So a friend of mine, for reasons known only to him, watched “Texas Chainsaw Massacre II” not long ago, and told me it would be suitable for Eric’s Bad Movies. I believed him. However, I knew that there were two more theatrical sequels in that franchise, and that if I didn’t want to cover all of them (which I didn’t) I should probably choose the worst one. These things generally get worse as they go, so I went with the fourth and final installment, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation.” If parts 2 and 3 are worse than this, they are very bad indeed. I know they don’t have the combination of Renee Zellweger and Matthew McConaughey, though.

For What’s the Big Deal?, I wrote about “Days of Heaven,” a 1978 film by Terrence Malick that’s well known for its gorgeous cinematography. It stars Richard Gere, who was 32 years younger when he appeared in that than he was when he appeared in “Brooklyn’s Finest,” which opens Friday. My point is that Richard Gere is now very old.

I’m very needy this week. Now I need suggestions for the What’s the Big Deal? column. http://bit.ly/bXaV52

About four months ago, I started a new weekly column at Film.com called What’s the Big Deal?, in which we examine a movie widely considered to be “great” or a “classic” and lay out what, exactly, the big deal about it is. Here’s the introduction I gave at the time, which explains the column’s premise in greater detail.

Since I’m in the mood for suggestions (don’t forget to help out with Eric’s Bad Movies!) I’d like to get your ideas for future editions of WTBD. It might help to draw from personal experience: What’s a “classic” movie you’ve watched that made you think, “Eh, that was OK, but what’s the big deal?” It could even be a film you actively hated. The point is that it’s supposed to be great but its greatness is not self-evident, at least not to you.

I think certain titles are bound to show up a lot. “2001: A Space Odyssey” — a movie that everyone either loves or doesn’t get at all — was built for this. “Citizen Kane” often gets the top spot on “best movies ever made” lists, leading many first-time viewers to check it out and come away wondering what they were supposed to have seen in it that they didn’t. Those are the kinds of movies I’m looking for.

There’s going to be a lot of subjectivity, of course. When I first introduced the column, someone suggested “Casablanca,” and I thought, “What’s the big deal about ‘Casablanca’?? It’s romantic and funny and entertaining! How could anyone watch it and not see that??” But then a friend of mine told me he finds “Citizen Kane” just as self-evidently fantastic, and that’s a movie that I think needs some explainin’.

Continue reading…

Just learned one of my publicist contacts follows me on Twitter. In that case, ALICE IN WONDERLAND was terrific!

Eric’s Bad Movies at Film.com: TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION http://bit.ly/dw2ADw