Directors GREAT Films you hate - The Draft (2 Viewers)

[LukeB]

Dome:
I've actually only seen one of these films - Blair Witch Project - and I thought it was very good.

Bill:
The Matrix, Full Metal Jacket, Usual Suspects, Gone With the Wind, Taxi Driver, Alien, Fellowship, and Two Towers are all okay-to-very good in my book. Gladiator wasn't, so I agree with you there.

Nonetheless, definitely have to say Bill's list is more 'offensive.'

 

[SteveGon]

I'll go with Dome, mainly for the inclusion of Blue.

 

[ChuckDeLa]

Dome Vongvises
Star Trek: The Motion Picture - well, yeah, but does anyone (besides diehard ST geeks) really consider this "great"?
The Blair Witch Project - agree

Bill J
Taxi Driver - disagree very strongly
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - disagree
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - disagree very strongly
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - disagree, but not strongly
Gladiator - agree
Full Metal Jacket - somewhat agree
Alien - disagree, but not strongly
The Matrix - disagree, but not strongly
The Usual Suspects - agree


Haven't seen enough of Dome's, so I'll abstain

 

[JenB]

Bill J

 

[george kaplan]

This is very tough. Dome has 2 films I think are great, including a top 100 in Rosemary's Baby. But I don't like any of his other choices and actively dislike A Place In the Sun.

Bill on the other hand has 3 films I think are great (the LOTR ones and Alien), but 2 films I really hate. I guess Gone with the Wind is the tie-breaker.

Dome

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Dome Vongvises

From Here to Eternity - I liked it
Three Colors: Blue - A Great film
The Haunting - Great flick
Rosemary's Baby - Horror Masterpiece
A Place in the Sun - Now this one I have to agree on, It sucked!
Giant - Unseen
The Thin Blue Line - Unseen
Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Best of the Trek films by a country mile.
The Blair Witch Project - Great film.
Shane - eh, I can take it or leave it

vs.

Bill J

Gone with the Wind - Masterpiece!!!
Taxi Driver - A good film, but not on the level of greatness that most seem to think it is.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - I liked it
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - decent if somewhat bland at times. I give it a mild thumbs up.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Unseen
Gladiator - Emotionally vacant brain-dead revenge flick. It sucked!
Full Metal Jacket - This one sucks too!
Alien - One of only 2 Ridley Scott films that does not suck. Great flick.
The Matrix - Fun sci-fi/Kung-fu nonsense. Thumbs up from me.
The Usual Suspects - A lackluster snooze-fest, that exists solely for it's gimmicky ending.


Well Dome has 5 films I feel are Great while Bill's list only has 2, So i guess I cast my vote for Dome even though none of his individual picks where as insane as Bill's inclusion of "Gone with the Wind"

 

[Dome Vongvises]

This is the third time I've gone up against Bill J. He defeats me in Movie Draft #2. He defeats me in the Worst Movie Draft.

HTF Movie Draft! Vol. 2

Worst movie draft!

What kind of cosmic joke is this?

 

[Hunter P]

= WTF???
= Amen, Brotha!!!
:p) = Whatever. To each his own.

Dome Vongvises
From Here to Eternity :p)
Three Colors: Blue :p)
The Haunting :p)
Rosemary's Baby
A Place in the Sun :p)
Giant :p)
The Thin Blue Line
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
The Blair Witch Project
Shane :p)

vs.

Bill J
Gone with the Wind
Taxi Driver :p)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers :p)
Gladiator
Full Metal Jacket
Alien :p)
The Matrix
The Usual Suspects


I suspect a ringer. Bill's list looks deceptively suspicious. Is he purposely picking blockbuster movies that are universally liked? If he is then it worked because he earned my vote. (I don't think any of Dome's choices were out of place.)

 

[Evan Case]

I really like Shane and Rosemary's Baby, and some of the others to a lesser degree, but Bill's list has many I like even more (still not near Justin's glue-sniffing, crack-smoking masterpiece, though).

Evan

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I don't think I ever explained why I picked Shane. I blame it on the little kid.

I think the most controversial choice on this list is From Here To Eternity. Let me explain briefly. I believe Private Pruitt (Montgomery Clift) and Karen (Deborah Kerr?) to be quite possibly the two most horribly written characters I've ever had the unfortunate situation of seeing. I have problems with a film in which a love story from Pearl Harbor makes a whole lot more sense.

I've got to go, but later I'm more than willing to go in a tit-for-tat argument about this.

 

[Chucky P]

Dome Vongvises
From Here to Eternity-Have not seen it
Three Colors: Blue-Have not seen it
The Haunting-Awsome
Rosemary's Baby-Awsome
A Place in the Sun-Have not seen it
Giant-Have not seen it
The Thin Blue Line-Have not seen it
Star Trek: The Motion Picture-Good, not great
The Blair Witch Project-Okay
Shane-Awsome (Lay off George Stevens )

Bill J
Gone with the Wind-Have not seen it
Taxi Driver-Awsome
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-Awsome
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring-Awsome
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers-Great
Gladiator-Good
Full Metal Jacket-Good
Alien-Great
The Matrix-Good
The Usual Suspects-Great

Bill J

 

[ErikG]

Bill easily

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Re why I hate From Here to Eternity

I'm not sure who to fault, the novelist or the screenplay. Either way, I hate Private Pruitt. He's whiny as hell. So he doesn't join the boxing club because he blinded or killed (I don't remember, and I don't care to either) a fellow boxer. That's fine, but he obviously has no problem murdering Ernest Borgnine either.

And he dates a whore. That's not the bad part. The bad part is him trying to get her to change her ways. It's obvious the dumbass doesn't get that. He knew she was a whore when they started dating, and yet he can't get it through his thick skull. Add and sprinkle some more whining in the mess.

Let's not forget how he wants to "help" his fellow Army men. He abandons the army like a coward and runs and hides like a sissy after commiting murder.

At one point, he's like, "I've got to go help my guys." So with a wound in his gut, he runs out to go help the Army he so dearly loves. Except there's one huge problem: the genius doesn't realize the bombing and fighting is over.

To get his just desserts for being a huge dick and dumbass, he gets shot. Bravo, the highlight of the film for me.

Now on to Karen. People see her as a tragic character, and are quite sympathetic to her plight. I see her as somebody with seriously screwed up priorities.

She's in a love affair with the Sgt. (aka the only admirable character in the whole mess). It's obvious her husband's a jerk. And yet, she continues to stay with him.

It's understandable when people do things for love and without rationale. But Karen has some serious issues which throw that reasoning out the window. First off, her husband is a complete bastard. He's off on his affair and drunk as hell and wasn't around when Karen needed a trip to the hospital to deliver a baby. So she loses the baby and has to have a TAH. And she stays with him. If I were a woman, I would've dumped his ass, but hey, people are forgivable, at least more than me. So it's understandable she doesn't leave him.

But any sympathy I did have for her went to nothing when she quits her affair with the Sgt. Why? Because he won't become an officer. She went from sypmathetic woman who couldn't have children to power-digging bitch in seconds flat.

Let me get this straight. She won't have anything to do with the Sgt. because he won't become an officer, and yet she has no problem with a captain that practically left her scarred for life? Last I checked, having a TAH isn't a walk in the park for women.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Obviously Prewitt felt that the man ( who happened to be a friend, BTW ) he blinded did not deserve the fate that befell him. His lack of remorse where "Fatso" Judson ( Borgnine ) was concerned was obviously due to Judson's treatment of his friend Maggio ( Sinatra ). There is no double standard or contradiction. One individual was innocent, the other was clearly not.

Alma ( Kerr ) tells Prewitt that she is saving up money until she is financially secure enough to leave the island; indicating that she eventually wants to leave her profession. This goal combined with Prewitt's obvious attraction to Alma is easily enough to convince him that she will change her ways; hopefully sooner rather than later. He later finds out that she is a social climber, but still needs him, at least for the time being.

Regarding his hiding out. Well Duh! He was a wanted man.

His allegiance to the army, the only place he belonged, was what made him leave hiding and attempt to rejoin his comrades when the island was attacked by the Japanese.

Regarding Karen, and to some degree Alma, the film dealt with the themes of social class and social climbing. IMHO, both characters were flawed and bound to suffer, due to their reliance on materialism / social climbing as a means toward happiness. That is at least part of the message of the film.

- Walter.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

And thus the saying goes, to each his own.

Regarding Karen, and to some degree Alma, the film dealt with the themes of social class and social climbing. IMHO, both characters were flawed and bound to suffer, due to their reliance on materialism / social climbing as a means toward happiness. That is at least part of the message of the film.

It's also pretty evident that the Sgt. has his own views of social climbing as well. Evidently, he's afraid of ending up like the captain if he becomes a commisioned officer. At least I find him admirable.

I don't know what it is, but it may be the timing. The film built up Karen to be this sympathetic woman in a what is practically a loveless marriage. And right near the end of teh film, the throwing in of "she only likes commisioned officers" felt contrived and thrown in at the last minute to make her character more "complex".

 

[Andy Olivera]

Dome Vongvises

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 1/2
The Blair Witch Project -

vs.

Bill J

Taxi Driver -
The Fellowship of the Ring -
Gladiator - 1/2
Alien -
The Matrix -
The Usual Suspects -

A laughably easy victory for Bill...

 

[Jim_K]

Bill wins 9-5

next

Jim K
Walkabout
Amelie
The Thin Red Line
Forrest Gump
Grease
Mrs. Doubtfire
The Seven Year Itch
Castaway
Clerks
Dancer in the Dark

vs.

LukeB
Dances With Wolves
A Clockwork Orange
Dr. Strangelove
Ran
North By Northwest
Manhattan
The Pianist
Silence of the Lambs
Airplane!
Easy Rider

 

[Jim_K]

LukeB

Dances With Wolves - Great film, reviled by the Kevin Costner haters though.
A Clockwork Orange - Great film, A bit hard to watch unless you're prepared.
Dr. Strangelove - Great film, One of my top 5 Favorite Comedies
Ran - Masterpiece
North By Northwest - Great film. Hitchcock's most entertaining.
Manhattan - Don't really care for it as again Woody irritates me in this one also.
The Pianist - I haven't seen it yet but I want to
Silence of the Lambs - Great film
Airplane! a bit uneven but funny as hell in parts
Easy Rider - This felt dated the last time I watched it about 20 years ago.

Obviously I'm voting for Luke as his list is infinitely more Offensive.

Besides all the picks on my list really suck.

 

[george kaplan]

Another tough one. Jim has 5 great movies on his list that definitely deserve :rolleyes. Luke also has 5. And only Luke has a film I really hate (Manhattan). However, Jim's most offensive film is #79 on my list, whereas Luke has two of my top 10. Dr. Strangelove and North by Northwest? indeed!

Luke is definitely the more offensive list.

 

[SteveGon]

Luke - By a hair.