Seriously. This movie fucking sucked. The people who told me it was good need to have the shit smacked out of them. The only thing that saved this shitpile from going straight to TBS was the fact that Ray Charles died during post-production. You think I'm kidding? Trivia: No studio was interested in backing the film. The film was then shot independently and once it was completed, Universal stepped in to distribute it. That's from imdb.com.

To be fair, Jamie Foxx was great and so was most of the cast. But the screenplay was a hackneyed piece of shit, and by the time the movie was over I wished I was blind and strung out on heroin too. I actually had dreams last night in which I was cursing this movie. I absolutely cannot believe that it was nominated for best picture. It sickens me.

The story is basically a third rate Biography Channel plot wrapped around a shitty Toni Morrison novel. The chronology is centered around melodramatic, seemingly fictional sequences of events. In the first 5 minutes, he is called a "nigger" by an old southerner, meets Quincy Jones the second he steps off a bus in Seattle, gets an impromptu chance to play piano in a nightclub after the regular entertainment doesn't show, he smokes marijuana for the first time, and gets exploited by a greedy manager. The sequences continue to unfold in a very unbelievable and sappy fashion. At one point, a fight with his lover dramatically unfolds, in real time, into the writing/performance of "Hit the Road Jack."

And between these semi-true adaptations of Charles' life come the flashback sequences, in which Ray remembers his days growing up as a sharecropper's son, before going blind. His mother is obviously depicted as the source of his inspiration, and she is presented as some kind of mystical symbol of strong black womanhood. I assume Oprah Winfrey wrote the part of this character. The flashback sequences are centered around a tree that has colored glass bottles hanging from it as sort of a makeshift windchime. This is a symbol of some sort. I'm not exactly sure what it's supposed to represent, but it was some cliched bullshit, that's for sure.

Okay, so the movie is bad. Not only is it bad, but it's long. Real fucking long. over 2 and a half hours long. And you're sitting there during the last ten minutes, wondering when the fuck this thing is going to end, and you realize they're only up to like 1965 in the timeline. Ray has just gotten off dope and is being psychoanalyzed in a rediculously bad scene. You're wondering how they're going to fit the next 40 years in without making the movie drag on for 10 more hours. Then it appears in yellow text on the screen: "For the next 40 years, Ray entertained audiences worldwide, blah blah blah." And a minute later, the credits role. You almost feel ripped off that they didn't go into the last 40 years of his life AT ALL, but you're so happy that the movie's over, you don't really give a shit.

If you're considering renting this movie, don't. Trust me. I think I'd rather watch "The Temptations."

Thanks man... I needed to know about this as it's on our netflix qeue "Q" cue whatever...

I could actually see the movie you saw just from your description. I didn't expect that at all but I guess it does make sense that it would turn out like that. I think the colored bottles hanging from a tree symbolizes lynchings. That's just my guess.

HBO's Lakawana Blues was equally shitty.

Yeah, Ray ain't too hot. I didn't think Million Dollar Baby was too great either. I kept hoping the !shocking twist! was that Hillary Swank was a dude, instead of the retarded mess it became at the end. I kept thinking her brother was going to bust into some supersuckers tunes at any given moment.

bottle trees are part of southern superstition, made to ward off evil spirits.

I don't give a shit about seeing that movie, so if you don't wanna ruin it for anyone else, would you mind emailing me the shocking twist? I'm only curious cuz I didn't know it had one at all.

i'll give you a shocking twist, bith!

You mean like the shocking twist I gave everybody last night when I was sober?

i was drinking for two last night

Problem is that all'a these lame-o rags'n'tee-vee review progs have gotta fill their space with summat, and it's gonna be stuff that they're spoon-fed by the media whores employed by big biznezz - path of least resistance, rite? Worst scenario is that some dumbfuck reviewer who's never even heard of Ray other than in TV ads gives it a thumbs up by re-writing the press release/other peeps reviews ... best scenario izzat a half-decent critic, bored shitless with the turds they have to review, praises it to the sky, cos it's the most half-watchable/non-insulting piece of shit they've been handed fer a looooooooooooong time! Either way, we lose!

Pauline Kael will be spinning in her grave ... No wonder HST shot hisself, the crazy fuck ...

Somebody should shoot Pauline Kael if she's not dead yet. Fucking withered old cunt.

Ha, good to hear this, i was bored shitless and couldn't even watch!!

academy award nomination is code for horseshit. don't waste your time.

Well, if you didn't like Ray, you're probably not gonna dig Walk the Line either(which I heard they were delaying til the fall for Oscar purposes!!!!!!!) I'd rather watch docs on these giants any day. While I haven't seen Ray, I'm sure it's like watching the Michael Jackson trial reenactments, which I haven't seen either...

Almost every movie out there is too fucking long, so just add "Ray" to the pile. Every studio needs to hire serious hatchet men to get these movies below 100 minutes. Yeah, the plot was hackneyed, but Fox (who I never liked before seeing the movie) was really great! I was surprised as anyone, and the fact that he was SO good made the movie worthwhile for me. It was literally 8 times better than "The Aviator," no shit...and that was nominated for tons of awards, too.

i didnt even get to the end of the film...fucking lame piece of shit. how can i even watch other movies after City of God anyways.

Napoleon Dynamite is the worst movie I've ever seen.

Napoleon Dynamite is the worst movie I've ever seen.

Don't know about worst ever, but man, it's close enough. Aggressively awful.

The last movie I saw was Life Aquatic, and it was too long....but at least I saw it at the Matinee showing and didn't feel jipped at all. I had reported that the Kentucky Air guys accent was the worst southern accent I've ever heard....that is before I had the chance to see a second cousin of mine on PBS, who happens to be gay, from Elizebathtown.....he had the exact same accent...go figure.

On Saturday I saw a midnight showing of the greatest movie ever made, The Warriors.

Personally, "The Temptations" miniseries for NBC was a highpoint of my network TV watching in 1999.

Speaking of "cornball high drama", is anyone watching The Contender?

"aggressively awful"

just so you know, i'm stealing that.

Napoleon Dynamite is the worst movie I've ever seen


No way, it is hilarious! People seem to hate it or love it. To me it's like a throwback to all those classic bad 80's movie about high school. If you actually remember being a teenager, you should find it funny. Nothing wrong with some stoopid humor.

I agree w/ most of the comments about Ray, I thought it was watchable, good acting, but too long.
The chronology is centered around melodramatic, seemingly fictional sequences of events

You can't really complain about it being too long and having unrealistic sequences at the same time -it would make for pretty boring viewing if they followed an exact chronology (and it would be 10 hours long), I mean you got to allow some "artistic licence" right?
Anyway, overall it did seem pretty schlocky, focusing only on tabloid-type events of his life. But then again I know nothin of his real life. Seeing this did make me want to find out the real deal so that I can judge this movie better. How true to life is it?

"Ray" isn't the shittiest movie I have seen in years, but it ain't that great. We watched it and it was kind of fun just cause it was Ray Charles. Jaime Fox was actually great. The movie just had that bad Hollywood biopic problem.. Choppy and disjointed..all made to fit neatly into 2 hours. It was Vanilla. Not as gay as "Great Balls of Fire", but pretentious and contrived. We saw Ray Charles (with Bazooka Joe!!!!!) a few years back and that guy kicked ass!!! Whatever. I am bummed that they are making a Barbara Payton biopic. Who even knows who that is anymore? I am fascinated by all things dysfunctional, but that's gonna be retarded.

Ha! I used the Edit feature to say "Chris Martel, you are funny!!!" I loved what you said about the movie.

You must be trippin - I watched Great Balls of Fire the other night and it was hot! I mean, Dennis Quaid was hot!

City of God ruled

I bet it's no "La Bamba". I haven't seen it,and probably won't until it reaches the Sun. afternoon UPN/Fox movie slot it prolly deserves.

Yeah, Dennis Quaid was alright. I just wanted to see Jerry Lee at the gates of Graceland weilding a gun and screaming for pill-poppin' Elvis to defend his position as the King! Jerry Lee was way too ornry to be played as a pink and black 50's poodle skirt. John Doe was good too.

The only movie I want to see right now is Million Dollar Baby....the guy who wrote that book was cool. I heard an interview with him where they asked him if he wished he would have been succesfull at a younger age, and he said no because he just would have done to many drugs and killed himself.

I really want to see it.

The only thing that saved this shitpile from going straight to TBS was the fact that Ray Charles died during post-production.

Too bad he didn't get to 'see' the film before he died...



Eh, EH? Too soon?

Speaking of black films wit heroin in them, I watched Foxy Brown last night. Sid Haig said something like, "Baby, I'm the best airplane driver in these parts." Boobs, camel toes, dicks getting cut off, wire hangers to eyes, a good time for all.

i saw it and thought it was allright....but i dont like how they tried to make Charles look like some sort of civil rights activist or something. they didnt really say he was a civil rights activist in the movie(i dont think), but in that one scene they kinda make him look like some sort of black rights hero. i havent done my research, but i doubt he would take time out of his career and drug addiction to think too much about civil rights and such, but thats one of the reasons hes so cool. same with james brown, except i saw on the news he supports michael jackson or something. i dont know maybe im full of shit and should get cockslapped now. i saw the trailer for Million Dollar Baby and thought the story was kind of dumb. yeah

oh, and as far as "Ray" being the shittiest movie in years....i think it depends on what exactly youve been watching. ive seen a lot of new movies that were far more shittier

oh again, maybe jb supporting mj doesnt count cause hes not really black anymore blah blah blah

You can have Foxy Brown, I'll take TNT Jackson.

shittiest movie in years was an exaggeration, especially considering what movies I usually watch. but for some reason I was just caught offguard with this one, I thought it was actually going to be decent, and nobody had warned me how crappy it was. in fact, people who I'd usually consider reliable sources told me it was great. I'd just seen "End of the Century" last week so my standards were completely off balance.

still, I would not recommend "Ray" to anyone.

just stick with Phantom Menace. The worst acting ever from Natalie Portman.

SuperFuzz rules tho.

i loved the buddy holly story as a ten year old- although i haven't seen it in years. the part where busey strolls onto the stage at the appolo and says "we weren't expectin' y'all either"- classic

Buddy Holly story is great!!! Busey is awesome.....

didn't you guys notice that "Booger" from Revenge Of the Nurds played Ray's manager? It really makes me happy that Booger is still finding work in the film industry. Hell, it was worth watching just for Booger interveneing with Jamie Foxx!
He's come a loooong way since Moonlighting.

Booger Presley...

I stayed up until 3 am to finish watching the Buddy Holly story (for the 100th time) last month. They just don't make 'em that good anymore. No lip-syncing/ fake guitar playing either...

The only thing about the Buddy Holly Story (which is awesome) is that Gary Busey is kinda fugly and Buddy Holly was very handsome. Great movie! The Buse-dog was great as well.

Wow,i didn't know Booger was in "Ray" ! Shit, it's good to see him find work,i just thought he was outta showbiz or something. I really did like "La Bamba" but that playing in "Buddy Holly Story" is all Busey,no?

I'm not surprised "Ray" is a disappointment. Sounds like a standard Hollywood bio-pic to me. The tree w/ the bottles hangin' from it is "Ray"'s version of the plane wreck in Richie's dreams in "La Bamba".

"Temptaions" is a good 'un too,and Sid Haig RULES!

I thought he had his shit together in Revenge of the Nerds III and IV.

The bottles in tree is to ward off bad spirits. They are usually booze, wine beer bottles which are to remind the person who hung them there to remind them of giving into temptation after drinking them...A reminder of sins is what I was told.

I didn't see "Ray" yet but Stef did and said "The acting was good but something about it just didn't click."

million dollar baby has great acting (maybe too good) from hillary swank, a predictable but enjoyable voice-over from morgan freeman, and the Rocky story. with a twist, sort of, and who cares.

compared to someone trying to do something different, like michel gondry/charlie kaufman's Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind, these films don't even exist except as acting exercises. or b-film actor appreciation vehicles- Booger rules. Sid Haig, too.

i enjoyed the incredibles.

if you are looking for a jamie foxx movie rent "booty call" if you want the extended version get "the bootiest version."

"Ray" was indeed no "La Bamba", and Dennis Quaid is not O.K. or in any way acceptable as the killer. Patches the clown would have been more like the real thing. Thank you all and good day.

chris, unrelated really to this specific movie, but i'm surprised to hear you give the major studios passing on this one at first as a reason it sucks. how many good major studio driven movies have you seen recently? the grammar on this post is very strange and hard to understand. but whatev.

my point was just that it never would have had a theatrical release if Ray Charles didn't die when he did. universal agreed to distribute it directly following his death.

I would also like to point out that a google search for "Ray Sucks" brings up the Rachael Ray Sucks Community. That's great.

I would also like to point out that a google search for "Ray Sucks" brings up the Rachael Ray Sucks Community. That's great.

That is great. Her enthusiasm disgusts me. She has way too many TV shows.

Okay.

1) It's pronounced TAH-pas, not TAA-puhs, asshat.

2) It would really lend you credibility if you didn't moan like a nympho everytime you take a bite of some $1.99 crawfish testicle platter on $40 A Day.

3) My dad got a new stereo system for his TV, and called me to tell me that if I thought you were annoying before, now you take grating to a whole new level.

gotcha. and nice find!

it might of been worse if Will Smith played Ray. Man Will Smith sucks.

Dutch, you are right!!!!

Whatever happened to the Hendrix movie I heard about a while back? Wasn't LL Cool J supposed to get that part?

I saw that movie on VH1... they musta not got the right to his songs cuz everything he played in it was a cover (stuff he actually covered ie Wild Thing, He Joe etc...) Oh yeah, it was entertaining while laying in bed at 1 am.

Holy shit! That movie really happened? Was LL in it?

I don't think it was LL! He played the part pretty well though. I couldn't stay up to see the end., but I'd like to catch the rest sometime.

I think I kind of no what you mean about Hilary Swanks acting being almost too good.....It's been about 3 hours since I saw Million Dollar Baby, and I still feel like I got punched in the chest and had the wind knocked out of me. I don't even know how comfortable I am recomending that movie to people. It is good thow.

There's a movie called "Hendrix" I always see on SI-TV that seems to be based of notes from Chas Chandler's diary.

Sexual chocolate is styx?

If Will Smith played Ray Charles it would have been an instant classic!
Just like vinegar or lemon juice in a paper cut; you hate it but you keep doing it don't you?

I thought Million $ Baby was a lot better than the fucking Aviator. Still haven't seen Ray. I like Hillary Swank better with a strap-on and fucking Chloe Sveginy though.

Haven't seen Million Dollar Baby or Ray, but Hotel Rwanda was good. The directing isn't inventive but Don Cheadle is really good and everything about the genocide is insane.

Napolean Dynamite was a fucking waste and a half. People who I used to respect told me that it was "one of the best movies they'd ever seen." Well all admiration is lost for these people [including my brother]. Was there something I MISSED ? Was there some deep message hidden in the weird chick's fanny pack that I overlooked ?

I’m a sucker for Heratio Alger type stuff. I watched half of it one night and hated it. I watched the 2nd half the next night and liked it. I dunno, I was feeling all inspired and shit. But the next day I realized that I hated his music, especially as he got older and catered to the white main-stream “Georgia” shit.

But it was shit chocked full of bad acting and shitty montages. Very mini-series, but 9hours long.

Napoleon Dynamite was funny as fuck. You have no sense of humor.

Made the mistake of watching "What The Bleep Do We Know?" last night because I was told it was about quantum physics. Basically it's part documentary with the smarmy talking heads saying that probably everything and nothing probably do or don't probably. The other part of the movie is filled with actors and reminds me of the worst Lifetime Scented Candle Special I've never seen.

My favorite talking heads in the movie are JZ Knight, a nice lady wearing a Starfleet knockoff blouse who says that she's channeling Ramtha, a 35,000 year old Atlantean spirit. And Dr. Joe Dispenza who has a doctorate in chiropracty. I'm Dr. Useless Eater, with a doctorate in crossword puzzles.

To call the movie New Age is insulting to all of the whales and dolphins working hard recording cds.

oh, man. a friend of mine took "what the bleep..." REALLY seriously. when she described it too me i just stared at her and kept repeating, " i can't beleive she's saying this..." same with napoleon dynamite.

bvalentine; I haven't seen Napolean Dynamite, but my trusted sources tell me it's not very good despite the hype from less trusted sources.
If you liked it but don't like Ray Charles' music then Napoleon Dyno has to be a stinker.
Boy, some people are so backward tastewise.

I didnt like "Ray"
I don't dig Ray Charles
and I did laugh my ass off at Napoleon Dynamite.

(all without consulting my friends to find out whats cool or not)

How's about them Cheater Slicks?

Lack of consultation noted.

Isn't Merle Allin in that band?

15 years ago...

im dr dtch hrcls, i have BA a PA an MA and a big BMF masters degree in the training of deerfly's to operate robots.

Hey hey THE CHEATER SLICKS!!! when are they comin to my town..?

Ray: yeah, the writing sucked, and all the flashbacks were lame. I did like the art direction, tho'. The suits and the cars almost made up for it. The music sequences were cool, and it really looked like the band was playing live. I'd reccomend watching it and just skipping to those parts.

Okay, I'll throw it this bone, too: they did a nice job with the montages. They really took the "blowing calender pages" and "ticking clock" kinda sequences to new heights (depths?). Like where they show the neon marquees of all the clubs Ray was playin'. And all the magazine covers and record labels. It was so cheeseball I actually liked it. And the acting was pretty good - Jamie Fox was excellent, the guy who played Lowell Fulsom was good, too. But, gawd the Oprah book club style flashbacks were HORRIBLE....

So, not the worst movie I've ever seen, but I wish it had sucked less.

this is a little off subject, but I caught the Jacket a couple of days ago and thought it was alright. Lots of cool pychodelic flashback moments and Adrien Brody is always good. Ending was a little gay though..I want to see Hotel Rwanda pretty bad. Sideways was funny once you get past all the wine snob bullshit. I drink Merlot.

Hotel Rwanda is good. I thought Million Dollar Baby was pretty decent. Not astounding, but good.

"Man Of The House" is excellent.

I don't think Million Dollar Baby is astounding in the typical way....there weren't any technical inovations and not even a super original script.....the whole movie was just real simple and straight forward...and a solid take on the Rocky theme with a twist, like Eric said....The Rocky plot line is pretty damn cliche in movies today, and nobody has ever given it a twist like this...but where it was mostly astounding is just how solid and well directed it is...and how true it stayed to the book that it was an adaption of...I've only read a little bit of F.X. Toole...but he's real straight forward and hard hitting....he's a very straightforward and even keel writer.....that's exactly the kind of director that Clint Eastwood is....and this is realy the first movie that Eastwood has directed, where I felt like it realy showed what he had learned from doing all those westerns....Westerns have always been great morality plays...westerns from the 70's kind of took it up a notch by obliterating the good guys and the bad guys, no easy wins, and sometimes the good guys didn't win the money and the glory, maybe the most they could get is some fleeting resemblance of dignity, which was alot cuz they were just murderous bastards to begin with (I'm talking about Wild Bunch here).....but anyway it was just real solid and hard hitting....and I don't think Million Dollar Baby was astounding in any other way, other than just how well crafted it is...and semanticaly it's pretty unique.....it's a pretty important movie.

Okay end of my schpeel, I'm almost off work.

Oh yeah it realy shows how Eastwood has matured as a director and producer too...I mean if you took all the movies he's done.....they're all kind of progressing up to this one, starting with Paint The Town Red, which I think is the first one he either produced or directed.........they're all dealing with complex situations in a realy simple and pure and straigh forward way.....this is realy the definitive Eastwood movie as far as I'm concerned and I hope he sticks around long enough to do a couple more...I wonder if him and Sam Shepard have ever gotten together...I bet if those 2 teamed up they could do some amazing things.

Eastwood directed "Bird" about Charlie Parker. Not a Western. And that one with the psycho girl. He's directed lots of non-westerns.

Sorry, didn't read alla that... ixnay...

Yeah, he's directed lots of non-westerns....you forgot Bridges of Madison County bazooka.....the point is that his style of direction is realy evident of his roots in the movie....and his roots lie in Westerns.

That's cool.

the first one he directed was Play Misty For Me

I just read on someone's myspace page that they were named after "the song from Play Misty For Me"...hahah.

her name is Mystie, of course.

Yeah that's the psycho chick movie I meant. I loved it.

How's about them Cheater Slicks?

I found a copy of that "Walk Up the Street" 45 for a buck at Reckless the other day. I was happy about that. Then I paid 10 clams for that Ohio Express album. I was not as pleased.

i miss this thread.

are there any good movies currently out? (not mentioned in this thread)

Miss Congeniality II should be hot.

yeah Sandra Bullock rules





my nuts

Sideways was funny once you get past all the wine snob bullshit. I drink Merlot.

I too drink Merlot but this neighbor of mine who cooks a fine meal and never lets you forget she grew up in wine country looked pretty disgusted with me when I brought a bottle of it over to a dinner party she was having for the people who live in this little complex of ours. So I brought up the Sideways wine snob bullshit and she politely tore me a new one. These wine country people: genteel on the surface, snobby through and through and nothing hurts more than a pretty girl making you feel like a jackass for your personal taste.


Maybe I shoulda brought over a DVD of Napolean Dynamite just to thoroughly demean myself

May I suggest "Gator" instead?

i can't say Sideways is the worst movie i've ever seen, but GODDAMN THE MUSIC IN THIS COMPLETELY DROVE ME BANANAS! it was boggling my mind that someone could even come up with lite fusion that innocuous... they coulda at least put on an EAGLES song or some facsimile. the more i watched it the more i hated it. it has it all- smug californians, wine snobs, adult babies stealing from their mom, actors, "one last fling" idiocy, lame "character flaws" to make the story "realistic," uh, uh, actually it might be the worst movie ever.

paul giamatti's a good actor. but he was better (of course) as crumb.

if you knew what music snobs alex payne and jim taylor were in college, you'd laugh so hard at the irony of the level of compromise they made for this "success."

i do agree with you a million percent.