OB Watchalong: Arthur (2011)
Added 2025-06-23 19:51:40 +0000 UTC
Comments
Seriously. My rare chuckles only came from Al's contributions. And my only full throated laugh was from their comment on Willow's (the doggo) added commentary during the mid-break.
Scat Cannon
2025-06-26 02:11:40 +0000 UTCThe writing in this movie is just so heavy-handed. I can see some of the appeal of writing about the potential pitfalls of growing up inordinately wealthy, but there's too much spoiled ham in this sandwich (as I can often appreciate some *proper* hamming it up). Ugh, now I'm gonna have to check out the original Arthur just to see if there's any charm.
Scat Cannon
2025-06-26 02:04:16 +0000 UTCAlso, I think it's worth pointing out that the original Arthur had that song by Christopher Cross. It's a way better song than the one in this film. It's really hard to top that yacht rock God, so I won't hold that against it. I guess what I'm trying to say is Christopher Cross is really good.
Chuck Grape
2025-06-25 18:13:11 +0000 UTCUpon watching Al's watchalong, I can say this movie is pretty bad. Worse than I thought it would be. Russell Brand is a very bad actor. There is zero depth to his portrayal of this character. It's really not even that deep, either. Arthur is a guy who's very happy on the outside but it's obvious that his drinking and frivolous lifestyle is masking sadness. Dudley Moore laid the groundwork really well. It seems like Brand has overlooked those details, which are very obvious and simple. There's also no chemistry between him and pretty much everyone. You get a sense that maybe some of these people didn't want to be around him and it comes off on screen.
Chuck Grape
2025-06-25 15:22:31 +0000 UTCAlso that whole film is terribly paced entirely because of Russel Brand, any other actor could have made that work.
WritingInVerse
2025-06-25 14:33:09 +0000 UTCSo Arthur Learned nothing, didn't change, and got everything he wanted? Great.
WritingInVerse
2025-06-25 14:32:40 +0000 UTCMy god this is bad. I can’t even laugh. If you weren’t with me on the journey, I would have lasted about a minute.
Awakening Wonk
2025-06-24 20:18:22 +0000 UTCAs a palate cleanser, I might watch "Turning Red".
Taru Tikkanen
2025-06-24 11:42:54 +0000 UTCThis remake really did not need to happen. Gah. I, too am glad it's done. The watch-a-long was fun, even though the film wasn't.
Taru Tikkanen
2025-06-24 11:30:01 +0000 UTC12:43, Al with "So far Russel has been entirely charmless." Oh Al, you're far too kind! 5-ish minutes in, and so far Russel has been nothing save a falsetto annoying menace 🫣
Scat Cannon
2025-06-24 03:12:45 +0000 UTC"Not "SpaceBalls"," lol! To me "Spaceballs" is near the height of parody movies. So , saying not quite that is actually a major compliment in my book (and I'm not sure that's what you meant).
Scat Cannon
2025-06-24 02:55:21 +0000 UTCI'm not sure I would like this movie and I don't doubt it sucks. I did watch Arthur 2: On the Rocks when I was a kid. It was one of the movies Grandma recorded off of HBO. From what I remember, it was fine. Not Spaceballs but tolerable for a grown up movie. At least it's no longer the worst film in the Arthur franchise. I think that's as far as I need to go into the Arturverse. I will watch this review and take Al's word for it.
Chuck Grape
2025-06-24 00:53:53 +0000 UTC
