9 March, 2016. 11:34
ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
IN THE SAME WEEK THAT Clive Palmer pledged to save Queensland Nickel from collapse, the 61-year-old exposed a part of himself that’s seldom seen in his world of high finance and politics – a love of classic cinema.
Nodding to early masterpieces such as the 1936 landmark film Reefer Madness, a tale detailing the dangers of smoking marijuana and Hobgoblins, a late eighties horror film that famously caused Palmer’s first stroke, nothing compares to his favorite film of all time.
“Like Mulholland Drive, I think that people tend to get the wrong end of the stick when it comes to Gigli,” said Palmer.
“It’s a work of art and you need to take a few steps back to see the big picture. There’s never any on-screen chemistry anymore. You don’t get real Hollywood relationships like ‘Bennifer’ anymore, at least not like they were in the 90’s.”
Despite being panned by nearly every critic in the free world, Gigli has garnered a cult following that includes Australia’s 30th most wealthy person, who regards the film has his most favorite.
Starring Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Christopher Walken and Al Pacino, it seemed the movie was too big to fail, but it did.
It’s widely regarded as one of the worst films of all time. Robert Ebert, one of history’s most famous film critics, was watching the movie with friends short after it’s VHS release when about ten minutes into the film, his eyes rolled back into his head and he lost consciousness.
Ebert’s aneurysm occurred when Lopez’s character revealed that she was a lesbian.
Prior to making the call on the Queensland Nickel crisis, Clive consulted the lifesize cut-out of Ben Affleck that stands in the corner of the reception in his Maroochydore electorate office.
“I think there’s a bit of Larry Gigli in all of us. I keep him close because, like me, we’ve both had to choose between love, power and money.”
“We’ve all had a crazy woman like Ricki in our lives, too. It hits home.”
