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This is inspired by the "Best Movies You've Never Seen" thread, and one post there in particular.
What are the films that are generally considered to be masterpieces of cinema that just make you want to scream, and why?
For me, it would be 2001: A Space Odyssey. I tried to like it. I really did. But once you get to the third or fourth five-minute shot of a spaceship floating along in real time, you've lost me. The whole thing was incredibly pretentious and annoying, and the pacing was so slow that I couldn't care about anything that happened. And don't even get me started on the Space Baby.
For me it is Titanic.
How did this movie do so well?... I can barely watch it... but that most likely has to do with DiCaprio... He makes me cringe in any movie he is in...
Dear. God. Loathe this movie. Maybe because I was working retail and had to sell endless copies of the movie book.
The Thin Red Line. Hated the movie. A whole lot of hype for a whole lot of nothin'.
Forrest Gump. This steaming turd winning oscars is what made me loose faith in the academy (yeah I know, it took me that long).
Forrest Gump. This steaming turd winning oscars is what made me loose faith in the academy (yeah I know, it took me that long).
Yeah I definately second this one.
Saving Private Ryan.
Basically, I just never bought the idea that so many men should die just to rescue one man - no matter what he went on to do. Maybe that was the point of the movie?
Dear. God. Loathe this movie. Maybe because I was working retail and had to sell endless copies of the movie book.For me it is Titanic.
How did this movie do so well?... I can barely watch it... but that most likely has to do with DiCaprio... He makes me cringe in any movie he is in...
I would definitely have to vote Titanic, it's only redeeming feature for me is that I annoyed countless people by pointing out that the love story in Godzilla was better. And I can't really stand Kate Winslet. And as far as Leo whenever I see him in a movie, I remember watching "The Man with the Iron Mask" with my girlfriend when she asked during one scene where he was making out "Who is who?, they both look like girls."
The only movie mentioned thus far that I had a lot of trouble with was Titanic.
Dion's song was probably the best part of the film. I'm not a fan. Far from it. But it was a hooking, sad tune. I'm always good with a hooking sad tune (though sad hookers are so dreadfully depressing, Chris Self told me so).
"Look at me! I'm dancing with the poor people! See how people from different social strata can all agree that dancing belowdeck is a feisty treat! Oh gaydom and glee!"
And aside from all those historical innaccuracies...
That said... I remember noticing certain social patterns that, for me, explained how the film became the all time top ticket seller... it became a fad for young girls to band together in groups of five or more and see it each and every weekend, then go out to lunch together afterwards. I saw this phenomenon occur in five seperate states (NY, NJ, CT, MA, CA) on five seperate Saturdays. Each batch of girls talked about meeting up again the next week to do it again and this was four or five months after the film first released! It was the same people going over and over again, as with Star Wars only with a greater standing army of fans.
Definitely Titanic ...
Real conversation with a friend when she found out that I had no interest in seeing the movie, hadn't seen it in the theatres and wasn't going to watch the DVD she was forcing into my hand:
Her -- "How can you not want to watch it? It's such a wonderfully sad story."
Me -- "Lemme guess, boy meets girl, ship gets hit by iceberg, either she or he dies."
She was flabbergasted that I could guess the plot ... sometimes I don't think folks know history at all!
A lot of people I know and respect explained to me, backed up by their well earned English Lit degrees, why AI sucked. They made convincing arguments. Practically proved it on paper. Yet the film touched me deeply.
Lots of films come down to what touches you. When a film speaks to something deep within you, perhaps something sad and broken, you're grateful for it. The boy's quest must have mirrored my own. It was my favorite film of that year. When films resonate and speak to you so personally you can't easily dissect them... they transcend analysis. That's why, when people were so touched by Titanic, I didn't correct them with my opinion even though I REALLY REALLY wanted to! ;) It would have been like telling a kid there's no Great Pumpkin.
Heath, I think you and I got something kinda deep out of Circle of Iron, but for a lot of people, that would have just been guys walking around in the desert.
"Yeah, but they're ZEN dudes walking around in the desert!"
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The Dark Knight.
I don't if I would say I can't stand it, but I did find it dumb and loud. I feel dirty for not liking it...it's like a character flaw.
Ditto. I haven't liked any of the Batman movies, they never capured the the mood of the Frank Miller comics.
Titanic just put me to sleep. I tried watching it several times but I'm always snoring after the first half hour.
Saving Private Ryan. How the hell can you make a war movie with millions of dollars in special effects be so dull.
finght club ,the story does not make any sense to me
finght club ,the story does not make any sense to me
Maybe because of the Gaelic title? ;)
oups hehe
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A lot of people I know and respect explained to me, backed up by their well earned English Lit degrees, why AI sucked. They made convincing arguments. Practically proved it on paper. Yet the film touched me deeply.
Lots of films come down to what touches you. When a film speaks to something deep within you, perhaps something sad and broken, you're grateful for it. The boy's quest must have mirrored my own. It was my favorite film of that year. When films resonate and speak to you so personally you can't easily dissect them... they transcend analysis. That's why, when people were so touched by Titanic, I didn't correct them with my opinion even though I REALLY REALLY wanted to! ;) It would have been like telling a kid there's no Great Pumpkin.
Heath, I think you and I got something kinda deep out of Circle of Iron, but for a lot of people, that would have just been guys walking around in the desert.
"Yeah, but they're ZEN dudes walking around in the desert!"
Naah, that's cool; on some levels it was a pretty heavy film; I just wanted to slit my wrists for two days after I saw it.
I'm going with "The English Patient". Gads! Never have I paid money before to feel so sad.
After seeing this movie, I can imagine how a person must feel being forced to dig his own grave before being shot and dumped in the hole.
fight (sp fixed) club ,the story does not make any sense to me
Did you get the gimmick of the film? It wasn't quite at the level of Kevin Costner is a Russian in "No Way Out", but is very important and I discovered some watchers did not catch it?
AI has been mentioned as well in this thread. I am a big Kubrick fan and I saw Spielberg recently on TCM defending that he did not change Kubrick's ending. My only question is "Steve: If you did not change the ending why does EVERY Kubrick fan know where he would have ended the film?"
dances with wolves. hated it. :-)
messy
dances with wolves. hated it. :-)
messy
Hi Erik
Naah, that's cool; on some levels it was a pretty heavy film; I just wanted to slit my wrists for two days after I saw it.
LOL! Well now that's a review!
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Okay, here is my list
Saving Private Ryan
Titanic
9 1/2 Weeks
The Green Mile
Dances With Wolves
Honorable mention goes to Australia, which I did not really dislike, I just felt that they tried to tell too big a story and did not really integrate the various threads well. It actually felt like it should be a trilogy but the producers didn't think they could do that so they mashed three movies into three hours. The end result was that three awsome movies gut turned into one visually stunning, but otherwise mediocre film.
2001 Space Odyssey for me too. Ye gods that film is bad, yet it has plenty of admirers (makes a WILL save to resist writing about that film in more detail, and succeeds!)
I also think Gladiator was really bad, and again there are plenty of fans thinking that the best film ever.
Plenty of Oscar winners are meh, especially the "best picture" oscars mean nothing to me at all. "Best original screenplay" is the only one of those to pay attention to.
I'm going with "The English Patient". Gads! Never have I paid money before to feel so sad.
After seeing this movie, I can imagine how a person must feel being forced to dig his own grave before being shot and dumped in the hole.
Oh, my gosh, I hated that movie. I finally watched it after being told for months what a great movie it was, and all I could think afterwards was, Why? Why do you hate me so much? I must have like, tortured your kitten or something to make you tell me to watch that. And I don't remember doing anything that vile, so could you please just tell me what I did so I never have to be tortured like that again.
Uch. And 2001 sucked pond rocks as well. My dad got me to watch it, and he usually has pretty good taste in movies. He couldn't believe that a sci-fi nut like me would be desperately trying to stay awake through a film he thought was the best thing ever. Hal was mildly interesting, but otherwise it was so dull. Even the soundtrack made me want a nap.
Apologies ahead of time for those who like the African Queen, but I just don't get it. I was bored and even annoyed while watching this movie.
Honorary mention: Midnight Cowboy.
forest gump - drivel....also what put me off the oscars.
braveheart - racist drivel
2001 - really long boring drivel
AI - smaltzy badly scripted drivel
I must admit while i sort-of liked dark knight, its not as good as many tout.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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Number one with an absolute bullet on my list: Pulp Fiction
Just gawdawful on every level. Pretentious, retarded, demented... Tarantino in general just annoys me, but this movie was the acme of his idiocy, and the one that people gush over so much just makes it all the more eccchhh...
Not so much movies that I can't stand, so much as movies that are decent enough but that I just really don't get the lovefest over, I shall horrify and amaze by saying... the Godfather movies. I get it, everybody loves em. They're all that and a bag of chips. They just don't do a thing for me.
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It's weird; since I started keeping up with this thread, people are mentioning films that I had a few prob's with.
Like Dances With Wolves.....
that and the Last Samurai; I liked them, but why do I constantly have to get Hollywood to put some white guy in there to experience another culture? It's like the Kung Fu t.v. series all over again. Everybody knows Bruce Lee made that show up, and they had to put David Carradine in as Kane because the U.S. would freak out if Bruce Lee was the leading man. But that was the 70's, man. This is still happening now.
And, of course, Kevin Costner's got the President from Battlestar Galactica for a love interest, because he couldn't possibly fall for a Native American woman, right? WTF is that?
And then, Last Samurai, they had to throw in that the 19th century samurais were all concerned with freedom? FREEDOM? Howl it at the sky like William Wallace so I'll buy it, because it's b.s. The LAST thing a 19th century samurai gave a crap about was freedom for the peasantry.
And I liked 300, but Spartans didn't give a crap about freedom either.
Please, please, please, quit screaming "FREEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!"
I like freedom and all, it's just overly cheesy.
I am Spartacus!
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M. Night Shamalayn (?) annoys me.
Same here. The Village is a far better film when you just skip thru the chapters on the DVD and make up your own story about little Yellow Riding Hood. I was able to watch all of Signs but aside from the tin foil hats (that and what alien race vulnerable to water would decide to invade a planet with a surface almost 75% comprised of water. As for the whole God's plan thing... ugh.)
Please, please, please, quit screaming "FREEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!"
I like freedom and all, it's just overly cheesy.
That's Hollywood for you. Incidentally, 300 was so tacky I enjoyed it a lot, FREEDOM! and all. I was kind of expecting a children's choir starting to sing Star-Spangled Banner on that one.
dances with wolves. hated it. :-)
Me, too. And we're in good company: Russel Means (leader of the American Indian Movement and Chingachgook in Michael Mann's "Last of the Mohicans") said he despised it as well (along the lines of "so what if the American Indians are all presented as being perfect? They're still 2-dimensional! And they still get a white dude to do all their thinking for them!").
I'm with Aberzombie on "A Few Good Men" (overacting much?). And I have to admit that I've tried to watch "Top Gun" about 3 times now, and I've fallen asleep every time.
dances with wolves. hated it. :-)Me, too. And we're in good company: Russel Means (leader of the American Indian Movement and Chingachgook in Michael Mann's "Last of the Mohicans") said he despised it as well (along the lines of "so what if the American Indians are all presented as being perfect? They're still 2-dimensional!").
You know, I've tried to watch "Top Gun" about 3 times, and I've fallen asleep every time.
Top gun is so so at best, but I absolutly LOVE the soundtrack. ~shrugs~ Sometimes the music is the best part.
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That's Hollywood for you. Incidentally, 300 was so tacky I enjoyed it a lot, FREEDOM! and all. I was kind of expecting a children's choir starting to sing Star-Spangled Banner on that one.Please, please, please, quit screaming "FREEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!"
I like freedom and all, it's just overly cheesy.
I liked it too; slow motion eviscerations and everything;
the whole motif of people who were, for all intents and purposes within two standard deviations of what it is to be a nazi, going around yodelling "freeeeeeeeedoooooommmmm!!!!!" just gets to me.And in my own defense ask any helot; the nazi comparison in this instance is a fair one and therefore not threadbreaking.
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That's Hollywood for you. Incidentally, 300 was so tacky I enjoyed it a lot, FREEDOM! and all. I was kind of expecting a children's choir starting to sing Star-Spangled Banner on that one.Please, please, please, quit screaming "FREEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!"
I like freedom and all, it's just overly cheesy.I liked it too; slow motion eviscerations and everything;
the whole motif of people who were, for all intents and purposes within two standard deviations of what it is to be a nazi, going around yodelling "freeeeeeeeedoooooommmmm!!!!!" just gets to me.And in my own defense ask any helot; the nazi comparison in this instance is a fair one and therefore not threadbreaking.
Not to mention the hypocrisy of a slave holding culture fighting for freedom.
That is Hollywood for you.
BTW - I also liked 300, despite the fact of knowing about Greek Culture.
Jade,
You are correct about Titanic. I would have dumped Kate Winslet in the ocean and used the raft for myself, when I tell this to people they all look aghast ;>