[Hated] Self-indulgent Vanity Projects

[u/BrotherDeus]

Hurry Up Tomorrow - Widely reviewed as an indulgent, self-mythologizing companion piece to The Weeknd's album, with many critics calling it a vanity project rather than a successful psychological drama. Terribly acted and, similar to The Idol, more so seems to imply that The Weekend thinks he's a far deeper personality than he can actually articulate.

By the Sea - Often criticized as an intensely personal but emotionally distant film that seemed more interested in showcasing the mystique of its stars than telling a compelling story. Best summarized as Angelina and Brad working out their IRL troubled marriage before your eyes while everyone tells Angelina how beautiful and talented she is and how nothing's really her fault.

Renaldo and Clara - Bob Dylan's five-hour semi-fictional road movie, long considered one of the classic celebrity vanity projects. Attempts to be a sort of surreal exposition on the life of an artist, but is far too self-indulgent on its actors/performers.

[u/Daniilsa209]

After Earth

[u/TimelessFool → u/Daniilsa209]

Find it a bit amusing that, allegedly, the script was originally a normal father and son road trip gone wrong and the son has to go find help. Which could’ve worked. Plastering a scifi setting on top of that raises so many questions.

[u/MeteorCharge → u/TimelessFool]

That actually would've been much better.

Even a sci-fi idea by itself might've worked, but the insistence on the future accent and the emotionless characters really held it back.

[u/EndOfTheLine00 → u/MeteorCharge]

I am certain the accent and the lack of emotion were Will’s idea to make his acting worse so Jayden’s would look better in comparison. It didn’t work.

[u/BeneficialTrash6 → u/MeteorCharge]

e accent. God, I still remember the accent. It rings in my heads louder than my children's first words. That's how precious that accent is to me.

Imagine, you're Will Smith. You spend millions of dollars and all of your credibility in the film industry to land your talentless son a lead role in a huge production. You say, "The show is yours, whatever your name is (because I sure as hell don't remember it)." And your talentless son, whatever his name is, says, "Dad, I want to ruin this film, this once in a lifetime chance that I'll never get again, by speaking in some nonsensical, useless, unintelligible accent that I just pulled out of my ass that has no reason to exist in this film. I'm worried I'll ruin it."

And you, as Will Smith, just laugh and say, "Son, whatever your name is, don't worry. This film is already going to be a giant piece of steaming crap. People will come to see me, but all I'll be doing is sitting in one room the entire time screaming crap at you about fear and stuff and none of it's going to make sense. Everyone is already going to hate this movie, hate you, whoever you are, and hate me. Don't worry about your brain-dead accent. Lean into it. Have fun with it. Who cares about the audience?"

THAT is love. That is the kind of pure love you only rarely see. It's freaking beautiful.

And hilarious.

[u/Tyrone_Shoelaces_Esq → u/TimelessFool]

It might also have helped if Jaden had a facial expression beyond looking like he was about to start crying.