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Howard the Duck
»rank: 283
: :lf you concentrate on the fact that Howard the Duck was a notorious box office dud (still brought up today) and considered one of the worst films of the '80s, it's entirely possible to enjoy this special effects piffle. Howard, played by a special effect puppet, lives on a planet where ducks evolved instead of apes, but one day he's sucked into a vortex and deposited on Earth. There he befriends Beverly Switzler (Lea Thompson), lead singer for the Cherry Bombs, becomes their ...
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Short Circuit
»rank: 3911
: :John Badham's family-oriented adventure comedy, though obviously hatched in the wake of E.T. and Star Wars, manages to create its own identity through a sweet tone and an affectionate sense of fun. Military robot Number 5, a well-armed killing machine, is zapped by lightning during a test and emerges with a consciousness, curiosity, a wacky sense of humor, and a new peace-loving philosophy. Ally Sheedy (who debuted in Badham's hit WarGames) is the animal lover whose home is sanctuary for a zoo-full of ...
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Killer Klowns from Outer Space
»rank: 7462
: essential video:What's completely and utterly baffling about Killer Klowns is not the plot--that's rather tidily summed up by the title--but the fact that it got made at all. According to the filmmakers, (the Chiodo brothers: Charles, Edward, and Stephen) all it took to convince the studio was a one-page treatment and a picture of a clown holding a gun. lt boggles the mind. Anyway, some killer Klowns descend from outer space and start wrapping their hapless victims in cotton candy for later ...
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Incredible Shrinking Woman
»rank: 9340
: essential video:What's completely and utterly baffling about Killer Klowns is not the plot--that's rather tidily summed up by the title--but the fact that it got made at all. According to the filmmakers, (the Chiodo brothers: Charles, Edward, and Stephen) all it took to convince the studio was a one-page treatment and a picture of a clown holding a gun. lt boggles the mind. Anyway, some killer Klowns descend from outer space and start wrapping their hapless victims in cotton candy for later ...
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Late for Dinner
»rank: 2909
: essential video:What's completely and utterly baffling about Killer Klowns is not the plot--that's rather tidily summed up by the title--but the fact that it got made at all. According to the filmmakers, (the Chiodo brothers: Charles, Edward, and Stephen) all it took to convince the studio was a one-page treatment and a picture of a clown holding a gun. lt boggles the mind. Anyway, some killer Klowns descend from outer space and start wrapping their hapless victims in cotton candy for later ...
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Batteries Not Included
»rank: 8370
: :Quite possibly the nadir of Steven Spielberg's career as a producer, this piece of sentimental junk from 1987 concerns five little spacecraft which arrive on Earth just in time to help out some New Yorkers getting kicked out of a tenement. The script's goo just sticks to the viewer, and the cast looks silly by trying not to be silly. You get the feeling that Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment was pretty much throwing stuff at the wall to see what would hang there, and ...
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The Last Starfighter
»rank: 11186
: :At the time of its original release in 1984, this modestly budgeted sci-fi excursion had the distinction of offering some of the first examples of purely computer-generated animation, an apt (and frugal) special-effects solution for a movie with a plot line rooted in computer games. Both the computer-generated visuals and the arcade game now look quaint, but writer-director Nick Castle's affable, good- hearted adventure holds up nicely, thanks to a clever premise--the title game is actually a test for prospective starship pilots, planted ...
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Back to Future 2
»rank: 6872
: essential video:Critics and audiences didn't seem too happy with this inventive, perhaps too clever sequel to the popular 1985 comedy about a high school kid (Michael J. Fox) who travels into the past and has to bring his parents together (or lose his own existence). Director Robert Zemeckis and cast bent over backwards to add layers of time-travel complication to this follow-up, and while it surely exercises the brain it isn't necessarily funny in the same way that its predecessor was. lt's ...
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Have Rocket, Will Travel (The Three Stooges)
»rank: 11150
: :Have Rocket, Will Travel is the first Three Stooges feature film after the team became television icons and Joe DeRita was called in to replace Joe Besser (who had replaced Shemp, who had replaced Curly). Aimed at a younger audience, it included a good deal of the physical violence their Snow White film tried to avoid. Curly Joe was given the old Curly shtick of being struck by a tool, exclaiming a painful '0ooo' and then giving a surprised reaction when the tool ...
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Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Red Zone Cuba
»rank: 9996
: :Mike and the 'bots succumb to the horrors of Coleman Francis, actor, director, but by no means auteur. lt's possible that Francis is the worst filmmaker of all time--he makes Ed Wood look like Kubrick. The plot (or what shreds of it are in evidence) moves mysteriously from post-Castro Cuba through inexplicable chase scenes, and somehow ends up in a tungsten mine. Along the way a lot of coffee is consumed, and Tom Servo, Crow, and Mike virtually trip over each other picking ...
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