A fine whine....films you whined about but that have now gotten better with age (1 Viewer)

[Louis Letizia]

While watching 1982s. WRONG IS RIGHT on Sony channel this morning I changed my view. When I first saw this on cable in the 80s I absolutely despised it. It was a mess. But...rewatching this for the first time in nearly 30 years ive come to enjoy it and was amazed how much it predicted. Its still a bit of a mess...but its a fun movie with a bewildering cast.
Another movie ive come to reevaluate it was HARRY AND TONTO. Its on netflix now. I always thought this was slow and boring whenever it came on HBO. But...for reasons purely different from WRONG...ive come to be engrossed in a movie that I despised for the simple fact of my being closer to Art Carney's age in this!
Both would look great on Bluray. Any others?

 

[Matt Hough]

It was years before I finally began to see the brilliance of Robert Altman's Nashville. I was not a great fan on the initial release, but I now see the error of my ways.

 

[KPmusmag]

I never liked GIGI, although I liked the score. I had only seen it on television, pan and scanned with commercials and it always left me cold. Some movies suffer more than others from pan & scan, and GIGI suffers a lot; I thought it was one of the most poorly photographed movies I had ever seen. During the laserdisc era, circa 1988, a friend gave me the widescreen LD of GIGI, and although I appreciated receiving a gift, I thought, "Oh swell, my least favorite musical." Little did I know that the gift would be more than just a laserdisc. At the time, I had a 50-inch rear-projection tv, and although a Cinemascope image was pretty small even on that, it was enough for me to realize how beautifully photographed GIGI actually was. Adding stereo sound to the widescreen picture, I fell to her charms and have loved GIGI ever since. Some years later it was shown at the El Capitan in Hollywood and seeing it on the big screen there is still a treasured memory. While the blu-ray of GIGI has its problems due to the deteriorating source element, I find it quite satisfying.

 

[Louis Letizia]

Ah NASHVILLE. My holy grail for a Criterion Bluray release. Even as a teenage I liked this movie...even though I didn't understand it. But..like you...I have come to appreciate it as Altmans masterwork...and perhaps the only Altman film I really like.

 

[battlebeast]

Originally Posted by MattH. /t/321032/a-fine-whine-films-you-whined-about-but-that-have-now-gotten-better-with-age#post_3930811
It was years before I finally began to see the brilliance of Robert Altman's Nashville. I was not a great fan on the initial release, but I now see the error of my ways.

I am in the opinion that this is a terrible movie. I found it hard to watch, confusing, and needlessly noisy... I mean, so many people talking all at once... It worked in M*A*S*H, but not here.

I should watch it again, I think... maybe it would clear up some things, or reaffirm my opinion of the film.

 

[Louis Letizia]

Ive tried to get many people ....nieces and nephews esp ( who are nearing thirties and over)...and they all share your opinion.
Its rambleness is precisely what hooked me to it when I was young. The brilliance of it is that the viewers always felt like he was eavesdropping on these peoples lives. And they each represented our world at the time.
I think its telling that of all the major Oscar nominations it received...Screenplay and Editing weren't among them pointing out both its adlibbed dialogue and its sloppy feel.
All the performances were excellent. No other films trailer hooked me more than this one...one of the few I remember narrated by a woman.
Try it again.

 

[battlebeast]

The only character I liked in the movie was the campaign van. I will watch it again.

 

[Thomas T]

After some 50 years of constant movie going, there are only 3 films that I've changed my mind on favorably.
Fellini's 8 1/2, Russell's Women In Love and Minnelli's Brigadoon, all of which I disliked intensely upon first viewing but subsequent viewings have made them favorites.
On the other hand, I loved Forrest Gump and Gladiator upon first viewing but I now find them revolting pieces of trash.

 

[Matt Hough]

Also don't forget that most of the stars of Nashville wrote their own songs for that film, and the songs themselves, even if you're allergic to country music, are gems of construction and like the best musical numbers, tell quite a lot about the characters who are singing them.

 

[Louis Letizia]

Also don't forget that most of the stars of Nashville wrote their own songs for that film, and the songs themselves, even if you're allergic to country music, are gems of construction and like the best musical numbers, tell quite a lot about the characters who are singing them.

This made it very special. The 2 actresses that went unrecognized Oscar time -Karen Black and Barbara Harris-were stunning. Harris literally stole the picture with her ferocious ending song.
I'm assuming Paramount still owns this. It was an ABC Picture. Ironically united artists had cold feet about this just before release and refused to release it-and Paramount swooped it up. MGM controls ABC Pictures library-it would have come full circle. Now ABC has a drama in the fall called NASHVILLE-I doubt any relation.
I'd like to correct myself here-I also am fond of Altman's A Wedding.

 

[ahollis]

Originally Posted by MattH. /t/321032/a-fine-whine-films-you-whined-about-but-that-have-now-gotten-better-with-age#post_3930811
It was years before I finally began to see the brilliance of Robert Altman's Nashville. I was not a great fan on the initial release, but I now see the error of my ways.

Same here. When I first saw it in a theatre, I thought I had wasted the three hours. I went in expecting something on the level with MASH and NASHVILLE certainly was not. Years later I watched the DVD and was enthralled with it. I think it has something to do with being older and wiser and also that I had enjoyed SHORT CUTS. In those between years, I really let this film have it as one of my least favorite. Now I recommend it.

Paramount still controlls the film and released the DVD.

 

[Louis Letizia]

Same here.  When I first saw it in a theatre, I thought I had wasted the three hours.  I went in expecting something on the level with MASH and NASHVILLE certainly was not.  Years later I watched the DVD and was enthralled with it.  I think it has something to do with being older and wiser and also that I had enjoyed SHORT CUTS.  In those between years, I really let this film have it as one of my least favorite.  Now I recommend it. 
Paramount still controlls the film and released the DVD. 

Thanks for clearing that up....we may then see a Criterion release.
For years when I tried reccommended this movie to others they all wanted to know "what is it about?". Now its easy...I say...its like CRASH or BABEL.

 

[NY2LA]

This made it very special. The 2 actresses that went unrecognized Oscar time -Karen Black and Barbara Harris-were stunning. Harris literally stole the picture with her ferocious ending song.
I'm assuming Paramount still owns this. It was an ABC Picture. Ironically united artists had cold feet about this just before release and refused to release it-and Paramount swooped it up. MGM controls ABC Pictures library-it would have come full circle. Now ABC has a drama in the fall called NASHVILLE-I doubt any relation. I'd like to correct myself here-I also am fond of Altman's A Wedding.

I have to say I found Nashville interesting when it came out, and A Wedding even more so.
Short Cuts on the other hand: the first hour I found slow, the second tedious, the third, torturous. And I saw it at the Writers Guild Theatre where you HAD to sit still in stony silence and absorb the dialogue.
Almost 20 years ago a friend made me a VHS from the laserdisc of GIGI. I would tease him with a series of comic riff analogies about owning the laserdisc of GIGI ("Not that there's anything wrong with that!"). I find the film well-crafted and entertaining myself, but I prefer LILi, so...
This is an interesting thread, I'll have to think about what movies I came to like that I didn't...

 

[Louis Letizia]

After some 50 years of constant movie going, there are only 3 films that I've changed my mind on favorably.
Fellini's 8 1/2, Russell's Women In Love and Minnelli's Brigadoon, all of which I disliked intensely upon first viewing but subsequent viewings have made them favorites.
On the other hand, I loved Forrest Gump and Gladiator upon first viewing but I now find them revolting pieces of trash.

An interesting twist/reversal. I'd have to agree with you about those two films. Others I used to love but no longer do: Ordinary People. At 17 I SO connected with Timothy Huttons Conrad and thus watched the movie constantly. As an adult the movie just lies there,. Its a series of pretty pictures but not a movie. For a while i thought Mary Tyler Moore was robbed of the Oscar that year..But Mary Richards and Laura Petrie WERE the real acting job as we've come to learn that in ORDINARY she virtualy played herself. Raging Bull deserved the Oscar.
The Driver: I tried to psyche myself into thinking this was the coolest movie ever. But when I recently watched it I couldnt watch the first 10 minutes. Isabelle Adjani is still one of the most beautiful actresses ever.
I think, sometimes, we WANT to like a movie because we feel its ntelligent or that everyone "smarter" than me likes it and I must belong. Its the emperors new clothes theory-but I now watch movies without caring who likes it or not. And I kinda always did in the beginning.
I wholeheartedly agree with also not liking Women in Love. It was boring and Masterpiece Theater like-and as a macho Italian gut I wouldnt be caught dead watching two bareassed guys wrestling with each other. I now count this as one of my favorite movies and that scene with oliver Reed and Alan Bates one of the most beautiful -in its composition, lighting and in its power-ever filmed. The audacity of it -would Brad Pitt and George Clooney ever allow themselves to film a scene like this?
Conversely the same directors Altered States-one of my favorites as a teen-I cannot stomach now

 

[Thomas T]

I think, sometimes, we WANT to like a movie because we feel its ntelligent or that everyone "smarter" than me likes it and I must belong. Its the emperors new clothes theory-but I now watch movies without caring who likes it or not. And I kinda always did in the beginning.

Oh yeah, it's easy to get sucked into the hype. Certain movies get a big "buzz" to them before even opening and it's the movie on everyone's lips and you just have to be there opening weekend. Or the critics rave about certain movies that pick up all kinds of awards at the year's end. And you feel "I have to like this movie" because it grossed a trillion dollars or it won 10 Oscars.
But I like what I like and I truly don't care what anyone else thinks. It's gotten me some flak a lot of the times as in "What? You hate It's A Wonderful Life? Man, what's wrong with you? Don't you have a heart?" or "You liked Moonraker ? Dude, that's like the worst Bond movie of all time. It sucked!".

 

[NY2LA]

I think, sometimes, we WANT to like a movie because we feel its ntelligent or that everyone "smarter" than me likes it and I must belong. Its the emperors new clothes theory-but I now watch movies without caring who likes it or not. And I kinda always did in the beginning.

FINALLY someone ELSE brings up the "Emperor's New Clothes" theory I've used for YEARS to explain the popularity of things like the stage production of Les Miserables! Something dour and pretentious becomes vastly overrated, ostensibly "cool" and trendy for folks to praise to the sky, but really bores some people to bits and they don't want to admit it.
I've always pretty much acknowledged the naked guys, pointed out the elephant in the room, etc. Gets me in hot water a lot.

 

[Martin Teller]

"Emperor's New Clothes" is the worst, laziest argument there is. Yes, you are the magic individual who sees through all the bullshit, everyone else is just lying about what they like to look "cool"

 

[Louis Letizia]

"Emperor's New Clothes" is the worst, laziest argument there is. Yes, you are the magic individual who sees through all the bullshit, everyone else is just lying about what they like to look "cool"

We all have that quality---in some way. I'm sure theres a movie you do not like that every one has raved about. Its human nature. I've BEEN the naked guy in the room, the guy with the fly open , the guy with mismatched shoes....i wish someone would have said something.