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What movie do you most detest? (1 Viewer)

Ronald Epstein

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I was thinking about this very question today.


There is one single film that makes me tense inside every

time I see that it's being shown on television.


The one film I will never, ever watch again because it

just makes me angry to think of it....


Independence Day


This film makes my skin crawl. Touted as blockbuster

style entertainment it was huge on effects but obviously

there was no money left to spend on talent. Here we have

Bill Pullman as President giving a speech which has

to be amongst the most uninspiring dreck ever delivered

on screen.

Then, you pull in a has-been actor like Judd Hirsch who

does a very clichéd over-the-top portrayal of a Jewish Father.

And Harvey Fierstein? What the heck was he doing in

this film?

Just bad entertainment all around.


Very curious to find out what single film makes your

skin crawl more than anything else?
 

Martino

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Transformers 2 for me....


I went for free with a group from work, so it did not cost me anything but my time and my hearing.

For me, it was a combination of not needed Bay Watch giggle slow-mo, leg humping and jive talking stupid supporting character robots, parents acting way too dumb to be living, and lots of blowing stuff up with high, headache producing volume.

Anything that might have been interesting (like giant robots fighting each other) - was filmed so close that you could not tell what was going on.

And I know that you are supposed to suspend belief on these popcorn flicks - but having normal humans fall in a car from a helicopter at least 5 stories and come out unscratched just is beyond my limits - glad they had air-bags....
 

Matthew Ploor

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I'm always surprised at the dislike some have for Independence Day. Although it is goofy, schlocky, and unrealistic, I still find it a very enjoyable ride with likable characters and lots of nice explosions. But then some people love my most disliked movie, so it's all a matter of taste....


My pick for my most disliked movie is Armageddon. As a sci-fi/action movie it should be perfect for me, but from the opening chase on the oil rig it just grates on me terribly.

The base concept of the movie, sending oil rig guys into space on 2 weeks notice to blow up an enormous asteroid is ridiculous to start with, then it just gets dumber with the crazy adventures on the asteroid.


The characters all feel like stereotypes, the romance is stomach-churning (despite the lovely Liv Tyler), and the pace feels artificially forced to keep things "exciting."


I tried to give it a second chance once, thinking maybe I had just been in the wrong mood the first time, but I couldn't get through the first 30 minutes. I can't stand this movie!
 

Simon Massey

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Pretty much every Michael Bay film - I have an intense dislike for virtually all his films except The Rock. I'll admit that when I am forced to sit down and watch one of his movies I'm already primed with low expectations but then he just manages to lower them further.


Single biggest annoyance was The Island because for 30-40 minutes I was actually enjoying it and thought he had managed to make something a little different - and then they escaped!!! :)
 

Brian Borst

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The only title I can think of is Avatar. I think James Cameron is good at what he does (bringing mindless popcorn flicks to the big screen) and I even liked Titanic, so what could go wrong? I absolutely hated the movie. Everything in the movie was so predictable, that I cannot fathom that anyone would think it's a masterpiece. We've seen the plot many times (and executed much better) before, the entire planet of Pandora is about as original as its name (it makes you wonder if Cameron just read a 'Creating a fantasy world for dummies' book and started typing), and the characters are astonishingly stereotypical. Even good actors like Sigourney Weaver or Giovanni Ribisi can't save this crap, and you have to wonder why they would accept their parts in the first place. Paychecks, I guess. Anyway, the rant's over. I'm just glad I'll never see it again.
 

Shakespeare in Love -how did this win best picture? It is complete crap. And I LIKE romantic (comedy?) films. Saving Private Ryan was THE film that year.


Con Air - garbage, wasted time, I want my money and 2 hours back.


Armageddon - Bay is talented at blowing things up but far worse at storytelling then anything James Cameron does. I can forgive Cameron's story faults due to his technical precision and ability to make his movies exciting and keep you spatially aware during action scenes. Bay doesn't have the talent for that.


Day after tomorrow, Godzilla, just about any Roland Emmerich film of late. I can tolerate ID4, but it is ridiculous and I never find myself wanting to see it again..


Poseidon Adventure -remake , horrible.


That's just a few, and I am someone who I think is a pretty generous film watcher, willing to give a lot of leeway to find something enjoyable in a movie and say something positive about it. But these movies leave me cold.
 

Mikael Soderholm

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Well, I try to steer clear of movies I suspect I might really dislike, so I haven't seen things like Transformers, for example ( but I like Independence Day).

That said, Dogma is one of very few DVDs I actually contemplated turning off before it was finished, but I saw it through, in hope of there being more Linda Fiorentino, which there wasn't (at least not enough). I will not ever watch that again.


Likewise, if I never even see the cover of Happiness again, my life will still seem full and nice. No movie has even made me feel as bad as that one. Even writing about it gives me the creeps...
 

Richard--W

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What movie do you most detest?

[SIZE= 18px]Answer: Casino Royale (2006).[/SIZE]


[SIZE= 18px]I was waiting for somebody to ask me that.[/SIZE]


[SIZE= 18px]Do you want to know why?[/SIZE]
 

Leo Kerr

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I'm glad I'm not the only one that hated Casino Royale. Although I don't know if it'd rise (or sink) to the level of "detest." I'm gonna have to think about that one... As for Avatar, wasn't it basically the same as Abyss, but without the charm or interest? [Ducking eggs and pies now..]


Leo
 

Brent M

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Originally Posted by Richard--W



As for the actual question at hand, my answer is simple: Van Helsing. I'd put Batman and Robin right there with it, though.
 

JoeCool6972

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There have been a bunch of highly acclaimed and awarded movies I hate. Titanic, Casino Royale (or any James Bond ridiculousness), Pearl Harbor, Twister, Sound of Music, Chicago ( I hate musicals anyway), Schindler's List, Sweeney Todd, CATS, Little Shop of Horrors, Grease, Saturday Night Fever. Single biggest director, writer, producer who I can not watch is Quentin Tarentino. All of his stuff is garbage. But the single biggest load of crap is anything Twilight. That bitch ruined vampires and werewolves. And I LOVED Independence Day! Sure it was cheesy, but pretty good nonetheless.
 

Elizabeth S

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The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover


Granted, I have never seen the last 20 minutes of this film. It is just one of the most unpleasant films I've seen and I finally walked out and let my date finish watching the film. Spent the time in the lobby talking with the theater worker about having to clean up vomit after the film. I've seen about 3 Greenaway films now and concluded they are just not for me. I like dark and to some depressing films (love the aforementioned "Happiness"), but I don't need to see dog shit, maggots and a fork in the cheek in the guise of an arthouse film. I could never understand Roger Ebert's love of this film, but came to realize I leaned more toward Siskel's tastes.
 

mattCR

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I have several films I'd put as "MOST" because they are so detested that I will never try to watch any of them again. But I really want to say I detest most: GORE PORN. See films like Saw


This falls into the category of what I would call "Gore Porn". I just find the entire genre unbelievably offensive. It offends everything to me that this complete gore crap gets an "R" but something beautiful with merit like "Henry & June" gets an NC-17. I've always felt terrible that real, significant films get edited and hacked up in order to get an "R" to avoid realistic sex or tough sequences, but you can have a film where people get decapitated, gutted, torn apart, mutilated.. all for enjoyment, and it easily gets an "R". I might guard what my kids watch, but if at 14 I have a choice between a kid seeing something like "Last Tango in Paris" (now NC-17) or "Saw VII" I would sure as hell prefer they see "Last Tango". Hell, I'd screen Caligula for them as a preference to this crap.

This doesn't mean I don't enjoy films that have a high level of gore, and there are several that I do. But I find that most of what I enjoy to that extent tends to be either an attempt to realistically portray (like many war films) or an attempt to stylize the effect to the point of it as an effect. "Gore Porn" is far more about events in a film which try to mimic the real thing as closely as possible, for as long as possible, with no purpose beyond showing people in agony for the enjoyment of it. (just to be clear)


I always feel a bit sad anytime I see any of the latest Gore Porn hit the top of the box office. I just despise everything about the genre and wish it would go away, or preferrably, be correctly rated as "NC-17"
 

Patrick H.

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Lots of good candidates tossed out already, but I can't really say I actively "hate" the cinema of Michael Bay, for example, because I've grown to just totally disregard it. But I can think of one film I do actively hate... Superman Returns I hate this film the way some hate the Star Wars prequels or the Schumacher Batman films. Not because it's particularly incompetent or half-assed...its makers clearly had a vision for where they wanted to go with this iconic character and realized it with technical skill. No, I hate this film because it's a titanic failure of spirit and heart. It hijacks the look and legacy of the wonderful original Christopher Reeve film for its own misguided ends, then proceeds totally oblivious to the point of what Superman's all about. Instead of majesty, optimism and fun, we get a mopey, uncharismatic, alienated hero who flies through fuzzy digital landscapes and "saves" unresponsive digital people. Instead of romance and wit, we get a bitter, bitchy (and horrifically-cast) Lois Lane and a sadistic, dour Lex Luthor (a total waste of some ideal casting). And instead of a story which taps into our hopes and fears and lifts our imaginations, we get the same old crap all over again, just rendered slow and dull. So no, this isn't the absolute worst film I've ever seen, but, dammit, in 2006 the world could've used a good Superman film, and this one utterly failed. FAILED. Hopefully somebody learned from this.
 

Ronald Epstein

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Patrick,


Very well put. That Superman film was a huge disappointment.
 

WillG

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and you have to wonder why they would accept their parts in the first place. Paychecks, I guess. Anyway, the rant's over. I'm just glad I'll never see it again.
Well, I think plenty of actors would give their left nut to be in a James Cameron film. The guy has pretty much redefined cinema with almost every film he's made. That being said I agree with many of the criticisms of Avatar. It's visually stunning, no one is going to argue that, but IMO it's too preachy, cliched and unoriginal for it to be truly enjoyable.


Even though I find it watchable for some reason, I offer "The Lost World" (Jurassic Park). Everything about that movie, other than the dinosaurs, was just inept. The "Environmentalist vs evil Capitalist" angle had enough material to give douche chills to even the most bleeding heart. The worst has to be the Julianne Moore character. In short, she spends a good portion of the movie constantly contradicting just about everything she preaches to the other characters (actions which directly lead to multiple deaths). And who makes dumb jokes when hanging for dear life in a trailer hanging off the side of a cliff?


Superman Returns was mentioned. Superman IV is an easy mention, but I find it offensive not because of the abysmal production values or parts of the movie literally not making sense. It's that they took what could have been an interesting idea but wrote it with the naivety of a 5 year old little girl "we shouldn't have nuclear bombs because um......they're bad....and um....they can hurt us"


However, I think my top pick would be "Kids" Just an ugly film full of reprehensible and annoying characters. And what a bold message, Kids are out having sex, drinking and getting high.....really, what's this world coming to?!! I don't understand at all the praise the movie seems to get.
 

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