The movies, trends and other Hollywood missteps that angered and let us down
in 2008
By Greg Ellwood
2008 provided some major surprises for moviegoers. "The Dark Knight" lived up to the hype, "Iron Man" brought a new hero to the forefront, "Mamma Mia!"
rocked the world, and comedy made a major comeback with "Tropic Thunder," "Pineapple Express," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," "Get Smart," and, of all things, "The House Bunny." But, sadly,
while the industry hasn't been ravaged, Hollywood had just as many lows. Here
are a few that the magic factory hopes to avoid in 2009:
Lucas and Spielberg "nuke the fridge": One of last year's
most anticipated films was Harrison Ford's long-awaited return as the iconic
adventure-archaeologist in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Rumors
persisted that the project took years to come to fruition because producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg, longtime friends, couldn't agree on
what direction to take the franchise. That led to a patchwork screenplay and a
new infamous and, even for Indy, unbelievable scene in which our hero survives a
nuclear blast by hiding in a refrigerator. And, just like that, a term referring
to something so impossible that it lessens the believability of a movie was
born: "nuke the fridge." (Paramount) |