American Beauty. I suppose it could be partly because I don't enjoy watching Kevin Spacey. I can certainly acknowledge that he's a fine actor, but something about him just turns me off.
Following Jack's lead, I can see that it is a well-made film. But I have no sympathy for the main characters, particularly the cynical womanizing post-modernist old man dying of cancer. I couldn't give a damn!
But to be fair, I did not see the previous film, The Decline of the American Empire (1986). So I suppose Denys Arcand assumed the audience already understood these characters.
The audience, who were predominately old French Canadians in their 50s, loved it. I imagine that they made the trek to Calgary for the Western Canadian premiere of the movie at the Calgary Film Festival. Tellingly, I didn't see any of these people at the screenings of the (superior) non-French movies there...
Could it be that he comes off as a pompous jerk in a lot of his movies, particularly the patronizing, faux-schmaltzy insulting ones like American Beauty (and K-Pax and Pay It Forward)?
I think that's probably correct. I didn't watch K-Pax or Pay It Forward. K-Pax just looked bad and Pay It Forward looked like it should have been called We Want Oscars.
A movie that I can recall him really looking like a pompous jerk was Consenting Adults. Now that I think more about it, he was a real turn-off in Outbreak as well. Gee, now I'm really thinking about it. A Time to Kill. That's another.
I can think of a few on the short list of hated films that others (seem to) like:
* Independence Day. When Smith's wife dives into an open door in a traffic tunnel downtown LA and is saved from a massive fireball that consumes everyone else in the tunnel I knew we were in trouble. Thank god that aliens also use Windows though so we can easily crash their systems and basically bring their species to its' knees with a MAC laptop. Ugghhh, oh the humanity!
* Speed. Keanu Reeves extends his range from Point Break to show that in addition to a dumbass undercover action cop, he can flip on a dime and play a dumbass straight action cop as well. Unfortunately, Patrick Swayze doesn't even throw a dog at him in this movie, which might have gained Speed some points. Dennis Hopper must have had a huge tax bill that year or something, besides his one speech about a gold watch, I swear everyone else pulled their lines in one take. Maybe the producers believed that if the character's IQs ever exceeded 55, or there was any sort of plot twist, that the entire movie would blow up.
* Natural Born Killers. I don't even know what to say about this one. Other than an extremely creepy Rodney Dangerfeild, what the hell was the point of this movie? Was it a motion sickness test administered for the public good? Did someone accidentally put the film in a blender in the editting room? Maybe it was an awesome flick and I just didn't take enough LSD before heading out to the theater.
But all these titles can't hold a candle, dare not even approach the cycleopean stank, of the hum-daddy, oh-my-god-what-is-that-thing? horror show of:
* Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle. All other films shall look away and despair, all life as they know it is in jeopardy. I would rake on the plot, but I still haven't figured out what it is. I would pick on some of the characters, except that then I would actually need to dredge up the horrific memories of their acting. I suspect this movie was editted by the criminally insane, but I can't prove it. Like the great Cthulu master it must serve, everything in this movie seems wrong in our universe, and it destroys the fabric of your mind while you watch it. I don't know if this movie was popular, well recieved, or loved (good god!!!), but if wasn't outright despised by the public, causing riots and firebombing of the release studio, then the CA:FT people made out like bandits.
Jack's statment is correct as there are several movies mentioned that are absolutely not POS's. Sometimes I think you guys respond that way for shock value or to be "cool".
I choose "The English Patient". I know many people don't like it but it did win several academy awards which to this day I do not understand why. I had absolutely no empathy for the characters, who I thought, lacked character.
American Splendor has not worn well on me. The arch style and cartoonish characters can work sometimes (see Coen brothers) but it took me out of this film. No one acts in a remotely believable manner. I mean if you were a young girl, and a strange unknown spooky neighbor boy was filming you through your bedroom window, would you find that cool and fascinating? Not hardly. Annette Benning, one of my favorite actors was so brittle as to not be recognizably human. And Kevin Spacey instead of radiating a sympathetic desperation comes off as smug.
There has never been a movie that I can say I've hated or disliked to the point where I would go out of my way to slam it. All movies are a work of art in the the eyes of the creaters and many others who watch them. Some movies may not be to your taste but does that really mean that they suck! Story and acting are not the only areas of a movie that warrant admiration. I find myself on many occasions saying wow, that was a terrific camera angle or that set was just amazing.
There has never been a movie that I can say I've hated or disliked to the point where I would go out of my way to slam it. All movies are a work of art in the the eyes of the creaters and many others who watch them. Some movies may not be to your taste but does that really mean that they suck! Story and acting are not the only areas of a movie that warrant admiration. I find myself on many occasions saying wow, that was a terrific camera angle or that set was just amazing.
Sorry for the double post! As I was saying, I don't hate any movies. Here are some that I absolutly love:
Ghandi Scarface Lawrence of Arabia Ben Hur Braveheart The Thin Red Line (sorry guys) Recent Additions: Big Fish Open Range Geez, I guess I love them all, except Speed 2, though I do see it's artistic merit! HeHeHe
Coming from 10 years in the movie theatre business from 1991-2001 where I saw literally everything:
Beauty and the Beast, hands down. He holds her captive and she ends up falling in love with him- why not do a similar animated musical about Jeffrey Dahmer?
Runners up that were popular that I just didn't like: Pretty Woman Fast and the Furious (saw this a month before its release and thought it was the biggest piece of crap I'd ever seen) Tombstone (maybe cause I just don't like westerns) Titanic (though I bought the DVD anyway because I found it cheap, the sound was cool and the novelty of seeing my machine play 3 hours uninterrupted) Regarding Henry (improve your life by getting shot!) The Grinch (an absolute mess- ironically I saw the universally-panned Cat in the Hat and didn't think it was too bad) Rush Hour (the scene where drunk Jackie Chan sings "War- what is it good for" goes on waay too long- the entire movie was just plain dumb- I worked at a Regal when Rush Hour 2 came out and it didn't play there because the company had some sort of fight with New Line, and I was the only one who wasn't dismayed about it) Ace Ventura- I like stupidity when it's funny, but this wasn't- the sequel was bearable though There's Something About Mary- way too long and boring, not laugh-out-loud, actually fell asleep trying to watch this True Lies- bet this was based on a true story Gladiator- Caligula was better
Gladiator The Thin Red Line The Big Lebowski The Matrix MI-1 and MI-2 (I don't think 2 is anywhere near as good as the first one, but it's still fun, especially the motorcycle chase. ) Bad Boys (Hate the sequel.) Saving Private Ryan (Best War Movie Ever!) Shrek Jerry Maguire Almost Famous Good Will Hunting Dances with Wolves Signs Heat Bourne Identity Moulin Rouge The Shawshank Redemption (My favorite movie of all time.) A Beautiful Mind American Splendor Fast and the Furious Bruckheimer films (I would agree with you on Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, and Bad Boys) Chicago 2001: A Space Odyssey Ferris Bueller's Day Off Hellboy American Pie Lost in Translation The Godfather Titanic Se7en Pulp Fiction Fight Club Dogma Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (I like this and Dogma more and more everytime I see them.) Spiderman The French Connection The Blair Witch Project About Schmidt Face/Off American Beauty Independence Day Speed Natural Born Killers The English Paitent Gosford Park Beauty and the Beast Tombstone Ace Ventura True Lies
The scary thing about this list is that it contains 5 of my top 10 films of all time.
Agree with: Forrest Gump ( I liked it when it came out but as I grew up I realized how manipulative and mawkish it was. UUgh!) Starship Troopers (I laugh every time this is on cable because the one scene worth seeing can't be shown!) Cliffhanger Porky's Shakespeare in Love Pretty Woman Regarding Henry The Grinch
Man, I thought that my agree with list would be bigger than my disagree list.
One movie that I hate and my friends love is Pearl Harbor. When I saw it with them in the theater, I had to resist the urge to get up and leave.