10 Films That Were Clearly Vanity Projects

10. Cool As Ice €“ Vanilla Ice

cool as ice Ahhh Vanilla Ice, a one hit wonder and star of his own feature length film. How did things go so wrong? Well firstly he was a niche performer with one catchy song, while his rapping sounds like an average 13 year old€™s demo tapes. And secondly cynical marketing pushes such as this left him unable to gain any credibility after. Cool As Ice is a mess and doesn€™t provide anything new, wearing out tired clichés, such as the revenge plot that is stuffed in toward the end, as well as the tired and tested romance. Other plot devices used are the contrast between Vanilla Ice who is apparently meant to be what everyone wants to be and a stuck up, arrogant boyfriend who is currently with the love interest. It doesn€™t inspire much intrigue. Vanilla Ice is no actor and having a starring role magnifies those deficiencies in his acting ability. In his defence however, the script is atrocious and includes such zingers as €œDrop the zero and get with the hero€, how could anyone not fall for his charms. Other strange inclusions are the weird music video-esque montages that resemble commercials and simply unnecessary fast forward footage of a family in their home. It€™s a bizarre mix that doesn€™t do the film any favours. Cool as Ice is designed to be a cynical cash grab on an established name of the time. It€™s certainly a glorious thing to know the movie tanked with Vanilla Ice slowly moving into the wilderness shortly after. Rather amazingly, the cinematographer for Cool as Ice was Janusz Kaminski in his first studio film, just two years before he won an Oscar for Schindler€™s List.
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Contributor

Currently in my 3rd year studying for a BA in English Literature & Film at Edinburgh Napier University. Twitter - @niallmcloughlin