What Failed In '96, And Wh
THE RACY ""STRIPTEASE'' video box promises ""footage not seen in theaters.'' But wait a minute: none of that movie was seen in theaters. Demi Moore's latest flop--this one wearing a scarlet A for Asinine--was the most notorious bomb in a year notorious for bombs. After an absurdly crowded summer, movie executives surveyed the dead: ""Multiplicity,'' ""Fled,'' ""The Frighteners.'' Studios vowed to make fewer movies. But what they should have vowed is to make fewer lousy ones.
It used to seem like the right star could sell anything. But think of the celebrities who lost some luster this year: Julia Roberts (""Mary Reilly''), Jim Carrey (""The Cable Guy''), Sylvester Stallone (""Daylight''), Arnold Schwarzenegger (""Jingle All the Way''), Bruce Willis (""Last Man Standing''). If this goes on much longer, who's gonna be left to open Planet Hollywoods?
WE WERE ROOTING for Sheryl Crow. Really, we were. We liked her do-what-I-wanna-do attitude and the sleek, girlish pep of her songs. But ""Sheryl Crow,'' the follow-up to 1993's megaplatinum "'Tuesday Night Music Club,'' was just one of this year's resounding chart duds. Counting Crows' rootsy retread ""Recovering the Satellites'' plummeted. Rock reliables R.E.M. and Pearl Jam lamed out, and rap maestro Snoop Doggy Dogg barely barked. As for last year's MTV buzz band Weezer--who the hell is Weezer? Pundits blamed the deaths of alternative and gangsta rap, but that hardly explains the failure of Hootie and the Blowfish, whose ""Fairweather Johnson'' was perhaps the biggest bomb of all. Who needed their neoplatitudinous mush-rock, anyway? Oops, you caught us--we weren't rooting for Hootie. Maybe it wasn't such a bad year after all.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
");jQuery(this).remove()}) jQuery('.start-slider').owlCarousel({loop:!1,margin:10,nav:!0,items:1}).on('changed.owl.carousel',function(event){var currentItem=event.item.index;var totalItems=event.item.count;if(currentItem===0){jQuery('.owl-prev').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-prev').removeClass('disabled')} if(currentItem===totalItems-1){jQuery('.owl-next').addClass('disabled')}else{jQuery('.owl-next').removeClass('disabled')}})}})})ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrK6enZtjsLC5jp2snatdm7mwvNJmmKecXZe8rq7SZq6hmaRis6K1y56bZnFmYq6vsIywn2ZpZ2qBeIQ%3D