Hmm, I wonder whose rating is the standard here by which to measure the overrating?
Anyway, I find most Hollywood stuff pretty bad and overrated (two thumbs up - anybody?). But some of it is pretty enjoyable, though, just for that reason (however, it's a bit disappointing, that I'm usually the only one in the theater laughing at stuff like the 'Scorpion King').
Anybody saw 'The Piano Teacher' lately? Now, that (among a lot of other independent movies) is a good movie with a stunning performance of Isabelle Huppert. |
My 10 Favorite movies In no particular order are:
Brazil
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Some Like It Hot
Coneheads
The Empire Strikes Back
Dr. Strangelove
Citizen Kane
Dark City
Akira
A River Runs Through It
The Ten Most Overhyped movies IMHO are:
Titanic
Star Wars: Episode 1
Star Wars: Attttackkk of the Ccloness
Gladiator
The Patriot
Traffic
Armageddon
Harry Potter
Pearl Harbor
Dances with Wolves
Lord of the Rings
I have enjoyed many of these movies but I still think that in one way or another they were made out to be much better than they actually were. |
No Killerpiggy, I loved Independence Day. |
completely agree with Charles on favorite movie list. I'd like to add:
(1) Indiana Jones I and II
(1.5) First 3 Star Wars
(2) Forrest Gump (man it's deep!)
(3) Almost all Jackie Chan movie
(4) True Lies
(5) Yeah! The Blues Brothers!!!!
(6) 1941
Hate list:
(1) Momento ( made my head spin uncontrollable for serval days! )
(2) Anything by Oliver Stone -- Liberal/self righteous B#$%^@t!
Not bad but over rated:
(1) Titanic
(2) Harry Potter
(3) out of africa
(4) (New) Stars Wars I/II
(5) A Beautiful Mind
Phew ......... |
Agreed, Gunbei, on the Halloween; ever see In Cold Blood? those first 15 minutes or so are a terrifying as anything I've ever seen. Saw it once, could not bear to see it again.
KP |
Killerpiglet - I thought Alien was great too. The movies you've mentioned all create an intense mood not through action, but through good filmmaking and great photography. I'd like to add the first Halloween movie to that list as well. |
Gunbei, I agree with you.
Manhunter was a true horror flick.
The first scene, where the flasligh is svcanning the staircase as the perpetrator walks up, then scans over a teddy bear that has been tossed on one of the steps.
A real horror flick in the true sense of the term, like the first Alien. The Lecter in Silence of the Lambs was on over the top cartoon character.
KP |
I think this is one of the best threads we have had in a while. I guess everybody comes from such different sets of circumstances(Thanks,Joni M).Different things appeal / or repel us; all--within the same movie. Some focus on one part of / others on another.--For some reason most foreign movies have more of that "takes you there" feeling.When I watch a movie,I want to be transported.-- A movie with out of era dialog or MUSIC (you know what movie I'm talking about) disrupts my brain's continuitly.I hate movies where I'm being mislead intentionally because some director/screen writer can't come up with a good enough story in the first place. |
Ahh, Manhunter, now that was a cool movie. In many ways that Hannibal Lecter was creepier than the one most people are familiar with. I'll be very happy when Red Dragon is made. |
It's difficult to list the most overrated movies, but here are a few I did not like:
Fight Club
The Mexican
The Blairwitch......
Traffic
Platoon
A few of my favorites:
Seven
The Thin Red Line
The Usual Suspects
Manhunter
Pitch Black
I watch movies to be entertained. Nothing more, nothing less.
Jim |
Has anyone noted that my movie list, which incompassed many of the other posts, is just a list of the Oscar winner going back in order 16+ years...except that I dropped off Titanic and Forest Gump which I thought should have won...hey, when its your opinion, you can do what you like.
cd |
This is great! Many of the movies mentioned are ones that someone loves and someone else hates. Wouldn't it be great to be a movie critic? One of the reasons I love this site is that there can be extreme, healthy disagreement without it getting personal (well, most of the time).
Treyhoss, I forgot about Last Emperor -- there's a movie that deserves to be on the overrated list. It needed serious editing work to patch all the holes in it. Bbtuna, I am also a big Tolkien fan and really enjoyed the movie, which was quite true to the book -- again one of those love it or hate it flicks. |
There has been a lot of bashing of movies that I like as well, Braveheart, Dances With Wolves, A Clockwork Orange and Gladiator being a few, but IMO the following really define overhyped:
1. Unforgiven - this lame attempt of Eastwood to try and shed his "man with no name" image failed miserably. Too many times when they TRY and make characters flawed, you end up just not caring about them. That, plus a lot of other things in this movie never held water.
2. Spiderman - OK, it takes the high school kid to point out to the scientist that one of their spiders, supposedly monitored 24/7, is missing? And has created a nest up in the rafters of this place no less. And while most villians have a plan that needs to be thwarted, the Green Goblin had nothing. Gotta love (and wonder) why the billionare bad guy and his son hang out to eat Thanksgiving dinner with the peasants from the hood (how did they know each other again?)- VERY BELIEVABLE! And this has made over $400M???
3. Anything by Woody Allen in the last 10 years - need I really get into why?
4. Platoon - ditto what others have said. As my father once said. "I'm still waiting to see the 'Nam movie where somebody came back 'normal' and wasn't involved in a massacre of civilians". So I guess a long list of Vietnam films can be thrown on this heap, from "Born on the 4th of July to my next film...
5. Apocalypse Now - I know I'm going to catch Hell on this one but this is one of those movies where the ending kills a good thing. Yes,yes, I know about the Joseph Conrad parallel but when a movie is a narrative for it's first 2-1/2 hours, don't turn it into a impressionistic experiment for the last 1/2 hour. The pink, red and white smoke while arriving at Kurtz's lair is too over the top as is the whole surreal set. Restraint in this area would have justified the rest of this, otherwise, worthy film. But hey, I love Citizen Cane too and my wife hate's it - go figure.
6. Pearl Harbor/Armeggedon/Con Air (or anything else that Jerry Bruckheimer is involved in) - For the love of God, I don't know of anyone else that can serve up the visual pablum of this producer - each flick always has the slo-mo "americana" thing that is so pandering it literally makes me sick. Think Armeggeddon after the meteor explodes and there is a slo-mo of 3 "small town" kids (ethnically diverse, of course) waving the flag, while running past the red brick General store that has a portrait of Kennedy painted on the side of it. Or the explosion (pick a film) that is shown from every possible angle ad nauseum. Subtlety is not in this guy's dictionary.
I'll stop there, although there are a ton of movies that fit into this category. I feel better now...:-)!! |
Most Overrated...The assumption is that someone made a big deal of them in the first place. You may notice that my list all have something in common?
Gladiator
American Beauty
Shakespeare in Love
The English Patient
Braveheart
Unforgiven
Silence of the Lambs
Dance with Wolves
Driving Miss Daisy
Rain Man
The Last Emperor
Platoon
Out of Aftica
Amadeus
Terms of Endearment
Gandhi...
Titanic struck, no pun intended, the hearts and minds of more than teen girls. I am a 45 year old man who saw it 5 times in the theater and own 2 VHS versions and one DVD. This movie grossed 1.9B worldwide and the next closest is only 900M...the movie goer spoke with their wallet.
Finding the best or most overrated is hard to do without defining your measuring rod. I am not into statement movies that have no entertainment value and I don't like artsy movies that also have no entertainment value.
There are exceptions to this rule, Star Wars Epsisode 1 & 2, made a lot of money but no one really liked them. Everyone was hoping for the original trilogy magic and it just isn't there....nor will be.
Love LOTR. In my mind, being a hugh LOTR fan (read the trilogy more than 2 dozen times, own a collection of all the Calendars going back to 1973), I was ready to be extremely disappointed...the movie was not the book but the movie was very good. It held most of the feel of the book but made the jump to big screen (unlike Harry Potter). I think the whole team did a masterful job with a very very difficult and complicated story. Legalas rocks.
Love Tom Hanks.
Love Croching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I don't think this movie was overhyped I think it was under hyped and I considered a "find". A movie that doesn't get much press but is really almost an undiscovered jewel. Now that isn't true anymore but when it first came out it was a find.
did not like Momento but it was not hyped either so I couldn't say it was overrated. I agree the Mexican was terrible but again I don't know how much hype it got to begin with. Also, and this should get some people hot, didn't like Fight Club or Traffic, both of which I think have been hyped and both of which I rank as some of the worst I have ever seen.
opinions abound
cd |
Kirk, there are many, many greats! Out of my top 30 or so, Casablanca, Citizin Kane (saw it in high school and it made one heck of an impression on me), Godfather, Napolean (Russian two part film -- 180,000 soviet troops were used!), Little Big Man, Unforgiven (derivative, but still so good), Pulp Fiction. It goes on. A couple of recent ones I greatly enjoyed are Bread and Tulips and Memento (see comments above).
I can't recall -- did anyone mention Moulin Rouge as greatly overrated? What do you think of that movie? |
Kirk:
Here are JUST a few of my favorite movies. Movies that I have the good fortune of owning, and thus, have become mainstays in my movie collection. These are movies that I will look at again, again, and again.
And they are:
(01). Die Hard.
(02). Die Hard II (Die Harder).
(03). The Godfather I.
(04). The Godfather II.
(05). Lethal Weapon I.
(06). Lethal Weapon II.
(07). Speed.
(08). The Specialist.
(09). Exit Wounds.
(10). Passenger 57.
(11). The Terminator (1984).
(12). Terminator 2--Judgement Day (1990).
And on my wish list is the complete James Bond series. And that is from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosman (if I spelled his name correctly). The movies that are listed above are the just the select few that I would look at again, again and again. Of course, there are some that I have regret buying (I think I have mentioned those yesterday), as well as those that I find so-so (so that I don't purchase any more of those either, maybe I better open me a rental account somewhere....... For "so-so" type of movies, Ocean 11 and Entrapment (but I am in love with Kathrene Zeta Jones) come to mind).
And speaking of another movie that I don't like, how about Spy Game???
--Charles-- |
These are a few of my favourite movies.............
The Deer Hunter,Annie Hall,Manhattan,The Vanishing(Dutch original),Goodfella's,anything with the Marx Bros.,Blade Runner,Fight Club,The Duellists,Five Easy Pieces,One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest,Withnail and I recently really enjoyed Ameliee |
ok you guys and gals, what kind of movies do you like? i can watch gone with the wind with great pleasure. i can watch some like it hot and laugh like crazy. casablanca all these and many many more like them cannot be duplicated. i can go on all night. but gladiator kicked ass, dances with wolves made me hate to be white.saving privite ryan ; i spoke with a ww2 veteren who was on the beach in normady , and said it was the most realistic film he had ever seen. i loved apocalypse now. platoon , full metal jacket. spartacus was awsome as well. how about robert mitchum, night of the hunter, great film. the worst films i have ever seen are; fargo, the color of money, strange days, freaked is the all time worst movie ever. you guys must have three movies in time you like. just because you guys dont like russel crow. he is a damn good actor who paid his dues and who deserves his oscar. bottom line is everyone likes different things. i love to watch movies . i enjoy tunes more but i still love movies. |
i forgot that one "the perfect storm". what a horrible movie trying to make heros out of anyone....
i agree with anothe bomb overrated: crouching tiger, hidden dragon.
now for another underrated movie because i never heard of it before and it blew me away.
jeepers creepers.... what a great scary film. where did that come from!!!!!! |
Well...even though I enjoyed the film (but not a LOT), I will agree that Lord of the Rings was very over-rated. Perhaps my expectation were too high. I didn't even bother mentioning 'Titantic' since that one's so obvious that it goes without saying. Star Wars (or, rather, the whole SW 'phenomena') probably should go on that list as well. Yes, I was hypnotized by the hype as a young & impressionable youth and saw the film 8 or 9 times, and yes, it does embody some of the classic mythic elements of film tied into a well-composed and admittedly entertaining package. Looking at it now and considering the repercussions that have followed, it is very easy to argue that Star Wars marked the beginning of the decline of American cinema. (and to Fatparrot: yes, the Ewoks must be destroyed!!) A couple of films that represent in a perfectly distilled form the decline to which I refer are 'The Perfect Storm' and 'Mission to Mars'. Maybe they don't belong on a most over-rated list, but they're definitely on my worst-in-recent-history list; films I truly loathed and took personal offense from. I could go on...but I won't! |
Now wait a minute, over 20 posts and no one mentions Bored of the Rings???
For those of you fortunate enough to have spent your time doing anything else, say lancing boils at the old folks home, allow me to summarize: uninspired dialogue, swordfight with cartoon monster, change of venue; uninspired dialogue, swordfight with cartoon monster, change of venue; uninspired dialogue, swordfight with cartoon monster, change of venue; uninspired dialogue, swordfight with cartoon monster, change of .....
Now, in fairness, the filmakers did toss in a few swordfights with DIFFERENT monsters in the SAME venue, just to keep the dim bulbs guessing. And technically the animation was good, but who gives a rats ass? I don't enjoy books because they are well bound.
Best moment? Mercifully, even $100M runs out and the film does eventually end, at which point some nerf ball stands up and starts clapping, to which there was a collective groan and everyone, head down in a mind numbing daze, shuffles their way out of the theater, trying to remember their name and regretting that they had not stayed home and reorganized photo albums.
I LOVED the ending. |
Did anyone mention "American Beauty"? An Academy Award winner? Did I miss something? Also, "Titanic" and "Gladiator" as Academy Award winners? The Academy has now become a popularity and promotional marketing (read that "vote buying") event, NOT having anything to do with the best picture or even a good picture. Changing the subject, anyone that doesn't understand and thinks that "Clockwork Orange" and "Citizen Kane" weren't outstanding movies and worth EVERY ounce of acclaim, well, I suggest that S.W. "Attack of the Clones" might be more your speed! Speaking of the original Star Wars trilogy, "The Empire Strikes Back" was the only decent one out of the bunch. Although the other two were fun, "Empire" was a far superior movie. And, in "The Return of the Jedi", did anyone else besides me want to see those obnoxious Ewoks slaughtered in a bloody massacre, ala Sam Peckinpah style? |
This is pretty funny. Several of those mentioned I like a lot (Gladiator, Apollo 13, Fargo, Unbreakable, Memento)
Here's my most overrated list:
Crouching Tiger - Hidden Dragon
Citizen Kane
Anything by Woody Allen
A Clockwork Orange
The Mummy |
Star Wars???? Gee, how about Planet of the Apes??? Also, I thought that Unbreakable was a WEEEEEEEE bit overated. A lot of people in my area made such a big deal about this movie when it finally came out on DVD that I just had to buy a copy myself (BIG mistake..... I regret doing so now). And don't let me get started on Traffic. The plot was all messed up with this movie, with NO ending in sight, even when the damn end of the movie came up. I am still trying to figure out to this VERY day, how in the hell did this movie win (or got nominated) for any Academy or Oscar awards??? For it to get the acolades that it did, this has to be one of the most disappointing movies to ever become part of my movie collection. Blow also gets a nomination from me as one of the most overated movies ever made.
Okay, once again, here are MY five most overated movies ever.
(01). Planet of the Apes (Man, I am glad I don't own this piece of garbage).
(02). Unbreakable.
(03). Traffic.
(04). Blow.
Well, I tried to come up with five. But I managed to come up with four. I'm sure there are others out there. But those are the four that come to mind right now.
Later????
--Charles-- |
Pawil, Apocalyspe Now Redux takes the original and expands on it. The boat ride up the river becomes a long and trying journey which heightens the final landing at Kurtz's compound.
Pulp Fiction is one of my all-time faves, and I like Jackie Brown as well. A bit of trivia for you. Remember Bonnie from Pulp Fiction, Tarantino's wife in the film that everyone was so afraid of? She is a temp at Sony Pictures where I do a lot of work, and she has a beautiful face to go along with the nice rear view we get in the movie. She's also one of the witnesses staring at Bruce Willis after he crashes his car in another part of the film. She also makes a speaking appearance as the flight announcer in Jackie Brown at the end of the long single take of Pam Grier walking through LAX which starts the movie.
A Clockwork Orange is a favorite of mine too. Nothing funnier than Malcolm Mcdowell kicking the crap out of that old geezer while singing and stomping in tune to "Singing in the Rain". And while we're on Kubrick, Dr. Strangelove is fantastic as well.
I'm sure I'll raise the ire of a few sci-fi people here, but I don't understand why everyone holds The Matrix in such high esteem. Great mood, visual effects and production design, but a plain goofy story with the worn-out "chosen one" theme and "love conquers all" ending that makes me cringe with embarrasment. Plus, how can anyone take Keanu Reeves seriously? This guy has the acting talent of a Bose stereo. I loved Bill and Ted's Excellent movies, but Bill and Ted on a runaway bus? Bill and Ted with a leather overcoat and guns doing Kung Fu? come on! Now BladeRunner, that's a sci-fi movie!
Oh, and I don't get why Citizen Kane is the greatest movie of all-time. Great photography, but beyond that it didn't grab me. |
Hey, I loved Memento; to Unsounds' point though, I am very empathetic to it since my memory ain't what it used to be. I'm sorry, what was I saying? |
Memento-irritated the hell out of me-it was better than Suspects but used a similar trick-the pity for me was there was a great idea in there but it just never got developred or resolved-the nature of the plot meant that anything was possible,with no empathy for the main character I found myself bored rigid long before the end....I'm with you Unsound it would be in my top 10-the critics loved it.... |
I loved Fargo and love (or at least respect) almost everything the Coen brothers have put out, before and since. The Big Lebowski and The Man Who Wasn't There - superb. Dances With Wolves is at the absolute top of my Overrated list. Made just before Kevin Costner was exposed for the second rate talent he is by the movie Waterworld, I found the movie to be horribly paced, which led to it being about twice as long as it needed to be. And, oh, look! Here's a white woman for you to fall in love with out in the middle of nowhere! Just painful. Not a blockbuster, but a way overrated movie in my book - Body Heat. Supposedly a stylish thriller, I found it to be predictable and indistinguished. That would have made it just bland, but then it included a few scenes that just made me want to turn it off (something I almost NEVER do with a movie, no matter how bad). Kathleen Turner tempts William Hurt at the bar, but leaves without him. He follows her home. She rejects him at the door. He's about to leave when, suddenly, passion just overtakes him, he breaks through the window by the front door and throws himself at her. Of course, this works out as they proceed to, well, you know. I'm sitting there imagining how the scene would have played out if it had been me and it had been real, what with the police hauling me off and all. I'm not sure it's Top 5 material, but I'll throw out Rocky, if only because it gave us decades of additional Sly Stallone movies. |
Mulholland Drive is way up there on my list. Totally confusing and a complete waste of two plus hours.
I watched The Mexican and Snatch both in the same night. It was like watching the same movie twice, only with diamonds substituted for a gun. I really hated both and will not watch them again.
Any star wars movie, as most have already pointed out |
i thought memento was a great film. that was last year's best on video.
and did someone mention "fargo" as a bad film? that's a good film. but those directors really haven't delivered much since.
the best film i've seen on video this year so far was "heist".
in between the time of memento and heist, the best film was the fast and the furious.
half the films the guy at the video store recommends are horrible. like the movie 13 ghosts. that was truly a pathetic movie. |
I thought Memento was amazing and inspired. |
I recently saw the most aggresively irratiting film of my life: Memento. A film that tries to have the audience empathize with the main character's (there can be no hero in the eternity of agony the audience must suffer through) short term memory disability by replaying the same scene over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (get the picture?) with the most predictable variations, ever so cutely backwards. Excuse me, but the majority of the audience doesn't suffer from short term memory loss ( perhaps the film maker's plan was to instill it with psychological torture) the constant reminder has the opposite effect, not empathy but disdain! The characters are one dimensional. The morale, people are manipulative sonova bitches. The perfect gift for someone you hate.
My next 4 nominations all have "Rocky" somewhere in the title. |
What a great group of posts! Much to agree with. Especially those who dislike Braveheart and Gladiator.
Was I really supposed to get all watery eyed when Mel Gibson screamed "freedom" with terrific diaphragmatic support even while his intestines were being spooled ever so diabolically out of his abdomen? Not even filmic, that moment, just pathetically underimagined.
While I thought Pvt Ryan was an amazing accomplishment, the maudlin parts, especially those with Hanks, really took some of my pleasure away. Cast Away had me until the last 20 minutes, when the grit and ballsiness of the concept finally crumbled and they gave in to easy, flaccid sentimentality. I thought they were gonna make it all the way, then they sold out. With extreme embarassment I must admit that all my efforts at hating Forrest Gump have been futile. I really like it. Can't hate Tom Hanks, but bad things do seem to happen around him...
This juror is undecided on Lynch. Agree about the wierdness for wierdness' sake, but that don't mean the movies aren't sometimes amazing anyhow. Sometimes wanting to hate a movie isn't enough, and the movie wins me over.
Like with Stone's Natural Born Killers. 1st viewing, hated it, but loved the sense of dread I got from the prison riot. Subsequent viewings on cable... I think it's kind of amazing, I'm afraid. Platoon has not had as much luck. My vote is with those who think it sucks. Haven't seen "Redux," but "Apocalypse Regular" is the best Vietnam movie I've ever seen.
Reservoir Dogs is compelling but empty. Pulp Fiction is a masterpiece, exaggerated hipness and all. Love it. It's okay if Tarantino only has the one good movie in him. For me Pulp is enough.
Usual suspects is a dog, agreed.
Blair Wich might not have been great art, but it is the most scared I have ever been at a movie. Can't explain.
I love Fargo. Likability is not an issue for me. The inexorable progress of doom in that movie is just beautifully rendered.
Clockwork Orange is a bigger puzzle to me, though I think it is an amazing film. But I'm not sure who's a victim and who's a villain in that one. Everyone's kind of loathsome, and that doesn't really shed much light on things in the end, does it?
And yes, thank you, whoever mentioned Beautiful Mind. I saw this movie before seeing any reviews, and thought it was a disaster. I thought Death to Smoochie was better. I like Ron Howard as a dude, but this movie... so sloppy and confused. Still, I am grateful for the footage of Jennifer Connelly, who is a screen goddess to me.
I'd like to toss "Cinema Paradiso" onto the crapheap, along with "Life is Beautiful."
Tangential but true, ain't it? |
Titanic, Gladiator, Apollo 13, Dances With Wolves and most of all Saving Private Ryan. Except for the first 10 minutes of action, Private Ryan is an insult to all who served in WW-II. It portrayed many of the GI's in the movie as a bunch of cowardly, selfish, self-centered, spoiled brats. Kind of like having a bunch of politically correct liberal college students from 1999 sent back in time to the 1940s. (Geared I guess to appeal to a modern day audience.) Apollo 13 because it is an exact copy, word for word, scene for scene, of a PBS documentary that was made 5 years earlier. The documentary showed the real thing and the real people. The movie is a joke watching the actors pretend, after you have see film footage of the real thing. Real men thinking they are going to die; real ground crews and the real mission director working to save them; real spouses thinking they are going to be widows, and their children reacting to what happened and talking about it afterwards. (It is available on VHS.) |
Aaaaarghhh I forgot Titanic,I'm sure I'm not alone-I avoided that in the cinema and watched it on video expecting for some reason for it least to be entertaining,made me wish I was on the boat......not even James Cameron speech at the Oscars requesting a minutes silence for all our brain cells that died watching this tripe made up for it. |
George hit it on the head with Blair Witch Project. Not only was this film horrid, it made me physically ill due to all of the camera "bouncing". There has been no other movie made for so little money that grossed so much and created such an initial stir. A such, it sets the pace for this thread in my opinion. Everything else looks FABULOUS compared to this "movie". Sean
> |
The Mexican -- worst movie of all time. I so wanted the main characters to die and put us out of our misery. The best character was the hit man, who was killed. Sigh ... This may not be considered as overrated since most reviewers didn't give it many stars -- but even one is too many.
Armageddon -- how many feet exactly did they have to drill? And they determined that from how far away? Just one example of the really crappy science -- pet peeve that science fiction should have some science in it (unless it's camp)
Terms of Endearment -- like the Mexican, "just die already". Acting was great but story was blase, trying way too hard and derivative, which leads to ...
Star Wars 1 & 2 where the acting was horrible and the story was well, not exactly creative. Yes, the special effects were great, but a little teensy bit of acting would have helped.
Titanic -- overrated even beyond Gladiator. But then again, I'm not a teenage girl and that was their target audience and the group who kept the movie afloat, at least financially. The movie was better than the Poseidon Adventure and a host of other disaster films, but the operative word for all of these is disaster.
Great post Ben. I'm generally with you on Tom Hanks too -- nice movies, but hardly up to the hype and glory (though I did enjoy Splash and Big). |
Guess we all have different tastes. (Not that there is anything I have just read -I dissagree with)
Fargo:-- Not one single character I liked. The good guys;the bad guys --all gave me a pain. After seeing the movie I wanted to shoot everybody,director included.
Blair Witch. ---If I enjoyed people bickering and arguing;I'd have stayed home and gave the money to my kids (I thought I was at home.---)
In fact, most any movie with a hand-held that pans endlessly;zooming in and out;going around in circles drives me crazy. |
Just to rattle off a few, limiting to those that received "critical acclaim" (emperor's new clothes syndrome):
Gladiator (*poof* any respect anyone possibly had for the Acadmy Awards goes off in a cloud of marketing)
Braveheart (pet peeve: chain mail doesn't slice like polyester!)
Dance with Wolves (hey, dude, let's go the the teepee, light up, spin some Zeppelin; besides, Kevin Costner's acting can put a crack fiend to sleep)
Tootsie (go watch Some Lik it Hot for a good version, or "Ed or Edna" for a campy version. Either one is funnier)
The Crying Game (wow, like the Adam's apple didn't give it away)
Fatal Attaction (or was it Friday the 13th part 12?)
Bonus Pick: Independence Day (ok, not critically acclaimed, but what bad movie list can be complete without this tribute to absolute idiocy?)
KP |
I'm pretty much with you on those points Ben.Gladiator - yes...empty spectacle, although I walked from the theatre with a bit of appreciation for the entertainment value of the sheer spectacle and attempt at classic movie grandeur. Certainly a pale approximation of a 'real' classic though. Odd thing is, I ended up watching it again and liked it a bit more. I must refrain from watching it again, lest I'm deluded into actually liking the film!Usual Suspects - I liked Reservoir Dogs (even though that is probably another 'overrated' film), but Usual Suspects did leave me scratching my head at the rather adamant recommendations for the film. Didn't hate the movie, but can't say it made an impression. Everyone seemed to love Kevin Spacey's role, but he's done better for sure...Blue Velvet - I have a sizable appreciation for abstract, experimental and so-called 'difficult' cinema, but I'm VERY lukewarm on Lynch's material. It often wallows in weirdness for weirdness sake, as if to say (while nudging your shoulder in wide-eyed exclamation) 'hey guys! wasn't that crazy daddy-oh weird!!' Lost Highway (a film I consider nearly worthless) exemplified this to the tee, though I was also left very cold by Blue Velvet. I have considered re-watching it to re-assess my opinion after reading a rather excellent book called 'Illuminating Shadows: The Mythic Power of Film' in which the author studies several dozen films to trace their lineage to common mythic themes. I immensely respect the mans ideas and writing on film and he picks a few surprising and unusual films as inclusion in the book. Blue Velvet was one of them. I did happen to like Mulholland Drive quite a bit, thus restoring a little bit of faith in the possibilities of Lynch's work.Platoon - (ditto)Bravehert - didn't see it...for good reason I supposeTom Hanks - I just don't think about the guy too much.Might I add a couple more to the list, without going on about them at length (my fingers are starting to stiffen up on me with all this typing). *Silence of the Lambs*A Beautiful Mind |
Ben- you are f*****g HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just read your entire post to my girlfriend (we are both movie buffs- and take a week off every year here in Toronto for the International Festival), and she was almost on the floor with laughter. Dude- I like your style- very fresh, and take no prisoners approach. You should have won the permanent co-reviewer spot with Roger Ebert instead of that Roeper guy! Please post more so that I can laugh my ass off again!! :) |
Star Wars Episodes 1 to 5,000. Clones one and all. |
Gladiator - I thought the character development was weak and the story marginal, but the awesome fight sequences [with exception of the last one] made me want to go out and STAB! And, I love playing the Battle of Carthage scene when my downstairs neighblors get carried away with their rap music thumping away. Nothing a few crashing LFE chariots can't remedy.
The Usual Suspects - I saw this movie and can't remember a thing about it. Same with Resevoir Dogs.
Blue Velvet - Quirky, odd, and really looney. I love this movie!!! Especially the classic line, "Heinken?!! F that s!! Papst Blue Ribbon!!" I just laughed my ass off at the complete and utter absurdity.
Platoon - When I first saw this movie I thought it was great, but 10- 15 years later it doesn't have the same appeal. The Apocalypse Now Redux on the otherhand just amazes me.
Braveheart - I loved this movie. Very well made. Yes, it has lot's of inaccuracies. But so little of William Wallace is known that when Randall Wallace wrote it he used artistic license for film's sake. One thing disappointing I agree is that the Battle of Stirling Bridge had no...er well...bridge. At least the movie did help bring the plight of Scottish independence and pride to the attention of the world, and especially Britain.
Tom Hanks - I gotta disagree here. I think the scene from Castaway of him yelling and pining away for a blood-stained soccerball is classic. |
