How often does it happen? You’re sitting somewhere with friends or co-workers and the topic of conversation turns to movies. Pretty soon, everyone is talking about their favorites, fondly recalling scenes, quoting memorable dialogue, while you sit there, mouth shut. You have nothing to say. Actually, you do have something to say, but it’s probably something along the lines of “You‘ve gotta be kidding me. That movie was crap.”
I’m sure we all have our “reverse favorites”, those flicks everyone else just seems to adore that you dislike (and, eventually, grow to hate because people kept telling you how fantastic they are). Well, hat follows is my list of The Top 10 Movies Everyone Else Loved That I Absolutely Hated:
Little Miss Sunshine: Yes, call me heartless (many of my co-workers did) but I hated this movie and still don’t understand it’s appeal. Carl argues that it’s touching and heartfelt. I counter it’s awkward and downright bizarre. The kid is supposed to be an adorable social outcast but her behavior goes beyond anti-social well into psychologically aberrant territory. And given her support system, it’s no wonder. Ultimately, a movie about a mentally challenged family played for laughs.
Spiderman 2: Don’t even try to convince me that this movie was good, much less better than the original. From Aunt May’s laughably rambling monologue to our hero’s Christ-like body surf down a subway car, what this movie misses in plausibility it makes up for in a complete lack of subtlety. Also, who knew that one could snuff out an overloading nuclear reactor by simply dropping it into a large body of water. Hunh.
Seven: A nasty little movie that essentially contradicts it’s own internal logic in order to deliver it’s “shock” ending. Throughout the movie, the serial killer dispatches of his victims thematically. Each, in his mind, is guilty of one of the 7 Deadly Sins and is murdered accordingly. An obese man (gluttony) is forced to eat until his stomach ruptures. A model (pride) has her nose cut off and is driven to suicide rather than live with her disfigurement. A lawyer (greed) bleeds to death after being forced to hack off a pound of his own flesh. All well and good until the end of the movie when he murders the detective’s wife. And despite the arguments that, by so doing, he becomes his own victim (envy) in driving the detective to kill him (thus making the detective wrath), there’s still the fact that he broke his own M.O. and logic by murdering a perfectly innocent pregnant woman to get there. A morally bereft movie that opened the door to the hollow and vile likes of the Saw series.
Brazil: A big budget wank whose out-of-nowhere twist doesn’t surprise as much it sucker-punches you in the gut. Enjoying the movie so far? Well then enjoy THIS, bitch!
Moulin Rouge: I picked this one up for my mom because she enjoys musicals. Well, she didn’t enjoy this one – and neither the hell did I. In fact, my mother found it embarrassingly cheesy. Seriously, if MY mother says something is cheesy, then you can bet your ass that it’s an affront to the very term. People talk about the wonderful musical numbers (I’d argue that a couple of 50 year old guys singing Like A Virgin is an acquired taste), but nobody ever mentions the pat plot and atrocious dialogue. I hated this movie so much, it actually makes me mad to think about it.
Death Proof: I’m a big fan of Quentin Tarantino. Still, as much as I love Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, I really, REALLY hated Death Proof. Remarkably, more offensive than the misogynist terror and violence are the movie’s frustratingly tedious, self-indulgent streams of dialogue.
The Usual Suspects: Yes, I guessed the twist (the fumbling with the lighter gave it away), but that’s not why I hated this movie – although, in retrospect, had I not guessed the ending and been surprised it may have mitigated my overwhelmingly negative response. The problem I had with this movie was that, at the end of the day, it didn’t matter what any of these people did. They were screwed from the get-go. Whether they tried to flee, completed the assigned mission, or were merely peripheral to the scheme, there was absolutely no hope for any of them. As a result, the movie was, for me, more a filmic exercise than a dramatic work.
Austin Powers: Goldmember: Really, in all fairness, I could include all three movies in the series (well, maybe not the first one because I stopped watching halfway through) but I go with Goldmember because it’s the one that I hear quoted so often. Yeah, I get it. It’s supposed to be stupid, sexist, and racist because it’s, uh, making fun of stupid, sexist, racist movies. Sure, but if you’re aiming for satire, I’d argue you have to be at least somewhat clever. Really, just a hodgepodge of moronic scenes played for forced laughs.
Scarface: Yes, the overwhelming favorite of adolescent boys – and grown men with all of the emotional depth and intellect of adolescent boys. Pacino’s performance is spectacularly overwrought (egads, that Cuban accent!) but, in retrospect, positively restrained when compared to his later works (Scent of a Woman anyone?).
Six Degrees of Separation: Plagued by the sort of stilted dialogue and affected “playing to the cheap seats” performances that typify most theatrical productions, this one had me stepping out into the lobby for occasional “breathers”. A perfect argument for why plays belong on the stage and not on the big screen.
I’m sure there are plenty of you who’ll vehemently disagree with some (if not all) of my choices. Would love to hear your argument for the defense. Or some of your Movies Everyone Else Loved But You Hated.
I can’t really disagree about any of these movies. I apparently loved Spider-man 2 when it came out, but Spider-man 3 has sorta spoiled my opinons on it. Raimi still did better than expected on the series, with the exception of the stupid musical montages. And Tobey Maguire looks exceptionally like a Raimi.
Moulin Rouge is quite cheesy, and very much a chick musical. I don’t care for the movie itself, but I love the soundtrack. Who knew those two could sing?
Death Proof.. I wasn’t too thrilled with either of the Grindhouse movies. Too much, way too much.
Austin Powers has to be taken with a grain of salt, a complete divorce from reality, and a temporary drop of IQ. That said, I still love quoting some of Doctor Evil’s lines, and thank it for introducing me to Seth Green (I am now a Robot Chicken addict).
I hated all three Spiderman movies. I thought Peter Parker was a whiny brat and I hated the whole she loves me she loves me not thing with Mary Jane. The third Spiderman’s ending had me gaping at the screen.
I didn’t like the most recent Star Wars. It seemed stupid to me. For example, in Episodes 4 – 6, the men were the fighter pilots. In episodes 1 – 3, they had women pilots too. I get that they were filmed in totally different generations but that seems to be very inconsistent. I also hated that I knew where these movies were going to end up. You knew Amidala was going to eventually have twins(Luke & Leia) and die. Also, that Anakin was going to go to “the darkside”.
Check out Memento. It is a movie you need to watch uninterrupted as following this movie is a challenge at times and that is not a bad thing. It is well written and very well produced.
MOvies, eh,,?. Last one I watched on HBO, was Mamma Mia, loved the music, gets you to dancing, Love Meryl Streep in just about whatever she does.
-Just picked up the final cut dvd of Children of the Gods, will be giving that a look see here soon, expect to like it.(since I liked the 1st one)
-The Fifth Element, not always a fan of Bruce, but did like this movie, Chris Tucker was hilarious.
Oh wait, you said movies that everyone liked and you were not so much getting it,,hmm.. well,, maybe these will be ones that someone else doesn’t just like..
-thanks for the food pictures yesterday, forgot to post then..
The only movie on the list which I’ve seen was Seven, and I think I pretty much agree. It was fine right up to the end, which was kind of stupid for the reasons you mention. It also felt very anticlimactic to me (is he really gonna give the bad guy satisfaction by shooting him? Why, yes he is! The end).
Oh yeah, and I hate the Saw movies with a passion.
Total agreement on Little Miss Sunshine, Scarface, and Deathproof. Didn’t hate but wasn’t wowed by Spiderman and Goldmember. I will stand up for Brazil though. This movie struck me as a perfect representation of a dream on film. The surreal nature, the nightmarish twists, the absurdity merged with the pathos of the protagonist’s inability to escape from his fate. Not a cheerful movie, though it brought lots of laughs during individual scenes. But it’s one of the movies that can still leave me chewing on its real meanings, without feeling like some jackass producer has purposefully made a movie without meaning.
So, movies others loved that I hated? Start with the most recent Star Trek movie. Despite some seroiusly good casting and acting, I was insulted by the presentation of this a.u. Kirk, and his absurd elevation to the captaincy of the Enterprise before he even graduates from the acadamy. And that’s not going into the various logical flaws of the script, or the fact it looks like the PTB at MGM look to be launching an entire new series of movies spun off of this one.
Forbidden Planet. I give the movie credit for taking on some interesting themes but I think the execution fell short. Stilted dialogue, mandatory “boy gets girl” subplot grafted onto the tale, and inferior special effects, even for the times.
Matrix. I have been forever put off by the final revelation of the movie, which so insulted me that I’ve yet to bother with the sequels.
Brokeback Mountain. Ok, let’s get this straight. (pun not intended) First off, these guys are not cowboys, they’re bloody SHEEPHERDERS. And I thought the chemistry between the actors was about as believable as someone winning a 200 million dollar lotto and donating all the money to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Wolverines before joining a buddhist monastary in Bolivia.
Southland tales. Another movie with a bunch of hpye, but not only left me going “huh?” but looking for some anti nausea medication. Also personally embarrassing because I had to apologise to the guys at work for wasting their time with the movie.
Guess that’s enough for now. Thanks for the insights on your tastes and preferences in film. How often do you get into discussions at work about such things?
There are a couple of Tom Hanks films that everyone loved but I found awful: “Forrest Gump” and “Castaway.” Forrest Gump was cheesy and I was annoyed at how it played with actual history. Castaway? Yeah, almost two hours of Tom Hanks by himself? Not my idea of entertainment. I hated that blasted soccer ball.
I loved parts of Moulin Rouge and I’ll confess that Ewan makes me forgive much of the silliness. He obviously didn’t do the same for you.
Brazil? I saw it in grad school and then I saw “The Fisher King” (it was a Terry Gilliam weekend for film study). At the end I became convinced that he was overrated as a director. His talk at Dragon Con was extremely popular, so clearly I’m in a minority.
I’m a heartless wench, I didn’t like Finding Nemo.
Hey Joe,
I am so out of sync with friends and family on films. I rarely if ever agree with the critics. I am usually certain, that the opposite of what they say will be true for me.
Wow, I actually agree with your comments above. Not the popular belief. I didn’t like those listed either. The two I didn’t see, I won’t.
Not a great place to be. I am usually a decent debater over the films…but emotions usually in the end get the best of me. I work in legal and work on films long before they become a film. Many I’ve worked on I’ll never see. lol
Ravenous — Did you see that one? I worked on while at Fox and Robert Carlyle was a co-star.
Best to you Joe,
Cheryl 🙂
Hi Joe, I agree with you 100% on all of these, and to add to the list, “Forrest Gump” (a-hole, just pisses me off), and at the top of my list, “Solaris”. The remakes of everything are on the list now, too. Where have all the writers gone? Also, I’m one of the few who absolutely despised “Pulp Fiction”. Yech. Have a good night! D
@Das: So, the stuff I sent you “went out a couple of days ago” according to my son. Translation: Holy crap, I totally forgot about it and am on my way to the post office now. That was Friday 🙂
I am so glad to know that I’m not the only person who felt that all the Austin Powers movies were a moronic waste of time! I could feel myself getting dumber. Like Joe, I couldn’t make it through more than half of any of them. I’m getting a yicky taste in my mouth just thinking about them…
Hoping all is well and, as always, fangirling you from afar,
LJ
I loved Brazil. Yay for dystopia movies.
I also loved Goldmember. I even dressed as Foxy Cleopatra for Halloween once.
Joe wrote: “a hodgepodge of moronic scenes played for forced laughs”. My response: I couldn’t get enough when Mike Myers did it for SNL and I can’t get enough when he does it as Austin Powers.
What’s worse: That I hate Saw movies even though I’ve never seen one or that I want to defend “Six Degrees of Separation” (never seen it) just because it has Will Smith in it?
Napoleon Dynamite. I had friends who quoted it incessantly; to me, it’s kind of along the lines of “Little Miss Sunshine.”
And yes, I agree wholeheartedly with you in regard to the “Saw” movies. How many of them are there now: 20? I’ve lost count. 😛
One movie that everyone else loves that I DO in fact like is “The Princess Bride.” It’s just clever!
Okay, good. I was starting to wonder if I was the only person who thought “Seven” was bad. It’s one of the only movies I’ve ever walked out of partway through, and when a friend later related the ending to me, I felt vindicated. I hadn’t missed a thing.
I make for a horrible movie critic, but I’ll take a stab of my own at this with “Titanic.” I didn’t go see it at the theaters because 1) I have a phobia about being trapped underwater and so seeing a movie where that’s probably going to happen to a lot of people on a huge screen right in front of me seemed like a bad idea, and 2) I already had a pretty good idea of how things were going to end. But after everyone I knew had raved about how great the movie was, I decided to give it a shot on cable. And…I don’t know quite what to say except that I while I could appreciate the scope of the movie and the effects, the story itself was…eh.
I find myself agreeing with your assessment of these films. I’m not sure why but that scares me…the only thing saving me from outright panic is that I actually enjoyed Scent of a Woman. Don’t mock me.
For me, Seven was so so. Nothing really memorable there.
Death Proof was typical Tarantino, gratuitous and violent for all the wrong reasons.
The Usual Suspects sucked!
Goldmember? Meh.
The rest I haven’t seen, and given your resounding “recommendations” for them, am highly unlikely to.
Another for the list, though, is Legends of the Fall. Everyone was raving about how good it was. I got the VHS and was bored out of my mind. So much so that I gave the tape away to one of the people that had been raving about how good it was and, as far as I know, that person has never watched it again.
I have seen about half of the movies listed and tend to agree with you. Quite disappointed in them.
The movie that I have seen recently has had rave reviews by many people that I have talked to, but my review seems to be lacking compared to theirs. The movie I am talking about is “District 9”. I was prepared to see a great actiony (is that a word?) science fiction movie. The first half hour I spent trying to decide whether to give the movie the benefit of the doubt or simply walk out to the lobby and people watch. I chose unwisely and decided to stay and give it a chance. I guess you could say that I got that “actiony” satisfaction around the last 15 minutes of the movie and exited the theatre with a feeling of knowing that I stuck it out for the kids.
Seldom go to cinemas but do read reviews. Only saw one of these, MOULIN ROUGE, and that only because it was an in-flight screening.
I like musical theatre but planned to skip MR because it didn’t have original songs. Surprisingly, I LIKED the resetting of pop songs to fit the plot and provide dance numbers. Good distraction during travel.
Having seen it, I avoid repeats on TV.
Others loved but I hated? The Zemeckis TWILIGHT ZONE (1983?). Walked out because the horror got to me; shortly prior, POLTERGEIST gave me nightmares.
Too tired to think further. G’nite.
I’ll agree with you on most of the movies on your list.
I do like Moulin Rouge, but I can’t really explain why. When I watch it I do generally skip the Like a Virgin part, though.
I’ll agree with your assesment of Little Miss Sunshine, but I think that’s why I like it. It’s interesting to watch this beyond dysfunctional conglomeration of people try to acheive things that maybe they shouldn’t attempt in the first place. That, and the soundtrack is pretty good.
I’ll echo a comment above by adding Napolean Dynamite. I was in high school when it came out, so I couldn’t escape it. I finally rented it and less than halfway through decided that my summer reading of The Grapes of Wrath would be much more enjoyable. It was, too.
Other movies that I would put on my list would be Fight Club, The Matrix and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
@ Narelle – Yes. You are a heartless…something. However, I must admit that Finding Nemo grew on me – it was okay the first time I watched it, but got better with age.
@ 2cats – Yeah – a kilt should have nothing underneath…unless you’re my husband. I make him wear something under it because he hasn’t quite figured out how to sit without his dingle dangling for all to see. 🙄
And no Lewis yet!! ARRRGGHH! Are they doing a fund drive, or something??! We can watch it on the website tomorrow, but I was SO looking forward to this episode TONIGHT! Grrrrr! That’s the one drawback to PBS, no guarantees with their schedule.
I’ll have to give some thought to the movies…I really don’t watch that many, so I’ll be hard-pressed to come up with 10. I know I didn’t care for The Dark Knight at all, or the Batmovie before it. I just don’t like Christian Bale – such a wooden actor. Absolutely hated Dances With Wolves, too. I’m sure there are more…
This afternoon I trotted over to the boardwalk to enjoy this year’s Roar to the Shore:
http://www.roartotheshoreonline.com/
Beautiful bikes. I try to go every year, though missed last year’s event due to rain.
A couple years back I accidentally found myself in a nest of Pagans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagans_Motorcycle_Club
I couldn’t understand why there were cops – with barriers – all around this particular motel. I just strolled in and admired the bikes all lined up…then I noticed that all the big guys who were keeping a sharp eye on me were wearing Pagans jackets… Whoops! I canNOT imagine what would have happened if this oft times klutzy gal had accidentally knocked down a row of their bikes! Yikes! 😛
das
Psst! Joe – my last post went to the spam bin… 😛
das
A good list, I do disagree with a few, but most I agree with. I do love Spiderman 2, Seven, and Death Proof, but I do see why someone wouldn’t.
By the way, since you didn’t like Death Proof, what did you think of Planet Terror?
I haven’t seen Brazil, though I’ve been told to watch it many times. I agree with you on everything but Spider-Man 2. It was a very entertaining superhero flick and there have been many worse in that genre. Until Iron Man and the most recent Hulk, I’d have called it the best superhero movie out.
I can’t stand any of the Austin Powers movies or Scarface. Inglorious Basterds put Tarantino back in my good graces.
A movie everyone seems to love and I don’t: Dark Knight.
Blade Runner.
I don’t get what’s good about that film. It was long, dull, and in no way interesting. Boring piece of crap.
agree with you on ‘little miss sunshine’ ‘scarface’ ‘spiderblah’ and ‘moulin rouge’ (i sat watching them going ‘is there something im missing????something im not getting??’)
i personally liked usual suspects and seven (im not a brad pitt fan but ignore the fact here and in Inglorious B*******)
but hey each to their own!!!
hows the canine section of the family faring???
T
I hated Napolean Dynamite, but all the girls in my grade at the time were obsessed with it and couldn’t stop re-enacting scenes. Even my closest friends, who normally enjoy movies with plots, were jumping on the bandwagon and quoting it. When my screenwriting instructor tried to teach us that a movie must first have a plot, I pointed at Napolean Dynamite and said “Apparently not, these days.”
I also don’t understand how the Saw and Final Destination franchises are still around, although granted, I’ve only seen the first of each…maybe they get better?
Is it sad I’ve seen exactly zero of the movies listed? LOVED Spider Man, but never got around to seeing the other 2. I think I actually prefer to just have the sad/imperfect ending. And one of my friends put Austin Powers on at a sleepover once, and I literally played solitaire in the other room for the ENTIRE MOVIE. The first 2 minutes looked stupid to me and I was like “Eh, no thanks.” This is the same friend who introduced me to Harry Potter and Ocean’s Eleven, though, so I’m not complaining.
@ 2cats – Seems 39 (WLVT) will be showing Lewis – Tuesday, September 15 — 03:00 am. Well, that sucks. And yes – I WILL ’stay up’ for it (taking meself a big ol’ nap tomorrow!)! I really hate these fundraisers (though I myself am a PBS supporter/donator).
And JOEY! You forgotsies the date on this entry! Ya must be gettin’ old… 😀
das
Have to say that I get in trouble for hating just about all of these movies, too. Only exception being Spiderman 2. OK, you have me on the cringeworthy “Christ-like body surf down a subway car” (love that description!) but the science wasn’t all off. You CAN contain a nuclear meltdown with water, though that wasn’t a nuclear reactor by a longshot. (My fiance is a nuke and always points out these discrepancies. ;-P) Maybe it’s because I went in expecting the worst, but it wasn’t the worst sequel I’ve ever seen.
I am totally with you on the Spiderman 2 thing. I thought every line was horrible and awkward, and I cannot stand Kirsten Dunst. Along with Winona Ryder and Drew Barrymore, I find it really hard to believe any line she delivers and any character she plays. She doesn’t SOUND like an actress to me. I remember flipping through my channel guide the other week, seeing this movie playing, and my jaw literally dropping and said out loud, “How in the HELL did this movie get FOUR STARS???”
I have to say, though, I do like Death Proof. Yeah, the dialogue is self-indulgent, but as a twenty-something female…hey, that’s how we talk.
Joe, I agree with most of your list but like Thornyrose, I will defend Brazil. And, I am a fan of the Usual Suspects -I liked the characters and portrayals.
There are some films that are just too sappy or dopey for me like Forest Gump, Signs, E.T., Sound of Music, Dances with Wolves and Schwarzenegger’s True Lies and Twins.
But these two remakes just made me mad –
Mission Impossible ala Tom Cruise.
I loved the original TV show. The characters were low keyed, efficient and ingenious professionals you admired. Tom Cruise created something totally unrecognizable from the show with his movie and when Jim Phelps turns out to be the bad guy at the end – I wanted to throw my shoe at the movie screen. So bad.
The Haunting – 1999 version
One of my favorite movies is the black and white 1963, Robert Wise film, The Haunting. This film scared the hell out of me in a very subliminal and psychological way. This was all done with great direction, camerawork, editing (Wise was the editor for Citizen Kane) and a minimum of special effects. The 1999 version clubbed you over the head with superficial characters, a new twist to the original ending and embarrassing, over-the-top cheesy special effects. I was pretty horrified by this version.
I got another one…
E.T. – Just hated it, on so many levels.
das
You know, I was happily eating a bowl of tomato soup when I started reading this. My contentment quickly turned to disgust and self-loathing after being reminded of that scene in Seven. FINE! I won’t eat that 5th bowl!
Someone mentioned Nightmare Before Christmas. I also hated that.
Regarding Brazil, I just got a kick out of seeing Mona from Who’s the Boss?.
I loved Moulin Rouge because I adore Ewan McGregor, but as I was sitting in the theatre watching it, I kept looking around at other people and thinking, “Oh my God, I bet they hate this.”
The English Patient – I felt exactly like Elaine did in that one Seinfeld episode.
Star Wars.
No, not the prequels. I’m talking about the original trilogy. I’ve tried to watch all three many times, and every single time I drifted off to doing something else because:
1. The acting was HOOOOOORRIBLE. Then again, Hayden Christensen’s “portrayal” in the prequels did make the originals look good. Really, it would not surprise me to know that Christensen was having Botox done during principle photography.
2. The dialogue was HOOOOOORRIBLE. Seriously, I just laugh at some of their “threats”. “Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!” LOLOLOL. Are you for real?
3. The plot was about as derivative as one can get; not an ounce of originality in any of it. Characters were flat as pancakes.
Really, the whole attraction of the original trilogy, as far as I’m concerned, was the special effects. Of course, with people of my generation used to spectacular stuff like the LOTR movies and the new Star Trek film, the Star Wars effects SUCK.
Thus, in the end, I’m left with bupkis entertainment.
However, I will admit that there are *moments* of the films that was pretty cool; for me, those are all the Jedi philosophy stuff. Also, the music was for the most part very good. The rest was just filler crap that I did not care about at all in any way, shape or form.
The Prequels were worse, save for Revenge of the Sith, which I liked a little more because:
1. Sweet CGI.
2. Again, those *moments*, specifically those near the end that connect the prequels to the originals. Rest sucked. Badly.
Give me Wrath of Khan any day. Or hell, even The Motion Picture; saw that recently and it struck me how thought-provoking and introspective it was; it may have been slow, but for me it added to the atmosphere.
I have vague memories of Spiderman 2, but those superhero movies always confuse me because they always seem so convoluted. For me, they’re all like, beginning -> random crap I didn’t pay attention to -> big CGI climax. I did like how Doc Oc ultimately found redemption at the end though.
As for Austin Powers; yeah, they were all pretty stupid, but I gotta say, I got some good, cheap laughs out of them.
Totally with you on Seven and Moulin Rouge. Well, to be fair to MN, I only watched the first 20 minutes or so, before my sister turned to me and said, “Shall we watch [the other movie we rented]?” and I said, “God yes!”
I agree with all except Little Miss Sunshine (i thought it was hysterical!).
Movies I would put on my list would be The Matrix(series), Donnie Darko, and depending on my mood I either enjoy or really hate watching Kill Bill. It’s just one of those movies.
What are some of your favorite Itailan movies, if any?
I just realized that the only movie I’ve seen on your list is Spidey 2…and parts of Death Proof, but it wasn’t my cuppa. Spider-Man 2 was okay, but I still prefer the first one (I usually like the first movie in any trilogy the best – X-Men, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars – to name a few).
Ah, I know another one that I wasn’t thrilled with, despite everyone’s praise – Ratatouille. Sorry, Joe…I know it breaks your heart for me to say that, but it just didn’t work for me. Maybe if the rat had been an albino… 😉
Ah! Speaking of which!
Today at the biker event, I bought my husband a baseball cap with long white hair attached to it – lololol! Just say it – ‘Weirdo!’ Totally ridiculous, I know…but it was fun seeing him sport long white locks for a change.
I also found a little ‘Stormbringer’ zipper pull – a sword with a dragon claw hilt, with runes carved down the blade. Biker dude named Mike gave it to me for free, just so he didn’t have to pack it back up again. Biker dudes are really, really nice. 🙂
das
Weeee!! Watching Lewis on-line now! Sometimes the computer IS a good thing! 😀
das
Titanic tops my list. I won tickets to see it from a radio station because I was one of the few women in Utah who hadn’t gone to see it. I avoided it like the plague; my co-worker played the soundtrack for eight hours straight! A major factor in my decision to move on to better employment. I do like Kate Winslet though.
Um, I hate chick flicks like Lakehouse and You’ve got Mail. Ech. I tend to dodge things like X-Men and Spiderman, they just don’t do it for me. Iron man was cute, but I could have missed it without regret. Pixar does fine work, but the Disney movies which remolded classic literature? Utter crap except for Little Mermaid. I like her just so I can tell The Joke. Why does Ariel wear seashells? Because B-shells are too small and D-shells are too big. You’re welcome.
I like quirky flicks, bad movies and musicals. So yeah, Moulin Rouge makes me smile. Austin Powers is fun, but Goldmember is wretched. I need a copy of Undercover Brother to enhance my Bad Movie collection, it sucks asswater. I just acquired The Love Guru. It has to be bad.
I loved Brazil, but it took a few viewings to unravel it. Napolean Dynomite works best for Utahns and folks from Southern Idaho, really, that’s some regional humor. Tell me the kids in the school bus watching the farmer shoot the cow weren’t hilarious. And the time machine? And the D.I. thrift shop was spot on, as were the tater tots as served in SoId schools. No wonder it did well at Sundance.
Alrighty then, Ace Ventura Nature Calls. I hated that movie. And Evan Almighty. And Babe. And most things with Will Ferrell are unwatchable. And the dreck of Joe Dirt. Oh. wait a minute. Supposedly good movies others like which I hate, not wretched failures. Uuuum, name a few chick flicks. Oooh, I know, Tomb Raider. I couldn’t get past AJ’s face and bad acting. She’s about the most untalented thing on earth. Not that Tomb Raider is a chick flick…
So, anyone seen The Magic Christian with Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr? Thoughts? How about Tropic Thunder?
Alas, Quentin Tarantino’s films are the movie equivalent of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books for me. I cannot get through the entirety of any of his films. Nothing against the man or his movies — he must be doing something right because he has so many appreciative fans (including most of my family and friends) — but I’m happier watching something else.
Spiderman 2 annoyed me more because some of the dialogue felt like it had been snipped out of Smallville and pasted into the Spiderman movie script than because of the silly science. Seriously, if I never hear another line of dialogue about secrets and lies between young lovers, it’ll be too soon.
One recent example of a movie I disliked that everyone else seemed to enjoy was The Hangover. It must be that American versus British sense of humor/humour thing… 😀
Well, most of these I either haven’t seen or don’t have any real preferences about, but I did quite enjoy Little Miss Sunshine and Spiderman 2. However, I didn’t enjoy them quite enough to try to win over someone who hated them, so we can just agree to disagree on those. Had you said you hated, say, Edward Scissorhands or Galaxy Quest, however, we may have had to have words.
I hate hate hate ET. Everyone always says how cute he looks, but to me, he just looks like pile of crap with googley eyes attached.
Kirsten Dunst ruins every movie she’s ever been in. She’s awful.
Movicus ex Vomitorium?
In no particular order:
Waterworld
Joe Black
Dances With Wolv(erines)
Training Day (it made me want to
take a shower afterwards)
Interview With a Vamp(ire)
Don’t Mess With the Zohan
shoot, let’s make this easier
Will Farrell movies
Tom Green movies
Pauly Shore movies
Rob Schneider movies
Titanic – Yeah, forgot that one. Although…I really didn’t watch it the normal way…I kinda fast-forwarded a lot, and…yeah…
hated it. Stupid movie.
On a brighter note – just finished watching Lewis, and it was excellent! Poor Hathaway, right when he thought he was gonna get lucky with a lady for the first time in a while, everything goes right down the crapper. Poor feller…I wanna give him a hug. 🙂
das
So, yeah…
I agree with you on all but one: Moulin Rouge! (the exclamation point is in the title, that’s not me). I just am curious: do you know that the inspiration behind it was Baz Lurhman’s interest in Bollywood, and his desire to make a Bollywood film? I doubt I or anyone could change your opinion–you feel how you feel, just as I feel how I feel–but that might make you look at it differently.
Or not.
Nonetheless, I’m putting in my two-cents worth.
Best wishes to you, the wife, and the dogs!
Id have to agree with the movies, that which i have seen. And by the looks of the ones i havent, I wouldnt like them anyway. Except for Moulin Rouge, I like musicals and i thought this one was very good.
For me it’s the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I never got how those could be so popular, but apparently I was the only one.
I have to agree with Moulin Rouge. I didn’t HATE it, but I didn’t enjoy it. I tried to watch it, but just couldn’t
Napolean Dynamite is my number one. Worst and most wasted two hours of my life. I am also not fond of Pulp Fiction (really, anything in that genre/style is just not to my tastes), any horror movies, Castaway, Forrest Gump (which I see someone else added too), The Da Vinci Code (ok, any Tom Hanks movie after like 1990), Snatch (I was so bored), Dark Knight, Risky Business, The Mask, Will Ferrell movies (with the exception of Bewitched where it’s totally the opposite–everyone hated it, but I loved it), Austin Powers movies…there’s probably a lot of others, too. But that’s what come to mind.
I frankly, loved Moulin Rouge. Yes, it was cheesy and typical, but the design concepts, the costumes, the colors, the creativity (yes, men singing like a virgin is to a taste–but its pretty unique, too!), the choreography…I guess I just love it as a musical, visual masterpiece. I wish they’d chosen people who were, quite frankly, better singers, but that’s Broadway for you know. nearly everyone’s a “character” singer.
I have to admit I hardly knew any of the movies you’ve shown us here. But I know Austin Powers and I was never able to watch more than 10 minutes of it ever! Just horrible that one and far from funny.
I’m not often in the movies. I hate to spend money for movies I can see later on TV. But one I sorely regretted spending the money for: “The perfect storm”. My friend and I went to our local cinema as we didn’t have the licence at that time to drive anywhere else… the seats where all emtpy except one: an eldery woman sitting there all on her own. We sat somewhere further away from her. But Im afraid she heard us laughing anyway while she was sitting there crying her eyes out. I found the whole story truly laughable… well in the end we did have fun making fun of the movie *lol*
Moulin Rouge is an excellent film, i can remember watching this years ago at the cinema when it was first released and wasnt quite sure if it would be for me or not.
But i can honestly say i loved this film, although singing along in the cinema was slightly tragic.
Quite enjoyed spiderman 3 but cant remember much of the film now.
I hated moulin rouge too!
Didn’t see most of the others.
I didn’t see Death proof but I do hate Kill Bill. I like graphical violence I really do – From Dusk Till Dawn and Re-Animator anyone? The problem with Kill Bill was that it didn’t even look like that, it looked like a truck driving tomato juice had crashed into the set. Not to mention the whole attempt at parodying asian fighting movies failed miserably.
More over…. everybody is so full about Schindler’s list, I don’t like it much. First of all I think if you go look at Liam Neeson’s movies, “Michael Collins” is more impressive (and also has a lot of talented non-American actors) and also tells a story of one man taking on the world.
Second of all, compared to the book Schindler’s List was the sort of fake and chemical sweet you’d expect from bubble gum. Third of all, I really can’t stomach films that go like “Okay and now we have the shot to make the audience go BAWWWWW”.
I once got into a fight with an ex boyfriend over claiming the girl in the red dress was better off than the boy at Auschwitz. At any rate, the only good thing about the movie is that if you haven’t read the book and you’re not going to, and you’re the sort of ignoramus who won’t watch “The Grey Zone”, “Escape from Sobibor” and similar productions – this at least will give you a little to chew on history wise. Plus, it has a nude sex scene with an at the time still young and attractive Liam Neeson in it, as well as a very strong performance by Ralph Fiennes – can’t go wrong with that.
Btw, Neeson recently did very well in “Taken” and Ralph Fiennes – though nowadays more famous for his marriages to older women and mile-high toilet lovemaking with that flight attendant – is nonetheless still a very strong actor. Recently he did wel in “In Bruges”
I hated Star Wars (runs away)
Actually I have a particular hatred for a whole lot of movies around that era/style.
The whole “Family Film” thing, where they’ve dumbed things down just enough to be annoyingly obvious every step of the way. The standard “Here is a joke, people in the cinema will laugh at this point” beats that you can spot a mile away.
Ugh.
Love story? Pah..
I don’t mind a GOOD love story, but don’t just plop a smooch in there because “That’s for the mums”
Bah, 70’s/80’s Family movies. Cheesy, nasty, horrible.
Oh, and that bit in Matrix 2, but everyone hates that, so that doesn’t count.
@PG 15
I HATED STAR WARS ORIGINALS TOO!!!
Finally somebody who understands!!!
Goodness I’ve never even heard of most of them. Haven’t seen one of them. Because I live downunder (The real Australia, not a capital city) and we get things last (if at all) I have usually seen enough adds and trailers to know if it’s worth the hours drive to the Movie theatre. If I really want to see something I will wait till the DVD is on the cheap rack and watch it on my big old square TV. My adult daughters have all the new stuff HD LCD TV’s and Blue Ray players. Their eyesight is good enough to notice the difference, but I’m a cranky old Baby Boomer like the majority of the viewing public (and the big Movie and TV studio’s would do well to remember that.)
The last movie I really enjoyed was Cocoon (1985)
Generally agreed with the “Little Miss Sunshine” response. Didn’t hate it, but certainly didn’t see the big deal made of it. Didn’t Alan Arkin get an Oscar for it? AN Oscar is deserved for the man, but that for that movie????????
Also glad to see that I’m not the only who hated “Forest Gump”. There was about two minutes of screen time that I found tolerable – the rest was junk. I thought Tom Hanks did a better job of making an astronaut interesting in “Apollo 13”.
Speaking of “Apollo 13” …. Everyone should have known how that one came out but it still was more suspenseful than some of the movies you named.
And the third set of Star Wars movies ….. I took the afternoon off of work for the single reason to see the first showing of the first movie. I hated it so much that I have never even attempted to see the other two.
The first three were somewhat take-off’s on the cheesy space operas of my youth … combined with special effects that were state of the art for the time. They were “fun” – not “good”.
The fourth movie was dull and some simple choices in casting caused me to question the storyline. And, then, JarJarBinks appeared ….
I came out of the theater expecting George Lucas to get creamed in the media for that character alone. That character alone was enough to not risk seeing either of the other two films.
G’day Joe
Totally agree with you on Austin Powers (a load of shit).
Moulin Rouge, I cringe just at the title and my sister-in-law is mad on it (man she has bad taste in movies).
Spiderman 2 has nothing on the first.
Have not seen the rest and have never had any desire to see them.
Others I despise are The Matrix Trilogy (just did not get it) Keanu Reeves does nothing for me.
Star Wars 1-6 is just plain boring. Yet i love most sci-fi. Huge Gater and Trekkie here.
I usually love all Pixar movies but ‘Bugs Life’ bugged me…gettit.
Janet.
Aaaaaarrrggghh! Napoleon Dynamite! I would rather bathe in acid then dry myself with salt than watch that film again and all my friends loved it! Why?!? I don’t understand it! That guy was just the most annoying guy on the planet!! As my granddad would say ‘he’s got a face you’d never get tired kickin’ I HATED IT!!!!!!
I agree with you about every one except Moulin Rouge. But it might just appeal to something odd in my personality.
But I generally have a hard time enjoying what most consider to be the best movies of the year. The much-loved “quirky” films seem to be the ones that annoy me the most.
On the dislike of Moulin Rouge: seriously, who watches a Baz Luhrmann film and is embarrassed by its cheesiness? It’s like asking to be offended. It’s less a musical, more a study of colour and flash. Did you like Strictly Ballroom? Basically the same thing.
Besides, you’re not a girl – the wonderful McGregor grin has no effect on you.
you are so wrong about Scarface, that thing was epic! one of the few movies that made me vouch for a bad guy. the character is memerable as well as the final scenes and what led to it. cool movie. better than Godfather (even though its good). but i agree with you, sometime between godfather 2 and godfather 3, pacino changed the way he acts. bu im not complaining since hes fun to watch.
and i liked Moulin Rouge, call me whatever you want but its the only musical i ever liked. i dont get Little Miss Sunshine either, thought it was weird but superman 2 was great for its time. not gonna watch it again though, surely i wont enjoy it now. batman begins takes the cake for being the best superhero movie so it kinda rendered spidy unwatchable.
yeah seven was ruined by the ending however it was at least interesting. and i never watched Grindhouse because everyone talks about it in a negative way but now i kninda wanna watch it out of curiousty.
The Usual Suspects, i watched it with my sister and half way through she figured it out and ruined it for me. so im in no position to judge.
okay movies that i hated but everyone loved:
the english man (Elaine was right)
All tom hanks movies (except SPR)
Goldfinger (see what i did there)
Shawshank Redemption (terrible movie)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (total waste)
The Departed (crap)
WALL·E (ruined by liberal crap– enviromentalism FAIL!)
Taxi Driver (what was it about again?)
Donnie Darko
Finding Nemo (haha i laughed at it, so ridiculas. stupid fish)
V for Vendetta (absolute crap)
American Beauty (huh? craptastic)
Pulp Fiction (boring and crappy)
Any movie that has connected storylines (The hours, magnolia, crash, etc.)
anyway i saw a book called Age of Ra and it reminded me of Stargate. check it out:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Age-Ra-James-Lovegrove/dp/1844167461
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/05/age-of-ra-james-lovegrove
oh im dioxholster as well so dont get confused. i was using a campus computer that saw me as dioxholster.
only seen some of those you listed, the others i haven’t sound awful.
parts of moulin rogue are ok, it just would have been better if they’d hired an actress who could sing and act.
saw the first spiderman movie and it put me off seeing any more, avoid most superhero movies because of this one, but x-men is ok.
seven, only get an hour into it and i’m bored.
Movies i hated:
2nd and 3rd pirates movies, i hated will turner and elizabeth swan.
2nd and 3rd matrix movies, i like the first one but i stop it before she kisses him.
the saw movies. friend of mine really likes them and insists that i go too, so in a months time i will be bored out of my mind.
same friend really wanted to see the new friday 13th movie on friday 13th, i could have spent my night creeping around a graveyard with a flashlight but saw the movie instead. remakes suck.
any and all chick flick romantic comedies that aren’t pre 1950’s.
new star wars movies, dark knight, forest gump, castaway, E.T. dusk till dawn,
all tom cruise movies except legend
remakes including: time machine, count of monte cristo, robin hood, day the earth stood still.
ok Joe, what are some movies YOU liked that everyone else hated?
been reading back over the passed week that i missed, i see i missed some UK tv talk. dang it. Love watching those shows and i’ll miss them when they end. Who was it who mentioned MIDSOMER MURDERS? did you know that John Nettles retired so it looks as if the series is finished, unless they try to continue it with Jones.
thanks for the Atlantis pics Joe, got any more to share? any behind the scenes, actors goofing off shots?
later!
Mr. M., I haven’t seen Death Proof or Brazil-I’ll take your word on it though. I didn’t mind Spiderman 2 that much but I agree with all the others. My husband’s friend kept going on how good Austin Powers was and we thought it was terrible. I was beginning to think it was an age thing and we were just too old to get that kind of humor.
Naurelle: I didn’t like Finding Nemo either but if you have a kid-you don’t have much choice. They will latch onto a show and that is that! I was explaining this to my brother, whose wife is expecting. He is declaring his daughter will not wear/like pink. Clueless. I’m shopping for a little pink tutu now for my neice now 😀 .
Das: I’ve been watching Inspector Lewis for a while. Good show.
Gilder: I’m so glad your MIL is doing better. Is she in a rehab place?
Tam
Hi again Mr M! and greetings from Sunny (believe it or not) Ireland!
Away from base again today.
Gotta love the reviews! Honesty is best policy.
Have to agree re: Scarface / Goldmember / and Seven. Did anyone else have a problem with the sound at the beginning of this movie??? I saw it at the Cinema and couldn’t hear a grunting word from Brad Pitt?!
However, must disagree re: The Usual Suspects. Sure, we knew they were screwed from the beginning, but I (for one) didn’t see the ending. I liked the visual style of the film and to be frank, anything with G. Byrne and K. Spacey is always a good one in my book.
Agree: Re: Moulin Rouge. My feeling (like Chicago) is….why? OK I get the whole “old-Hollywood-we-can-dance-and-sing-too-you-know” is great….but really???
Agree: Re: Six Degrees of Separation. Found this to be a very pretentious fim, which tried to be Oh-so-politically correct, however, I would take issue with play to film. I really enjoyed GlenGary Glen Ross, with my fav., Jack Lemon. Excellent movie from Play, also take a look at Rope by Hitchcock with Jimmy Stewart, another good example.
Can I add one? This is a personal peeve: Philadelphia with T Hanks. I (for one) liked the story, enjoyed the idea of Big Business being felled by one man etc., but PLEeezze…the whole wandering the room with the IV drip explaining the Opera??? I kid you not, in the cinema I did an “air quotes” OSCAR CLIP moment thru my titters….Boy, was I shocked when they actually used it on Oscar night…and he WON!!! Sheesh. Don’t get me wrong…I like Hanks, I admire a lot of his work…but this just left me cold.
Best to all
S’n’T
Wedding Crashers! We walked out.
I saw Brazil a very long time ago and recall it being odd, but sort of interesting, and very depressing in the end. I thought Moulin Rouge was okay, but was ridiculously overdone and unoriginal. Not my favorite. I’ve never watched Austin Powers – mostly I don’t go out of my way to watch comedy movies. I avoid Will Ferrell movies like the plague – he just grates on me.
I don’t have any movies to add. I pretty much find something to like in most of the movies I see and I avoid the ones I’m pretty sure I’ll hate.
But the TV show that I just don’t get and everyone else I know just loves is Family Guy. Although I find Stewie endlessly entertaining, I just can’t bear watching the rest of them. To me, stupidity is not humor. Okay, you can all tell me how wrong I am about the show now. I’m used to it.
Hey das! I noticed that the Inspector Lewis programs were on the internet too. Should I start with the movie or just dive into the first TV series?
I’m with you on most of your movie picks. I did enjoy Se7en when it came out, but it doesn’t stand up to repeated viewing. And I’m with Terry on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack; love that version of ‘Roxanne’. The only one I can really disagree on is Usual Suspects. I didn’t pick up on the twist ahead of time and therefore found it quite clever. Plus it has quite a cast.
My own list would have to include:
* Titanic — The only good parts are when that guy falls onto the propeller (hilarious!) and when DiCrapio (not a typo) dies.
* Juno — well, not hate, ’cause I can’t hate Ellen Page, but securely meh other than her
* Tropic Thunder — another meh, once I finally watched it last weekend after repeated prodding
* Kill Bill — actually most of Tarantino’s stuff
* anything starring Tom Hanks — Can’t articulate what exactly it is, but I hate that guy.
* Woody Allen’s entire oevre
Thank you for saving me from being the only one in the room hating what everyone else is raving about! I have to agree with all your choices, although I didn’t see “Six Degrees”… since it just looked boring.
I couldn’t get through “Brazil” and couldn’t understand the hype.
I’ve always been given the stink-eye at my house for hating “Scarface” (and “Goodfellas” and most other mafia movies)
“Molin Rogue” was dreck. Pffftttt. Ick.
I fell asleep during “Brokeback Mountain.”
Can I add “300” to the list? I love a good period flick, but I was bored.
maggiemayday- Saw Magic Christian so long ago, I can barely remember it. But I am a big Peter Sellers fan – more Being There and Dr. Strangelove than Pink Panther. Just put Tropic Thunder it on my Netflix list. I forgot about this movie and I am glad for the reminder. Took a look at your Burning Man pics – seems like a lot of fun. Sort of Road-Warrior-meets-Fellini. Will make it there someday.
Cheers
Hi, Joe —
Completely agree about Moulin Rouge. What a train wreck! And could Nicole Kidman be worse in it? Every line was like fingernails on a blackboard.
Also with you on Seven. What a horrible, ugly, dreary world that movie inhabited. Didn’t it have any light bulbs higher then 40 watts?
My picks
Dances With Wolves. I’m so tired of the faux worship of indigenous peoples always told through the eyes of a white guy. Though I think hindsight has proved 20-20 for most people on this one.
Blade Runner and Alien. I don’t get Ridley Scott. He is a great cinematographer masquerading as a director. Movie looks great but the plot and characters leave me cold. Give me Cameron’s Aliens any day of the week.
Annie Hall. La-di-who cares. Two tiresome, pretentious people I would never want to meet having the most sterile, uninvolving “romance” ever.
@ BlueJay – First – great to see you! 🙂 Second, it may have been me talking about Midsomer Murders – it is a favorite of mine (though I like the earlier shows with Gavin, but maybe that’s because they haven’t aired many of the newer ones over here, and I’m not that familiar with the new fella). Will be sad to see the show end, but then again…I haven’t seen it in ages on tv here, and only have one boxset, due to the expense of buying them all, so I have a lot to catch up on anyway!
@ Tammy Dixon – Yay! Another Lewis fan! When my girlfriend and I watched it this weekend, we got discussing how some plots are very convoluted, and sometimes you have to watch it twice just to undertand how everything connects. It’s that intricacy I enjoy (though I suspect some folks would complain about the implausibility of some elements, but you always have naysayers, no matter how good something is). Of course, it’s not perfect, but that’s where the relationship between Lewis and Hathaway makes up for any weak points in an episode…I just love these two! And last night’s episode had some really entertaining moments between them, like when Lewis was trying to figure out if Hathaway was gay or not, but was afraid to ask.
@Sparrowhawk – I recommend watching the pilot episode first, since it gives you a little background on Lewis. I am well-familiar with the character, having been a huge fan of Inspector Morse, back when Lewis was the sergeant in that show. If you are not familiar with the Morse series, then I would watch the pilot ep of Lewis first.
After that, the episodes are all stand-alone, and can be watched in any order you want. My favorites so far are: A Life Born of Fire, Expiation, Music to Die For, And the Moombeams Kiss the Sea – all episodes have good character moments, but these are the ones I have liked the most, including story-wise.
das
I have only seen Spiderman 2 and Scarface. I didn’t hate them, nor did I love them. The others on the list don’t really intrest me which is probably why I havn’t seen them. I hate musicals with all of my soul so I have stayed away from Moulin Rogue.
Hi again Mr M!
I knew I’d forget to mention:
Garden State.
Why does everyone think this is hilarious? Am I missing something. I love Zac, and I think he has great comedic timing and natural wit….but this film did nothing for me.
Best again
S’n’T
I find myself in these situations quite often. I absolutely can’t stand Forrest Gump, so every time someone says “I love Forrest Gump!” I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying “Are you nuts?” I tend to find myself in the opposite situation just about as often. Most people talk about hating fantasy/sci-fi movies, so every time I say “Oh, I love all three Underworld movies!” or “I enjoyed Queen of the Damned” people look at me like “You have to be crazy.”
Hated it!
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Atonement
3. Would not even go see the rest of the ‘Ocean’s’ movie, too self serving and trite.
4. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal (Crap) Skull
5. Napoleon Dynamite
6. WallE
7. Pocahontas. Yes the cartoon. Hated it.
8. Kingdom of Heaven
9. Jerry Maguire (I know!)
10. Top Gun
p.s. also hated Little Miss Sunshine and some others on your list, but LMS was awful!
I know…. I keep forgetting things!!!
I must mention the following:
Warehouse 13 premiered here in Europe on SyFy (Europe) on Saturday night. I think that it has great promise. I loved Saul Rubinek (who will always be the tv journalist from hell to me from Heroes). He was terrific. The plot line and acting were excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed the show. The reason I mention it, is because, at the end of the show, before the credits rolled, they popped up an “In Memory Of” with a wonderful picture of the late Nora O Brien.
Knowing what a huge part of SG Franchise this wonderful woman was, and in what esteem all held her, I felt I should mention it. I was pleased to see that her decency and worth were admired from all quarters. It was a fitting memoriam to her.
Best (once more) to all
S’n’T
PS: there’s a great review of SGU at comicsonline…but be warned HUGE SPOILER ALERT!!!!!! Don’t say I didn’t warn ya!
Sparrowhawk wrote: “I avoid Will Ferrell movies like the plague – he just grates on me.”
I knew I liked you for a reason! That man is everything I hate about American ‘humor’, all rolled into one obnoxious package. Of course, I also include in that group Jim Carrey, Jack Black, the entire current cast of SNL, and a few others, but even some of those have a decent moment. Not Ferrell. He’s stupid, obnoxious and just NOT. FUNNY. So not funny that just his image on the screen makes me scream – and I have been known to threaten hubby’s very life if he dares watches a Ferrell movie while I’m in the house, or – worse yet – impersonate him! AAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!! It’s worse than pouring battery acid into an open wound!!!! AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!! It’s making me crazy just talking about it!!!!
*flails arms and runs in circles*
Now I need a Hathaway fix. Heh. 🙂
das
Oh and also that recent blockbuster thing about some monster destroying New York, or whatever? It starts with lots of really crappy shots from handheld camera’s.
My ex and I hated it so much we walked out after 5 minutes. So I can’t even tell you the plot or anything, but it premiered like 2 years ago?
I have to agree with your selections. Especially “Little Miss Sunshine” – I wanted to kick myself in the butt for wasting my time watching that mess. Horrible, horrible film.
@Cindee – I’m glad I’m not the only who hated District 9. What do the critics see in that piece of junk? My fault for not doing enough research before I plucked down the $9.50 for a ticket. I like Science Fiction but will not recommend District 9 to anyone. Even the gore & violence didn’t keep this from being an extremely slow moving boring movie. I checked my watch a couple of times because I thought it was moving backward.
My two movies everyone loved and I didn’t: Crash and Million Dollar Baby.
My feelings for these two transcends mere disappointment, or dislike, into outright hatred.
I found both of them trite and offensive, loaded with stereotypes and cliches. While well acted and directed, I found both badly written. Had I not been stuck in the middle seat in the middle row of a packed theater, I would have walked out on MDB, and the only other movie I ever walked out on was called “Spawn of the Slithis” (with a title like that, you can guess). Crash I saw on DVD, and turned it off after 20 minutes.
On another note: after Saturday’s College Football, and changes? Any love for my Trojans????
Bonjour Joseph! Ouf une journée enfin finit!
Yéhh Merci de nous faire partager cet top 10, je suis toute à fait d’accord avec votre classement. Sauf pour Austine Power qui me fait toujour aussi rire (je ne sais pas je dois être bête -_-‘ ). Mais bon en “général” ce genre de film permet de passer de bon moment de rire entre amis mais bon, faut t’il que cela fasse rire tout le monde.
En tout encore merci pour ce TOP 10, votre avi sur certains films est trés interessant.
Bisou Bisou
A bientot!
Since I haven’t seen more than 10-15 min. of a few of the above films from Joe, I disqualify myself from further discussion of them. Although, since I would only deign to watch 10-15 min. of any them, says a lot right there. You are not alone Joe.
Guess what? I landed a job — yahoo!
2cats
Well, since everyone seems to be unloading here today, allow me…
I can not stand Jennifer Aniston. I will not watch any of her movies and cringe when her name is mentioned. I do not understand her popularity and I’m baffled she is one of the highly paid actresses today. Her hair has not changed in, what, 20 years? In all her roles she looks the same, acts the same, and plays the same type of character – stiff. Why does she keep bringing up when Brad Pitt dumped her? His kids will be graduating college and she will still have that same sad “Brad dumped me” face on.
War of the Worlds.. everyone loved it, but I was annoyed to death by the constant scared little girl and all the emotional stuff the father went through. Ok, for a couple of scenes it’s ok, but the entire movie? Not to mention the terrible ending.
Das: I’m behind on my Inspector Lewis watching (got them on the DVR). My hubby is heading out of town this week and I’m saving them for my “alone” time.
Ponytail: Jennifer Aniston’s movies haven’t been that good but I loved her in Friends.
It wasn’t a big leap that B.P. would leave her. He gave an interview after they were married saying “Men weren’t meant to stay with ONE woman forever”. Big red flag!
Robin: I loved seeing the Titanic sinking! The movie sucked but the special effects were fun.
I didn’t like the Pirates of the Caribbean series. I must be the only person who hated them. Captain Jack is a drunk, a liar and a cheat. Why does everyone like him? If I wanted to be around a drunk/cheat/liar, I could go visit some of my relatives. I’ve been burned too many times to find that behavior endearing.
I saw 9 this weekend. Not much of a story but the scenes were so beautiful! It’s a work of art.
Tam
@ Shirt’n’Tie – Thanks for the head’s up about the review. I skimmed it, but what I read (especially the last paragraph) sounds VERY promising. For me, I think it will all boil down to how melodramatic the characters are. Down-played works better for me – too much intensity wears me out, and has a ‘boy who cried wolf’ affect on me, where I stop appreciating the emotional turmoil of a character.
It’s much the same as real life. If you know someone who is basically an even-tempered person, – who rarely has ‘issues’ – then when they ARE in a state, you feel for them, you want to help them. You CARE.
But if you know someone who is ALWAYS having issues, ALWAYS amped up and emotional…well…after a bit you stop taking them seriously, you stop caring, and eventually you get as far away from them as possible because they just wear you out.
TV characters have this same effect on me. For as much as I like ‘angsty’, I prefer the fella who broods in silence over the one who comes off like a baby daddy on the Jerry Springer show. 🙄
das
Joe just read an article in our paper here about the coastal Western Canadian town called Sidney, BC. Talking about the thousands of books scattered thoughout 12 stores, all within seven blocks. They bill it as a booktown, and even have an underground bookstore. Wondered if you have ever been to it, sounds like a place a person who loves books should visit.
@ Deni – I got my prezzie!! *does happy dance*
Both pictures are great, but lemme tell ya, that picture of ‘Druitt’ simply took my breath away! It’s like he’s looking right though me, with this oh-so-subtle amused look on his face that makes you wonder what he’s really thinking. LOVELY! I have to find the right place to put it, somewhere where he can stare at me all day long! 😀 (Gah! This ‘multi-gushing is gonna kill me!)
Thanks, again! *big hugs*
das
@ Tammy Dixon – Enjoy your alone time with Lewis and Hathaway! 😀 The more I watch the show – including repeated viewings of the same episodes – the more I pick up on the little things between these two. Always a treat!
Now…about Captain Jack Sparrow. Personally, I love him because he IS ‘a drunk, a liar and a cheat’!!! Jack isn’t the guy you want to settle down with, he’s the kind of guy you want to ‘storm the castle’ with!! Woo! 😀
das
Hey Joe!
We’re finally back from St. Augustine! And my mom called to tell me that my brother-in-law broke his toe so badly that he needs surgery. 🙁 So… my sister and her husband are arriving in town today and Allie and I get to help move them into their new house! Tomorrow.
And Ziggy ate stuff we can’t even identify. I guess if we can’t figure it out, it wasn’t that important.
Damn! It’s so GREAT to be back home! 🙄
*collapses to the floor in exhaustion*
Trish
Hey Joe,
I read your blog often and love the insight into the new and classic Stargate. I was wondering if you have seen the new show Defying Gravity? I loved it, not as much as Stargate but it was a great show until ABC cancelled it. Do you think that maybe SYFY will pick it up and if so would you be interested in writing for the show in your spare time (not like you have much time given Universe) I think the writers of Stargate could really vamp up the show and it would be as big as Stargate. Maybe intersect them somehow. What do you think?
David
I agree with your list. I’ve seen most of them, and felt underwhelmed.
I have the strongest reaction to Seven. What really bugged me about the film was that every single victim chose to give in and do what the Spacey character wanted. Not a single victim stood up to him, and maybe it’s the optimist in me, but I gotta hope that most people would fight back, willing to die instead of doing the horrific things he suggested. The film’s attitude towards humanity is incredibly negative, and not the world I want to live in. It took me days to shake that film off.
Hence, no “Saw” movies for me.
Thanks for sharing your list.
More cow bell!
Let me start by saying I dream vividly, in color, and with definite narratives.
Went to bed abt 930 PM local, woke every 2 hrs (end of each sleep cycle), got up at 6 AM. New dream every two hours. One was a definite new plot for SG1, which, in deference to Joe, I won’t detail. Featured Mitchell, Teal’c, and Carter; intrduced an interesting new character also played by AT. One hint: It seems Sam’s genius is hereditary…!
FINALLY! Someone who hated Little Miss Sunshine – WOW – I was in utter disbelief that everyone loved that movie because I was thinking it was the saddest representation of any kind of family – WAY too dysfunctional of a family for me to enjoy watching.
S
Joe,
“Sarcasm is the refuge of losers” might be one my all time favourite movie quotes, and it happens to be from Little Miss Sunshine.
I too agree with Carl, but one up him with your apparent inability to recognize gold.
Anyway, thought just I’d say hi.
Kerry.
@ Shirt N Tie –
We too have been watching Warehouse 13, for lack of any other good TV – as it started out. I’m not a fan of Saul R., he irritates me, but I suppose – that is his way as an actor. I didn’t like him in the SG 1 Heros – but I enjoy the ep, it is on my list of favorite SG1 eps. So – I guess you say that I can work around him and still enjoy the TV. The first couple eps of W13 didn’t impress – also too because I didn’t care for Eddie McClintock – because I hated his character Sully in Bones. But Lattimer is getting much better by the week – so, I’m enjoying McClintock as an actor a bit more.
However, I’ve been enjoying the last two or so eps because the stories are better, I like the addition of the Claudia character, and the team chemistry is coming through. So, as long as the artifacts are interesting – I think the show will continue to be entertaining.
I have to laugh, because in the last ep that aired here in the US (Breakdown) I swear that’s Daniel’s waiting place in Threads where he had a showdown with the Ancients…
Anyway – Joe M – any feedback on Warehouse 13?
S
@ for the love of Beckett –
I SOOOOOOOO agree with:
Will Farrell movies
Tom Green movies
Pauly Shore movies
Rob Schneider movies
Should be toss in the garbage with all Austin Powers.
And yes, Moulin Rouge – was just down right weird.
s
I thought of another movie I hated everyone else seems to love: Wrath of Khan. Granted, I haven’t seen the first one, so maybe it is quite awesome compared to The Motion Picture, but I didn’t find Khan to be all that fearsome of an opponent. The outfits bothered me too. Could be I’m just spoiled by 21st century filmmaking, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Pocahontas? Ouch!!!!
Annie Hall? Ouch!!!!
@Tammy Dixon Oh, I don’t think people admire Jack Sparrow…I think they want to be him. And if there is admiration, I think people admire Johnny Depp’s freaky ability to become so many different characters. Personally, I only really enjoyed the first one. (And not for Jack Sparrow… I was in it for strapping young Will Turner!!!)
@ytimynona –
My first Sci Fi love was everything classic Star Trek – I can believe that you didn’t just love it when Kirk yells into the communicator KHANNNNNN and it echo’s through the galaxy!!!! Not to mention Shatner’s hair.
Wrath of Khan happens to be one of my favorite Trek adventures, because I really think Ricardo Montobaln (I probably just spelled that wrong) gives a great evil performance. It is so so Trek.
Now, yes, Khan is much more awesome than the first one, especially the wardrobe! Although Ileah’s bald beats Kirk’s piece anyday. In the day of my Trek obsession – I HATED the first motion picture, it was horrible, IMHO. But enjoyed the others for the Trek that they are. LOVED the 4th one, but after that, we started going down hill until the new Trek arrived.
I like the updated Trek for what it is too – an up to date version with some elements of the original. My inner trek has some problems w/Uhura – Kirk and a few other details, but I was able to toss that by the wayside to enjoy the movie as an update.
But all my Trek obsession was thrown by the wayside as I graduated HS and college and went on to find Stargate, which is now far better Sci Fi. So, while I will always have a fondness for Trek – time spent watching SG on TV or DVD is much better than time spent watching old Trek.
S
Tammy Dixon
I dust off Finding Nemo and Scooby Doo for the nieces when they come around. I picked up a new copy of The Princess Bride a couple of months ago after I’d found my old copy had been used as a coffee coaster (grumblegrumblegrumble) so I’m hoping to convert the next generation. They’d much rather play the arcade table than watch TV though. The little sponges absorb everything. They worked out the arcade table in about 5 minutes. And it’s got 1400 games on it so I was mighty impressed.
das
Maybe I should give Finding Nemo another chance as I was in a very, very bad frame of mind when I watched it.
Oh, and on the heartless wench thing, I do have photographic evidence. Thankfully not too much photographic evidence.
Hi Joe 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever managed to sit all the way through a Quentin Tarantino film… I don’t like the volume of swearing.
I did love seeing that WFPOTD was back recently 😀
Thanks
*waves*
@Das: Thought you’d like that one…you’re very welcome, and enjoy!
Joe, oh, oh, forgot, Steel Magnolias. Hated it. My daughter was terrified of Mary Poppins as a child, still hates it 🙂
I haven’t met anyone that liked “Death Proof”. That movie was sooooo bad.
@David: Whaaaa? Defying Gravity has been cancelled? All I knew is that it was the season finale, although couldn’t figure out why a “season” was only 8 episodes. Must look this up. Shit.
Oh someone after my own heart!!
I absolutely HATED ‘Moulin Rouge’ and ‘Six Degrees ..’ Glad to know I’m not alone.
Speaking of movies to avoid because of who’s in it: any movie with Chris Farley.
I know, I know. “Don’t speak ill of the dead.” But that man could not act his way out of a wet bag full of holes. Loud an obnoxious – focus on the noxious – does not a comedy make.
It’s ok Carl. We still love you.
Hey Joe,
Getting nervous/apprehensive/excited about the SGU premiere?
I’m the only person I know who didn’t like Thelma and Louise. I thought the ending was a cop-out and sent a crap message – run away from your problems and commit suicide. Admittedly they did it in style, and Brad Pitt in those jeans was worth a watch, but overall I was unimpressed.
I did really really enjoy Moulin Rouge, it was a total feast for the senses when I saw it at the cinema and as a music student our class studied the soundtrack and came up with the general consensus that the music was genius. Maybe it’s my english-ness coming through here but the sight of Jim Broadbent singing ‘Like a Virgin’ was complete brilliance – I don’t know how anyone can say that film’s unoriginal.
And Austin Powers really makes me laugh. Goldmember was not the best film of the three, but Beyonce was a revelation as foxy. Austin Powers has so much British humour in it, a real throw back to carry on films and monty python, with some great visual comedy. Sure it’s daft, but when the gags are done that well it really works. And Mike Myers’ parents are from Liverpool and he supports Liverpool Football Club – he’s the man!
@ Deni – Yes! It’s a great picture! Thank you, again!
@ Narelle – Showed Mr. Das your picture…he said, ‘hubba hubba!’, and I slapped him. 😀
ytimynona wrote:
@Tammy Dixon Oh, I don’t think people admire Jack Sparrow…I think they want to be him.
Bingo!! 🙂
das
Woody Allen films get a 2 to 3 star handicap.
I so agree about Little Miss Sunshine. For your next list add Sunshine Cleaning, it’s made from the same sickly-sweet Sundance favorite mold. I now regard the “Sundance Favorite” label on DVD’s as fair warning that the movie will suck the life out of me.
These are the movies people force you to watch at family get togethers, dinner parties, airplanes; any place where you aren’t in control of the TV and cannot escape for fear of insulting your host or being arrested by air marshalls for trying to leap from the plane during flight.
I fly a lot so I have no problem begging the flight attendant to switch out the bad movie for the good movie; they always show the good movie going to the East Coast while I’m stuck with the bad movie while going West. Sometimes they’ll give you this shtick about in-bound and out-bound viewing schedules, but there is always that blissfull time when they agree to show a decent movie instead of a rom-com from hell.
First Knight… nuff said.
Also pretty much agreed with every one of your choices.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull…honestly, I don’t know what everyone’s problem with this was! Yes, it didn’t focus on ancient King Arthur mythology, but it also didn’t have Kate Capshaw screaming her head off–and plus, I’m an X-Files fan and found that I could almost perfectly connect the ‘black oil’ of the show to the ‘crystal skull aliens’ of the movie. In my opinion, there was nothing remotely stupid or bad about it.
I do however agree on Six Degrees of Separation–I saw it the other day with a friend and ended up muting it and babbling nonsense instead, making both of us crack up with every line.
Also, I’ve got a question for you, Joe! (Hopefully you’ll catch it, but if not, I’ll put it up again on another of your posts.) I’ve seen quite a few cartoons with your name on them lately: The Busy World of Richard Scarry, Animal Crackers, The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures, etc. Could you possibly let me know which one (if any) was the most fun to work on?
Dammit, I get caught up in post-con work, and I miss all the fun posts!
I didn’t hate Little Miss Sunshine, but I didn’t love it. I have no urge to see it again. And I really didn’t care much for Nim’s Island, another Anna Breslin movie, either.
I liked Spidey 2 so-so — I actually loved the subway car scene (it appealed to my inner hurt/comfort fiend, what with the people all rallying around the unconscious Peter afterwards), and Spidey’s unmasking to MJ, but the science drove me nuts, and the characterisation was a bit lacking, especially for Doc Oc. I much prefer 1 and 3.
I actually adore Moulin Rogue (except for the very end). I thought it was funny and I love the music. But I can totally see why people would hate it — it’s definitely an acquired taste.
I actually liked Brazil for the most part, but again, I can certainly understand why people would hate it — my parents do. And I do prefer Baron Munchausen.
I like the Austin Powers movies — when I’m in the right mood. But I do think the second one was the best, and that the third was a bit lacking.
I haven’t seen any of the others you listed, and I have no urge to.
As for films I hate that others seem to love …
Anything starring Mel Gibson. I just have this deep, visceral aversion to him — expect for in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdom (which I haven’t actually seen since childhood, so maybe I would hate it now) and Chicken Run (which was only so-so). But I hated what I’ve seen of the Lethal Weapon films; I thought Braveheart was a huge, steaming pile of crap (except for Angus Macfadyen, the guy who played Robert the Bruce); and as much as I love Heath Ledger, Jason Isaacs, and Gregory Smith, The Patriot was agony, most of which I’ve blocked from my mind. I only saw Air America for Robert Downey Junior, and RDJ was the only reason I watched the whole thing.
Anything from Tarantino. Sorry, but I really detest endless violence and gore for entertainment/humour’s sake — I don’t find it amusing. I count Kill Bill Vol 1 (I never did make it to Vol 2)as one of the worst films I’ve ever seen, and I have absolutely no desire to see any more of Pulp Fiction than the snippets I have seen.
I loathed Starship Troopers for much the same reason, and while I have since met many who hated it as much as I, when I saw it? It seemed like everyone I knew loved it.
My boyfriend will hate me if he knew I was putting my submissions in for Movies I Hated that EVeryone else seemed to love…..
but he’ll never know so here we are…..
Transformers – both of them. Acting, diaglogue, story – just everything.
Jurassic Park – all of them. Never been able to sit through a whole movie.
The Truman Show – HATED it. Horrible premise.
Any Horror movie ever made.
Batman: The Dark Knight – totally over rated, and in my opinion only did so well because it was Heath Ledgers last movie – and yes he was very good – but great?? I disagree…. And it went waaaaay too long. should have finished when you made the connection about Two Face…. end credits NOW!
The Fast and The Furious and all sequals.
Also gotta add in any and every episode of Seinfeld ever made….
Bad Boys
The entire Terminator collection…. in fact every movie Arnie ever made – with the possible exception of Kindergarten Cop – and I can’t explain why….
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
A Fish Called Wanda
Jaws
ET
All movies Tom Cruise has been in.
Hi Joe!
Good list of hate. 🙂 I normally don’t go into hate lists, but I’ll give it a go.
Seven – I did, indeed, hate this movie. It’s only purpose was to kill people in the most disgusting way possible and pretend not to be a horror film. Brad Pitt was completely unbelievable at the end when deciding whether to kill Kevin Spacey or not. (This is the guy I saw in A River Runs Through It? This is the guy whose ass I saw in Troy?) He must’ve been bad if I think Keanu Reeves would’ve acted better in that scene. (Keanu’s cool, but duuuude, he’s not a spectacular actor.)
Titanic – Dear Lord, please make all copies of this movie fall into the ocean (in an environmentally safe way)! Pathetic playing up the class war: Poor = Good! Rich = Bad! (unless you used to be poor, of course). Let’s have the rich guy insult now beloved artists! Yeah, cuz people with money have done nothing for the Arts. Didn’t get the love story. Didn’t care about anything or anyone until the ending. I think Cameron did a great job on making the audience feel the sinking of the ship. I’d rather have watched three hours of the actual footage of the Titanic on the ocean floor.
The only good thing related to Titanic that I saw was 100 Reasons Why Star Wars is Better Than Titanic.
Almost Famous – Let’s make drug-addled rockers and groupies endearing! Let’s make using women and selling them for a case of beer OK because she knows she’s being sold! Let’s make all the using by both the rockers and the groupies OK because it happened in the 70’s! Disgusting.
I was really disappointed with Star Trek 1 and Star Trek 5.
I like the first Spiderman movie best. Spidey 2 ended wrong like you said – environmental impact anyone? – and I didn’t like the horror scene in the surgery.
Rock on,
eddy
Oh, and I sorta agree with Shiloh42. I didn’t like Million Dollar Baby either. I kept thinking, “Get a lawyer! Get a lawyer! Get a lawyer!” She didn’t have to put Clint’s character through all of that. There’s a whole section of the law there for her to make sure her wishes were followed. The acting was really good, though.
eddy
Joe,
I didn’t like “Pulp Fiction”, when I first saw it. Then I watched it for a film studies class in college and grew to appreciate it. Still not a terribly huge fan.
I didn’t like “Dumb and Dumber” mostly because the title fit all too well.
I didn’t like “Something About Mary”, probably because my humor isn’t in line with that of the fifteen year old boys I teach.
And I’ve never liked “Scarface” for the same reasons you listed – even though it’s one of my husband’s favorites. Rather telling, huh? Especially since he lived in Miami during the Mariel Boat Lift (when Scarface) was set loose on Miami.
Thanks again for the regular updates.
MA
OMG six degrees of separation sucked the life out of my soul!
what a stupid disgusting idiotic movie. holy shit!
and they call that art! are you kidding me. are fucking kidding me.
dude, i was searching google minutes ago for the words in the following line:
six degrees of separation+”stupid movie”
I never felt pissed after watching a movie like I was the other day after watching this crap.
before I watched it, I was reading on wikipedia about David Hampton the con artist who this movie was about. but his biography has nothing to with the movie, well, almost anyway.
I could talk for decades non-stop about how bullshit this movie is.