Movies you like that the consensus hates?

Adam Frisch FSF · February 16, 2017

The growling shark movie. :)

Being shocked that there was a 90's Tony Scott movie I've never heard of, I went ahead and rented this based on your recco. Beautiful, long lens, 90's, Tony Scott at his best. Looked great on the projector too. It must have been restored, because it felt really clean and sharp. What a crazy movie. As I was watching it I could totally see why Tony Scott was so excited about "True Romance". Then I found out "Revenge" was one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite films and one of the reasons he was so excited for Tony Scott to direct "True Romance".

Anyway, thanks for the heads up. That movie was nuts.

Glad you rented it. It's one of my favorites and the place I discovered Jeffrey L. Kimball ASC's cinematography. Stellar work here from him. He also did excellent work on Jacob's Ladder later on. I really miss the whole 'Brit revolution* cinematography from the 80's and 90's - slick, long lens, smoky interiors, low levels, silhouettes and not afraid to mix colors. It is the mother of the blockbuster style 'teal and orange' later adopted by Michael Bay etc, but was much more grungy and dark and not as in your face. I would consider The Duelists the originator, but anything coming from the Scott brothers, like The Hunger, Black Rain etc embodied this style. Alan Parker, Hugh Hudson, Adrian Lyne - all their films shared similar aesthetics. Funnily enough, I was at the ASC awards a few weeks ago and as I was waiting to get in, Michael Seresin BSC stood right next to me and I just had to tell him how much his work had inspired. Angel Heart being one of the most beautiful films from this era.

Freya Black · February 17, 2017

Event Horizon

Judge Dredd (the mid-nineties version, mainly for the production design)

Everyone I've ever met who talks about Event Horizon raves on and on and on about it. I've never met people who didn't like it.

The Stallone Dredd movie OTH... you may have a point!

Freya

Freya Black · February 17, 2017

Silent Running

Is it really a hated movie?

I love silent running. I even had the DVD till recently.

I also love the straight story and think it is completely lynchian.

That scene with the deer for starters.

I seem to remember that John dies at the end was really good too but it's been a while.

I really like Labyrinth too but I can see why it might have been too much for people at the time.

Freya

Max Field · February 17, 2017

Is it really a hated movie?

Yeah I've been saying that to a lot of the titles in here.

More titles people will demand that you hate:

She's All That (1999)

Monkeybone (2001)

The D Train (2015)

Carbon Copy (1981) **Denzel's debut

Class Act (1992)

George Ebersole · February 24, 2017

Event Horizon; stuff for teenage boys ... lots of violence and swearing, and some nudity, not much on story with a haunted house plot in space. It could have been a better film.

Silent Running; decent enough, but again there's a better film to be made here. That and hearing Joan Baez's tune every few scenes got a little annoying. Spoiler Alert; I think a better film could have done without the murder stuff, and just let Bruce Dern's shipmates die off from the hazards of space, and I think that might have made his final act at the end more ambiguous and perhaps poetic.

A film that got major thumbs down from a lot of people when it was released, but that I think is quite good, is Coppola's; "One from the Heart"

Phil Rhodes · February 24, 2017

I like Event Horizon. I once wrote an article on shot design using it as an example (there's a lot of extreme dutching and geometric framing in it) and was roundly pilloried for even citing the thing.

P

George Ebersole · March 3, 2017

I guess my real objection to a lot of films today is that when I was growing up films were made to satisfy the emotional needs of individuals.

Today it seems like films are made today to satisfy the emotional needs of social groups; age bracket, sex, ethnic identity and so forth.

So a film that I like will sometimes get panned, or my dislike for the big budget b-films (mostly superhero stuff) gets a wry look from other people because, no matter how technically good it is (say "Transformers" as an example) I still think it's trash.

George Ebersole · March 21, 2017

"RAN"

One of my all time favorite films because of the massive artistry and static film making style. But it's not a movie for "the masses". I've reccomended it to several people, and where they think it's a very impressive film, I've only ever had one or two people come back to me and say they thought it was a fantastic movie in terms of them actually liking it as as movie going experience.

One woman, a psychologist, who liked Shakespeare's "King Lear", never got back to me on whether she liked the film or not. She's into female psychology and all the stuff that happens in King Lear (for those not in the know, it's about a king dividing his kingdom among his three daughters, and how he gets the shaft). Ran is the same thing, but uses samurai sons to tell the same story. And where the film has reached legendary status, it's like most people have never heard of it, and it's certainly not a film that everyday 9 to 5 people.

Just had to vent on that.

George Ebersole · March 21, 2017

Another one; the new "Ghostbusters" with the all female cast. I really liked that movie, but it seems like it got a lot of negative press. A friend of mine made the ultimate comment about the first film, and that was "It's not that funny." The first film rode on the ego Bill Murry injected into his character, who was a sexist sleaze and fraudster criminal who turned hero in the end.

I thought the new one was just as technically competent, a little better by the benefit that there's better camera technology today, but the original also, for a "ghost film" was not scary. The new one had some actual scary moments in it.

I'm not a big civil rights "SJW" for anyone in particular, but it does strike me that a lot of the negativity against the newer film came from sexist and even racist jerks of all stripes simply because the cast was female. I really don't get that. What if they were all ... black ... or all ... I dont' know ... what if they were all Eskimos or all .... Brazilian Amazon tribesmen? What if they were all Irish, or Spanish, or Finnish? Italian? Japanese? What if they were all multi-ethnic? Martians?

Just more venting. I should probably grab some food and get in a better mood.

Max Field · March 21, 2017

A friend of mine put it best when he told me; "The new Ghostbusters will probably suck just as much as the old one did". Obviously a bit of hyperbole but in reality the old one is put on a pedestal because of nostalgia, and the new one is stomped on because of a female cast (sexism still exists, who knew?) and.... nostalgia.

People hate remakes regardless of their quality.

Max Field · March 21, 2017

Oh and almost forgot to bring up a recent thing I just saw

Cruel Intentions (1999)

IMBD has it at 6.8 but I felt 8.5, it's very rare that mainstream cinema embraces sociopaths and I feel like people just didn't get the twisted humor of this anti-romantic-comedy. The story ends bad for every character and has great lines to keep you watching like "E-mail is for geeks and pedophiles". Very 90's statement to say the least.

George Ebersole · March 21, 2017

A friend of mine put it best when he told me; "The new Ghostbusters will probably suck just as much as the old one did". Obviously a bit of hyperbole but in reality the old one is put on a pedestal because of nostalgia, and the new one is stomped on because of a female cast (sexism still exists, who knew?) and.... nostalgia.

People hate remakes regardless of their quality.

Well, I guess. I didn't think the first one was that good in the first place. Kind of interesting to watch. I didn't feel ripped off by paying a ticket to see it. But it wasn't the comic masterpiece that a lot of males were touting it as being. Whatever.

Timothy Sewell · March 24, 2017

A film that got major thumbs down from a lot of people when it was released, but that I think is quite good, is Coppola's; "One from the Heart"

I loved the look of that movie.

George Ebersole · March 29, 2017

"King Arthur" in 2004 with Clive Owen as Artorious. I think Antoine Fuqua really put a best effort forward in this film. There's one or two campy moments, but I think otherwise it's a good meld of action, sword-and-sandal epic drama, and mythology.

Phil Connoley mentioned "Moonraker". For the longest time I thought this was a real corny film on many levels, but the SFX sequences, in particular the shuttle launches, really hold up. I can't say that the gimmicky humor in the Moore era of Bond films has much appeal, but it is an exceptionally well shot movie.

George Ebersole · March 29, 2017

I loved the look of that movie.

Yeah, I don't get why people pan this film for both the look and story. It is kind of out-there in terms of a romantic fantasy, and I think a lot of people unfairly came down on Coppola for spending a lot of money on the thing, but it's got a real ethereal and intimate look to it. And I think the story's pretty good too.

Tristan Noelle · March 29, 2017

feardotcom (2002)

Yeah, I'll admit it's a very dumb horror movie. But it looks incredible; excellent photography by Christian Sebaldt and production design (every character seems to live in a giant, Gothic loft in New York). Despite the "creepy little girl" trope, it also features some clumsy Web 1.0 browsing, a sprinkling of Jeffery Combs, early internet technobabble, etc.