Hating A Director/Actor/etc. (1 Viewer)

I just got the 15th anniversary blu-ray of Clerks,and got to thinking. Is there a director or actor or a series of movies where you just can't stand any of them except for one ? Clerks is the only movie of Kevin Smith's that I like. Mallrats in particular, I don't like. It never made any sense to make a movie about young people hanging out in a mall in the 90s. That was way past when most kids hung out in malls. Dogma made even less sense. So, GOD is capable of going into a coma ? And don't even get me started on HIM being a woman.

It would take far less time to list the ones I actually like than the ones I dislike! My tastes usually run counter to what's popular so I'm in the minority when it come to the films of say James Cameron. I have no use for Kevin Smith movies either.

There are certain actors I dislike and I avoid their films unless they work with a director whose films I want to see. I can't stand Cate Blanchett yet I went to see Blue Jasmine because I'm a huge Woody Allen fan but I ended up hating both her and the movie. I kind of wanted to see the recent Cinderella but skipped it because of the Blanchett factor but she's upcoming in films by Todd Haynes and Terence Malik, two must see directors for me, so I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and put up with her.

Spottedfeather said:

I just got the 15th anniversary blu-ray of Clerks,and got to thinking. Is there a director or actor or a series of movies where you just can't stand any of them except for one ? Clerks is the only movie of Kevin Smith's that I like. Mallrats in particular, I don't like. It never made any sense to make a movie about young people hanging out in a mall in the 90s. That was way past when most kids hung out in malls. Dogma made even less sense. So, GOD is capable of going into a coma ? And don't even get me started on HIM being a woman.

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I've long been a Kevin Smith fan, but that may have something to do with finding his movies at the optimum time - during high school. Plus, I love a good dick or fart joke just like the next manchild.


Dogma is one of my favorite movies of all time, because it actually takes a fascinating look at the problems with rigid adherence to religious dogma. Smith put his Catholicism to good work in that film. I rather like his interpretation that an omnipotent deity could be, as Rufus says, "technically, She's not anything." So what if he cast a woman, what does it really matter? Also, it's the human body that god put itself in that goes into a coma, which inhibits the ability to jump out of it. Once you acknowledge the logic of the film (depending on your view of religion), it's plausible within that frame to accept the coma as a plot device.

The presence of Woody Harrelson is the kiss of death for me. It could have everything else -- Spielberg directing and every actor I like -- and Woody Harrelson in the cast would make me just walk away. He makes my skin crawl. Ditto anything that involves Woody Allen (must be that first name).


In the disliking everything but one film group, that's Leonardo Dicaprio for me. Aside from Catch Me If You Can, he leaves me cold, and it would take a lot to get me to see a film he's in. In that case, it was Spielberg, who used him brilliantly.

Actor- Woody Harrelson, Will Farrell, Jim Carrey


Director- Oliver Stone, Wes Anderson,

Well, I avoid a lot of stuff and generally see films based on the director or content more than who is in them. I don't hate anybody but I don't appreciate the work of some actors but I do find that some directors bring out the best in these actors and make them watchable.


Actors I generally don't like and some exceptions in their catalog of work:


Adam Sandler - Put me with the group that just finds this guy annoying, not funny in any way. However much to the surprise of Adam and myself Paul Thomas Anderson chose him to play the lead in Punch Drunk Love and it worked out beautifully. Sandler's Barry Egan is easily the highlight of his career and Anderson puts his goofy childlike demeanor and vulnerability to good use and they create a character with the potential to explode at any moment due to his inability to cope with or understand his world.


Keanu Reeves- Generally his name on the marquee means a film I probably will not see but there have been some exceptions. I love A Scanner Darkly and Linklater's use of Reeves as an animation is quite honestly perfect. Gus Van Sant (always an actor's director) puts Reeves to good use in My Own Private Idaho. Finally, I actually think Reeves is excellent in River's Edge which may be his best performance as an actual human being. Mostly I avoid his films but I did watch John Wick as it was recommended to me and it reminded me of how terrible he is and why I avoid most of his work. I will be seeing him in The Neon Demon though which hopefully will be another career highlight for him.


Ben Affleck- OK, this guy is sort of an odd case. It seemed for the majority of his career he could not act and was just dreadful in everything. Then he directs himself in The Town, seemingly after having watched The Friends of Eddie Coyle about 3000 times, and suddenly it seems he can act. He follows this up with good performances in his own Argo and Gone Girl and I'm thinking, as are probably many people, where did that come from? I probably won't avoid him now and if he directs himself or hooks up with something that looks interesting with a good director I will probably be interested in seeing future films. Sadly just when the guy was getting interesting it seems his dance card is being filled up with Batman films I'll never see. He does have his own Live By Night coming though which based on his track record as a director could be very good.

I forgot actors. Tom Cruise has always been cinematic anathema to me and Tina Fey makes my teeth ache!

Directors...well...I think there are few good ones that actually make a difference as to the quality of the film. I think most directors pretty much just churn out what a studio wants and are just another cog in the machinery. So, listing ones I don't like is fairly easy but the list would be long.


I also don't like James Cameron. His films are visually interesting but otherwise tend to be awful. He cares nothing about what the actors actually say in the film and seems only to care about how they look. Ed Harris wanted to kill him while making The Abyss and if he had it may have been a good thing. He basically shares all the worst aspects of George Lucas, except George made some good films, and combines them with an ego the size of the sun and like the sun his ego will consume anything that falls into it . I like his first Terminator film and The Abyss. His Alien sequel was OK but featured the utterly terrible dialogue that has become his trademark. He makes excellent documentaries about exploring the sea. I guess he is going to make about 30 more Avatar movies and then call it a day. Seems I'll never see one of his films again.


I'd say Michael Bay annoys me but I've never seen one of his films. They just all look so awful based on the trailers I've never wanted to even check one out. I think he exists because there is a certain segment of society that just wants to see stuff blow up and he blows it up real good.

Reggie W said:

I'd say Michael Bay annoys me but I've never seen one of his films. They just all look so awful based on the trailers I've never wanted to even check one out. I think he exists because there is a certain segment of society that just wants to see stuff blow up and he blows it up real good.

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If you don't like James Cameron's movies, you might jump out of a window if you saw a Michael Bay movie. Cameron is Orson Welles compared to Bay.

Funny the OP should mention Mallrats, I just watched it for the first time two days ago. Truly awful and pointless IMO. The only KS movie I don't like. I think I suspected I wouldn't, why I'm watching a 20 y.o. film of his for the first time now. In the BD intro, which I watched after the movie (BD has a weird and kind of stupid menu system, the only Uni BD I've ever seen like this), KS even says a few times that this movie isn't well-liked.


Can't think of anybody I despise so much I wouldn't watch a movie they're associated with, but I do think many in the biz are hyped with little supporting substance (IMO), and it's probably better I don't mention their names because they're BIG and there's just so many. Popular does not equal good. Blandness and mediocrity, almost by definition, is popular.

I don't think Mallrats is a bad film by any means, but it just didn't make any sense. The movie is from 1995, which is long past when most people the age of the characters in the movie stopped, or was starting to stop, hanging out at malls. If KS had made this movie in the 80s, it would have been a lot more relevant.

ACTOR - Adam Sandler

Spottedfeather said:

I don't think Mallrats is a bad film by any means, but it just didn't make any sense. The movie is from 1995, which is long past when most people the age of the characters in the movie stopped, or was starting to stop, hanging out at malls. If KS had made this movie in the 80s, it would have been a lot more relevant.

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Maybe it was supposed to be Canadian, and took its inspiration from Robin Sparkles
[emoji1]

Spottedfeather said:

I just got the 15th anniversary blu-ray of Clerks,and got to thinking. Is there a director or actor or a series of movies where you just can't stand any of them except for one ? Clerks is the only movie of Kevin Smith's that I like. Mallrats in particular, I don't like. It never made any sense to make a movie about young people hanging out in a mall in the 90s. That was way past when most kids hung out in malls. Dogma made even less sense. So, GOD is capable of going into a coma ? And don't even get me started on HIM being a woman.

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But have you seen CHASING AMY? Great writing and insight in that one.

Reggie W said:

Adam Sandler - Put me with the group that just finds this guy annoying, not funny in any way. However much to the surprise of Adam and myself Paul Thomas Anderson chose him to play the lead in Punch Drunk Love and it worked out beautifully. Sandler's Barry Egan is easily the highlight of his career and Anderson puts his goofy childlike demeanor and vulnerability to good use and they create a character with the potential to explode at any moment due to his inability to cope with or understand his world.


Keanu Reeves- Generally his name on the marquee means a film I probably will not see but there have been some exceptions. I love A Scanner Darkly and Linklater's use of Reeves as an animation is quite honestly perfect. Gus Van Sant (always an actor's director) puts Reeves to good use in My Own Private Idaho. Finally, I actually think Reeves is excellent in River's Edge which may be his best performance as an actual human being. Mostly I avoid his films.

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I completely agree with you about these actors. Sandler I find insufferable, a clown without any sense of timing and a mugger of the first magnitude. One of his few serious roles, in PUNCH DRUG LOVE, though, I felt was a thoughtful and effective one.


As for Keanu, I really especially liked him in PARENTHOOD. He plays a teenager who is asked by his girlfriend's mother, played by Dianne Wiest, how she might deal with her son, a young teenager who has become reclusive and secretive. They get into a conversation about abusive fathers, and Reeves says to her, "I had a man around. He used to wake me up every morning by flicking lit cigarettes at my head. He'd say, "Hey, asshole, get up and make me breakfast." You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, or drive a car. Hell, you need a license to catch a fish! But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father." One of my favorite movie quotes because it's so absolutely true, and Reeves delivers it with perfection. I don't care for him much in other movies, but Ron Howard cast him insightfully.


I'd add to the OP's list of answers actor Martin Lawrence...and I actually can't think of one movie I like him in (although admittedly I've avoided all but a few)...I just find him reprehensible. And, here is a perfect of example of personal bias against an obviously talented actor, I don't like Marcia Gay Harding in anything, either. Maybe I just couldn't shake my dislike of her character in MYSTIC RIVER. Maybe it's just the way she looks. Sometimes we just can't explain why we like or dislike certain people or things.

I long ago stopped seeing anything by Paul Verhoeven. Every one of his movies turned me off in so many ways that I had to stop. I don't miss them.

Every time I think I don't like an actor or filmmaker, I find a movie that I enjoy that involves them.

Actors I hate: Adam Sandler, Tom Cruise and Jack Black.


Also agree Ben Affleck is a mixed bag.


Director I hate: Kevin Smith. Yeah, his films do suck, with the exception of "Chasing Amy," which is the one that most say is his best (if that is saying much). It's a shame, because I find Kevin to be highly intelligent. I enjoy listening to him in interviews. However, he can't make a good film for sh*t.

Ronald Epstein said:

Actors I hate: Adam Sandler, Tom Cruise and Jack Black.

Also agree Ben Affleck is a mixed bag.

Director I hate: Kevin Smith. Yeah, his films do suck, with the exception of "Chasing Amy," which is the one that most say is his best (if that is saying much). It's a shame, because I find Kevin to be highly intelligent. I enjoy listening to him in interviews. However, he can't make a good film for sh*t.

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I would have to disagree about Kevin Smith's intelligence. I listened to a series of podcasts wherein he interviewed John Lovitz and Smith did come across (to me at least) as even remotely intelligent.