Worst "A-List" movie you've ever seen

[LostinVA]

[LostinVA]

1. "Showgirls" and "Pearl Harbor"

[Parche]

10. Pearl Harbor Was Bad

I cant believe they even made that movie...........

:hi: :hug:

[sarge43]

61. Pearl Harbor was a drooling shedding dog

However, it did proved hubby and me hours of nitpicking fun, from military nurses wearing makeup while on duty to American bombs hitting American ships.

[lady raven]

95. What A Listers were in showgirls?

[LostinVA]

106. Director and Writer were major A-Listers

[lady raven]

168. Ah, I didn't realize that.

You'd think they could have made something better than that stinker.

[Orrex]

173. How Eszterhas ever got respect as a writer is wholly beyond me (nt)

[annunakigohome]

151. "Showgirls" was a B-movie. I don't understand the question:

is it a movie with a lot of critical buzz that turned out to be a flop (at least to you)? Mine would be "Brokeback Mountain." I was really looking forward to it, but it disappointed me big time. I didn't think the love story was very fleshed out. It was really a message movie, rather than organic enough a story line, IMO.

[LostinVA]

156. "Showgirls" was packaged as an "A"movie, with an aA-List writer and director

[annunakigohome]

184. Um...Joe Esterhaus (spelling?)? He also did "9 1/2 Weeks"

That was a big hit but a little on the sleazy side. An A-list movie, to me, is one with big stars. Elisabeth Berkeley was not exactly an A-lister. She had done "Saved by the Bell."

But I saw "Showgirls" in the theater and later on tape and it's gotta be up there with my fave movies that are so bad, they're good. "Plan 9 From Outer Space" and "Robot Monster" are fierce competitors.

[fishwax]

190. Eszterhas didn't do 9 1/2 weeks -- but Showgirls was shortly after Basic Instict

which is why it was so heavily promoted. Basic Instinct had been a phenomenon for Eszterhas and director Paul Verhoeven, and Showgirls was the first movie they did together after that. It was also the first NC-17 film to get a wide release. MGM/UA put a ton of money into the film, both in production and in promotion.

[cemaphonic]

205. Good point

Eszterhas might have not been a draw, but since when does anybody but dedicated film geeks care or even know who the writer is. Verhoeven, OTOH had a pretty successful run for awhile there.

[LostinVA]

222. Fromn the producer and writer who brought you 'Basic Instinct'" -- that was how it was marketed

It was an A-List movie, definitely.

[Two Sheds]

223. Yep. Pearl Harbor.

I love war movies and the CGI could have been used to make a great movie but they decided to make it a teen love movie. Still have never seen Showgirls. After "Basic Instinct," Joe Eszterhas wasn't getting any more of my money.

[Love Bug]

2. "The Postman"

2.5 hours of my life I want back!

[LostinVA]

4. oooooooo -- good one -- or rather, bad one

[Forkboy]

12. Sadly, the book was pretty good.

The movie...not so good. :)

[terrya]

3. "Armageddon" or "Independence Day"

Tie. Both are pure, grade-A crapfests.

[PassingFair]

74. Armageddon especially.

So cheesy I actually threw up.

What a CROCK of crap.

[Jade Fox]

163. Armageddon definitely.

"Armageddon outta here" is what I said after less than half the movie. (Thank you, Eddie Izzard)

[Shakespeare]

5. Eyes Wide Shut.

Affectionately known around my house as Sucks Out Loud.

[LostinVA]

7. Even the orgy scene was a yawner -- that's pretty bad

[Shakespeare]

8. Yup.

Yay, sex scene! Oh....nevermind. :boring:

I saw it at the Chinese theater here in Hollywood (six months before I moved here, in fact), and the audience was ruthless. Packed on opening night. Remember that clanging single piano note that was overused for dramatic effect? About 30 minutes into the movie, the audience began laughing uproariously every time that little device came up.

The LA audience said :thumbsdown:

[Forkboy]

69. It was no Caligula orgy scene, that's for sure.

x(

[Inspired]

15. That was such a horrible movie!

I dragged my husband to the opening night. He thought I was nuts. I kept telling him I thought the good part was going to start now, no - wait...now. The good part never did happen.

[kwassa]

40. I agree wit ya.

Kubrick's worst.

[edbermac]

85. Kubrick did not make movies, he made films.

These are just some reviews that seemed to interpret what EWS was about. You still might think it sucked or maybe you'll see it again in a different light.

http://www.aboutfilm.com/movies/e/eyeswideshut.htm
http://www.collativelearning.com/EYES%20WIDE%20SHUT%20analysis.html
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0096.html

This goes into occult symbolism of the film and the Illuminati. Take it for what it's worth.

http://kentroversypapers.blogspot.com/2006/03/eyes-wide-shut-occult-symbolism.html

[Inspired]

197. It still sucked.

[Resuscitated Ethics]

101. It was a paean to marital fidelity; a valentine to his loving spouse

All that morose brooding could have been avoided with a marital quickie. After all those years, they snapped out of it at the end with a "let's do it!"

It was released on Valentines weekend. It was perhaps more obtuse because it didn't get the final final final tweaks from the filmmaker because he unfortunately checked out a mite too soon. He tweaked his pictures until the hour of release: even going to certain theaters to check out projection lensing etc.

A little unfair to call EWS Kubricks final film because it is in essence unfinished. Almost like calling AI a Kubrick film but not quite.

EWS in all its repellent morosity really got under my skin. I can't bring myself to endure it a second time but to this day I think about it, and Valentines Day, and marital fidelity.

[Redbear]

231. Vive la difference.

I loved it. Although I agree it should never have been marketed as an A-list film and I wish it hadn't had Cruise and Kidman.

The marketing was all about how sexy it was. It was extremely unsexy, which was the actual point of the film.

[XemaSab]

6. Titanic

It looked like a shitfest but my cousin made me go see it with her. x(

[SacredCow]

18. Agreed....

Hack level "forbidden love" story over an oceanic disaster... :puke:

[Danger Mouse]

63. I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate that shitty movie.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

9. Forrest Gump.

One of the worst movies I've ever seen.

[LostinVA]

13. Agrred -- I've never, ever understood the kudos

[Common Sense Party]

37. Yes, that one sucked cheese. Why people loved it was beyond me. nt

[LynneSin]

105. I don't understand the appeal but I still watch it because I bawl like a baby at the end

I think that's the appeal

[StrongBad]

54. It's Americana on film.

Sure it's a bit too sugarcoated, I'll give you that. But I find it interesting how the movie views the modern history of this nation through the eyes of an innocent - especially when it documents an era that is perceived as when America lost it perceived innocence.

I give it a thumbs up.

[Skittles]

72. it was fucking terrible

:thumbsdown:

[Sheets of Easter]

122. We have a winner.

I'd call it drivel, but that would be unfair to all the innocent drivel in this world.

[LisaM]

152. God, I was going to vote for Yentl, till you mentioned Forrest Gump

It's really hard to vote for anything else if Gump is in the running.

Worse, even though we saw it in a second-run theatre MONTHS after it had been released, we somehow managed to be in a (small) theatre with a family who'd apparently never seen any of the previews. Example: Gump would drop the "my momma says life is just a box of chocolates" line, and the whole family would laugh uproariously and slap their knees. It was as if they'd just arrived from some long vacation where they hadn't had TV for a year. Though they were more entertaining than the movie, I must admit.

Later, a friend and I had an Oscar-watching party of two just to root against Forrest Gump winning any Oscars. Our boyfriends wouldn't attend, so it was just us and our dogs. Just as well, we were bitterly disappointed by the Oscars that year.

[pitohui]

158. god bless america, thank god i'm not the only person who hated forest gump

crap what an awful movie and the moral of the story is that smart people will get aids and die, neener neener, better to be stoopit

and what about the very beginning when the mom has to whore herself out to keep gump in school? ugh, that's just...nasty

i don't see innocense there, i see a very dark hatred of intelligent people and female people

just a nasty nasty film in my view

i've only seen it once, i would hope that in memory it looms more horrible than it really is or i really cry for america that people actually like that shite

[Starbucks Anarchist]

194. Yes, it has all the depth of a Hallmark card.

Pithy sayings that don't mean anything.

Also, as an aspiring screenwriter, it has one fatal flaw -- the protagonist doesn't drive the story through his actions, but simply reacts to everything.

[PermanentRevolution]

175. I've successfully avoided it until now

I just had the feeling, when it came out, that I would hate it.

[XemaSab]

208. Mega-meh

:P

[progressoid]

11. Ishtar.

yucko.

[Orrex]

16. I call bullshit

No one saw Ishtar.

[progressoid]

21. Ha ha.

Summer of '87. Pullman Washington. We didn't have air conditioning, but the theater did - it seemed like a good idea.

In hind sight, more beer would have been a wiser choice.

[Release The Hounds]

14. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

[Common Sense Party]

38. I really liked that movie, but I can see why others would hate it.

My wife can't stand it.

[oedura]

202. I hate all the flying ninja BS in that and films like it...

My suspense of disbelief only goes so far.

[Awsi Dooger]

17. Pulp Fiction

I doubt I'll ever fully forgive the so-called friends who dragged me to that piece of crap

[XemaSab]

209. I tried to watch it four times

and I only made it though once.

That hack is SO overrated.

[Starry Messenger]

19. Willow.

Not everyone who has read Joseph Campbell should make a movie about it.

[sasquatch]

20. The Messengers

:eyes:
I refused to leave until Dylan McDermitt was stabbed.

[AlCzervik]

22. The English Patient.

i hate that movie so much.

[malta blue]

24. damn - you beat me to it

:puke:

What a steaming pile...

[volstork]

42. I agree with Elaine Benes:

"Just DIE already!!!!!!!"

[Common Sense Party]

46. Amen.

:rofl:

[Forkboy]

48. Even Willem Defoe couldn't save that one.

And that says a lot, because Willem is friggin' awesome.

[Paladin]

57. Golly. A Bunch Of DUers Trashing "The English Patient."

Don't see that very often---not more than once a week or so.

For the life of me, I don't see why this movie has so many detractors. Obviously it's a subjective matter, but I thought it was an excellent film---intelligent and well-written screenplay, good acting, beautifully shot, atmospheric settings. Compared to the normal drivel that comes to the theaters these days, it comes off very well....

[jonnyblitz]

114. I liked both the movie and the book.nt

[Paladin]

167. The Book Was Outstanding, As Well (n/t)

[Resuscitated Ethics]

103. English Patient was a masterpiece

Great film. The ropes and torch scene where she got to see the paintings- the maps of North Africa. Fuck Seinfeld-- damned to unwatchable DVD.

The SUPER STERNAL NOTCH. (mmmmm....)

[Paladin]

170. Now You're Talkin'

I mentioned the Notch thing to a ladyfriend who hadn't seen the movie yet---let's just say that she considered it a pleasurable notion. And... she went to see the movie shortly thereafter. And the rope and torch sequence is simply one of the most romantic things ever depicted on the screen......

[msanthrope]

118. Yes!!!!!!!!! I felt so VINDICATED when Elaine said something. n/t

[truedelphi]

181. I would hate that movie except so far I 've managed to avoid seeing it.

But my sincere condolences to anyone who had to see it - like on "Date Night" or whatever. Not only awful, it was pretty damn long, or so I've heard.

[Rob H.]

192. I saw that with a friend

and we've referred to it as The Endless Patient ever since. I usually have no problem sitting through long movies, but that one felt as if it went on (and on and on) for days.

[mochajava666]

230. Very long, and very, very boring

I was doing field work for my job and was stuck in a cabin with nothing to do, but it had a VCR and that movie. I wish I wouldn't have popped that tape in, boredom would have been better.

The Ice Storm, Dances with Wolves, The Thin Red Line, Godfather III, Out of Africa, and Shakespeare in Love deserve honorable mention.

[BlueIris]

23. "21 grams." Patronizing, misogynist piece of crap. nt

[unpossibles]

25. the matrix nt

[Bennyboy]

26. Lost in translation, The Royal Tennebaums, Any Given Sunday....

man I tried. But just don't get what everyone sees in Lost and The Royals. And Any Given Sunday was the worst movie I ever saw, the only movie I ever walked out on.

[gmoney]

27. Tennenbaums "Royally" sucked

[CreekDog]

89. are you insane?

:rofl:

"well she wasn't your real grandmother..."

Gene Hackman cracks me up when he plays theses characters.

[gmoney]

111. "Catchphrases and wigs"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv6mEv_rDdE

[Danger Mouse]

148. This is my adopted daughter, Margot.

:D
Gene Hackman is awesome.

[XemaSab]

211. Lost in Translation:

Overrated.

[LostinVA]

219. I LOVED it -- thought it should have won a few Oscars

This is one of those movies that you either hate or love. No middle "neh" ground, I think.

[bigwillq]

28. Forrest Gump

:puke:

[charlie and algernon]

29. The Happening

[Quixote1818]

82. I agree. nt

[MorningGlow]

30. Moulin Rouge

:puke: :puke: :puke:

Close second and third: Titanic and Independence Day.

[AlCzervik]

47. oh yeah, hate that one as well, die already!

[Mad_Dem_X]

149. I wanted to like that one

I really did. I loved the concept of using pop songs in that type of setting. But I just couldn't get into the story. I didn't care about any of the characters.

[MorningGlow]

154. If it was going to be a revisionist take on La Boheme

why didn't Luhrmann just SAY SO? I consider that a major omission. What a cop-out, letting people think it was going to be something original.

I couldn't stand the over-the-top campy acting. :wtf:

[Bennyboy]

31. Add Rushmore to the list and Ordinary People....

Man those movies were jsut plain terrible for me. rushmore I watched three times hoping I would get it. Didn't.

Ordinary People was the most depressing movie in history.

[TZ]

32. Oh come on geeks..."The Phantom Menace"

hands down.

[Forkboy]

49. It was like C-Span with a pod race.

:rofl:

[fishwax]

191. Attack of the Clones was worse

[skygazer]

33. No Country for Old Men

Did nothing for me.

[Common Sense Party]

39. I didn't get the appeal, either.

Ooo, he's a big bad guy with a bad haircut and an air compressor. So?

[Forkboy]

51. The movie goes far, far deeper than just that.

Here's a a great rundown by jobycom from a few months back, and my own take on it from the same thread.

Jobycom:

The movie was about fate and free will, and about the order of the world, more than about randomness or violence. Chigurh believed that he was the hand of fate, that when he killed someone, he simply carried out what had been decreed, or what circumstances up until then had dictated. He killed when he was paid to kill, or when he needed to to complete his mission (like the deputy or the car owner at the beginning). At times he allowed chance to decide, like when he flipped a coin. He was more like Two-Face than the Joker. He wasn't a nihilist or anarchist, he was the opposite--he believed in a higher order that dictated his actions. If he killed you, then fate caused you and he to be there at the crucial time.

But he wasn't certain. He constantly analyzed. When he gave the store clerk the coin that had decided his fate, he told the clerk not to treat it like just another coin, then added "which it is." The coin was a coin, but it had controlled fate, and that made it more. To Chigurh, the coin had been the order of the universe, for a moment.

His idea of himself as fate, or the hand of fate, is what made him kill the wife. He had no control over it. He had made the threat to her husband, and had to carry it out, or the threat made no sense. If he didn't kill her, then the threat was random, and so it had no power, and that negated his whole sense of order, and in many ways negated his own idea of himself as a tool of fate, and of himself as a moral person (as Woody Harrelson had said earlier about him). However, when she pleaded for her life, he gave her a chance, by offering to flip a coin. As with Two-Face, the coin further took the control out of his hands, and made the decision even more the result of fate, not free will. The wife refused to flip, saying that it was his choice, not the coin's. She saw his need to be blameless, and turned it back on him, saying it was his decision alone. Even that he dodged--he and all the circumstances that had brought him to her door had also brought the coin.

So he left with his sense of order intact, and as he was driving away, feeling good about himself, he is severely injured in an accident that is as random as can be. The movie is unclear whether he acknowledged the randomness, but the audience sees it.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff understands nothing. Everything seems random to him, from the events of the crimes he is investigating, to the events of his life that lead him to that point. His father died randomly, his uncle (Barry Corbin) was paralyzed randomly. It is his job to make sense of the randomness, but in this case he can't see the order anymore. At the end he realizes that it's time to retire, because he no longer sees the order.

Brolin's character was a third path. He thought he could control everything by being smart and cautious, but he is ultimately killed by a completely different force than he was watching out for.

The key scene to me was when the Sheriff goes into the motel room to investigate Brolin's murder, and Chigurh is waiting. The sheriff doesn't see him, but sees signs that he is there. All three characters and all three ideas of order and chaos come together at that point. Brolin is dead because he thought he could control a situation beyond his control. The sheriff is trying to make sense of the random violence around him. And Chigurh is still trying to bring his job to an orderly close. As the sheriff--the last to leave the room--investigates, he finds the vent in the room opened, presumably by Chigurh (who one assumes found the money, since Brolin had used the same hiding place earlier). But along with the screws and the vent facing on the floor, the sheriff sees a coin--face up. Chigurh had found the money, and had no reason to kill the sheriff, so he had let fate decide. The sheriff lived because of the coin flip.

So, you can't control everything, as Brolin found out, and you can't understand everything, as the Sheriff found out, but things are not as random as they seem, as Chigurh constantly proves--until the car accident, when even he becomes a victim of fate. But even though Chigurh felt that the universe controlled him, that fate decided everything, he was still the trigger, and his actions still were often dictated by him, even if he tried to escape that fact.

Brilliant movie, and it follows exactly the same issues that the other Coen dramas, and even their comedies, explore. They are obsessed with the knowability of things, and that's been there them since "Blood Simple." Their characters almost never fully understand what has happened to them, even though the audience sees it all, and they are constantly exploring the relationship between chance and order, and between free will and fate.

And here's my take;

The name of the movie is the clue to the meaning of it. Tommy Lee Jones character is the old man, and the times have passed him and his understanding of "good and bad" by.

In the dream he talks about at the end of the movie he says he heads into the snowy mountains, (representing his life as a sheriff), and that a man goes on ahead of him (the killer awaiting him). And then he woke up and realized he was in the process of acting the dream. So, instead of having that dream come true, which it was, he chooses the safer life of retirement, no doubt influenced by the handicapped friend he visits in the movie, a former lawman who paid a heavy price and is now confined to his wheelchair.

The new breed of criminal that he encounters (circa 1980 Texas, which the movie is set in, when drug smuggling was really taking off) shakes his faith in what he does and whether he's good enough to match them, and the dream he talks about at the end is a way of him saying he finally recognizes that he's out of his league now. Hence, "No Country For Old Men".

The movie is also a strong statement on the nature of violence itself. Jones' character can't understand the "violence for violence sake" of Chigurh. Chigurh can't be pinned down because he gives one nothing to go by. Is he driven by revenge, by greed, by just liking to kill? How do you wrap your head around such a man?

The new Batman movie uses the Joker to touch on the same theme of the meaning and motivation for violence, just in a simpler, flashier, more Hollywood type of way.
-------------------

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you have to like it by any means. Tastes are different for all us (I don't get how Adam Sandler can make any money at all, for instance). Just pointing out that the movie was about a lot more than a simple badass killer.

[Common Sense Party]

53. Don't make me think when I watch a movie!

I'm an American! I don't want to think!

(I sheepishly admit that I didn't try to see any deeper meaning when I watched it. I just wasn't in the mood. I'll have to try it again sometime.)

[Forkboy]

60. LOL

Hey, I'm a major fan of Godzilla movies, so I get the whole not wanting to think thing. Just stomp some damn buildings already! :)

And don't feel bad. I watched NCFOM twice before most of it hit me. The ending drove me so crazy that I had to watch it again to try to understand it or I was going to go mad (well, madder).

[Fire Walk With Me]

124. Bravo. When I was younger, I would have caught all of that.

Now, I have to have it revealed to me by strangers on the internet.

[ThePowerofWill]

136. I get all that, and still did not find it so hot.

It's not that i did not like the movie, it was o.k. I just did not think it lived up to the hype.

As a caveat, maybe that was/is the problem so many have. The movie was hyped, and tauted so highly that expectations were just a bit unreal. Example was the killers hair cut. I heard so many comments from reviewers about how you just had to see the do. Well guess what? It was no surprise, i seen haircuts like that for a whole frickin' decade in the 70's.

[jobycom]

180. Good God, man, that took longer to read than the movie took to watch!!

(I'm flattered--thanks).

[truedelphi]

182. I find this analysis of the movie far more interesting than the movie

Plus it takes less time to read than the movie takes to watch.

[Danger Mouse]

58. Heretic!

[travelingtypist]

99. Oh thank goddess.

I HATED that movie. I didn't read anything about it, just knew it was the Coen brothers, how can I go wrong? I was so pissed off.

[rockymountaindem]

34. Do "Mars Attacks" and "Open Water" count?

If they don't, then I'll have to go with The English Patient or the similarly-themed Atonement.

[JTG of the PRB]

79. "Mars Attacks!" is an awesome movie! Besides, it's not an A-list movie.

It's got an A-list cast, but it's a B-movie, and a spoof of many other great B-movies from the 1950's and beyond. :P

Open Water, on the other hand... Agreed, and agreed!

[Orrex]

174. As a spoof, Mars Attacks! manages to be both wholly pedestrian and unsuccessfully campy.

Everything about it is awful, starting with the director.

[NanceGreggs]

86. "Open Water"

When you're rooting for the sharks to eat the lead actors, you KNOW it's a BAD flick.

[stuntcat]

121. LOL

I'm always on the sharks' side anyway :headbang:

We actually saw Open Water in a theater.. like PAID.. cash money :mad:

[DarkTirade]

108. I don't think it counts if it was SUPPOSED to be bad.

:P

[jobycom]

35. I like most of these, but why are people leaving off "Lord of the RIngs?"

Boring and lifeless, pretentious and disjointed. The cartoon was better.

[TZ]

36. Wow. You are weird

I have that trilogy as three of the BEST movies I've ever seen. Even the hard core LOTR fans love the movie. I don't think you will find many to agree with you.....Seriously I have never met anyone who didn't love them

[Common Sense Party]

43. Oh, I have. Plenty of people don't like them.

Everyone has different tastes. Some don't like the whole Star Wars genre. I can't stand Star Trek.

Some people (gasp!) don't even like Monty Python movies. I've never understood that--even though I'm married to one of them.

:shrug:

[jobycom]

55. I could argue the same thing about several films in this thread.

But not about LOTR. Peter Jackson never met a formula or cliche he couldn't overuse. I almost thought he might save it after "The Two Towers," which was a little less insulting than the first one, but I was almost in tears by the end of "ROTK." I tried to walk out, but the people I was with wanted to stay. One of them liked it. Half the rest of the audience was muttering how badly they hated it as we walked out. Some had clearly fallen asleep. Worst Oscar ever awarded.

The cast was good, though. I'll give it that. Sean Bean and Ian McKellen were superb. The directing and script killed it beyond redemption, though. It is the Thomas Kincaide of movies.

[LSdemocrat]

220. I think they are incredibly overrated

As a disclaimer, I've never read the books. I thought the first one was ok, the second one dragged on a bit, and by the third one I hated Frodo so much that I was desperately hoping he would die. That feeling only made the last 45 minutes of the third movie sheer torture.

[Skittles]

226. no Jobycom OP is NOT weird

I find all LOTR crap very, VERY boring, just fucking terrible

[Common Sense Party]

41. Different strokes, I guess. I loved the whole trilogy.

But I've never read the books. Many people have told me that these movies are like blasphemy compared to Tolkien's books. I dunno.

I thought each movie could have been about 30-40 minutes shorter, but other than that, I loved 'em, and my daughters love them, too.

[TZ]

44. I read the books

The movies are as good as OR better than the books, IMHO. And most of the people I know who like the LOTR books say the same..

[jobycom]

56. I don't compare movies to books, usually

I've read the books several times, starting in fifth grade, but that has nothing to do with the movies. They were horrible. Every scene and every line was some melodramatic cliche. If I had to watch Orlando Bloom furrow his brows and swirl his head around to look intensely over his shoulder as the camera zoomed in for a dramatic close-up, I might have gone postal on the screen. Everything, everything, was so formulaic. Cameras zooming in over shoulders. Gandalf hearing Frodo's whispered "I'll go" at the Council when he couldn't hear his earlier shouting, the Orc boots stomping on logs in the forest as Orlando's glanced with really intense concern at the shoreline--snip back to Orlando, back to the boot, back to an even more concerned, or constipated, Orlando... .

Every scene was like that. It's like reading a junior high student's attempt to imitate Bob Dylan.

I'll take "The Postman" or "Titanic" or "Phantom Menace" any day and every day.

[Paladin]

59. I Saw Snippets Of The Three Movies

Was it just my imagination, or did Sean Astin blubber and cry through the whole fucking thing? Every time I saw him, he seemed to be weeping and snuffling. Wimp.....

[Lilith Velkor]

64. The first was OK, the second one kinda sucked, and the third was an abortion.

I wish the trilogy (and Peter Jackson) could be erased from history, and the same cast and budget given to Guillermo del Toro and Neil Gaiman.

[jobycom]

67. That's what I think, too, about the cast.

Excellent casting and acting, but the screenwriting and directing were abominal.

[Rabrrrrrr]

76. I wouldn't list them as "worst A-list", but they were majorly disappointing.

If they were what they were but with a $100 million budget, I'd accept it.

But Jackson made it the world's largest movie production ever, and put so much wonderful attention to detail - the artwork on the props, the clothing, getting the locations and the Shire just right - so much fucking amazing attention to detail, I'm utterly stunned by it. Five years or more in the making. Hundreds of thousands of people.

But unfortunately, the directing is often lackluster, cliche, and silly, and he fucked up the story. And I'm not bitching about the stuff he left out - even a 12 hour movie can't get it all in. But he just plain old fucked with the story too much. He also had a major case of George Lucas-itis: way too much attention to the possibilities of CGI, way too little attention to the possibilities of telling a good story.

It's mostly all eye-candy.

[Lethe]

80. here's the thing

the movies were like a version of Tolkien's books that had everything cut out except the plot that could keep moving forward.

The cool thing about Tolkien was everything except the plot. He expounded on all kinds of crazy shit.

Tom Bombadil woops yo ass.

Ents slapped yo mama.

And they cut out the most gratifying scene of the whole trilogy: It was when Merry and Pippen, after drinking the Ent's nutritious drink, had grown much taller, and went back and kicked the shit out of the evil humans and orcs who had enslaved the Shire.

[pokerfan]

91. how could they leave out The Scouring?

:shrug:

[MrSlayer]

94. I agree except that the cartoon sucked too.

Too much raping of the storyline. As a hard-core LOTR purist I found myself just pointing out the flaws in the movie and being disgusted. At least it was an attempt and the effects were spectacular but to do the trilogy justice they'd really need to make at least six movies. The potential to do it right is there.

[jobycom]

113. It wasn't because of the books. I hated the movie all on its own.

I watch movies for what they have to offer. Films like Jaws, The Godfather, The Name of the Rose, and a lot of others wander far from the book, and sometimes are just completely different stories. Even when they are faithful to the book, film is such a different medium that they are hard for me to compare.

I loved the books, but I didn't compare the movies to the books. I hated the movies because they were an odd combination of lifeless and melodramatic. If these same movies had existed without the books, I doubt anyone would like them.

[Orrex]

127. I'd be interested to learn what you consider to be a good fantasy film

I'd also dispute this claim:

If these same movies had existed without the books, I doubt anyone would like them.

I submit that a great many people who've never read a word of Tolkien nevertheless really enjoyed the films. Further, I personally know two actual scholars of Tolkien's work, and both of them loved the films. They recognize that they're not exactingly faithful transfers of the books to the screen, but they like the films just fine, seeing them as well-executed adaptations faithful to the spirit of the source material.

Can you name a good fantasy film? Here's a hint: Ladyhawke and Excaliber ain't it!

[jobycom]

159. I don't care about the source material, I just wanted to see a good movie.

I don't have any complaint about what Jackson did with the stories in the books. The movies were just lifeless and badly directed.

As for good fantasy films, that depends on how you define them. There aren't many good high fantasy movies. The Sword and the Sorceror, Willow, Ladyhawke, Krull, Excaliber, were all okay just to have something to watch--I was a big fantasy and D&D geek in high school.

If you take a broad definition of the subject, then I'd include movies like "The Dark Knight," "Spirited Away" (and every other Miyazaki film, "Highlander," "Hell Boy," "The Incredibles," "Pirates of the Carribean," "Narnia" (the second was better than the first), "Harry Potter" (mixed results on the film, but they all worked at least a little bit), a lot of kids films, "The Princess Bride," "Toy Story," "Nightmare Before Christmas," "Big Trouble in Little China..." Just depends on how you want to define the genre.

If you want to argue that LOTR was the greatest example of high/Tolkein-esque fantasy on film, I'm not sure I could argue much--there aren't many films to compare it to. But it's still bad.

That's a whole other thread topic, maybe--why do most sword and sorcery type fantasy films fail so miserably? Is it because the directors target too juvenile an audience, or they underestimate the intelligence of the viewers--notice that Gene Wolf is never made into film--or are they maybe just making movie in a genre that they don't really respect (or conversely, they are geeks who love fantasy but have no understanding of movie making), or what?

[Orrex]

171. "lifeless and badly directed"

See, you keep saying that, and many just disagree with you. Disagreement is fine, of course, but the matter is nowhere near as cut-and-dried as your critique would make it. By saying "but it's still bad," do you really assert that the entire 10+ hour epic is "bad" from start to finish? Or simply that, on balance, the films are "bad." In either case, then (again) you're among the stalwart few who make that claim, and (again) that's fine. However, by most conventional measures the films have succeeded: overwhelmingly favorable critical response, incredible box office success, broad demographic appeal (even among non-geeks), Acadamy Award recognition, and bountiful praise from scholars of the source material. I imagine that it's possible that all of these people are wrong, but...

For purposes of this discussion, I'd say that there's no value in using the "broad definition of the subject," because we'd ultimately be discussing every film ever made. Let's keep it in the realm of sword-and-sorcery genre pieces, because that's the standard by which the LOTR films should be judged.

To that end, I'd say that there are many dozens of films in that style, all of which necessarily invite comparison. And by that measure, LOTR exceeds all of them in pretty much every way (as, of course, you basically concede): cinematography, art direction, score, costumes, props, special effects, acting, casting, and (believe it or not) directing. For this reason alone the films are worth recognizing as the best of the genre. If a critic wishes to dismiss that as big-fish/little-pond thinking, then so be it.

As to why so many sword-and-sorcery films fail so badly, well, I think the answer is pretty simple: nearly all of them are disastrously bad. There is a palpable lack of serious commitment at every discernable level, from script to casting to effects to marketing.

[jobycom]

179. You can argue that about many films commonly hated around here.

I can't explain why people liked these films. Maybe they slept through large chunks without realizing it. Maybe they couldn't understand them and were afraid to admit it. Maybe they were caught up in the hype and wanted to sound cool. People loved REO Speedwagon and Journey once, too.

Every scene is melodrama exploded to absurdity. Every technique Jackson uses was so overused that they had become cliches in the lowest budget slasher films. Watch it again, watch the camera zooms, watch the cliche lines and tension moments, watch the absurd dialogue. From the earliest scene, for instance where Frodo first meets Gandalf on the road and their dialogue is so predictable that the audience practically mouths along with it--"A wizard is never late..." yada yada yada, to the scene where Frodo dangles from the eagle's talons over lava for seemingly forty minutes or so, as Frodo gazes in whatever melodramatic emotion he's trying to recreate--the scene fades to black, and then for no good goddamned reason fades back to more of Frodo dangling over the lava (the audience groaned at this)--this film is awful.

I can see why Oscar rewarded it. Just the technical feat of making such a grand series of films is impressive. But once past the technical details, this film is bad, and it will eventually be seen that way, I believe.

For grins, here are some of my favorite critic comments:

It is remarkably well made . . . too bad it wasn't equally entertaining.

The only thing worse than a bad movie that thinks it is good is a three hour long bad movie that thinks it is good.

It's a collection of spectacular set pieces without any sense of momentum driving them into one another. The damn thing just goes on and on.

The bad guys are, as usual, marked by incessant ugliness and vague non-whiteness.

A film that worships itself with every frame. A sprawling, boisterous fantasy, but one that takes itself as seriously as if it were a documentary.

[Orrex]

193. Well, here's one of those famous "agree to disagree" moments, but three points:

From the earliest scene, for instance where Frodo first meets Gandalf on the road and their dialogue is so predictable that the audience practically mouths along with it--"A wizard is never late..."

Well, that's not really fair. Gandalf speaks the line as a self-mocking jest, so of course it's going to seem artificial and predictable. The purpose of the exchange is to establish a long history of friendship between Frodo and Gandalf, and Jackson accomplishes this in just two lines.

You might as well complain that the song Gandalf was singing doesn't really rhyme.

The bad guys are, as usual, marked by incessant ugliness and vague non-whiteness.

This is entirely due to Tolkien.

I recognize that you're basically quoting another reviewer there, but that's about as empty and pedestrian a critique as saying "they all have straight teeth and speak modern English." Emptier, in fact, because it's desperate to stir up some racial subtext, suggesting that the critic didn't care to think about it any further than "what can I see at a glance?"

Does this non-white rogues' gallery include Saruman THE WHITE, by the way? Does that also include Grima Wormtongue? And crazy King Denethor? Even that toxic-avenger-looking Orc at the seige of Minas Tirith is pasty pink, for crying out loud. Or are we talking about the guy driving the Oliphaunt--one man out of thousands on screen?

Sure, the Orc, Goblins, and Uruk Hai were pretty dark, but that's faithful to Tolkien's collective description of them as "the dark folk." If the reviewer doesn't like the inferred racial politics, then he or she needs to take that up with Tolkien.

For that matter, why not cast Aragorn as a Samoan, Gimli as an Australian Aborigine, and Gandalf as a Cherokee woman?

A film that worships itself with every frame. A sprawling, boisterous fantasy, but one that takes itself as seriously as if it were a documentary.

Well, no shit it takes itself seriously. The LOTR is, to some devotees, a sacrosanct document, and the liberties that Jackson (necessarily and appropriately) took with it have already earned him a shitload of outrage. If Jackson hadn't treated it with respect and sincerity, then every Tolkien fan from here to Gondor would have been calling for his head on a platter.

I submit that Tolkien himself took the material very seriously; no one writes the Silmarillion on a whim!

Jackson created a 10-hour film that is mythic in scope and style because the source material is explicitly mythic. I would agree that Jackson made certain choices that may not have been optimal: I don't care for the portrayal of the Dead Men of Dunharrow and their "Pirates of the Caribbean" vibe, nor do I think that everybody needed to be crying all the time. But these are comparatively minor complaints in the grand scheme.


I accept that you don't like the films, and I understand the reasons for your dislike, but I don't share your ultimate assessment of the films.

[XemaSab]

212. I thought the films were better than the books

/blasphemy

[Generic Brad]

45. Face Off

Sitting through the whole thing can be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

[fNord]

50. Watterworld, unless of corse.....

"They Live Among Us" counts, because if it does, than:puke:Rowdy Rodney Piper and that piece of shit are #1

[Starry Messenger]

75. hail eris.

welcome to DU fNord.

[fNord]

200. All Hail Discordia

and thank you

[Forkboy]

52. The American Godzilla was pretty horrid, at least as a Godzilla movie.

But for pure unadulterated badness Pearl Harbor takes the cake. Bad acting, bad directing, and horrible attention to detail. Unless you believe that Aegis Cruisers existed in 1941. :)

[Danger Mouse]

62. Terminator 3. Alien 3. Superman 3. What is it with awful third sequels?

[fNord]

65. Don't forget Matrix Revolutions, The Godfather 3... The list is realy endless

[Danger Mouse]

68. Wow, how could I forget Godfather 3? Ugh.

[Common Sense Party]

71. At least Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade was entertaining.

As was Spiderman 3.

Not all threequels are awful (most are). The ones I mentioned are not High Cinema, but they were at least watchable.

[SoxFan]

78. Ah, but there is an exception to this rule...

This movie still creeps me out...

[DarkTirade]

109. But Terminator 3 had explosions and a quick flash of boobs!

What more could you ask from a movie? :P

[Danger Mouse]

133. How about 'not causing homicidal tendencies'? Can I ask that from a movie?

[DarkTirade]

140. That might be too much to ask of Hollywood these days.

[Danger Mouse]

144. Wall-e, Iron Man, and Dark Knight. Three movies that didn't make me want to stab anybody.

[DarkTirade]

153. Yeah, we got a couple good ones in a row.

What are the odds on that? :P

[DS1]

134. Who's boobs?

[DarkTirade]

139. Bad Terminator. I think the actress' name is Kristana Lokken or something like that.

Although from what I've heard, if you can sit through a Uwe Boll crapfest that she was in, you see more of her. I could be mistaken though, I can't sit through a Uwe Boll crapfest long enough to find out myself. :P

[DS1]

141. It took me three days to get through Postal

and hmm, might have to download T3 again, I don't remember any real boobage, just them expanding at the traffic stop

[DarkTirade]

142. When she first arrives, naked as everying going through time portals does.

They try to cover her boobs up with her hair, but it doesn't quite work.

[FloridaJudy]

66. "Love Story"

Most putrid piece of tripe that ever wiped its butt across the big screen.

"Love means never having to say you're sorry". Who came up with that hideous tag line?

Just die and put us out of our misery, Ali.

[Systematic Chaos]

70. "Independence Day"

Utterly ridiculous. And I loved the clearly wintertime weather page on the USA Today during the month of July. :P

[General Zod]

77. I totally agree....

....What a steaming pile of crap!!!! Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin stole ideas from a bunch of classic Sci-fi films, slapped them together and came up with this mess.

Might be the worst big-budget movie ever.

[Art_from_Ark]

81. What I want to know about "Independence Day" is

How did the aliens get hold of Bill Gates' demonstration version of Windows '98, and why did they use it to run their mother ship?

[quiet.american]

73. Sum of All Fears. It would have even been a mediocre TV movie. nt

[Lucian]

83. Most of them.

[Quantess]

84. Hope Floats

the opening scene was entertaining, but that's about it.
Hope Floats....in a toilet. :thumbsdown:

[bluesbassman]

87. Thw Wicker Man

I mean geez! taint the boy never heard of web chais before? Get with the program Skippy!:spank:

[JCMach1]

93. God that was a terrible remake...

[Robeson]

88. Gladiator...

...I've said it before - here - and I'll say again. That movie had nothing to do with Rome. It was a cartoon. And boring.

[Godhumor]

90. I have to go with Johnny Mnemonic

One of the only movies I have ever had to apologize to my friends for suggesting seeing it.

[pokerfan]

92. Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000

At least I didn't see it the theater.

[DarkTirade]

110. That had a pretty low budget, so I'm not sure if it counts as A-list...

but if it does, you win hands down.

Worst movie I've seen in a LONG time.

[pokerfan]

135. $73M is low budget?

I will admit that I don't follow movies that closely so maybe that is low budget these days.

[mtnester]

96. K-Pax and A Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

horrid movies

[Initech]

189. Cant say I'm a big Wes Anderson fan.

My bro thinks "Royal Tennenbaums" is the funniest movie he's ever seen... I've tried to watch both that and Life Aquatic several times. I do not get those movies.

[Broken_Hero]

97. Attack of the Clones....mt

[Guava Jelly]

98. it's a toss up

The newest King Kong movie and Tropic Thunder.
King Kong was beautifully made but The story was blah. I wish they would leave the classics alone.
As of Tropic Thunder,I think I laughed maybe once. To me both the story and the cast were terrible.

[Forkboy]

128. I still haven't watched the King Kong remake.

The original Jeff Bridges version is a classic. :P

Seriously though kids, the real original is a masterpiece for a reason. Why do people remake movies that are already fantastic to start with? Just updating the effects for the sake of it isn't a good enough reason to me. I'll get around to watching it someday (it is a big monster movie after all, so it's my duty), but I'm in no hurry.

[travelingtypist]

100. Leaving Las Vegas

I still curse Roger Ebert for singing the praises of this piece of misogynist filth, how Elizabeth Shue was so "brave" for allowing herself to be portrayed to be ass-raped and bleeding. Yeah, sure, uh-huh. Bite me, Rog.

[stuntcat]

123. I'm still upset by it

It was years ago and I'm still wishing I could un-see it x( gross movie.

[MorningGlow]

147. Oh yeah

Massively depressing and all-around nasty. Some acquaintances who were at the same showing walked out after the opening scene (with the wedding ring). By the end of the movie I wished I'd gone with them.

[panhead1961]

102. Titanic

The only good part was the guy bouncing off the propeller.

[driver8]

119. Ha Ha -- I totally agree!

What a piece of shit. My wife and I tried to see it twice and it was sold out. When we finally saw it, we both absolutely hated it.

I cannot believe people paid money to see that crappy movie multiple times.

[Paladin]

166. Amen

The fact that "Titanic" took Best Picture instead of "L.A. Confidential" is absolutely shameful.....

[Bassic]

104. Hollow Man

Was that A list? It was awesome for the first 30 minutes, and then it quickly sank down the crapper.

[LostinVA]

107. A-List cast, writer, and director

[Bassic]

150. Then that is my vote

It su-didly-ucked.

[unsavedtrash]

112. Napoleon Dynamite and Sideways

Couldn't believe I spent money to see such crap.

[BeachBaby]

116. Thank goodness....

I thought I was the only one who couldn't stomach "Napoleon Dynamite". Every single one of my friends thinks its hilarious, and have watched it over and over. I even humored them and watched it a 2nd time, thinking I must be missing something.

Uh, no. I'm not missing anything - except maybe 180 minutes of my life that I can't get back. ;)

[Common Sense Party]

120. I love Napoleon Dynamite.

Not surprisingly, my wife hates it.

I also love Airplane, Monty Python & the Holy Grail and Raising Arizona.

My wife hates them.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

224. ND is a contrived MTV Films attempt at a "quirky" movie

Linklater and Zwigoff mastered that kind of stuff...and it was sincere when they did it

[crim son]

161. I LOVED Sideways.

Never saw the other one and probably never will.

[YankeyMCC]

115. Tie between Armageddon and Titanic

Armageddon was probably worse, but Titanic was sooo long and I had to sit in a Theater for that one.

[DS1]

117. Indiana Jones and the Terminal Ass-raping of a Character

whoops, that's supposed to read "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

[pokerfan]

176. There was nothing we could do!

I dream about it every night. Every time I close my eyes I see us just running away, running while they rape him over and over again. And because we did nothing they got away.

[RubyDuby in GA]

125. Crash

I will never get over that stinking pile of crap.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

145. Terrible, racist, piece of shit film.

Black guys really are carjackers.

Arabs really are homicidal psychos.

But hey, white rapists are really pretty good people once you get to know them.

I guess that's the kind of crap you can expect when they creator's previous project was "Walker: Texas Ranger."

[RebelOne]

185. That film depressed me. n/t

[nomorenomore08]

187. Never seen it, and don't really want to, but I hate the fact that now every time I mention

David Cronenberg's very good film "Crash" to somebody, they'll probably think I'm referring to that OTHER "Crash."

[fNord]

199. agreed.

The CAR "Crash" flick was great.

[LanternWaste]

126. An absolute tie between all Star Wars movies & The Matrix

An absolute tie between all Star Wars movies (except the very first one) and The Matrix.

I'm an apostate and a heretic to a LOT of fan boys (fanboyz?). :evilgrin:

[Forkboy]

129. The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the 6 to me.

The first one is a lot of fun, too.

The other four pretty much suck ass to varying degrees. I'm still pissed at the whole Ewoks things.

[LanternWaste]

130. The reason I list Empire and Return...

The reason I list Empire and Return, along with the most recent three is this: the first movie was, I believe an action-film that happened to have some science-fiction sets and props thrown in. Yet, at its core, it was an action film born of the nature of the old Errol Flynn style-movies.

However, from Empire onwards, it seemed to have jumped from being an Action Movie to a daily afternoon soap-opera set in space. And soap operas advertising themselves as anything other than soap-operas get seven thumbs down from me. Although there are particular scenes and sequences in the two that I really enjoy, the movies as a whole begin to ring untrue to me after the first.

But that's all simply my opinion... :)

[Forkboy]

132. You're correct on both counts about the two films.

I liked Empire because it was much darker, and any movie without a happy ending tacked on immediately scores points from me. :)

[YankeyMCC]

131. Crap i forgot about the new Star Wars movies

That's how bad they are I try and completely remove the fact of their existence from my mind. I mean the newest trilogy I liked all of the original trilogy.

Much worse than the two movies I already listed.

[Iggo]

137. Citizen Kane.

Oh....my....GOD, what a boring fucking movie!

[Inchworm]

143. I agree

*yawn*

r.o.s.e.b.u.d

:hi:

[crim son]

162. Really?

I watched it for the first time about ten years ago, expecting it to be abysmally dull. I thought it was excellent... I was riveted to the end.

[Orrex]

172. I concur

Almost all criticisms that I've ever heard of Citizen Kane are derived from one of the following:

1. It's widely regarded as the best film of all time. Naturally people are going to hate it when they see it now, either because of blown-up expectations or out of contrariness. Diplomacy requires me to assert that DUers reject it for the former reason.

2. In 6+ decades it's been alluded to, ripped off from, and lampooned in so many lesser works that its strengths have become cliches. However, the viewer should recall that many of the shots and techniques that are now cliche didn't even exist before Citizen Kane created them, so the film is unfairly criticized simply because it's been around long enough to be profoundly and broadly influential.

3. Yes, of course. Everyone knows that Rosebud is the sled. But the film still works even if you know this going in (and anyone who claims not to have known it in advance (or claiming to have figured it out by spotting the name on the sled in the early scene) is lying).

[Jade Fox]

164. gotta agree

[Robeson]

177. heretic.

[WoodrowFan]

138. Meet the Parents

"Meet the Parents"

I cheated a bit, as this is the worst I'd seen in a theater... "Napolean Crapomite" was the worst movie I even rented via netflix.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

146. Vertical Limit

They carried barrels and barrels of explosives up the mountain on people's backs, which gave an excuse to blow said people up as they fell against rocks or tripped over mogels, and then when they finally got to the place where they need to set off the explosion, they needed about half a cup's worth.

[britpopper]

155. Independence Day...hands down

Two hours of my life I'll never get back...

[MadMaddie]

157. WickerMan ....blech

All time worst movie, ever, ever, ever...DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE! They should have burned the film when they finished.

[Iggo]

169. Oh, I know. Right?

It was worse than Salem's Lot.

[crim son]

160. Every single Star Wars movie.

I think I tolerated the first one because I was, like, twelve years old. But I've seen the rest of them one by one, as a favor to my son. WHAT THE FUCK? I mean, seriously. What do people see in these movies that makes the want to memorize all the characters' names and histories? :puke:

:D

[QMPMom]

165. Reds. Hated it and walked out.

[Robeson]

178. I'm never going to read another post of yours for as long as I live....

...x(

[QMPMom]

183. LOL! Sorry!

[Pacifist Patriot]

186. Has The English Patient been mentioned yet? I would have retitled it...

Trying My Patience

[geomon666]

188. Gigli. You can close the thread now. I win.

And don't tell me it wasn't A-List.

[elshiva]

215. GIGLI! That is hilariously BAD! Remember Christopher Walken

in that movie? :rofl:

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

195. The Nicolas Cage

movie, was it "Leaving las Vegas"? He was trying to drink himself to death. Hell, I felt like drinking after watching it! :) Terrible movie........imho

[Danger Mouse]

196. You could list almost any movie with Nicolas Cage and have a winner.

[cemaphonic]

206. except Raising Arizona

and maybe Peggy Sue got Married.

Oh, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, if his bit part in that counts.

[Parche]

198. Haruka Does Hollywood

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :hi: :hug:

[LostinVA]

221. I just saw this -- I'm kicking your resuurected ass

[Generator]

201. Pretty Woman

I walked out on that piece of trash. YES, prostitution will get you Richard Gere and lots of jewelery and it's FUN! Oh yes, Disney thank you. (Also was the beginning of my endless Julia Roberts disgust)

[Skittles]

227. I agree

glamorizing prostitution is not a good thing in my book

[oedura]

203. Blue Velvet...

People always rave about it, but I thought it was one of the most boring pieces of drek I'd ever seen.

[fNord]

210. does blue velvet count as A-list? n/t

[Lionel Mandrake]

204. Close Encounters of the 3rd kind, ET

These movies have syrup smeared all over the cuddly aliens. That's not my kind of SF.

Extraterrestrials should be menacing, scary, and evil.

[Dr Fate]

207. Forrest Gump. n/t

n/t

[Flaxbee]

213. Indiana Jones & the Crystal Skull or whatever it was called --

saw it on a plane recently and thought it was terrible. I was really disappointed - I'd heard bad reviews, so was somewhat braced for a crappy movie, but I was surprised at its crappiness. Sigh.

Also saw "Hancock" on the same flight. Ugh.

[Canuckistanian]

214. Mission Impossible

I can barely stand Tom Cruise at the best of times, but my wife and I turned it OFF after about 10 minutes.

We can't stand his preening and mugging for the camera.

[Lethe]

216. se7en

most retarded horror movie ever.

the plot doesn't make any sense at all with the "logical" framework of the killer.

if you want to see a cool horror movie check out the abominable dr. phibes (art deco, fashion, great music, the G'tach)

[AccessGranted]

217. American Gangster

I thought it was boring. I go to the movies a lot and I fell asleep. Both Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe suddenly seemed like they were trying to apply every acting technique ever taught in acting schools all at once. I just thought it was dry.

[LSdemocrat]

218. Charlie's Angels

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

225. The Dark Knight - yes, I said it

maybe not the worst ever, but easily the most overrated.
I thought Batman Begins was decent, so I looked forward to TDK.
But it's overlong, Two-face is a tacked-on bore, plot wholes galore.
The Heath Ledger Death Cult has inflated an OK performance into something it's not. Basically, it's a liplicking version of an old Hoffman character. And hardly resembles the Joker of the past 70 years of pop culture (since when does he have a knife fetish?)
The directing is slick, but unmemorable. Bale's Batvoice is unintentionally hilarious. It's attempts to be deep are just cheesy, cliched and pretentious.
It's the ultimate film for angry 14-year-olds.
It's not the best action movie ever. It's not the best comic film. Hell, it's not even the best Batman film. Or the second best.
I don't think I've seen anything so commercially and critically overrated in my lifetime.

[jeff30997]

228. Citizen Kane

No color and no cane.:P

[HughBeaumont]

229. Natural Born Killers.

Followed closely by Pulp Fiction.

[racaulk]

232. Any "comedy" starring Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, or Will Smith.

I can't think of a single movie (comedies, at least) that any of them have ever done that hasn't been complete and utter crap.

:puke: