There are far more good trailers than there are good movies. The sad thing about "Bucket" is that the trailer itself (the one on TV anyway) sucks - I can't imagine how crappy the movie must be.

The trailers make me want to throw things at my television..almost as much as a Repug talking head.

Rob Reiner has certainly bottomed out after Spinal Tap. If even the trailers can't make you quasi interested, it must be crap. Seems like an empty, vapid pretentious exercise. It's greatest achievement is exposing Nicholson and Freeman as the whores they are--dancing pigs, give 'em a check and there's not stopping how low they'll stoop, witness 'As Good as it Gets' f'rinstance. It is very depressing to see such talent (see 'The Departed' or 'Chinatown') wasted in such pap (I have yet to understand why Freeman is considered a 'great actor'; even in his best role, in 'The Unforgiven,' he was merely adequate).

The archetypal chick cancer flick.

Check out Street Smart, where he played a vicious pimp, he was amazing in that. After that, somehow he got stuck in "magical negro" roles. But I even liked some of those, The Shawshank Redemption was a lot of fun.

But yeah, this movie looks like a paycheck flick.

actually, Col. Truth, I'd argue it's a good trailer, insofar as it seems to accurately warns you that your gag reflex will get a workout if you go see it.

I'll admit, though, that I'm genuinely puzzled at why movies like these get made. Somebody should probably show Jack Nicholson that scene in Chinatown where he asks John Huston what he could possibly do with the extra money he stands to earn in the scheme the movie revolves around.

Maybe Nicholson watched it in his mind's eye, over and over, at the premiere.

No doubt about it; this movie was made to be a manipulative, exploitive hanky-ringer with some laughs thrown in. It was also made to make money. Period.

So - there must be a significant audience for such things. An audience of people who don't care about how the acting careers of Mssr. Nicholson and Freeman are developing as they age - whether this latest stretches their talents, or whether it just repeats shtick they've done (too?) much of already. There are people, I suspect, who actually like to see that shtick. There may even be a few people - young, or shut-in - who haven't yet see that shtick.

I haven't seen any letters by any of these people here, but it's early.

Yet here we are, in the grip of the Christmas-Industrial Complex, and some people dare to rage out against "commercialism." Where's your holiday spirit? Why do you hate America?

i love the "performance art" idea and the point about how dispiriting the movie is

My biggest beef with a lot of the "end of life" movies that have made pots of money such as "Beaches," and maybe this one, is that they always feature people with lots of money. This makes it possible for the characters to travel the world, go to fancy restaurants, etc. and so forth. Well, easy for them.

I know there is a movie out there that might deal with the "redemption" of someone at the end of their lives with no pot of gold to help them. In fact there has to be some out there. Any suggestions?

I know that death comes to us all, rich or poor, but I have a hard time identifying with movies that claim that money isn't everything and then use that very money to transport the characters to their contended life's end, both literally and figuratively.

'wind beneath my wings.' truly a musical turd against a humanity.

however, regarding this observation:

>"At least it's not "Beaches" - The archetypal chick cancer flick.<"

--was it cancer, or was it some kind of an infected heart valve after a virus that took out barbara hershey? i think they opted for the infected heart thing because it let her continue to look good and die "pretty" whereas cancer isn't quite that cosmetically attractive. unless it's hollywood cancer. 'hollywood cancer' is like 'hollywood hookers': beautiful, charming, fun, perceptive, glamorous, romantic, full of integrity, and in no way a reflection of the real thing. hollywood hookers and hollywood cancer are adorable conduits to some kind of prepackaged self knowledge. real cancer and real hookers--not nearly as fun.