My Year of Flops
The A.V. Club Presents One Man's Journey Deep into the Heart of Cinematic Failure
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4.2 • 19 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
In 2007, Nathan Rabin set out to provide a revisionist look at the history of cinematic failure on a weekly basis. What began as a solitary ramble through the nooks and crannies of pop culture evolved into a way of life. My Year Of Flops collects dozens of the best-loved entries from the A.V. Club column along with bonus interviews and fifteen brand-new entries covering everything from notorious flops like The Cable Guy and Last Action Hero to bizarre obscurities like Glory Road, Johnny Cash’s poignantly homemade tribute to Jesus. Driven by a unique combination of sympathy and Schadenfreude, My Year Of Flops is an unforgettable tribute to cinematic losers, beautiful and otherwise.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rabin (The Big Rewind) made his mark by eagerly analyzing many of cinema's greatest failures for his Onion-based blog, The A.V. Club. Culling from that source for this collection, he thoughtfully and humorously examines films that failed commercially and critically upon release, have a cult following, and "facilitate an endless procession of facile observations and labored one-liners." Even for films he labels "fiascos," his worst designation, Rabin's sympathy is apparent: Johnny Cash's performance in Gospel Road "reeks of high-school speech class," yet the film's home movie quality is "much of its scruffy charm." Rabin defends the makers of duds like Freddy Got Fingered by contemplating their work in greater contexts, arguing that the odd comedy can be seen "as a borderline Dadaist provocation, a $15 million prank at the studio's expense." But his compassion disappears when it comes to lousy adaptations of celebrated novels, and he accuses Adrian Lyne, for instance, of "transforming a great literary monster into a lovelorn sap" in his version of Lolita. This collection will appeal to readers who've seen many of the same flops; for the unfamiliar, Rabin's wit alone may not be enough to sustain interest.
