| Historically, BIG movies make BIG money, but don't always garner BIG praise. Summer blockbusters will always comprise the vast majority of the year's highest-grossing films, though critis usually reserve their "four-star reviews" and "top-ten selections" and "upward-pointed thumbs" for smaller, more independent films. Of course, I'm blanketing the theatrical landscape with this statement, but it's agreeable on the whole, right? Right. However, there's often a film or two released every year that both grosses a quarter-milions dollars and earns a positive lasting spot in the critics' books. Personally, a favorite blockbuster release of mine has always been Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator' back from 2000. While not necessarily dime's worth of film, it does, on any metric, consist of great acting, effects, sequencing, choreography, etc. Of course, Ebert said the fact that it won Best Picture in '01 was the Academy's single biggest mistake (courtesy IMDb). 'Saving Private Ryan', perhaps? What other flicks fall under the category... |