Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)

[TheFrenchTeacher 0]

"Academy Award-winning screenwriter John Patrick Shanley's first foray into the director's chair is a quirky romantic fantasy, featuring Bo Welch's signature production design. " (from RottenTomatoes)

 

A lot of people dislike this movie, but I always liked it. It's a whimsical little fable (except the ending which really is too dumb even for me).

 

Why should HDTGM do it? Meg Ryan plays 3 different women. You also have Tom Hanks, Lloyd Bridges, Amanda Plummer, Robert Stack, Abe Vigoda, and Ossie Davis.

 

It's just such a strange little movie.

[seanotron 2307]

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

If theyre going to do a Tom Hanks rom-com i'd prefer they do the one where he was living in an airport and Catherine Zeta Jones falls in love with him.

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

A strange movie, but good a good one.

[TheFrenchTeacher 0]

If theyre going to do a Tom Hanks rom-com i'd prefer they do the one where he was living in an airport and Catherine Zeta Jones falls in love with him.

 

I have to say this...

 

Mistaking it for a rom-com must be why some people don't like the movie. As a rom-com, it's a silly nothing of a movie, but as a fable about a man who journeys to meet death, it's lovely.

 

The details in this movie really are amazing. Meg Ryan's characters are avatars who reflect Joe's inner state (that's why the same actress plays all three parts). The recurring lighting bolt, the bigger than life characters, the body language, the music, the colors, the camera angles, and the unreal looking sets all seem to have been carefully planned as fairy tale trappings.

 

Even though I wish they hadn't included the island, even that has that carefully chosen feel about it.

 

I really do love this movie, but I know it's a little different and easy to dismiss. Maybe you had to have been stuck in one of those soul-sucking jobs to see the charm of it. I don't know. I only know that I wasn't the only one who was a little obsessed with it.

 

It's probably not a very good HDTGM movie, but I'm too charmed by it to have an unbiased opinion. I am curious about the people who dismiss it though. Am I reading too much into it or are you missing something?

[JamesSayess 0]

Hi Guys! Love your show. Would u ever do an episode on Joe versus the Valcano? #orangesoda

[JamesSayess 0]

Guys! I'm not shitting on this movie. But, if the name of the show is "how did this get made" Joe V. Volcano to me is a great example of one of those weird off-beat, now-would-be low budget Indie, quirky "art" flicks that for a small window in the 90s managed to have HUGE studio budgets and A-list stars. And, quite frankly I am curious to know "how" did this get made?

[JamesSayess 0]

Also, I'm new to the forum, so in hindsight I probably shouldn't have started this topic in the BAD movies forum. That said, I still want them to do an episode on this classic flic and get into all the juicy details that surround this move, so if anyone out there knows of a better to voice my request to the show, I'm all ears!!!:-) Thanks

[JamesSayess 0]

And one more thing, while I agree that Shanley is literally one of the greatest playwrights of our time, he did write Congo, arguably one of the biggest studio pieces-of-shit of all time. And, I agree they could've done without the island ending.

[Glen Toran 94]

And one more thing, while I agree that Shanley is literally one of the greatest playwrights of our time, he did write Congo, arguably one of the biggest studio pieces-of-shit of all time. And, I agree they could've done without the island ending.

 

They've already done Congo which I'm happy to say that I paid to see in the cinema when it came out and enjoyed immensely and I also enjoyed their dissection of it just as much.

[JamesSayess 0]

Yes it was! I think JvV will also be a good one:-)

[KillGod666 1]

Now that HDTGM has done Prelude to a Kiss, I think it's the perfect time for them to do an episode on this 1990 monstrosity, which was actually the very first on-screen romantic pairing of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan (!!!). Ryan plays not one, not two, but three different characters (!!!).This movie is so messed up, it makes Prelude look completely sane in comparison.

Read the synopsis of this movie on its Wikipedia page, and tell me if it doesn't make your head explode from the insanity of it all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Versus_the_Volcano It doesn't even mention that Hanks' character in this movie works in an anal probe factory.

Here's the trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=cmQDIne3CLo