“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
“The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2″
“Space Chimps”
Are we running out of great movie names, or is Hollywood just in a slump? Too many movies today have hopelessly complicated titles, or get named after such generic terms it’s hard to tell what the movie’s about – “Wanted,” anyone?
I remember interviewing Nancy Meyers, the director of “Something’s Gotta Give,” a horrible title for an excellent romantic comedy. And she said she went through several titles before settling, and I do mean settling, on “Give.”
Call me old-fashioned, but I miss the days of “I Spit on Your Grave” and “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song.”
(Photo: Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford made a movie, and the best title they could dream up was “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?”)
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
My choice for greatest title ever goes to “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.” The moment I heard there was a movie with that title, I had to see it. Unfortunately, I think the film itself is way too slow and unfocused. I guess it’s nice of Hollywood not to trick us into going to bad movies by using good titles today. With most titles, they’re at least up front with how unoriginal most of the films are.
Great title choice. How could you resist that one?
And yeah, you don’t expect greatness from a movie that can’t even must a clever title.
Porky’s III: Porky’s Revenge?
Is that an example of a good title, or a bad title? Not a fan of any of those flicks … but at least they didn’t stick with adding only a number after the title …
Valid point, but I also think there have been some really fantastic movie titles in the past few years: The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Everything is Illuminated? Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead? Love ‘em all.
Those are pretty solid, but I fear they’re the exception. And this summer has been particularly brutal for movie names – Hellboy II: The Golden Army? Yawn.
“Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.” Yeah. There’s something powerful about a title that’s a complete sentence speaking to the audience – another Peckinpah example, “Ride the High Country.”