October 16th, 2007
6. George Lucas
If anybody didn't need a second chance, it was George Lucas: In the '90s, Star Wars was still considered one of the greatest stories ever told. When Lucas announced he would "digitally enhance" the originals for a theatrical re-release, fans were excited to see his "definitive vision." This would be Lucas' chance to cement his legacy and stake his claim on another generation's imagination. When the world got a look at the "special edition," however, many were outraged: While some of the cleaned-up effects were nice, no one was thrilled to see cartoonish CGI creatures awkwardly wedged into frames they'd long ago memorized, or additions (Greedo shooting first) that completely changed characters that some fans knew better than their own families. The prequels gave Lucas his third, fourth, and fifth chances to redeem the saga—which never needed redeeming until he started meddling with it—and while kids under 6 may someday fondly recall growing up with Jar-Jar and Li'l Darth Vader, it's safe to say his original acolytes wish Lucas had never bothered in the first place.
7. Duran Duran
Duran Duran was so synonymous with '80s pop that naming its first greatest-hits album Decade made all the sense in the world. Still, by the end of the '80s, the band's hit-making potential had greatly waned. All that changed with its second self-titled album in 1993. Also known as "The Wedding Album" for the photos on its cover, Duran Duran returned the band to the spotlight, thanks to its uncharacteristically beguiling singles "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone." Could the group claim the '90s as well? The answer arrived in the form of 1995's Thank You, a leaden covers album that veers from bad (a laughable take on Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five's "White Lines (Don't Do It)") to worse (The Doors' "The Crystal Ship").
8. Woody Allen
After spending most of the '90s making interesting-but-not-quite-there conceptual comedies, Woody Allen began the '00s with Small Time Crooks, a mediocre caper flick that caught on with audiences, if not critics. Sensing a chance to build on his moment of minor box-office clout, Allen followed up with a string of truly awful films: The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion, Hollywood Ending, Anything Else, and Melinda And Melinda. And then he scored again—this time with audiences and critics—by shifting gears from comedy to suspense, and locations from New York to London. Match Point seemed to herald a new Woody Allen, using his slow-developing gifts as a stylist to explore different moods. But Match Point was followed by the clumsy mystery-comedy Scoop, and then by the upcoming Cassandra's Dream, which by all accounts is a Match Point retread, right down to the class conflict and money woes. Given Allen's movie-a-year pace, there's a good chance that he'll make another successful film before he retires (or dies), but hopes for the great Woody Allen renaissance keep getting dashed almost as soon as they're raised.
9. Pixies
When Frank Black/Black Francis/Charles Thompson announced the Pixies reunion in late 2003, the effect was seismic: Gen-Xers, still smarting from nü-metal and boy-band pop, greeted the reformed band like returning exiled royalty. But as two years passed without new music—saved for the tossed-off "Bam Thwok," a Shrek 2 soundtrack reject—the buzz wore off. The reports changed constantly: "New Pixies LP unlikely" (MTV.com, Sept. '04); "Brand new Pixies album nears completion" (Spin, Oct. '05); "Pixies stall over new album plans" (NME, Oct. '05); "Pixies begin work on new album" (NME, Oct. '06). By summer 2007, even Black seemed to stop caring: Press materials for his new solo album, Bluefinger, dismiss talk of new material. As if to throw fans a bone, he released the album under his Pixies moniker, Black Francis.
10. John Travolta
Practically the poster boy for blown second chances, John Travolta went from superstar lead of Grease, Urban Cowboy, Saturday Night Fever, and Staying Alive to has-been star of three Look Who's Talking movies, not to mention a bunch of forgotten '80s fare like Two Of A Kind and Eyes Of An Angel. Then Quentin Tarantino revived his cool rep with Pulp Fiction. For a brief and shining moment, Travolta was a star again, though in an uneven sort of way, with snazzy vehicles like Face/Off and Get Shorty blending weirdly with failed projects like the mopey, ill-conceived White Man's Burden and Michael. The less said about what's followed, from Battlefield Earth to Wild Hogs to his fat-suited, over-the-top crooning in Hairspray, the better. Remember when he was a sex symbol? Does anyone?
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