"The Jerk" is a stone-cold classic and was a MASSIVE hit in 1979, earning $73 million in the U.S. on a mere $4 million budget - and $100 million, worldwide (the equivalent of over $422 million today) which a lot of people forget. It was a gigantic success. It's an example of where audiences were way ahead of the critics at that point, as Martin's post-modernist "this is a joke and I'm aware of it" comedic sensibility was where people were at and Martin understood that; most critics didn't and were looking for a more traditional comedy. I've never understood Ebert's hatred of Steve Martin's early work.
Absolutely, it's a great comedy and the beginning of an amazingly prolific career. I actually like DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID and THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS more, but THE JERK is still hilarious.
But it's like what Navin Johnson says appropriately enough in this film: "Things are going to start to happen to me!" Regardless of what Siskel and Ebert has to say.
I think Ebert's final comment on Star Trek was remarkably prescient. He pointed out that Star Trek needed a villain as memorable as Vader. As we all know now, the following film reacquainted us with Khan and massively invigorated the franchise. Ebert remains my gold standard for movie critics.
And Roddenberry's objection to that film was on point. Star Trek is not about villains, but ideas. Who is the villain of City on the Edge of Forever, Balance of Terror, The Naked Time?
@@valueofnothing2487 I love those episodes and certainly Star Trek doesn't need a personified villain in every episode or movie to be exciting and valuable. But I would remind that the Wrath of Khan is a direct sequel to a successful TOS episode with a villain.
@@moonflick Yeah, I disagree with Ebert - Star Trek is not about villains like Vader. The extent that TOS has them, they are sympathetic villains. The villain in Wrath of Khan is not Roddenberry's. Which is why he was against the movie. The villain in Space Seed was a sympathetic villain who Kirk admired from afar and thought wistfully about what would become of Khan's new society. There's no way that are the same character. Space seeds khan was smart, he wouldn't blame Kirk for something he didn't do. But instead we get this Vader like evil villain who's out for revenge! It's ridiculous. And mind you, that evil villain could have went after Kirk without the Genesis device. It's barely related. And so you have this part of the movie with Kirk and his son and the character development of making this Genesis device, and has nothing to do with Khan at all. And so again Khan is not a good villain for this movie!
@@valueofnothing2487 I like Khan but I think ideal Trek is about exploration, discovering the unknown, and growing emotionally when the mission is over. TMP, warts and all, is arguably the definitive Star Trek adventure.
Here's the thing. I think that Steve Martin is one of the funniest people on the planet. But if you had asked me this about Steve Martin in 1980, I would have agreed with Roger. Other than a few memorable quotes, The Jerk is a snoozefest. I have never gotten through it. And I don't find his late 70s stand-up funny. Sophomoric garbage. It's as if he knew that the only way he could have the career he really wanted was to do mindless crap that most of the brain dead public would embrace.
Steve Martin changed over the years. Steve Martin in the 90's wasn't the same guy in the 70's. Personally, I find The Jerk hilarious and I also enjoyed Roxanne and the Father of The Bride films.
"The Jerk" was a massive hit in 1979. It made $73 million in the U.S. on a mere $4 million budget and $100 million, worldwide (the equivalent of $422 million today). It was the 8th biggest movie of the year. A lot of people forget that. @@gheller2261
Steve Martin isn't that funny. Bernadette Peters carried a lot of the weight of the movie. She doesn't get enough credit she really did much if she work and made the Jerk a passable film.
Watching these vids is perfect time travel. Ebert never thought of himself as a "carbon based unit," wait till he gets to "ugly bags of mostly water." Also "Not as visionary as 2001, not as scary as Alien and not as exuberant as Star Wars" is as perfect a decription of ST:TMP as will ever exist. Also "bizarre, outrageous and individual" is a perfect descrption of Darth Vader. These guys were ahead of the curve at a time when movies were getting worse and better and the same time.
It's so strange to hear the screener clips from Star Trek TMP before the sound was done. You hear the wooden doors sliding open, the creak of the floorboards, etc. It's remarkable what a difference a few sound effects make.
Both critics got it entirely wrong on Sleeping Beauty... They treated it like it was some Saturday morning cartoon on a budget. This was a film that Walt Disney spent a lot of money on and envisioned as his ultimate fairytale masterpiece. It was the first feature length animated film in wide screen, it featured a full orchestra in stereophonic sound, incredibly detailed artistic backgrounds deliberately rendered to look flat like medieval paintings, and incredibly smooth animation of the characters. Maleficent has gone down in history as one on the best Disney villains, and the dragon scene at the end still holds up today as one of the best action scenes in an animated film. They are treating it like they watched it on an old black-and-white 1970s TV.
Siskel: I think we learned one thing about each other…. Ebert: Okay, what’s that? Siskel: …I think YOU are too easy, on family entertainment films. Ebert: And I think YOU are too hard. Despite those jabs they throw each other, as movie critics, they are still missed to this day.
Honestly I think Sleeping Beauty has aged well and had slowly but eventually became a Disney classic. It doesn’t have to be an instant classic right away like a Beauty & the Beast or Lion King but with time it became a classic.
I love the scene and song they showed and saw it in theaters for this 1979 re-release. The villain Maleficent was scary to me as a child, especially when she turned into a dragon. In the same episode they say Star Trek needed a good villain, Gene ignores her and complains about the backgrounds?! I realize they've been pissed with poor Disney movies of the 1970s (probably including next week's _The Black Hole)_ but give me a break! This one from the 1950s was a classic that I liked better than the others they mentioned. My only complaint is that they used the same actor for the voice of Maleficent and Cinderella's stepmother.
I used to think Sleeping Beauty was one of the lesser "classic" Disney films, until I studied its artwork and process and came to better understand the depth of artistry in the film. The backgrounds and character styling looked the way they did mostly because of a decision to make them resemble the Medieval illuminated manuscripts. But the art of actual "animation", of making character movement realistic and fluid, of things like depth of shadow, etc; was at the peak of Disney's craft with this movie. Then of course was their best villain ever, a really good dragon sequence, and that amazing score by Tchaikovsky. It became one of my favorite Disney films, and it seems to now be regarded by many (most) film critics as one of the studio's best efforts. I find it disappointing that Ebert (more than Siskel), who was I think more studied in film history and technique, failed to recognize the movie's greatness in this review.
Mom took me to this re-release of _Sleeping Beauty._ I love this song, _Once Upon a Dream,_ and was inspired to listen to it and other Disney songs after seeing the recent live-action _The Little Mermaid._ Excellent villain in the former, and pretty good one in the latter.
Star Trek was Great I think was not a really good idea not to have a villain play in this one until later on and once they released The Wrath of Khan I thought to myself Yes! Perfect timing to bring Khan live on movie screen and the most famous Spock movie line say it all
The staple of almost every movie in the 80s is that the only job anyone seemed to have besides police detective was to work in advertising, like Hoffman in K.vs.K. It really shows how shallow screen writers were, as if the only interesting people worth writing a story about were ad execs.
The irony that S and E fail to mention is that the same man--Douglas Trumbull--was responsible for the effect in Star Trek and 2001. He was brought in at the last minute to do the SFX for ST:TMP after Robert Abel and Associates failed to produce EVEN ONE FRAME of usable footage. Why don't critics take these things more account?
The guys have a long history of disliking comedies that may not have a brilliant script, but are universally loved and laughed at, because the leading man is absolutely hilarious. The jerk is one and Ace Ventura comes to mind as well 🤷🏻♂️
I loved it in 1979 when I was 17, but now not so much. Same thing with the first Cheech & Chong movie _Up In Smoke_ (1978). I thought that was the funniest movie I'd ever seen. Now I try watching either one of those movies, and I'm saddened they didn't stand the test of time. Both movies get a 5 out of 10 for me. Back then I thought they were both a 10 out of 10.
I remember asking my parents to see The Jerk but since I was nine and it was rated R They said no And they were not that strict about the television or movies we watched but I needed an adult to see it Should of asked my Grandpa
Those scenes in The Jerk had me laughing out loud. Time for a re-watch. I feel like their critique of The Jerk didn't hold up, but a lot of their reviews do. Steve Martin has outlived them both, and has had a more illustrious career.
Their comments about "The Jerk" reveal that they pretty much completely misunderstand Martin's act and consequently his persona in this film. Funny is hard to argue about, but their idea of what would be funny instead is hideously banal and the exact opposite of what Martin was doing. Time has landed pretty solidly on Martin's side.
Sleeping Beauty is worth seeing for the quality of its animation alone, but I do wonder what made Disney pick that story to adapt. Without most of its original plot, which is NOT suitable for children, it's a thin story, so Disney had to pad it out after they excised what they couldn't use. There are better fairy tales, although maybe not ones with as much name recognition.
Re: Star Trek, I think the #1 problem the film had wasn't the story or even pacing but when fans saw Spock return and he has this strange, cold attitude to everyone, it just wasn't well explained or justified in the film and it just kind of hurt fans to be denied a joyful reunion of the cast. When last we saw Spock in the TV show, he was very well acclimated to life with humans, capable of a little wry humor himself. The scene on Vulcan early on just didn't explain his ice cold reaction to the crew.
Steve Martin is funny and the lead in one of my favorite movies, _L.A. Story,_ but aside from _Parenthood,_ which was worth seeing once, I didn't find him that amusing in _Roxanne, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Bowfinger, Three Amigos, Father of the Bride_ etc.
I wish they would have carried on with the Dog Of The Week segment, or something similar, to their subsequent review shows and that the other hosts would have done the same. God knows there is never a shortage of crappy movies.
As great as the original Star Trek was, you guys havent seen anything yet. Just wait for KHAAAAN! The soundtrack for Star Trek: The Motion Picture is right up there with 2001 and Star Wars
Good music. But too much staring out into space, which was done enough in _2001: A Space Odyssey._ Definitely boring to the kids I saw it with in a return-to-theaters (re-release) around the time of _Wrath of Khan._
Speaking as someone who saw Star Trek as a child (I was about 10), I can tell you it was an absolute crashing bore. I saw it again as an adult: still a bore. I think fans of the show enjoyed that film solely because they were - understandably - overjoyed to see their favorites not only returning, but returning on the big screen. But I think any average civilian will find that film a snoozefest desperately trying to impress w/ efx (the fetishistic panning of the enterprise, good lord!!) and the "ideas" are certainly not worthy of the running time.
If you have INSOMNIA and cannot get to sleep - watch Star Trek The Motion Picture . You will be fast asleep in 15 minutes. You won't even wake up in the middle of the night to pee.
Somethings I have noticed watching these old shows--the Spot the Wonder Dog stuff was Scrappy Doo Level. Just awful. I am glad they got ridda that mid-80's. The forced happy talk was gone after they left PBS in 82 too, or at least most of it. That's hard to watch as Rog was Not a warm and fuzzy guy any more than Siskel was and it's like watching bad local TV news crews doing this. Just please Don't. They learned that as they went along. They're not as smooth as they would be later either.
I didn't mind Spot but I agree that the "forced happy talk" was an unwelcome element. Anyway, I actually thought Sneak Previews was better than At The Movies simply because the two hosts had more time to discuss the films.
_The Jerk_ is a comedy classic with loads of ❤️. _Kramer Vs Kramer_ is shallow Boomer nonsense. _ST:TMP_ is a misunderstood gothic space horror masterpiece.
God, I wish those two were still alive, I would've loved seeing them Review Present Movies, from 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, like. Movies 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024. 1. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the run. 2. Fifty Shades of Gray. 3. McFarland USA. 4. Chappie. 5. Cinderella. 6. Home. 7. Monkey Kingdom. Disneynature Movie. 8. Poltergeist. 9. Jurassic World. 10. Inside Out. 11. Ted 2. 12. Terminator Genisys. 13. Minions. 14. Pixels. 15. The Visit. 16. Hotel Transylvania 3. 17. Pan. 18. Goosebumps. 19. Jem and the Holograms. 20. The Peanuts Movie. 21. The Good Dinosaur. 22. Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Road Chip. 23. Star Wars the Force Awakens. 24. Daddy's Home. - 2015. 25. Norm of the North. 26. Kung Fu Panda 3. 27. Deadpool. 28. ZOOTOPIA. 29. Miracles from Heaven. 30. Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice. 31. Keanu. 32. The Angry Birds Movie. 33. Alice Through the Looking Glass. 34. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles out of the Shadows. 35. Finding Dory. 36. Independence Day Resurgence. 37. The Legend of Tarzan. 38. The BFG. 39. The Secret Life of Pets. 40. Star Trek Beyond. 41. Batman: The Killing Joke. 42. Ice Age: Collision Course. 43. Suicide Squad. 44. Pete's Dragon. 45. Ben-Hur. 46. Kubo and the two Strings. 47. Storks. 48. Queen of Katwe. 49. Ouija Origin of Evil. 50. Trolls. CGI Animated Movie. 51. Fantastic Beasts and where to find them. 53. Moana. 54. Rogue One a Star Wars Story. 55. Sing. 56. Hidden Figures. - 2016 57. Monster Trucks. 58. A Dog's Purpose. 59. The Lego Batman Movie. 60. Rock Dog. 61. Logan. 62. Kong: Skull Island. 63. Beauty and the Beast. 64. Power Rangers. 65. Marine 5: Battleground. 66. Ghost in the Shell. 67. Smurfs The Lost Village. 68. Born in China. Disneynature Movie. 69. Baywatch. 70. Wonder Woman. 71. Cars 3. 72. War for the Planet of the Apes. 73. The Emoji Movie. 74. It. 75. The Lego NINJAGO Movie. 76. Happy Death Day. 77. Justice League. 78. The Star. 79. Wonder. 80. Coco. 81. Star Wars the Last Jedi. 82. The Greatest Showman. 83. Molly's Game. - 2017. 84. Black Panther. 85. A Wrinkle in Time. 86. Isle of Dogs. 87. Paul Apostle of Christ. 88. A Quiet Place. 89. Deadpool 2. 90. Show Dogs. 91. Solo: a Star Wars Story. 92. Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom. 93. Ant-Man and the Wasp. 94. Hotel Transylvania 3 Summer Vacation. 95. Christopher Robin. 96. Alpha. 97. A.X.L. 98. The Nun. 99. Smallfoot. 100. Venom. 101. Goosebumps 2 Haunted Halloween. 102. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. 103. The Grinch. 104. Fantastic Beasts the crimes of GRINDELWALD. 105. Ralph Breaks the Internet. 106. Mary Poppins Returns. 107. Aquaman. 108. Bumblebee. 109. Holmes & Watson. - 2018. 110. The Kid who would be King. 111. The Lego Movie 2 the Second Part. 112. Happy Death Day 2U. 113. How to Train Your Dragon the Hidden World. 114. Captain Marvel. 115. Dumbo. 116. Pokémon Detective Pikachu. 117. A Dog's Journey. 118. Aladdin. 119. Godzilla King of Monsters. 120. The Secret Life of Pets 2. 121. Toy Story 4. 122. Child's Play. 123. The Lion King. 124. Dora and the lost city of Gold. 125. The Angry Birds Movie 2. 126. It Chapter Two. 127. Abominable. 128. Judy. 129. Joker. 130. The Addams Family. CGI Animated. 131. Maleficent Mistress of Evil. 132. Jojo Rabbit. 133. Terminator Dark Fate. 134. Harriet. 135. Klaus. 136. Lady and the Tramp. 137. Frozen 2. 138. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. 139. Playmobil the Movie. 140. Star Wars the Rise of Skywalker. 141. Cats. 142. Togo. 143. Spies in Disguise. 144. Little Women. 145. 1917. - 2019. 146. DOLITTLE. 147. Sonic the Hedgehog. 148. The Call of the Wild. 149. Wendy. 150. Onward. 151. Trolls World Tour. CGI Animated. 152. SCOOB!. 153. We Bare Bears the Movie. 154. Bill & Ted Face the Music. 155. Mulan. 156. The Witches. 157. The Croods a New Age. 158. Wonder Woman 1984. 159. Soul. 160. We can Be Heroes. - 2020. 161. Tom & Jerry. 162. Coming 2 America. 163. Raya and the Last Dragon. 164. Godzilla vs Kong. 165. Cruella. 166. Peter Rabbit 2 the Runaway. 167. Luca. 168. The Boss Baby: Family Business. 169. Space Jam: a New Legacy. 170. Jungle Cruise. 171. Dear Evan Hanson. 172. The Addams Family 2. 173. Ron's Gone Wrong. 174. Clifford the Big Red Dog. 175. Encanto. 176. Sing 2. 177. The King's Man. - 2021. 178. Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. 179. The Batman. 180. Sonic the Hedgehog 2. 181. Fantastic Beasts the secrets of DUMBLEDORE. 182. Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers. 183. Top Gun Maverick. 184. The Bob's Burgers Movie. 185. Jurassic World Dominion. 186. Lightyear. 187. Elvis. 188. Minions: the Rise of Gru. 189. Thor: Love and Thunder. 190. Nope. 191. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 192. West Side Story. - 2021. 193. A Christmas Story Christmas. 194. Strange World. 195. Avatar the way of Water. 196. Babylon. - 2022. 197. The Super Mario Bros Movie. 198. Peter Pan & Wendy. Etc. Etc.
I don’t remember ever wondering if the special effects were good as a reason to like a movie. And everything is compared to Star Wars or blamed as being a rip off of Star Wars. I’ve watched their Star Trek, Buck Rogers, and battlestar galactica reviews. They ruin the experience of watching a movie by narrow-minded comparisons to another movie simply because they’re both space movies. Sheesh!
It must have been in the news that _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ was having trouble with special effects, and was one reason its budget ballooned. Every studio dumped their special effects departments in the early 1970s (after _2001?)_ so Lucas had to come up with his own FX studio for _Star Wars,_ with some of those people then worked on Spielberg's _Close Encounters of the Third Kind,_ while the makers of _Superman_ were doing their thing independently to make you believe a man could fly. Sadly, instead of the same FX people working on _Star Trek II_ as _TMP_ they went with Lucas's ILM for _Star Trek II._ Some say that's why the Enterprise never fires its phasers again because Lucas owns them.
I have to disagree with them about The Jerk, I thought it was a great comedy classic and I would rather watch it than let's say any of the latter day Adam Sandler comedies from 2010 onwards.
Steve Martin isnt funny in The Jerk?? Boy, you guys would later eat those words. And Kramer vs Kramer is a very different movie. It's also a great movie
I find it ironic that they hated The Jerk. The Jerk is considered a classic and among Steve Martin's best movies. Siskel hating on Sleeping Beauty is just him being an ass for being an ass.
Regarding Star Trek 1, this is one of the rare cases in which I actually agree with Siskel over Ebert. The film just dragged on and on and was mostly a major snooze-fest. Although Persis Khambatta (RIP) was stunning.
I don't necessarily agree. It was slow paced admittedly but they were entering a chasm not knowing what was inside and were shown remarkable things including alien planets and I think were told that they were inconsequential to the greater purpose of the villain which turned out to be a space probe. It was thought provoking. Something was created at the end of the movie. It isn't clear what it was but it was an intelligence probably partly human and partly mechanical. Ilia and Decker were given something beyond human existence.
Definitely agree about Persis Khambatta, she was one of my earliest crushes when I saw her in Star Trek. There's a video of her having her head shaved for the role and she cant hold back the tears. I just wanna jump in the video and say "no, it's OK, you look stunning!"
The problem with these early shows is they revealed too much. Why give away that Hoffman is fired from an ad agency? Their "China Syndrome" review is worse. They basically showed the ending of the fucking film.
I disagree with you about the earlier show revealing too much, they did not. As far as I am concerned as so long they did not give away the actual ending on the movies they showed they were just fine
Why is the entire video presented in a tv box? fortunately viewing the episodes on MY flat-screen tv... so it's not as bad as it could be nor as annoying...thought they always used 'thumbs' but with some stress opted for 'yes' or 'no' back then...felt kind of weird and was always substituting the newer-old thumb verdict! Siskel was right about Star Trek but i think for some of the wrong reasons...except for some series exceptions and the whale movie, ST has never lived up to its possibilities...as far as K v K, most critics fell all over themselves praising the mundane and ordinary flick that a lot of us had to live thru...and then there was the jerk...not sure if i saw it and guessing if i did no lasting impression on me...later on Martin almost redeemed himself...what was particularly funny was all the push back on the negative reviews of E & S...! sense of humor is really a curious thing...it is what it is !
I did not like Kramer vs Kramer at all - fake, phony, and only saved by a superb performance from Meryl Streep - which is the real reason the film was really liked - without her the film would have fallen apart completely.
. Yeah......amazing how so insightful they could be one minute, and how UN-insightful they could be the next !! That said, I loved these guys.......but there were DEFINITELY times you just wanted to shake them and say, LIGHTEN UP, FRANCIS !! 😄 .
@@citygirl5705 My personal take on the film was they tried so hard to distance themselves from campy/corny aspects of the original tv show they forgot to have fun
The Jerk completely ruined Steve Martin for me. After sitting through this mess I wanted my brain cells back. Kramer was overwrought and preachy. Melodrama of the highest level. Still Dustin Hoffman isn't yelling so it at least has that. Sleeping Beauty was so boring for me I fell asleep in the theater. Worse, I fell asleep during the fight between the dragon and Prince Charming. As for the Star Trek film, I hated it until years later--when William Shatner put out his book, 'Avenger' (it followed Generations, where Kirk was killed) and we find out in that book that the 'Borg won't assimilate Mr. Spock because in the Star Trek film he had done the mind-meld with Vger, and Vger was part of the Borg collective. Yep, they were the ones who 'fixed' Vger and since Spock had done the meld to the Borg he was one of them. It was a great reveal, and gave the first Star Trek film a new life for me.
Completely disagree about your takes on The Jerk and Kramer vs Kramer. Both great contributions to their respective genres, the latter in particular features phenomenal performances. I also didn't feel any preaching, we are simply getting the story of this family.As for Star Trek, there is no evidence that the V'ger had anything to do with the Borg and besides, the Borg existed long before V'ger did.
CZcams is such an awesome pop culture museum preserving this sort of content that would be otherwise lost or limited to trading old VHS recordings.
"The Jerk" is a stone-cold classic and was a MASSIVE hit in 1979, earning $73 million in the U.S. on a mere $4 million budget - and $100 million, worldwide (the equivalent of over $422 million today) which a lot of people forget. It was a gigantic success. It's an example of where audiences were way ahead of the critics at that point, as Martin's post-modernist "this is a joke and I'm aware of it" comedic sensibility was where people were at and Martin understood that; most critics didn't and were looking for a more traditional comedy. I've never understood Ebert's hatred of Steve Martin's early work.
Steve is likable but not funny.
@@JoeBuck207 Yeah, no
Absolutely, it's a great comedy and the beginning of an amazingly prolific career. I actually like DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID and THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS more, but THE JERK is still hilarious.
I can't believe how much they over-thought The Jerk. C'mon, it's a comedy classic!
One of the best comedies ever made.
But it's like what Navin Johnson says appropriately enough in this film: "Things are going to start to happen to me!" Regardless of what Siskel and Ebert has to say.
I think Ebert's final comment on Star Trek was remarkably prescient. He pointed out that Star Trek needed a villain as memorable as Vader. As we all know now, the following film reacquainted us with Khan and massively invigorated the franchise. Ebert remains my gold standard for movie critics.
And Roddenberry's objection to that film was on point. Star Trek is not about villains, but ideas. Who is the villain of City on the Edge of Forever, Balance of Terror, The Naked Time?
@@valueofnothing2487 I love those episodes and certainly Star Trek doesn't need a personified villain in every episode or movie to be exciting and valuable. But I would remind that the Wrath of Khan is a direct sequel to a successful TOS episode with a villain.
@@moonflick
Yeah, I disagree with Ebert - Star Trek is not about villains like Vader. The extent that TOS has them, they are sympathetic villains. The villain in Wrath of Khan is not Roddenberry's. Which is why he was against the movie. The villain in Space Seed was a sympathetic villain who Kirk admired from afar and thought wistfully about what would become of Khan's new society. There's no way that are the same character. Space seeds khan was smart, he wouldn't blame Kirk for something he didn't do. But instead we get this Vader like evil villain who's out for revenge! It's ridiculous.
And mind you, that evil villain could have went after Kirk without the Genesis device. It's barely related. And so you have this part of the movie with Kirk and his son and the character development of making this Genesis device, and has nothing to do with Khan at all.
And so again Khan is not a good villain for this movie!
@@valueofnothing2487 I like Khan but I think ideal Trek is about exploration, discovering the unknown, and growing emotionally when the mission is over. TMP, warts and all, is arguably the definitive Star Trek adventure.
Good point. I personally love ST TMP. It felt the most pure Star Trek of all the movies. Had the most fascinating plot
Gene admitted previously he never liked the original Star trek series so I wasn't to surprised that he didn't like the movie.
I love the art style, color pallet and character designs of Sleeping Beauty. And, come on, Maleficent is the best animated villain of all time!
Sleeping Beauty is technically sound but it pales in comparison to Pinocchio and Fantasia.
Took both of them a while to appreciate Steve Martin's genius, same as with Jim Carrey.
Here's the thing. I think that Steve Martin is one of the funniest people on the planet. But if you had asked me this about Steve Martin in 1980, I would have agreed with Roger. Other than a few memorable quotes, The Jerk is a snoozefest. I have never gotten through it. And I don't find his late 70s stand-up funny. Sophomoric garbage. It's as if he knew that the only way he could have the career he really wanted was to do mindless crap that most of the brain dead public would embrace.
Steve Martin changed over the years. Steve Martin in the 90's wasn't the same guy in the 70's. Personally, I find The Jerk hilarious and I also enjoyed Roxanne and the Father of The Bride films.
"The Jerk" was a massive hit in 1979. It made $73 million in the U.S. on a mere $4 million budget and $100 million, worldwide (the equivalent of $422 million today). It was the 8th biggest movie of the year. A lot of people forget that. @@gheller2261
Steve Martin isn't that funny. Bernadette Peters carried a lot of the weight of the movie. She doesn't get enough credit she really did much if she work and made the Jerk a passable film.
@@gheller2261It was experimental comedy probably learned freestyle but he didn't do a terrible job in delivery.
Watching these vids is perfect time travel. Ebert never thought of himself as a "carbon based unit," wait till he gets to "ugly bags of mostly water." Also "Not as visionary as 2001, not as scary as Alien and not as exuberant as Star Wars" is as perfect a decription of ST:TMP as will ever exist. Also "bizarre, outrageous and individual" is a perfect descrption of Darth Vader. These guys were ahead of the curve at a time when movies were getting worse and better and the same time.
It's so strange to hear the screener clips from Star Trek TMP before the sound was done. You hear the wooden doors sliding open, the creak of the floorboards, etc. It's remarkable what a difference a few sound effects make.
Both critics got it entirely wrong on Sleeping Beauty... They treated it like it was some Saturday morning cartoon on a budget. This was a film that Walt Disney spent a lot of money on and envisioned as his ultimate fairytale masterpiece. It was the first feature length animated film in wide screen, it featured a full orchestra in stereophonic sound, incredibly detailed artistic backgrounds deliberately rendered to look flat like medieval paintings, and incredibly smooth animation of the characters. Maleficent has gone down in history as one on the best Disney villains, and the dragon scene at the end still holds up today as one of the best action scenes in an animated film. They are treating it like they watched it on an old black-and-white 1970s TV.
Sleeping Beauty is a great classic.
Siskel: I think we learned one thing about each other….
Ebert: Okay, what’s that?
Siskel: …I think YOU are too easy, on family entertainment films.
Ebert: And I think YOU are too hard.
Despite those jabs they throw each other, as movie critics, they are still missed to this day.
Honestly I think Sleeping Beauty has aged well and had slowly but eventually became a Disney classic. It doesn’t have to be an instant classic right away like a Beauty & the Beast or Lion King but with time it became a classic.
I love the scene and song they showed and saw it in theaters for this 1979 re-release. The villain Maleficent was scary to me as a child, especially when she turned into a dragon. In the same episode they say Star Trek needed a good villain, Gene ignores her and complains about the backgrounds?! I realize they've been pissed with poor Disney movies of the 1970s (probably including next week's _The Black Hole)_ but give me a break! This one from the 1950s was a classic that I liked better than the others they mentioned. My only complaint is that they used the same actor for the voice of Maleficent and Cinderella's stepmother.
I remember seeing this as a little kid, and that scene had my dad rolling. He loved it.
I used to think Sleeping Beauty was one of the lesser "classic" Disney films, until I studied its artwork and process and came to better understand the depth of artistry in the film. The backgrounds and character styling looked the way they did mostly because of a decision to make them resemble the Medieval illuminated manuscripts. But the art of actual "animation", of making character movement realistic and fluid, of things like depth of shadow, etc; was at the peak of Disney's craft with this movie. Then of course was their best villain ever, a really good dragon sequence, and that amazing score by Tchaikovsky. It became one of my favorite Disney films, and it seems to now be regarded by many (most) film critics as one of the studio's best efforts. I find it disappointing that Ebert (more than Siskel), who was I think more studied in film history and technique, failed to recognize the movie's greatness in this review.
Mom took me to this re-release of _Sleeping Beauty._ I love this song, _Once Upon a Dream,_ and was inspired to listen to it and other Disney songs after seeing the recent live-action _The Little Mermaid._ Excellent villain in the former, and pretty good one in the latter.
Star Trek was Great I think was not a really good idea not to have a villain play in this one until later on and once they released The Wrath of Khan I thought to myself Yes! Perfect timing to bring Khan live on movie screen and the most famous Spock movie line say it all
The staple of almost every movie in the 80s is that the only job anyone seemed to have besides police detective was to work in advertising, like Hoffman in K.vs.K. It really shows how shallow screen writers were, as if the only interesting people worth writing a story about were ad execs.
Doctors and lawyers were pretty well-represented, too.
So glad these are on CZcams now
The irony that S and E fail to mention is that the same man--Douglas Trumbull--was responsible for the effect in Star Trek and 2001. He was brought in at the last minute to do the SFX for ST:TMP after Robert Abel and Associates failed to produce EVEN ONE FRAME of usable footage. Why don't critics take these things more account?
The effects apparently made the movie but to the extent that most people didn't really know the plot that was about an intelligence foreign to earth.
The guys have a long history of disliking comedies that may not have a brilliant script, but are universally loved and laughed at, because the leading man is absolutely hilarious. The jerk is one and Ace Ventura comes to mind as well 🤷🏻♂️
The Jerk is rated a comedy classic.
I loved it in 1979 when I was 17, but now not so much. Same thing with the first Cheech & Chong movie _Up In Smoke_ (1978). I thought that was the funniest movie I'd ever seen. Now I try watching either one of those movies, and I'm saddened they didn't stand the test of time. Both movies get a 5 out of 10 for me. Back then I thought they were both a 10 out of 10.
My ex gf's favorite comedy!
They're really ignoring the heart and soul hidden in the film
@@johnrife7134 And the body buried in the back.
I remember asking my parents to see The Jerk but since I was nine and it was rated R They said no And they were not that strict about the television or movies we watched but I needed an adult to see it Should of asked my Grandpa
13:49 Anyone else notice the arbitrarily placed music in the background and that the sound design had not been completed yet?
R.I.P to Leonard Nimoy and most of the Cast of Star Trek the Motion Picture.
Those scenes in The Jerk had me laughing out loud. Time for a re-watch. I feel like their critique of The Jerk didn't hold up, but a lot of their reviews do. Steve Martin has outlived them both, and has had a more illustrious career.
Their comments about "The Jerk" reveal that they pretty much completely misunderstand Martin's act and consequently his persona in this film. Funny is hard to argue about, but their idea of what would be funny instead is hideously banal and the exact opposite of what Martin was doing. Time has landed pretty solidly on Martin's side.
Agreed. They always seemed to do that with “meh” scripts, but generationally hilarious leading men. Take Ace Ventura for example
hopefully he's gotten over their terrible, terrible slight sometime in the last 43 years?
Sleeping Beauty is worth seeing for the quality of its animation alone, but I do wonder what made Disney pick that story to adapt. Without most of its original plot, which is NOT suitable for children, it's a thin story, so Disney had to pad it out after they excised what they couldn't use. There are better fairy tales, although maybe not ones with as much name recognition.
I never thought that The Jerk was an accurate description of Navin Johnson. He was an idiot, to be sure, but not a jerk.
The Jerk:
Budget $4 million
Box office $100 million
Cinema goers = ''''4'''' BUCK$ down ! Not JU$T on THAT or any movie, but on everyday, minute by minute $tuff.....................
he hates these cans!
@@ganglabesh They must be defective! :)
Re: Star Trek, I think the #1 problem the film had wasn't the story or even pacing but when fans saw Spock return and he has this strange, cold attitude to everyone, it just wasn't well explained or justified in the film and it just kind of hurt fans to be denied a joyful reunion of the cast. When last we saw Spock in the TV show, he was very well acclimated to life with humans, capable of a little wry humor himself. The scene on Vulcan early on just didn't explain his ice cold reaction to the crew.
I'm glad that Gene and Roger recognize that Steve Martin simply isn't funny. 😊
Steve Martin is funny and the lead in one of my favorite movies, _L.A. Story,_ but aside from _Parenthood,_ which was worth seeing once, I didn't find him that amusing in _Roxanne, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Bowfinger, Three Amigos, Father of the Bride_ etc.
Curious that the footage of Illia doesn't have the altered voice processing on it. Wonder if they got a prescreening clip from before the fin cut.
They hated the Jerk. Sad, I bet they also hate cans.
Roger's fake laugh is Oscar worthy!
$o is both their [ badly 'edited' ] scripts ! !!!
I wish they would have carried on with the Dog Of The Week segment, or something similar, to their subsequent review shows and that the other hosts would have done the same. God knows there is never a shortage of crappy movies.
There is never a shortage of generic, crappy comments like yours on almost every video either. We can start our own new segment highlighting those.
@@violetgreene6133😂😂😂So true.
Steve martin became big with The Jerk
As great as the original Star Trek was, you guys havent seen anything yet. Just wait for KHAAAAN!
The soundtrack for Star Trek: The Motion Picture is right up there with 2001 and Star Wars
Good music. But too much staring out into space, which was done enough in _2001: A Space Odyssey._ Definitely boring to the kids I saw it with in a return-to-theaters (re-release) around the time of _Wrath of Khan._
@@sandal_thong8631 I'd take staring over the banal, JJ Abrams action schlock.
Speaking as someone who saw Star Trek as a child (I was about 10), I can tell you it was an absolute crashing bore. I saw it again as an adult: still a bore. I think fans of the show enjoyed that film solely because they were - understandably - overjoyed to see their favorites not only returning, but returning on the big screen. But I think any average civilian will find that film a snoozefest desperately trying to impress w/ efx (the fetishistic panning of the enterprise, good lord!!) and the "ideas" are certainly not worthy of the running time.
If you have INSOMNIA and cannot get to sleep - watch Star Trek The Motion Picture . You will be fast asleep in 15 minutes. You won't even wake up in the middle of the night to pee.
Funny how 5 years after The Jerk, Ebert would refer to Steve Martin as "One of best comic talents working today." And he continued to praise him.
That's because Steve Martin's comedy changed. He started moving away from the "crazy guy" persona and decided to embrace more sophisticated satire.
He never said that, he always thought he was corny.
The jerk was such a fun movie. I guess time let’s you appreciate things more
Somethings I have noticed watching these old shows--the Spot the Wonder Dog stuff was Scrappy Doo Level. Just awful. I am glad they got ridda that mid-80's. The forced happy talk was gone after they left PBS in 82 too, or at least most of it. That's hard to watch as Rog was Not a warm and fuzzy guy any more than Siskel was and it's like watching bad local TV news crews doing this. Just please Don't. They learned that as they went along. They're not as smooth as they would be later either.
I didn't mind Spot but I agree that the "forced happy talk" was an unwelcome element. Anyway, I actually thought Sneak Previews was better than At The Movies simply because the two hosts had more time to discuss the films.
The jerk was absolutely hilarious. . You just can't even take it remotely serious. . You have to watch it like Airplane. . They just don't get it.
The Jerk was hilarious.
Of course, THE JERK is a classic
Michael O'Donoghue. THAT's the name you were looking for, Gene.
I wonder if "The Stud" was the reason for all the hatred the Collins sisters had over the years?
_The Jerk_ is a comedy classic with loads of ❤️. _Kramer Vs Kramer_ is shallow Boomer nonsense. _ST:TMP_ is a misunderstood gothic space horror masterpiece.
The Kramer vs Kramer parts sound like they are reading from the script directly
I remember really looking forward to the Star Trk movie, and being disappointed by the tedious nature of the film and characters.
God, I wish those two were still alive, I would've loved seeing them Review Present Movies, from 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, like.
Movies 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.
1. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the run.
2. Fifty Shades of Gray.
3. McFarland USA.
4. Chappie.
5. Cinderella.
6. Home.
7. Monkey Kingdom. Disneynature Movie.
8. Poltergeist.
9. Jurassic World.
10. Inside Out.
11. Ted 2.
12. Terminator Genisys.
13. Minions.
14. Pixels.
15. The Visit.
16. Hotel Transylvania 3.
17. Pan.
18. Goosebumps.
19. Jem and the Holograms.
20. The Peanuts Movie.
21. The Good Dinosaur.
22. Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Road Chip.
23. Star Wars the Force Awakens.
24. Daddy's Home. - 2015.
25. Norm of the North.
26. Kung Fu Panda 3.
27. Deadpool.
28. ZOOTOPIA.
29. Miracles from Heaven.
30. Batman V Superman Dawn of Justice.
31. Keanu.
32. The Angry Birds Movie.
33. Alice Through the Looking Glass.
34. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles out of the Shadows.
35. Finding Dory.
36. Independence Day Resurgence.
37. The Legend of Tarzan.
38. The BFG.
39. The Secret Life of Pets.
40. Star Trek Beyond.
41. Batman: The Killing Joke.
42. Ice Age: Collision Course.
43. Suicide Squad.
44. Pete's Dragon.
45. Ben-Hur.
46. Kubo and the two Strings.
47. Storks.
48. Queen of Katwe.
49. Ouija Origin of Evil.
50. Trolls. CGI Animated Movie.
51. Fantastic Beasts and where to find them.
53. Moana.
54. Rogue One a Star Wars Story.
55. Sing.
56. Hidden Figures. - 2016
57. Monster Trucks.
58. A Dog's Purpose.
59. The Lego Batman Movie.
60. Rock Dog.
61. Logan.
62. Kong: Skull Island.
63. Beauty and the Beast.
64. Power Rangers.
65. Marine 5: Battleground.
66. Ghost in the Shell.
67. Smurfs The Lost Village.
68. Born in China. Disneynature Movie.
69. Baywatch.
70. Wonder Woman.
71. Cars 3.
72. War for the Planet of the Apes.
73. The Emoji Movie.
74. It.
75. The Lego NINJAGO Movie.
76. Happy Death Day.
77. Justice League.
78. The Star.
79. Wonder.
80. Coco.
81. Star Wars the Last Jedi.
82. The Greatest Showman.
83. Molly's Game. - 2017.
84. Black Panther.
85. A Wrinkle in Time.
86. Isle of Dogs.
87. Paul Apostle of Christ.
88. A Quiet Place.
89. Deadpool 2.
90. Show Dogs.
91. Solo: a Star Wars Story.
92. Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom.
93. Ant-Man and the Wasp.
94. Hotel Transylvania 3 Summer Vacation.
95. Christopher Robin.
96. Alpha.
97. A.X.L.
98. The Nun.
99. Smallfoot.
100. Venom.
101. Goosebumps 2 Haunted Halloween.
102. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.
103. The Grinch.
104. Fantastic Beasts the crimes of GRINDELWALD.
105. Ralph Breaks the Internet.
106. Mary Poppins Returns.
107. Aquaman.
108. Bumblebee.
109. Holmes & Watson. - 2018.
110. The Kid who would be King.
111. The Lego Movie 2 the Second Part.
112. Happy Death Day 2U.
113. How to Train Your Dragon the Hidden World.
114. Captain Marvel.
115. Dumbo.
116. Pokémon Detective Pikachu.
117. A Dog's Journey.
118. Aladdin.
119. Godzilla King of Monsters.
120. The Secret Life of Pets 2.
121. Toy Story 4.
122. Child's Play.
123. The Lion King.
124. Dora and the lost city of Gold.
125. The Angry Birds Movie 2.
126. It Chapter Two.
127. Abominable.
128. Judy.
129. Joker.
130. The Addams Family. CGI Animated.
131. Maleficent Mistress of Evil.
132. Jojo Rabbit.
133. Terminator Dark Fate.
134. Harriet.
135. Klaus.
136. Lady and the Tramp.
137. Frozen 2.
138. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
139. Playmobil the Movie.
140. Star Wars the Rise of Skywalker.
141. Cats.
142. Togo.
143. Spies in Disguise.
144. Little Women.
145. 1917. - 2019.
146. DOLITTLE.
147. Sonic the Hedgehog.
148. The Call of the Wild.
149. Wendy.
150. Onward.
151. Trolls World Tour. CGI Animated.
152. SCOOB!.
153. We Bare Bears the Movie.
154. Bill & Ted Face the Music.
155. Mulan.
156. The Witches.
157. The Croods a New Age.
158. Wonder Woman 1984.
159. Soul.
160. We can Be Heroes. - 2020.
161. Tom & Jerry.
162. Coming 2 America.
163. Raya and the Last Dragon.
164. Godzilla vs Kong.
165. Cruella.
166. Peter Rabbit 2 the Runaway.
167. Luca.
168. The Boss Baby: Family Business.
169. Space Jam: a New Legacy.
170. Jungle Cruise.
171. Dear Evan Hanson.
172. The Addams Family 2.
173. Ron's Gone Wrong.
174. Clifford the Big Red Dog.
175. Encanto.
176. Sing 2.
177. The King's Man. - 2021.
178. Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.
179. The Batman.
180. Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
181. Fantastic Beasts the secrets of DUMBLEDORE.
182. Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers.
183. Top Gun Maverick.
184. The Bob's Burgers Movie.
185. Jurassic World Dominion.
186. Lightyear.
187. Elvis.
188. Minions: the Rise of Gru.
189. Thor: Love and Thunder.
190. Nope.
191. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
192. West Side Story. - 2021.
193. A Christmas Story Christmas.
194. Strange World.
195. Avatar the way of Water.
196. Babylon. - 2022.
197. The Super Mario Bros Movie.
198. Peter Pan & Wendy.
Etc. Etc.
I don’t remember ever wondering if the special effects were good as a reason to like a movie. And everything is compared to Star Wars or blamed as being a rip off of Star Wars. I’ve watched their Star Trek, Buck Rogers, and battlestar galactica reviews. They ruin the experience of watching a movie by narrow-minded comparisons to another movie simply because they’re both space movies. Sheesh!
It must have been in the news that _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_ was having trouble with special effects, and was one reason its budget ballooned. Every studio dumped their special effects departments in the early 1970s (after _2001?)_ so Lucas had to come up with his own FX studio for _Star Wars,_ with some of those people then worked on Spielberg's _Close Encounters of the Third Kind,_ while the makers of _Superman_ were doing their thing independently to make you believe a man could fly. Sadly, instead of the same FX people working on _Star Trek II_ as _TMP_ they went with Lucas's ILM for _Star Trek II._ Some say that's why the Enterprise never fires its phasers again because Lucas owns them.
I have to disagree with them about The Jerk, I thought it was a great comedy classic and I would rather watch it than let's say any of the latter day Adam Sandler comedies from 2010 onwards.
Agreed - The Jerk is still one of Steve Martin's best films.
@@kali3665 I’d rather do my taxes than watch post-2010 Sandler comedies.
Um, Arabian Adventure had Christopher Lee in it.
Steve Martin isnt funny in The Jerk?? Boy, you guys would later eat those words.
And Kramer vs Kramer is a very different movie. It's also a great movie
I find it ironic that they hated The Jerk. The Jerk is considered a classic and among Steve Martin's best movies.
Siskel hating on Sleeping Beauty is just him being an ass for being an ass.
Regarding Star Trek 1, this is one of the rare cases in which I actually agree with Siskel over Ebert. The film just dragged on and on and was mostly a major snooze-fest. Although Persis Khambatta (RIP) was stunning.
I don't necessarily agree. It was slow paced admittedly but they were entering a chasm not knowing what was inside and were shown remarkable things including alien planets and I think were told that they were inconsequential to the greater purpose of the villain which turned out to be a space probe. It was thought provoking. Something was created at the end of the movie. It isn't clear what it was but it was an intelligence probably partly human and partly mechanical. Ilia and Decker were given something beyond human existence.
Definitely agree about Persis Khambatta, she was one of my earliest crushes when I saw her in Star Trek. There's a video of her having her head shaved for the role and she cant hold back the tears. I just wanna jump in the video and say "no, it's OK, you look stunning!"
Love the videos on your channel, HATE that you are boxing the videos inside an old school tv. STOP
The resolution of the old tv video is so low that, if blown up to full size, it would look fuzzy.
The problem with these early shows is they revealed too much. Why give away that Hoffman is fired from an ad agency? Their "China Syndrome" review is worse. They basically showed the ending of the fucking film.
I disagree with you about the earlier show revealing too much, they did not. As far as I am concerned as so long they did not give away the actual ending on the movies they showed they were just fine
The jerk is hilarious. Stay away from the cans
"On no more cans!!"
I still say my special purpose to this day.
Sleeping Beauty isnt a great classic??
SISKLE WASN'T VERY BRIGHT. 😮😅
"The Jerk" is basically every Adam Sandler movie many years before Adam Sandler movies.
Kramer vs kramer isnt one of hoffmans best performances, methinks.
Why is the entire video presented in a tv box? fortunately viewing the episodes on MY flat-screen tv... so it's not as bad as it could be nor as annoying...thought they always used 'thumbs' but with some stress opted for 'yes' or 'no' back then...felt kind of weird and was always substituting the newer-old thumb verdict! Siskel was right about Star Trek but i think for some of the wrong reasons...except for some series exceptions and the whale movie, ST has never lived up to its possibilities...as far as K v K, most critics fell all over themselves praising the mundane and ordinary flick that a lot of us had to live thru...and then there was the jerk...not sure if i saw it and guessing if i did no lasting impression on me...later on Martin almost redeemed himself...what was particularly funny was all the push back on the negative reviews of E & S...! sense of humor is really a curious thing...it is what it is !
I did not like Kramer vs Kramer at all - fake, phony, and only saved by a superb performance from Meryl Streep - which is the real reason the film was really liked - without her the film would have fallen apart completely.
The book was better. Although the former Mrs. Kramer is a lot less sympathetic.
Complete opposite,she was hardly in the film.
Y don't y date your videos?
How do you not know the years all of these films were released? Are you a film fan?
I have a fb group
Just Google one title and figure it out
These guys were so uptight . Not liking “The Jerk” speaks volumes to their inability to relax and laugh
.
Yeah......amazing how so insightful they could be one minute, and how UN-insightful they could be the next !!
That said, I loved these guys.......but there were DEFINITELY times you just wanted to shake them and say, LIGHTEN UP, FRANCIS !! 😄
.
Ebert was being too generous to Star Trek. Even Leonard Nimoy hated that film.
I can understand why TMP turns people off but warts and all, I love it.
Nimoy directed my favorite of the original six - The Voyage Home. Love that film.
This first Star Trek is Mike from RedLetterMedia's favorite of all the Star Treks to this day
@@leashesoff2288 Yeah, for all the criticism the first film gets, it does have its fans.
@@citygirl5705 My personal take on the film was they tried so hard to distance themselves from campy/corny aspects of the original tv show they forgot to have fun
They're really ignoring the heart behind the jerk.
Star Trek is awful.
These guys don’t understand comedy I guess? Weird.
Well, Roger DID like COP AND A HALF, and Gene loved ON THE RIGHT TRACK with Gary Coleman!
The jerk one of the worst movies ever made
The Jerk completely ruined Steve Martin for me. After sitting through this mess I wanted my brain cells back. Kramer was overwrought and preachy. Melodrama of the highest level. Still Dustin Hoffman isn't yelling so it at least has that. Sleeping Beauty was so boring for me I fell asleep in the theater. Worse, I fell asleep during the fight between the dragon and Prince Charming. As for the Star Trek film, I hated it until years later--when William Shatner put out his book, 'Avenger' (it followed Generations, where Kirk was killed) and we find out in that book that the 'Borg won't assimilate Mr. Spock because in the Star Trek film he had done the mind-meld with Vger, and Vger was part of the Borg collective. Yep, they were the ones who 'fixed' Vger and since Spock had done the meld to the Borg he was one of them. It was a great reveal, and gave the first Star Trek film a new life for me.
Completely disagree about your takes on The Jerk and Kramer vs Kramer. Both great contributions to their respective genres, the latter in particular features phenomenal performances. I also didn't feel any preaching, we are simply getting the story of this family.As for Star Trek, there is no evidence that the V'ger had anything to do with the Borg and besides, the Borg existed long before V'ger did.
What's your thoughts on water?