , and mingling with all kinds of society , i frequently fell into many foolish errors and displayed the weakness of youth and the corruption of human nature , which i am sorry to say led me into divers temptations , to the gratification of many appetites offensive in the sight of god . 6
erich stroheim ' s third feature , foolish wives , was twenty - one reels in length when it was completed in 1921 . the studio eliminated one third of the film before the initial release , and this abridged version was completely re - titled and reduced by half its length to seven reels for a subsequent re - issue . for more than 40 years the film was seen only in its shortest form . the present copy assembled for the american film institute by authro lenning , represents an attempt to reconstruct the film to a more authentic version , the original titles have been restored and much of the footage eliminate over the years has been replaced . although still fragmentary , this is the most complete form in which f oolish wives is know to exist today . materials for the reconstruction were obtained from the museum of modern art , the british film institute , the library of congress , universal pictures , the eastin - phelan corporation , and herman g . weinberg . the project was made possible by the morris and gwendolyn cafritz foundation .
intended to run anywhere between six and 10 hours , most of von stroheim’s films , from greed to the pre - talkie swanson vehicle queen kelly ( the inspiration for billy wilder’s sunset boulevard , which stars von stroheim as the fading star’s butler ) , were severely bastardized by studio heads upon their release . 1922’s foolish wives begins with the perfect iris shot . this is no ordinary “fade into” effect , but an entrancing reinforcement of the sinister , insular and constrictive nature of the milieu von stroheim is about to introduce us to . because the man spent much of his life hiding his jewish background , it probably comes as no surprise that there’s so much lingering beneath the surface of his films .
in the clip above , i discuss erich von stroheim’s “foolish wives , ” shot—for almost a year—in 1920 and 1921 , and released in 1922 . no one would mistake s . j . perelman , one of america’s greatest comic writers and screenwriters , for a film critic , but his 1952 appreciation , in the pages of the new yorker ( available to subscribers ) , of stroheim’s silent classic is both a laugh riot and a fascinatingly skewed but perceptive take on stroheim’s art . he writes of it as the film that “canonized” the director - actor for him , and describes the powerful impression that stroheim’s starring performance , as the predatory , penniless , domineering count sergius karamzin , had made on him :
“guess who’s coming to dinner” meets “the stepford wives” in “get out , ” in which a white girl brings her black boyfriend home to meet her parents , whose superficially warm welcome masks an unthinkably dark secret . blending race - savvy satire with horror to especially potent effect , this bombshell social critique from first - time director jordan peele proves positively [ … ]
as the film ' s production costs skyrocketed , universal pictures attempted to use the situation to garner some publicity for it . the studio erected an electronic sign on a rooftop overlooking broadway , across the street from its new york offices . the sign read
universal pictures and erich von stroheim will spend $ xxx , xxx to entertain you with ' foolish wives ' .
each week the numbers of the production costs were updated on the electronic sign , telling how much more the picture had cost . in the end the total cost of the film , as reported by universal , was $ 1 , 103 , 736 . 38 . von stroheim later claimed that the real cost was only around $ 700 , 000 .
the offering of money , “five dollars , ” is also singular . none of joseph’s plural wives reported any promises of material benefits or financial favors to them . plural wife lucy walker recalled joseph telling her as he discussed a plural sealing with her : “i have no flattering words to offer . ” 85 there is simply too much here that does not add up .
foolish wives
marks the point at which the studios - in this case universal - had had enough of erich von stroheim ' s excesses . after von stroheim refused to trim the film down from more than 6 hours , the studio took matters into their own hands ; the currently available print runs around two and a half hours . most of the other footage was lost so it is hard to gauge how the ' complete ' film would play , although given he apparently shot several reels of himself eating breakfast , perhaps the studio had a point . what remains is still a fairly scintillating exploration of sin , corruption and lust . von stroheim plays the self - styled count karamzin , a con artist who descends on monte carlo…
the foolish frau brings shame on herself and her household because she is ungodly at heart . she is selfish and proud , so much so that she “is wiser in her own eyes than seven men who can give a discreet answer” ( proverbs 26 : 16 ) . those who try to correct her will received dishonor and insults from her ( proverbs 9 : 7 ) .
five different proverbs state that a wise son will make you glad , but your child will not be wise unless he is taught by those who are wise , and that requires you to be wise . children are naturally foolish to begin with because they come to us as sinners . you must follow god’s instructions if you are to remove the foolishness and replace it with wisdom . if you follow the advice of fools or yield your children to be trained by fools , do not be surprised that they remain foolish and cause you great grief . it is that grief and shame that has caused so many parents to regret having children and is a major factor in young couples being hesitant to have children as they hear and see the horror stories .
“now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives and continue to do so , i promise that you will be damned ; and i will go still further , and say that this revelation , or any other revelation that the lord had given , and deny it in your feelings , and i promise that you will be damned . ” brigham young , deseret news , november 14 , 1855
in post - war europe , a bogus russian count , sergius karamzin ( von stroheim ) , and his two “cousins” - cum - mistresses ( maude george and mae busch ) confer with their pathetic counterfeiter before descending upon the wife of an american envoy sent to monte carlo to meet with the prince of monaco . karamzin’s business is destroying lives , and over the course of the film’s existing 141 minutes , he takes advantage of no less than three women : the american helen hughes ( miss dupont ) , his maid maruschka ( dale fuller ) , and the counterfeiter’s half - witted daughter , marietta ( malvine polo ) . at the time of its release , foolish wives was the most expensive film ever produced , and though von stroheim was widely considered a lavish spendthrift , his films remain triumphs of period detail .
mrs . [ lucinda pendleton morgan ] harris was a married lady , a very good friend of mine . when joseph had made his dastardly attempt on me , i went to mrs . harris to unbosom my grief to her . to my utter astonishment she said , laughing heartily : “how foolish you are ! i don’t see anything so horrible in it . why i am his mistress since four years ! ” 66
she gave birth to nine of kimball’s children between 1846 and 1864 . malissa lott , who was sealed to joseph smith in september 1843 , married ira jones willes on 13 may 1849 . their first child was born 22 april 1850 , with conception occurring approximately 30 july 1849 ( or eleven weeks after the wedding ceremony ) . seven willes children were born between 1850 and 1863 . emily partridge bore brigham young seven offspring between 1845 and 1862 . her sister eliza married amasa lyman , and together they had five children between 1844 and 1860 . several other plural wives , including louisa beaman , martha mcbride , and nancy winchester , also remarried and became pregnant . in light of the obvious fertility of many of joseph smith’s plural wives ( and joseph himself with emma ) , it seems that they either bore him children who are unknown today or that sexual relations in the marriages did not occur often .
the idea for this sermon has been on my mind for several months , but the subject has been on my mind for many years for i have met many wise women who have built their household , but i have also met many foolish females who have torn their families apart . the greatest tragedy in this is that most of the time those who were foolish believed they were wise even as their home collapsed around them . in addition , we live in a society which has increasingly given praise to the foolish female as being liberated to be herself while attacking the wise woman as being victimized by her gender . while what i have to say is directed at you ladies so that you may pursue wisdom and flee foolishness , it is also for you men too , for not only do the general principles of wisdom also apply to you , but you need to know how to encourage the women in your life toward wisdom and protect them from foolishness . this is especially true toward your own wife and daughters . if you are not married , the contrast will direct you ladies to the characteristics you need to develop in order to be a good wife and mother if god should bless you in that manner , and it will give you single men a better idea of what to look for in a potential wife .
proverbs 14 : 1 states , “the wise woman builds her house , but the foolish tears it down with her own hands . ” the foolishness here does not have to descend all the way down to the level of being a nabal ( naw - bawl’ ) for this to happen . all it really takes is being “thick brained” – proud and stubborn . if that is augmented by being naive and lacking understanding , the destruction will occur faster .
all of which we dismiss as absurd stuff to frighten naughty children . we know some of the limitations under which von stroheim worked and we congratulate him upon proving - in an unqualified way - that he is one of the rare cinema elect . at the same time , let us declare ourselves as against the waste of money on huge exra reel spectacles . also , that we fully realize that von stroheim lost his story , and in a large measure , failed with
foolish wives .
which is but another proof that one cannot do all things well . von stroheim should let someone else write his stories . imagine , for instance , what he could do with the
the affairs of anatol .
the cecil demille drivel would fade into nothingness . but von stroheim needs a strong leash . right here we predict that this man will do more things of fine worth . if he does not , then the photoplay is the loser .
the wife of an american envoy falls within his wiles , and the russian almost sweeps her from her feet when fate circumvents in the hands of the aforementioned maddened servant maid . the women sets fire to the castle , with the count and the
foolish wife
locked in a lonely tower - room . here von stroheim works to a thrilling climax as the flames lick their way up the winding tower steps and force the prisoners to a tiny balcony high above the ground .
in proverbs 9 : 13 - 18 , folly also gives an invitation to the naive to come to her home . she does not have to invite the fools and scoffers for they are already dinning there on a regular basis . the specific target of folly’s are the naive who “are making their paths straight” ( 9 : 15 ) . these are people who are trying to walk a straight path in doing what is right , but because they determine what is right by their own standards , they will end up walking a crooked path and not even recognize it . folly’s enticements are attractive to man’s sinful and selfish nature , but those who go to her home are in grave danger for “the dead are there , [ that ] her guests are in the depths of sheol” ( 9 : 18 ) . whether you become a wise woman or remain a foolish female will depend on whose voice you listen to and heed . here are some contrasts between the wise woman and the foolish female .
1 . the asphalt jungle ( 1950 ) 2 . deliverance ( 1972 ) 3 . disneyland dream ( 1956 ) 4 . a face in the crowd ( 1957 ) 5 . flower drum song ( 1961 ) 6 . foolish wives ( 1922 ) 7 . free radicals ( 1979 ) 8 . hallelujah ( 1929 ) 9 . in cold blood ( 1967 ) 10 . the invisible man ( 1933 ) 11 . johnny guitar ( 1954 ) 12 . the killers ( 1946 ) 13 . the march ( 1964 ) 14 . no lies ( 1973 ) 15 . on the bowery ( 1957 ) 16 . one week ( 1920 ) 17 . the pawnbroker ( 1965 ) 18 . the perils of pauline ( 1914 ) 19 . sergeant york ( 1941 ) 20 . the 7th voyage of sinbad ( 1958 ) 21 . so’s your old man ( 1926 ) 22 . george stevens ww2 footage ( 1943 - 46 ) 23 . the terminator ( 1984 ) 24 . water and power ( 1989 ) 25 . white fawn’s devotion ( 1910 )
in 1892 , depositions seeking to discover if joseph smith practiced sexual polygamy were sought for litigation between the rlds church and the church of christ ( temple lot ) . helen mar kimball was not called to testify , even though she lived nearby and had written two books defending plural marriage . instead , three wives who lived further away were summoned , and all affirmed sexual relations with the prophet in their plural marriages . the most likely reason for helen’s absence was her inability to offer the required testimony of a sealing with a sexual dimension .
a review of the child - bearing chronology of joseph smith’s wives after his death and their remarriages demonstrates impressive fertility in several of the women . most of them married within two years after the martyrdom and prior to the saints leaving for the west . three of the women became pregnant within weeks after remarrying . sarah ann whitney , who was sealed to joseph smith for twenty - three months , married heber c . kimball on 17 march 1845 , and , based on the birth date of their first child , became pregnant approximately june 15 .
the husband of a foolish frau cannot do this because he has trouble at home and she brings shame on him ( prov . 12 : 4 ) . she is idle and wastes her time on frivolous things making it easy to fall into being a gossip and busybody ( 1 tim . 5 : 13 ) . she is fearful and rumors obstruct her from action ( prov . 22 : 13 ) . she opens her mouth and it spouts folly ( prov . 15 : 2 ) . woe to those who listen to her !
even in its present shape , however , the film is one of the most stunning of the silent era . it also exercised a major influence on future directors , including renoir , buñuel , and vigo . von stroheim shows a world that lies to itself , where swindlers and rich people mix , and where the heroine reads a book called foolish wives . the writer - director deals with false appearances : the titles of count wladislas sergius karamzin and his two princess cousins are fake ( von stroheim himself was not an austrian aristocrat as he would have us believe during his lifetime , but the son of a jewish hat - maker ) , the money is counterfeit , and the sentiments are fraudulent ; karamzin playing at love to seduce his maid , the ambassador ' s wife , and an idiotic 14 - year - old girl . this hypocrisy of the social game is set in the context of world war i , which had just ended : an armless veteran , a nurse pushing a soldier in a wheelchair , a little girl on crutches , a boy playing with a military helmet .
wisdom begins with the fear of the lord , but foolishness rejects the eternal perspective demanded by that and instead either fears man or is so caught up in immediate circumstances that they do not give adequate consideration to their end . the wise woman will turn from her sin and put her faith in the person and work of the lord jesus christ , god in human flesh who lived a sinless life then willingly died as the substitute payment for sin and rose again physically proving his claims about himself and promises of redemption , forgiveness and a future eternity with him in heaven are true . the foolish female either rejects or ignores jesus , or gives a feigned profession of faith in him , and may even pursue cultural aspects of christianity , but will remain biblically ignorant of him and his commands . the wise woman will actively pursue an increasing knowledge of jesus christ desiring to understand his will and willingly submit to obey it to the best of her abilities . if a foolish female does study the bible she will not interpret according to its context by a historical , grammatical hermeneutic , but will instead find those that will tickle her ears with what she wants to hear . she will twist the meaning of the scriptures to fit with what she desires for herself . her lack of actual love for the lord jesus will be demonstrated by her unwillingness to obey his commands . the wise woman strives to live in holiness in the present with an eye on eternity because her hope is in christ jesus . the foolish female lives in the present as she desires with her hope in her own abilities to manipulate circumstances to her favor . the wise woman will be a godly influence upon those around her and be grieved by the ungodliness around her . she welcomes correction that enables her to move away from sin and become more like her lord . the foolish female will be affected by and moved toward the ungodly influences around her . she rejects correction and will dishonor and hate those that attempt to reprove her . she begins by walking in the counsel of the ungodly , and will soon be standing with the sinners and will in the end be seated with the scoffers .
questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others . what is wisdom ? how does godly wisdom differ from worldly wisdom ? what are the three levels of foolishness ( hebrew word definitions ) ? how available is wisdom according to proverbs 1 : 20 - 33 ; 8 : 1 - 36 and 9 : 1 - 12 ? how is the invitation of folly ( proverbs 9 : 13 - 18 ) similar to and yet different from the invitation of wisdom ? what is the fear of the lord and what are its benefits ? what is the response of a wise woman to jesus christ ? what are the possible responses of a foolish female to him ? what is the primary responsibility of a godly wife ? what are her primary roles according to the scriptures ? contrast the character traits of a wise wife as expressed in proverbs 31 : 10 - 31 with those of a foolish frau . what is the primary responsibility of a godly mother ? what will be required of her in order to raise godly children ? what will be the result if she fails ? why should she avoid yielding her responsibility to others ?
i think we both felt deep down that we got back together for financial considerations as well as for the sake of the kids . i was kicking myself for getting back together because no matter what i did or how good a husband i would try to be , i was never going to satisfy her . she just wasn ' t capable of being satisfied ! i felt so foolish . it got to the point where we were both ready to walk away and admit with much embarrassment that we made a terrible mistake - twice ! our second marriage would not even make it to the first anniversary .


invincible ( german : unbesiegbar ) is a 2001 drama film written and directed by werner herzog .

the film stars tim roth , jouko ahola , anna gourari , and max raabe .

the film tells the story of a jewish strongman in germany .

while basing his story on the real-life figure zishe breitbart ( aka siegmund breitbart ) herzog uses the bare facts of breitbart 's life to weave fact and fiction ( e.g. , the story is set in 1932 berlin , a full seven years after breitbart 's death in 1925 ) to create an allegory of human strength , knowing oneself with honesty and pride in one 's heritage .

the film features original score composed by german film composer hans zimmer , co-written with fellow composer klaus badelt .

along with films like the pledge ( also co-written with zimmer ) this marks one of the first projects of badelt into the feature film industry , and one of several collaborations with herzog as well .

invincible ( 2001 drama film )

invincible ( 2001 drama film ) | warner bros . entertainment wiki | fandom powered by wikia
★★
invincible
( 2001 ) | a drama film written and directed by werner herzog . the film stars tim roth , jouko ahola , anna gourari , and max raabe | t… | pinteres…
invincible approaches history as myth , striving not to document reality , but to penetrate its tragic essence .
the large chinese character used in the film ' s logo does not mean
invincible
at all ; it actually just means
water
.
and yes , i know what you ' re thinking .
bloody hell , i know he loves herzog , but giving invincible - invincible ! - four and a half stars ? really ?
yes , really .
ostensibly about polish jewish blacksmith turned variety act strongman siegmund breitbart ( jouko ahola ) whose swift rise and fall predated the dangerous march of hitler and the national socialists by only a matter of weeks , invincible is a film about the mania of hatred , dissatisfaction and blame that heralds any genocide . invincible was released in cinemas in 2001 and garnered good reviews but slipped from screens all too quickly and remains little seen , and yet what invincible can tell us about the direction of both germany in the early 1930s and herzog’s career in general is fascinating .
though few will argue that it ranks with the best of herzog ' s works , invincible shows he ' s back in form , with an astoundingly rich film .
buried deep in werner herzog’s rich and varied curriculum vitae , winking at the millennium celebrations behind it and trailing his remarkable lone air crash survivor documentary wings of hope , his unhinged turn in harmony korine’s julian donkey boy and periods directing opera in genoa and houston lies the neglected and significant biographical drama invincible .
this article is about the 2010 boxing film . for the 1952 boxing film , see the fighter ( 1952 film ) . for other uses , see fighter ( disambiguation ) .
the most blatant vestiges of seventies herzog ( which is the best herzog . . ) were last on film in invincible . his penchant for expressing subtextual black comedy that has tragic consequences has not been so pronounced this century .
in limited release , the mandy moore drama dedication got off to a moderate start collecting $ 23 , 832 from only four venues for an average of $ 5 , 958 on its opening weekend for the weinstein co .
the film received seven academy award nominations , including best picture , winning two . [ 40 ] the film was nominated for six golden globe awards : best picture ( drama ) , best actor ( drama ) for wahlberg , best supporting actress for leo and adams , best supporting actor for bale , and a nomination for best director for russell . [ 41 ] the film received three chicago film critics award nominations : best supporting actor for bale , and best supporting actress nominations for adams and leo . bale won a satellite award , the critics ' choice award , the golden globe for best supporting actor , and the national board of review award for best supporting actor . leo won the golden globe for best supporting actress .
as with fitzcarraldo before it , herzog was determined to bring the opera to bear on this tale of mysticism and eccentricity . by its very nature breitbart’s sorry tale lends itself to wagnerian analogy and yet at its heart there is something more intricate and intriguing about this disarming film . with it’s pared down sensibility , raw acting and skewed morality the film invincible can most easily be compared to is louis malle’s queasy tale of collaboration and oppression in wartime france – lacombe lucien . yet malle’s film , as good as it is , is about the seduction of power , invincible is about the survival of power’s universal essence .
three national releases dumped into the late - august abyss debuted outside of the top ten with weak results . yari film group ' s well - reviewed boxing drama resurrecting the champ starring samuel l . jackson and josh hartnett opened with $ 1 . 7m from 1 , 605 theaters for a poor $ 1 , 034 average . universal ' s latino crime drama illegal tender bowed to $ 1 . 4m from 512 sites for a mild $ 2 , 785 average . the most miserable results came from the jon voight film september dawn which grossed $ 901 , 857 from 857 playdates for an embarrassing $ 1 , 052 per - theater average for slowhand releasing .
aesthetically invincible ’s most noticeable influence however is the pre - world war ii yiddish cinema , the best known of which – michael waszynski’s the dybbuk and joseph green’s yiddle with a fiddle tread that fine line between melodrama and empathy with a rootsy base charm that asks little of the audience but patience and understanding . visually simple and sonically charged by composer hans zimmer , invincible is an all too modern paean to these wonderful films . the rise of the nazis and the subsequent holocaust put an end to this cinematic tradition much as it did to the careers of breitbart and hanussen and all those involved in occult cabaret but invincible survives .
this exceeded all our expectations ,
says dan fellman , warner bros . ' head of domestic distribution , who claims that scheduling the adult - oriented literary drama between blockbusters like
iron man 3
and
star trek into darkness
helped it stand out .
is built upon this . the only film of his to get any respect from critics is
film , after all . what makes this example notable is that its amazon rating is at
2011 - melbourne international film festival - it ' s him . . . terry lim !
yes , there were occasional successes . the adult - targeting touchstone division delivered a handful of blockbusters , including signs ( 2002 ) , sweet home alabama ( 2002 ) , and the national treasure franchise ( which debuted in 2004 ) . meanwhile , the studio’s disney - branded flicks showed some hints of life , particularly minor sports - themed pictures such as miracle ( 2004 ) and invincible ( 2006 ) and women - driven fare such as the princess diaries ( 2001 ) and freaky friday ( 2003 ) . but the costly failures outweighed those surprise hits .
every film roger ebert has given a four - star rating . this is an ongoing project .
, the film was released in the united states on july 3 , 2002 . it is a
like aguirre , the wrath of god , the enigma of kaspar hauser , fitzcarraldo and even rescue dawn , invincible is about that place where madness , talent and the human spirit leads us all when everything is going to hell around us .
watching
invincible
was a singular experience for me , because it reminded me of the fundamental power that the cinema had for us when we were children . the film exercises the power that fable has for the believing . herzog has gotten outside the constraints and conventions of ordinary narrative , and addresses us where our credulity keeps its secrets .
erikoinen kokemus . välillä tuntui siltä kuin katsoisi herzogin sijasta timo koivusalo - elokuvaa . kesäteatterimaisen kökköyden vastapainoksi invincible tarjoaa myös todella vaikuttavia hetkiä , mitkä lopulta voittivat puolelleen . tim roth vakuutti ja jouko ahola oli - toisin kuin voisi ehkä luulla - mainio .
the movie has the power of a great silent film , unafraid of grand gestures and moral absolutes .
this film is not currently playing on mubi but 30 other great films are . see what’s now showing
( where the film has a more reasonable 5 . 9 score ) denounced this as a case of
the fighter is a 2010 american biographical sports drama film directed by david o . russell , and starring mark wahlberg ( who also co - produced ) , christian bale , amy adams and melissa leo . the film centers on the lives of professional boxer micky ward ( wahlberg ) and his older half - brother dicky eklund ( bale ) . adams plays micky ' s girlfriend charlene fleming and leo portrays micky and dicky ' s mother , alice eklund - ward . the film was inspired by the 1995 documentary that features the eklund - ward family , titled high on crack street : lost lives in lowell . [ 6 ]
the film depicts shea neary with an irish accent when in fact shea neary is from liverpool , england .
the top ten films grossed $ 84m which was up 10 % from last year when invincible opened in first place with $ 17m ; and up 8 % from 2005 when the 40 - year - old virgin remained in the top spot with $ 16 . 3m .
subscribe to classic trailers : urltoken subscribe to trailers : urltoken subscribe to coming soon : urltoken like us on facebook : urltoken follow us on twitter : urltoken invincible ( 2001 ) official trailer - tim roth , werner herzog movie hd a jewish strongman performs in berlin as the blond aryan hero siegfried . welcome to the fandango movieclips trailer vault channel . where trailers from the past , from recent to long ago , from a time before youtube , can be enjoyed by all . we search near and far for original movie trailer from all decades . feel free to send us your trailer requests and we will do our best to hunt it down .
an interview with writer / director boots riley about his incendiary new film ,
sorry to bother you .
let me in got rave reviews from film critics , but did so - so at the box office . some people believe that the low turnout was due to people who refused to go see it out of sheer bitter spite ( or on simple principle ) because it ' s an american remake of a foreign film . but what really killed let me in was distributor relativity media ( who acquired the film from starz due to buying the overture distribution outlet from them ) giving the film the invisible advertising treatment . there were few trailers or tv spots released and the film wasn ' t even listed on relativity ' s website . not helping the film was that the company chose to open it the same day as the social network ( a film relativity co - financed with sony ) .
on metacritic , the film achieved a rating of 65 out of 100 , which indicates
generally favorable reviews
.
, as the film was already tagged as a flop by the time the weekend rolled around ) . julia roberts opened
to $ 23 million ( proving she is still a movie star in the right project ) , but the film didn ' t deliver and the film ended up with $ 70 million . as far as new stars , amanda seyfried powered
this is typical herzog : he makes a touching film about jews in germany and the rise of the nazi party , without overloading the film with pity or melodrama . and he still manages to get in his lingering
nature shots
.
one for the money . a whopping 2 % on rotten tomatoes and bombed at the box office , but fans of the book series the film was based on generally enjoyed it and the film did considerably better once it reached home media .
invincible ,
which completely flew under everyone ' s radar way back in 2001 , is a fascinating film . . . a colorfully painted tale of individual triumph in the face of adversity . based on fact , the film is a very straightforward effort , but is not completely void of herzog ' s off - kilter style and sensibilities . it feels very dreamlike , and has a certain elegance and whimsy . adding to this quality is a cast of relatively inexperienced actors ( tim roth and a few others being the exceptions ) . the hulking jouko ahola for example , the hero of the narrative , has a very limited acting range and ability but delivers a very likable , touching , and admirable performance in spite of himself . but no doubt it is herzog who deserves credit most . each scene is filled with the passion and love he obviously had for this material , and luckily his emotions bleed through . this is a powerful story told in a very unique and level - headed fashion . see this gem . another really interesting film from herzog .
and that doesn’t even count the drama the independently run miramax ( acquired by disney in 1993 , at the beginning of the indie boom ) and its founders the weinsteins had thrown the company’s way via a dispute over the 2004 release of michael moore’s fahrenheit 9 / 11 . that fight led to a painful divorce that barely worked out for either party in the long run .
the fighter will now strike a blow on december 10
. the film stage . retrieved june 24 , 2010 .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
short entitled
chicken scratch
was shown prior to the film , which later aired as part of the series ' fourth season . the film made its network debut on cartoon network on may 23 , 2003 and on march 5 , 2004 on toonami .
internationally , the film is proving even more invincible . the $ 200 million marvel title has now earned $ 664 . 1 million overseas , led by massive business in asia .
iron man 3′s
top two international markets are currently china ( $ 95 . 3 million ) and korea ( $ 54 . 1 million ) , and it has become the highest grossing film of all time in both indonesia and malaysia . worldwide ,
iron man 3
has grossed a truly jaw - dropping $ 949 million , guaranteeing it will surpass $ 1 billion sometime this week .
transformers age of extinction continued the tradition , also making over $ 1 billion worldwide ( and actually becoming the highest - grossing film of its year , the second time a bay film accomplished this feat after armageddon ) despite opening to near - universally negative reviews .
i can honestly say that i haven ' t dived that deep into herzog ' s filmography , but despite of this i would put my chin out and say that invincible is very easy to recognize as one of his movies . and even though the plot itself is pretty straightforward , there is a lot to read in between…
this is a really powerful film that chronicles the excess and hypocrisy of nazi germany . tim roth gives an intense performance as well .
critics were mixed towards were the millers , some outright hating the film , but it was a financial success and scored better with audiences .
with the contrasting performances of its two leads , an unconventional and surprising story , and overall mythical quality gives this herzog film its wondrous appeal .
was a borderline arthouse horror film that warner released wide ) . we can whine all we want about tom cruise ' s fading starpower , but
in the film , ward is knocked down in round six of the neary fight . in reality , ward was not knocked down in that fight .
was a stunning surprise , in that was a wonderful piece of old - school entertainment , and standing out as a character - driven drama in a sea of fantasy spectacles . the film was powered by nostalgia of the 1984 original , the kid - appeal of jaden smith , and the thrill of seeing jackie chan portraying a variation on mr . miyagi . but the marketing was unique in that sony sold the fact that it was a film of quality ( imagine that : ' come see this movie . . . because it ' s good ! ' ) . cue $ 56 million opening weekend , $ 176 million domestic and $ 334 million worldwide . it is the year ' s highest - grossing film that wasn ' t aided by imax or 3d ticket - price bumps . nice work , but we really don ' t need to risk the goodwill by making another one ( although , to be fair ,
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…
the film of the book of daisy miller received a rare 100 % rating on rotten tomatoes from 6 critics , but a measly 23 % from audiences .
religious films are often given mixed or negative reviews by critics , but popular with the audiences that watch them . for example , the passion of the christ was rated 49 % on rotten tomatoes , but is the highest - grossing religious film and the highest grossing non - english language film of all time .
was probably the worst film of the summer and a heartbreaking artistic failure from the once promising m . night shyamalan ( i still believe the man who made
the fighter received largely positive reviews , with critics praising the performances of wahlberg , bale , adams and leo . bale was seemingly praised more for his performance than his fellow costars , with comments about his weight , accent and mannerisms . review aggregation website rotten tomatoes gives the film a rating of 90 % based on reviews from 239 critics , with an average rating of 7 . 8 / 10 . the site ' s critical consensus reads ,
led by a trio of captivating performances from mark wahlberg , christian bale , and amy adams , the fighter is a solidly entertaining , albeit predictable , entry in the boxing drama genre .
[ 36 ] metacritic gives the film an average score of 79 out of 100 , based on 41 critics , indicating
generally favorable reviews
. [ 37 ]
there have been at least two points in history where critical dissonance got to such a point that it led to a paradigm shift within film criticism in general .
lovece , frank .
winning combination : mark wahlberg and david o . russell champion ' the fighter '
, film journal international , december 3 , 2010
batman v superman dawn of justice is incredibly polarizing . the vast majority of critics panned the film , with one memorable headline calling it
a crime against comic book fans .
audiences well , it ' s actually hard to tell . many sites were review - bombed with perfect scores about a day before the film came out , but the voices and user reviews since then haven ' t been anywhere near as vitriolic as the critics , finding it a flawed but entertaining film .
in second place , baz luhrmann ' s roaring ' 20s drama took in $ 51 . 1 million — the third best opening weekend ever for a film that didn ' t hit no . 1 . ( in 2004 ,
the day after tomorrow
debuted with $ 68 . 7 million but trailed
shrek 2 .
in 2009 ,
sherlock holmes
started with $ 62 . 3 million but couldn ' t overtake
avatar .
) the glossy f . scott fitzgerald adaptation , which stars leonardo dicaprio , carey mulligan , tobey maguire and joel edgerton , broke out at the box office despite middling reviews and a
b
cinemascore grade .
invincible tells the true story of zishe breibart , a jewish blacksmith from eastern poland who travels to berlin in the 1930s to join a nightclub cabaret . he is billed as the world ' s strongest man - a claim that is not well received by the rising nazi party . using his role as the modern day sampson to defend his own people , zishe embarks on an inevitable path to tragedy .
live free or die hard was hailed as a return to form for the series , as well as a true sequel to the first , by critics . however , despite all the moviegoers and series fans who enjoyed it , it quickly turned into the series ' most divisive movie thanks to accusations of boring invincible hero , complaints about justin long , and its series - unusual pg - 13 rating .
but
gatsby ' s
debut also marks a career high point for australian director baz luhrmann . before this weekend , the polarizing filmmaker ' s best opening weekend belonged to his sweeping romance
australia ,
which bowed to $ 14 . 8 million in 2008 .
the great gatsby
easily clobbered that figure , and it will quickly become his highest grossing film ever , surpassing
moulin rouge ,
which danced its way to $ 57 million total in 2001 . of course ,
gatsby
was undoubtedly luhrmann ' s most expensive project , too . the film , which was shot in 3 - d , cost about $ 105 million to produce ( and reportedly would have cost about $ 190 million without australian rebates ) , though audiences weren ' t overly excited about the 3 - d effects . only 33 percent of ticket sales were for 3 - d showtimes .
christmas eve , a forgettable 2015 film starring patrick stewart , has a rare 0 % on rotten tomatoes , but audiences gave it a barely - fresh 61 % .
i got astonished to see my own patience for watching this film till the end i . e . for one and half hour . . . maybe because i rented it . however , the only thing that is worth is billy zane ' s famous geek - like appearence that is present here in full fledge . actually it ' s better not to have any comment on the other ' actors ' . the screenplay is horrible ; the visual effects , childish ; the action sequences , intolerable and the story , laughable . there were some nice colorful images to attract other geeks among the viewers . and direction ? given production , even i can direct such a movie . truly invincible . . . in the measure of how bad can a film be .
the film has ward ' s career record as 30–7 with 20 kos as he fights neary . in reality , his record at that time was 34–9 with 25 kos .
rising one spot to second place was matt damon ' s latest assassin flick the bourne ultimatum which slipped only 37 % to $ 12 . 5m . it was the third best fourth - weekend gross of any summer film this year after the threequel smashes shrek the third ( $ 15 . 3m ) and spider - man 3 ( $ 14 . 3m ) . with $ 185 . 3m in the bank for universal , bourne has now outgrossed every james bond film domestically ( in nominal dollar terms ) , both previous bourne films , and two of the three mission : impossible pics . ultimatum is still on track to hit the $ 200m mark by the end of labor day weekend and will give a serious challenge to this decade ' s top action films that are not driven by special effects - rush hour 2 ( $ 226 . 2m in 2001 ) and mission : impossible 2 ( $ 215 . 4m in 2000 ) .
scenescape . the inspired script is both sinfully cynical and aw - shucks sweet
. he also called it
one of the few american creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art .
however , the film received minimal controversy for some of its violence , which many felt was too extreme for a family - oriented film ,
to promote the film , wahlberg appeared on the cover of sports illustrated and men ' s fitness , and bale on esquire , [ 17 ] in november 2010 . an advanced charity premiere took place in lowell , massachusetts , the setting of the fighter , on december 9 , a day before the film ' s scheduled national release . [ 35 ]
the story of hanussen and breitbart has long since fascinated those obsessed with the occultist ley lines that cut through time and culture . indeed in 2001 mike mignola’s brilliant hellboy graphic novel series was finally getting the recognition it deserved thanks to a sustained assault of soft back reprints , and breitbart and hanussen’s influence haunt hellboy like a stinking green undead mist . squint and it is easy to see breitbart resurrected as a demonic investigator for the bureau of paranormal research and defence , hanussen’s influence is there in both the nazi occultists hellboy frequently fights and even in the passing kindness of hellboy’s surrogate father professor bruttenholm .
drama / zishe breitbart ( jouko ahola ) es el hijo de un herrero de polonia que causa sensación en el berlín de la weimar como forzudo de tiempos mitológicos . su empleador , hanussen ( tim roth ) , sueña con establecer un todopoderoso
ministerio de lo oculto
en el gobierno de hitler . reparto : tim roth , jouko ahola , anna gourari , max raabe , jacob wein , udo kier , herbert golder , klaus stiglmeier , ieva aleksandrova , rudolph herzog , les bubb , tina bordhin , alexander duda , klaus haindl , hark bohm
critics looooove the horror film it follows . audiences are much more mixed , though generally positive . ( a 65 % on rotten tomatoes isn ' t bad , after all . )
at around the midpoint of this film , anna ( marta farra ) , the put - upon mistress of the sinister clairvoyant hanussen ( tim roth ) observes a tank of jellyfish , and says ,
look at these beasts . for me , they have the purest of souls . i have never seen anything more beautiful , or more delicate . i want to play music to match these fish . it ' s deep inside me .
herzog is going for something similar with this film - something pure and earnest and direct . roger ebert , the most ardent defender of this little - loved film , wrote :
the movie has the power of a great silent film , unafraid of grand gestures and moral absolutes .
in a tight race among new releases , the family film mr . bean ' s holiday edged out the action film war for fourth place . universal ' s g - rated comedy opened to $ 9 . 9m from 1 , 714 theaters for a solid $ 5 , 770 average . the rowan atkinson starrer has already grossed a stellar $ 189m internationally . debuting a hair behind with $ 9 . 8m was the r - rated crime drama war which averaged a mediocre $ 4 , 313 from 2 , 277 locations . starring jet li and jason statham , the lionsgate release opened close to the numbers of the last films from the two actors . last september , li ' s fearless bowed to $ 10 . 6m and a $ 5 , 857 average while statham ' s crank launched with $ 10 . 5m over three days and a $ 4 , 158 average . putting the two together did little to broaden the audience , however .
david lynch is very popular among film critics and intellectuals for making innovative cinema that at least tries to do something different . other moviegoers literally hate his pictures for being bizarre and arty .
. . . the naivete of his performance has a humbling effect on a film that , while entirely too long and short on sizzling imagery , is meant to be taken simply as folkloric .
the biggest surprise of summer 2010 is how few surprises there really were . most of the expected smash hits were smash hits , the expected under - performers underperformed , and the bigger films without studio support tanked . the more mainstream art - house cinema made money , while more challenging studio fare struggled . it surely wasn ' t the best summer in recent years ( that would probably be 2002 or 2008 ) , but it wasn ' t the worst either ( 2001 gets my vote ) . it was a summer just like any other summer , so let ' s dive right in . you might want to take a bathroom break first . . .
how the grinch stole christmas is a very divisive film , especially in terms of this trope . it received a 53 % on rotten tomatoes and a 46 % on metacritic , but spent four weeks as the # 1 film in the us , and was the highest - grossing movie of 2000 domestically , with $ 260 million . the film was nominated for three academy awards , winning for best makeup ( which , if you ' ve seen the behind - the - scenes footage , is very well - deserved ) , and was nominated for two razzies , but won neither .
invincible
is based , herzog says , on the true story of breitbart , whose great strength contradicted the nazi myth of aryan superiority . i can imagine a dozen ways in which this story could be told badly , but herzog has fashioned it into a film of uncommon fascination , in which we often have no idea at all what could possibly happen next . there are countless movies about preludes to the holocaust , but i can ' t think of one this innocent , direct and unblinking . in the face of gathering evil , zishe trusts in human nature , is proud of his heritage , and believes strength and goodness ( which he confuses ) will triumph .
die hard with a vengeance was somewhat divisive to critics ( though its reputation has improved since then ) , but was still the highest - grossing film of 1995 and well - received by fans .
darren aronofsky ' s film mother got fairly positive reviews from critics with a 68 % rating on rotten tomatoes , but in manner similar to killing them softly , audiences gave it an f cinemascore .
out cold was panned by reviewers giving it an 8 % on rotten tomatoes . but the film immediately gained a small cult following , as it has an 85 % user rating on that site .
the 2009 canadian sci - fi / horror film splice was a critical hit because it was different from most horror films . audiences , meanwhile , got turned off by it for the same reason .
the film depicts ward taking a severe beating in the mungin fight . in reality , the fight went the full ten rounds and mungin won by very narrow decision : 96–93 , 95–94 , 95–94 .
kiss kiss bang bang was a critically acclaimed flop at the box office , but most people who did see it really enjoyed it . the film was later named
most overlooked movie of the year .
the film was released in select north american theaters on december 17 , 2010 and in the united kingdom on february 4 , 2011 . [ 7 ] it was nominated for seven academy awards , including best picture and best director , winning the awards for best supporting actor ( bale ) and best supporting actress ( leo ) . it was the first film to win both awards since hannah and her sisters in 1986 .
werner herzog ' s
invincible
tells the astonishing story of a jewish strongman in nazi germany , a man who in his simple goodness believes he can be the
new samson
and protect his people . he is a blacksmith in poland in 1932 when discovered by a talent scout , and soon becomes the headliner in the palace of the occult , in berlin , which is run by the sinister hanussen ( tim roth ) , a man who dreams of becoming minister of the occult in a nazi government .
this is the official blog for park circus limited , the international film sales and distribution company . this site goes behind - the - scenes of our cinema and home entertainment releases . visit urltoken for our main site .
what fox does have is february’s deadpool , a breakout shocker that became the ninth - highest - grossing superhero film of all time , thereby proving there is still massive potential in the marvel mutant titles the studio controls .
: while many people acknowledge disney ' s contributions to animation , film and the fine technical draftmanship of the drawings , special effects and narratives many art snobs see him as a prime example of horrible kitsch . his works from
critics are mixed on into the woods but overall are leaning more on the positive side . audiences , on the other hand , are even more mixed on the film , with a 53 % audience rating on rotten tomatoes .
only if not adjusting for inflation , then the title still belonged to thunderball , being one of the ten highest - grossing films of all time internationally . it took nearly 50 years for another bond film to surpass it .
this is the first feature in 10 years from herzog , one of the great visionaries among directors . he strains to break the bonds of film structure in order to surprise us in unexpected ways . his best films unashamedly yearn to lift us into the mythical and the mystical .
our civilization is starving for new images ,
he once told me , and in
invincible
there is an image of a bleak , rocky seashore where the sharp stones are littered with thousands or millions of bright red crabs , all mindlessly scrabbling away on their crabby missions . i think this scene may represent the emerging nazi hordes , but of course there can be no literal translation . perhaps herzog wants to illustrate the implacable darwinian struggle from which man can rise with good heart and purpose .
marvel’s captain america : civil war is the second - highest - grossing film of 2016 so far . it’s one of the four disney - owned movies that dominate this year’s top five films at the box office . marvel / disney
the legendary
mouse house
( a moniker affectionately bestowed upon it by industry trade paper variety ) didn’t release one film in 2000 that cracked the top 10 in terms of the year - end box office . in fact , disney’s highest - grossing film that year landed at number 11 ; it was dinosaur , a now - forgotten cg animated tale that was considered a severe financial disappointment . to say times have changed since then is something of an understatement .
the strongman in
invincible
is lovable , and so deeply moving , precisely because he is not a cog in a plot , has no plan , is involved in no machinations , but is simply proud of his parents , proud to be a jew , in love with the girl , and convinced that god has made him strong for a reason . he may be wrong in his optimism , but his greatest strength is that he will never understand that . the roth character is equally single - minded , but without hope or purpose - - a conniver and manipulator .
is still in there , buried beneath the hubris ) . but the film ' s $ 70 million five - day opening weekend proves that the nickelodeon cartoon from which it is based has an uber - strong following , and the film has so far grossed $ 253 million worldwide ( it too just started rolling out internationally ) on a $ 150 million budget . so paramount may see fit to give us book two : earth , but this time with shyamalan likely just producing .
in the 1950s , an adolescent werner herzog was transfixed by a film performance of the young klaus kinski . years later , they would share an apartment where , in an unabated , forty - eight - hour . . . see full summary »
the 2002 remake of solaris received generally positive reviews from critics ( 66 % on rotten tomatoes ) , but audiences hated it . it received an f grade from audiences polled by cinemascore , the first film to ever get this ' honor ' .
gunday has a 100 % rating on rotten tomatoes ( based on five votes ) , but a 1 . 9 rating on im db . it was actually once # 1 on the bottom 100 , though it has since dropped down to # 23 . much of this comes down to an extremely vocal periphery hatedom , though  bangladeshi audiences absolutely despised the film for the artistic license it took with the bangladesh liberation war , and drove the film ' s imdb score into the gutter in response .
[ friendly note : i ' ll be referring to events in the life of erik jan hanussen , the character played by tim roth in this movie , during this review , including some details which are played as surprises in the film . i know there are many schools of thought over whether references to public - domain facts can be considered spoilers for a film that ' s based on true events , so rather than put a spoiler warning up i ' m putting this up . your call ]
the film has ward on a losing streak coming into the 1988 mike mungin fight . in reality , ward was 18–1 and on a four - fight winning streak when he fought mungin . ward ' s four - fight losing streak actually took place in 1990–91 .
cant stop the music is definitely not a film we ' d recommend , and in fact the critics trashed it , but it at least has a huge cult following if the blurb on the back of anchor bay entertainment ' s cassette is anything to go by .
happened again with the third film , transformers : dark of the moon . despite bad reviews from critics ( though its considered somewhat better than revenge of the fallen ) , and even a mixed consensus from audiences , it still ended up making over a billion dollars worldwide .
mere days after the release of annie , the sharp contrast between negative reviews and overall - positive reception from the public was already glaring . four days after its release , there was a 30 % difference between the critic and audience numbers for the film on rotten tomatoes .
the boss baby originally received scathing reviews , but the critical rating climbed to a 49 on rt . audiences were much more enthusiastic about the film , when it opened at number one and bumped off the live - action version of beauty and the beast to no . 2 .
the carry on film series divided audiences and critics by the time the 1970s rolled around . although , after popular regular sid james left , as well as the series screenwriter , the critics and audience both began to argue over which movies were the worst ' post - 1974 .
justice league 2017 has a 40 % critic score , but a 75 % audience score on rotten tomatoes . however , the box office has under - performed and there is a great demand for zack snyder ' s original cut of the film without joss whedon ' s reshoots .
the first home alone film got mixed reviews and the second was utterly panned , but both were box - office successes , have become beloved christmas fixtures and kevin ' s scream face has become almost as much of a pop - culture icon as the munch painting that inspired it .
it may be hard to believe , but there was a time when many professional critics didn ' t take sergio leone ' s spaghetti westerns , every stanley kubrick film , and psycho seriously even though they were popular from the start . they have thankfully all been vindicated by history .
german director , werner herzog , has a knack for characters that struggle . they often find themselves moving up river with no prayer for survival or pitted against seemingly impossible odds . herzog has no secrets and is open to his audience about all plans , at one stage or another . invincible is no different , except that it’s plot shows a unique struggle of two characters that are dealing with their identity . this is almost a fantasy tale but time has proven that fact is stranger than fiction . the set pieces and choreography are like something borrowed out of cabaret but with a with a gentle giant calming the plot storms around him . struggle is not spared to just the villain or the hero , …
man , that whole chunk of film with tim roth is great . everything else , though ? very flawed and awkward . except the soundtrack and cinematography . some terribly monotonous acting and unearned over - sentimentality . they had udo kier ! why didn ' t they use him properly ? !
october baby received horrible reviews , sitting third on the a . v . club ' s list of the worst movies of 2012 and earning a mere 22 % on rotten tomatoes . conservative christian audiences ate it up , however , and the film looks set to become a cult classic .
haywire was well - received by critics ( 80 % on rotten tomatoes ) , who are usually familiar with steven soderbergh ' s films , but hated by audiences ( a d on cinemascore ) who expected a more hollywood - style action film ( the film was even promoted as being like the director ' s ocean ' s eleven ) . the same thing happened with the director ' s contagion , which has an 84 % on rotten tomatoes but a c on cinemascore ( but at least was profitable with over $ 135 million worldwide , unlike haywire , which barely recouped its budget ) .
grumpier old men , the sequel to grumpy old men , was given largely negative reviews from critics ( it ' s rated 18 % rotten on rotten tomatoes ) for being a tired rehash of the first film . fan responses are much kinder ( 6 . 6 out of 10 on imdb ) .
downplayed with rings . the film was panned by critics ( it has a measly 5 % on rotten tomatoes ) , but it has been met with a mixed response from audiences ( it has a 44 % audience rating on the same site ) , and even this appears to be getting worse .
in the film , during ward ' s fight with alfonso sanchez , which took place on april 4 , 1997 , ward ' s entrance song is
the warrior ' s code
by dropkick murphys . however , that song was not released until 2005 on their album of the same name .
critics hated planes , equating it to a shameless ripoff of cars ( despite being a spinoff , which means it ' s canonically part of the cars franchise ) meant to sell more toys . this didn ' t stop the film from making back its budget more than four times over and getting a sequel .
cloud atlas received polarizing but mostly positive reviews ( roger ebert gave it four out of four stars and called it one of the most ambitious films ever made ) and was nominated for a number of awards . audiences , however , roundly ignored the film , and it ended up becoming a box office bomb .
mark wahlberg as micky ward : wahlberg elected to star in the film due to his friendship with ward , with whom he shares an inner - city working class massachusetts upbringing [ 8 ] in a family with eight siblings . wahlberg also was a huge fan of ward ' s , calling him a
local sports hero .
[ 9 ] the actor was also attracted to the film ' s central theme , an ordinary person in
an against - all - odds story ,
which he previously explored in invincible . [ 10 ] to mimic ward ' s habits and mannerisms , wahlberg had him
on set , watching me every single day .
[ 11 ] during pre - production , the ward brothers temporarily moved into wahlberg ' s home . [ 12 ] to add to the film ' s realism , wahlberg refused a stunt double and took real punches during the fight scenes , [ 10 ] which resulted in him nearly getting his nose broken a couple of times . [ 9 ] wahlberg underwent a strict bodybuilding exercise regimen , dedicating over four years of training to obtain a muscular physique to convincingly play ward .
the last six movies i did i was also secretly preparing for the fighter at the same time ,
the actor continued ,
so i would leave three hours early for work and go to the gym and spend three hours there . i would bring the trainers with me on every movie that i did .
[ 13 ] his uncertainty over the film ' s development was overruled by his persistence to get the film made .
there were certainly times where i would wake up at 4 : 30 in the morning , you know , my trainer would ring the bell , and , ' oh god , ' i ' m like , ' i better get this movie made . ' you know , ' kill somebody if i don ' t get this movie made . '
[ 9 ] wahlberg hired freddie roach as his boxing trainer , helping the actor model ward ' s specific fighting style . [ 10 ] the last two years of wahlberg ' s training resulted in the construction of a
dream gym
in his house for daily use , with a personal boxing ring . [ 14 ] he received additional boxing preparation from manny pacquiao . [ 15 ]
the melbourne international film festival ( miff ) is an iconic melbourne event . it commenced in 1952 , and is one of the oldest in the world as well as being one of australia’s major film festivals . miff has a shorts award with cash prizes ( academy awards , bafta and aacta awards accredited ) and an audience award for feature films and documentaries . alongside the festival , miff hosts an industry program consisting of 37 south – a finance market , the premiere fund - which invests in new australian content and accelerator - a dedicated development program for new directors . in 2016 miff screened 348 films and hosted 198 festival guests .
within the sequel trilogy , the last jedi was acclaimed by critics ( clocking at 90 % on rotten tomatoes ) , but fans are more divided ( 46 % ) . notably , the things that critics loved about the film , namely the massive internal deconstruction that it gave to many key components of the star wars mythology , were the very same things that many longtime star wars fans hated about it . the discrepancy was so great that rotten tomatoes was forced to do an investigation to prove that the low audience score wasn ' t the result of bots , as the film also carried an a cinemascore and a 7 . 6 on im db . the divide can be seen in the film ' s box office : it had the second highest opening weekend ever , followed by the highest ever gross drop from the first weekend to the second ( however , it is still one of the highest grossing films of all time in the us ) .
a handful of indie films ( under the skin , the guest , and night moves , to name a few ) have attracted critical praise yet are often met with lukewarm to negative responses from audiences . reasons for the divide vary from film to film , but the general idea from moviegoers in most cases is that it wasn ' t as great as critics made it out to be . chances are , if a certified fresh - rotten tomatoes - awarded indie movie only has a two - and - a - half - to three - star rating ( out of five ) on amazon , then this trope is in full effect .
some abrupt plot moves and some amateurish dialogue cannot sink what is a truly great story . two basically non - actors run what is a visually stunning little film perfectly contrasted with a mesmerising tim roth as a self - hating hypnotist . and those jellyfish ! frequently magical , sometimes weak , but very worth a watch .
michael bay ' s directorial effort
pain & gain
wound up in third place in its third weekend with $ 5 million , marking a slim 33 percent drop . the paramount film , which stars mark wahlberg and dwayne johnson , has now earned $ 41 . 6 million against a slim $ 26 million budget .
as shown by the page image , the works of tyler perry get consistently negative reviews from critics , but fan response ( more specifically the actual target demographic ) is positive . as with michael bay and the rock , i can do bad all by myself is the only film of his to get a critically favorable reception .
sports illustrated dubbed the film the best sports film of the decade and
one of the best since martin scorsese backlit robert de niro ' s jake lamotta in raging bull .
. [ 38 ] richard corliss of time magazine named christian bale ' s performance one of the top 10 movie performances of 2010 , saying
in a little festival of tart , savory performances , notably from melissa leo as the boys ' mother and amy adams as micky ' s girlfriend , bale shines the brightest , because he knows that no character , however depraved his status , is only a monster . he finds beauty in the beast
. [ 39 ]
this for me was honestly the worst herzog film i ' ve seen . granted there was the traditional appeals to werner of a strange outsider who winds up doing something great and there were some nice nature shots but the story was lob - sided . the acting was terrible and simply the flow was so choppy . not a fan .