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Ishtar

145 statements
27 feature instances
6 referencing feature instances

Ishtar	type	TVTItem
Ishtar	label	Ishtar
Ishtar	page	Ishtar
Ishtar	comment	The 1987 comedy Ishtar is about a pair of talentless and incredibly stupid lounge singers, Lyle Rogers (Warren Beatty) and Chuck Clarke (Dustin Hoffman), who can only get booked in the Middle East, where war rages and religious fanatics claim of a prophecy involving two men who will bring down the country's brutal leader. Since the CIA has major fundings in this country's current government, they first train Chuck as a spy, while Lyle falls in line with the rebels. Then when the government of Ishtar learns that these two "smucks" might be confused with the prophets, the CIA sends the two of them out into the desert to get lost, and then try to kill Rogers and Clarke when they accidentally manage to navigate through the desert and not die. Due to all the various political conflicts brought up by these events, the United States makes a deal with the lounge singers, which involves giving the people of Ishtar more freedom and Rogers and Clarke a recording contract.The production of Ishtar was set into motion by way of the fact that writer/director Elaine May had cowritten one Warren Beatty hit (Heaven Can Wait) and did a major rewrite on another Beatty hit (Reds), and Beatty wanted to work with her on something that she wrote and directed. May came up with an idea inspired by the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Road to ... series and got another bankable, respected actor, Dustin Hoffman, to costar. A big studio, Columbia Pictures, put a lot of money into this movie. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?Everything.There were production problems right from the start— firstly, the Coca-Cola Company, which owned Columbia at the time, insisted that due to other business deals Coca-Cola was involved with, the movie had to be shot in the real Sahara Desert, even though it would have been cheaper to shoot it in the Southwest United States. There were high political tensions in North Africa that made the movie dangerous to shoot (there were worries that Palestinian terrorists might try to kidnap Hoffman), and Executive Meddling, combined with a conflict between producer/star Beatty and May (both strong perfectionists with differing ideas on how the film should have been shot), brought the costs up further.The film was completed, and it was funny. New York Times film critic Vincent Canby listed it as one of the best films of the year, and multiple film directors have cited it as one of their favorite movies, including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright. Beatty and Hoffman were also happy with the final film.However, the studio changed heads during release, and the new executive, David Puttnam (who had previously competed against Beatty for a Best Picture Academy Award with their films, Chariots of Fire and Reds, respectively), sabotaged the movie by slamming it and its actors, setting off a whirlwind of bad promotion. A majority of film critics, riled by the expense of the film, slammed it, without giving it too much of a chance, and this film was so much of a loss for Columbia that the studio was spun-off into its own company and bought the rest of TriStar Pictures in a merger following a similar box office failure for Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and then the merged Columbia/TriStar was later sold to Sony. However, despite its reputation as a "flop", Ishtar actually beat out some good competition, and could have done financially well if it had not been so expensive to produce. Still, its massive financial failure caused significant damage to its reputation.Despite the poor reception it received at the time, Ishtar is not received nearly as badly as it once was, and even though it is one of a handful of films that are synonymous with the phrase "Box Office Bomb", most viewers find it relatively entertaining. Even Gary Larson, who had mocked the film in one Far Side cartoonnote specifically, the cartoon where Ishtar is the only movie available at Hell's Video Store, admitted that he had made assumptions based on the film's reputation, and it was actually pretty funny when he finally saw it on an airplane. It's basically a good movie beset by production and financial issues that marked it unfairly in the eyes of the public.For more about Elaine May's battles with film studios, read about A New Leaf.
Ishtar	fetched	2024-03-23T04:44:59Z
Ishtar	parsed	2024-03-23T04:44:59Z
Ishtar	processingComment	Dropped link to ArabOilSheikh: Not a Feature - ITEM
Ishtar	processingComment	Dropped link to TheProphecy: Not a Feature - ITEM
Ishtar	isPartOf	DBTropes
Ishtar / int_1dfbbf31	type	Heterosexual Life-Partners
Ishtar / int_1dfbbf31	comment	Heterosexual Life-Partners: Lyle and Chuck, especially after they get dumped by their lovers.
Ishtar / int_1dfbbf31	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_1dfbbf31	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_1dfbbf31
Ishtar / int_1e159001	type	Diagonal Billing
Ishtar / int_1e159001	comment	Diagonal Billing: Beatty and Hoffman in the opening credits (and the poster), with Isabelle Adjani's name in the middle.
Ishtar / int_1e159001	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_1e159001	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_1e159001
Ishtar / int_246989a4	type	Circling Vultures
Ishtar / int_246989a4	comment	Circling Vultures: Lyle and Chuck encounter them in the desert.
Ishtar / int_246989a4	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_246989a4	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_246989a4
Ishtar / int_25f0ed12	type	Hollywood Tone-Deaf
Ishtar / int_25f0ed12	comment	Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Clarke and Rogers. The songs were composed by Paul Williams, who admitted it was hard work to write deliberately bad songs.
Ishtar / int_25f0ed12	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_25f0ed12	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_25f0ed12
Ishtar / int_2740531a	type	She Cleans Up Nicely
Ishtar / int_2740531a	comment	She Cleans Up Nicely: Shirra, when we see her out of her headscarf in the final scene.
Ishtar / int_2740531a	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_2740531a	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_2740531a
Ishtar / int_2764d432	type	Bitch in Sheep's Clothing
Ishtar / int_2764d432	comment	Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Carol starts out as a calm and supportive girlfriend to Chuck, but once her patience ran thin, she reveals her true colors when she spitefully dumps Chuck out of hatred of him being a total loser and his support of another loser Lyle and her thinking It's All About Me.
Ishtar / int_2764d432	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_2764d432	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_2764d432
Ishtar / int_2a2d62a0	type	Talking Down the Suicidal
Ishtar / int_2a2d62a0	comment	Talking Down the Suicidal: Lyle does this for Chuck.
Ishtar / int_2a2d62a0	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_2a2d62a0	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_2a2d62a0
Ishtar / int_2ae7bc4b	type	Captain Oblivious
Ishtar / int_2ae7bc4b	comment	Captain Oblivious: Lyle and Chuck, but Lyle especially.
Ishtar / int_2ae7bc4b	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_2ae7bc4b	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_2ae7bc4b
Ishtar / int_34dcfc96	type	Kick the Dog
Ishtar / int_34dcfc96	comment	Kick the Dog: Willa and Carol both remorselessly and spitefully breaking up with Lyle and Chuck for them being total losers with Carol taking a step further by cruelly insulting Chuck by saying "your life is a joke."
Ishtar / int_34dcfc96	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_34dcfc96	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_34dcfc96
Ishtar / int_35b241c0	type	Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping
Ishtar / int_35b241c0	comment	Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Lyle's drawl goes from slight in the opening New York scenes to thick once they're in Morocco. Most likely explained by the New York sequence being the last thing filmed; Warren Beatty was probably worn out by that point and just wanted to get the shoot finished.
Ishtar / int_35b241c0	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_35b241c0	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_35b241c0
Ishtar / int_50f848cc	type	Technology Porn
Ishtar / int_50f848cc	comment	Technology Porn: Not really overt, but the CIA surveillance van has a couple Kenwood communications receivers (most conspicuously the R-1000), which were highly prized by shortwave radio hobbyists in The '80s and are still considered collectors' items.
Ishtar / int_50f848cc	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_50f848cc	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_50f848cc
Ishtar / int_544f446	type	Loser Protagonist
Ishtar / int_544f446	comment	Loser Protagonist: Chuck and Lyle, to point even their first loves dumped them for being losers.
Ishtar / int_544f446	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_544f446	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_544f446
Ishtar / int_5da37ab5	type	Triumphant Reprise
Ishtar / int_5da37ab5	comment	Triumphant Reprise: "Dangerous Business", the song that Rogers and Clarke are working on at the beginning of the film, comes back at the end, when the lyrics have a lot more resonance.
Ishtar / int_5da37ab5	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_5da37ab5	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_5da37ab5
Ishtar / int_80f4e386	type	Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance
Ishtar / int_80f4e386	comment	Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Lyle and Chuck, big time.
Ishtar / int_80f4e386	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_80f4e386	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_80f4e386
Ishtar / int_8cb1a369	type	Took a Level in Jerkass
Ishtar / int_8cb1a369	comment	Took a Level in Jerkass: Carol, from a supportive girlfriend of Chuck who then spitefully drops him like a rock out of Irrational Hatred of him being a complete loser and his music.
Ishtar / int_8cb1a369	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_8cb1a369	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_8cb1a369
Ishtar / int_98b5f82b	type	Basement-Dweller
Ishtar / int_98b5f82b	comment	Basement-Dweller: Chuck admits to Lyle that he lived with his parents until he was 32.
Ishtar / int_98b5f82b	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_98b5f82b	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_98b5f82b
Ishtar / int_bda3d97b	type	It's a Long Story
Ishtar / int_bda3d97b	comment	It's a Long Story: Chuck proudly mentions that his nickname is The Hawk, but uses these exact words in declining to explain why.
Ishtar / int_bda3d97b	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_bda3d97b	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_bda3d97b
Ishtar / int_c3a7dcab	type	Qurac
Ishtar / int_c3a7dcab	comment	Qurac: Ishtar itself, an emirate bordering Morocco that's on the brink of civil war.
Ishtar / int_c3a7dcab	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_c3a7dcab	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_c3a7dcab
Ishtar / int_c5ef2d50	type	Cringe Comedy
Ishtar / int_c5ef2d50	comment	Cringe Comedy: Elaine May's main comedy trope. The '80s audiences weren't ready for that sort of humor.
Ishtar / int_c5ef2d50	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_c5ef2d50	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_c5ef2d50
Ishtar / int_cefe1ed5	type	Lounge Lizard
Ishtar / int_cefe1ed5	comment	Lounge Lizard: Chuck worked as one, and Lyle was impressed with his performance, which is how they got together.
Ishtar / int_cefe1ed5	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_cefe1ed5	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_cefe1ed5
Ishtar / int_dae3844e	type	Hidden Disdain Reveal
Ishtar / int_dae3844e	comment	Hidden Disdain Reveal: Carol initially seemed to be supportive of Chuck, however, when she breaks up with him after losing patience with him, she vents out her true feelings of hatred of him for being a complete loser and his music, having feigned support for his musical pursuits out of her own selfishness all along.
Ishtar / int_dae3844e	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_dae3844e	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_dae3844e
Ishtar / int_dae5c997	type	Action Girl
Ishtar / int_dae5c997	comment	Action Girl: Shirra
Ishtar / int_dae5c997	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_dae5c997	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_dae5c997
Ishtar / int_e5fd8bc2	type	Hate Sink
Ishtar / int_e5fd8bc2	comment	Hate Sink: While the main antagonists are Laughably Evil Ineffectual Sympathetic Villains, Chuck's and Lyle's exes, Carol and Willa, are both treated as absolute shallow and spiteful snobs who both cruelly dumped our leads for being losers and want nothing to do with them, showing no remorse for Chuck's and Lyle's plights.
Ishtar / int_e5fd8bc2	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_e5fd8bc2	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_e5fd8bc2
Ishtar / int_eb8ec7c8	type	Jerkass
Ishtar / int_eb8ec7c8	comment	Jerkass: Willa and Carol, both of them are shallow, simmering, selfish and spiteful snobs who hates their loser exes and their music to the point they broke up with with Carol clearly angrily leaving Chuck's life and insulting him that his life is a joke to put the rotten icing on the cake just to hurt him out of Irrational Hatred of him.
Ishtar / int_eb8ec7c8	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_eb8ec7c8	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_eb8ec7c8
Ishtar / int_f717d46e	type	Stock Foreign Name
Ishtar / int_f717d46e	comment	Stock Foreign Name: Lyle is supposed to find a camel trader named Mohammed, and as you can imagine that doesn't narrow things down very much in Morocco.
Ishtar / int_f717d46e	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_f717d46e	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_f717d46e
Ishtar / int_f75cf3bd	type	Terrible Interviewees Montage
Ishtar / int_f75cf3bd	comment	Terrible Interviewees Montage: Open mic night variation. The other performers are polished but their songs are insipid ("I'm quitting high school 'cause you don't like me"). Rogers and Clarke are insipid and awkward.
Ishtar / int_f75cf3bd	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_f75cf3bd	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_f75cf3bd
Ishtar / int_name	type	ItemName
Ishtar / int_name	comment
Ishtar / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
Ishtar / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
Ishtar	hasFeature	Ishtar / int_name
Ishtar / int_name	itemName	Ishtar

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Ishtar	hasFeature	Bile Fascination / int_88834661
Ishtar	hasFeature	Dueling-Stars Movie / int_88834661
Ishtar	hasFeature	Insult to Rocks / int_88834661
Ishtar	hasFeature	Qurac / int_88834661
Ishtar	hasFeature	Wag the Director / int_88834661
Ishtar	hasFeature	Trailer Delay / int_88834661

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