Den of Geek: 10 Movies We Don't "Get"

[Hyperspace05]

What a useless idea of for an article.

OF COURSE you can always find someone that dislikes a film, no matter how popular it is. Morons.

 

[broberfett]

So my question is, since it is on the list, was Moon good or is it overhyped?

It's great. And I take it you've never seen LA Confidential.

I saw it years ago on a night I was distracted and I don't really remember too much about it. Is that the one with Russel Crowe and Guy Pearce among others?

 

[broberfett]

^Moon was excellent and your girlfriend needs to see Se7en and LA Confidential.

Spacey voices a robot, he doesn't actually appear in the film. Even if you absolutely hate Spacey, you shouldn't let him put you off watching the film.

I saw Seven, but I didn't love it like so many people do.

 

[Harvey]

^^
Yes, it's the one with Pearce, Spacey, Crowe, and many other an excellent actor.

 

[Hermiod]

I saw it years ago on a night I was distracted and I don't really remember too much about it. Is that the one with Russel Crowe and Guy Pearce among others?

Yes and it's excellent. Ironically, you could say it was another film that was robbed at the Oscars. Nine nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Unfortunately, it came out the same year as Titanic and so only won two - Kim Basinger's Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay.

 

[broberfett]

^Moon was excellent and your girlfriend needs to see Se7en and LA Confidential.

Spacey voices a robot, he doesn't actually appear in the film. Even if you absolutely hate Spacey, you shouldn't let him put you off watching the film.

I may watch it then. I don't despise Spacey, but just remember being disappointed a few times.

 

[sojourner]

Sigh, another self important blogger trying to make himself look more impressive by trashing popular movies.

 

[Tyson]

To be fair, Star Wars is for morons.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

^Well, it's several bloggers, which explains why some of the articles are better written than others. The guy that trashes Star Wars doesn't come off particularly well, particularly when he tries to compare it to The Graduate.

I strongly disagree with the condemnation of V for Vendetta. That's one of my all-time favorite movies. And when he says, "this was before everyone realized that the Wachowski siblings were actually awful writers," that's not true. I think movie people realized that after the meandering messes of The Matrix Reloaded & The Matrix Revolutions. Personally, I think that they finally rediscovered tight storytelling on V for Vendetta and made several improvements to the Alan Moore source material.

I don't think The Matrix is overrated anymore. It certainly was back in 1999. But now, I think the legacy of the sequels has tempered the runaway enthusiasm.

Seinfeld has probably made it fashionable to bash The English Patient. In fact, I'd wager more people have seen that Seinfeld episode than seen The English Patient. Still, The English Patient is dull tripe, with none of the actors exhibiting any charisma.

I'm truly puzzled by the love so many people have for There Will Be Blood. There are many movies that I consider to be overrated but I can still understand what other people see in them. I simply disagree. With There Will Be Blood, I don't understand how anyone ever took it seriously in the first place. Daniel Day-Lewis gives a powerhouse performance but the ending is just bizarre and the momentum is nonexistent.

The Hangover was simply not funny. I'm a big fan of raunchy, lowbrow humor. Two of my all-time favorite comedies are Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. My favorite comedy of 2009 was The Goods (with honorable mentions for the extremely cringe-inducing Observe & Report). But when I watch The Hangover, that elusive alchemical process called comedy fails to occur.

 

[Canadave]

I strongly disagree with the condemnation of V for Vendetta. That's one of my all-time favorite movies. And when he says, "this was before everyone realized that the Wachowski siblings were actually awful writers," that's not true. I think movie people realized that after the meandering messes of The Matrix Reloaded & The Matrix Revolutions. Personally, I think that they finally rediscovered tight storytelling on V for Vendetta and made several improvements to the Alan Moore source material.

V for Vendetta was the one I agreed with in that article, actually. Personally, I find it loses a lot of the intricacy and nuance that made Moore's original such a good book—like taking away the ambiguity of V, and making him more of a clear-cut freedom fighter. I thought that really robbed the movie of some of its potential impact. That, and I very much agree with Moore's criticism (something I rarely say! ) that the movie did way too much "Americanization" of the plot; again, it loses something compared to the original work.

I don't dislike the movie, mind, I just don't think it's as well-done as many people seem to think. And most definitely, I agree that it was a big step up from the last two Matrix films—I think that's nearly undeniable.

The rest of the list, though? Of what I've seen I, found it hit and miss. Some of the stuff about The Matrix I can see, but personally I think the original is still pretty enjoyable.

I haven't seen The Hangover, but I have the feeling I'd react the same way the reviewer did... just from the trailer, I can tell I won't find it as funny as most people.

Star Wars, of course, is awesome. And I didn't even grow up with it (born in '87, and didn't actually see it until I was 13 or 14).

Moon was my favourite movie to come out last year, so... yeah, that's that.

The others I either haven't seen or don't remember well enough to comment.

 

[melancholymecha]

wow I could have written the Matrix piece. And its not cuz Ive seen the sequels (I havent) I just couldnt get into it.

& I loved Moon.

 

[McCoy]

I've tried to like Star Wars, I really have. But it just doesn't work for me. Mind you, I don't think it's destroyed cinema either.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Sigh, another self important blogger trying to make himself look more impressive by trashing popular movies.

Or possibly just expressing his personal opinion. Everyone doesn't like Star Wars.

 

[What's his face]

I definitely agree about Star Wars, for the reasons he stated. The original trilogy is just as shallow, corny, poorly written and horribly acted as the second trilogy - it's just that people only noticed in the 2nd trilogy. Awful stuff, really.

The Watchmen could be added to this list. I know I might not be making too many friends by saying this, but I rented it once, having heard so many good things about it, and I found myself waiting for the damn movie to be over. It's at least an hour too long. Not only that, but that movie takes itself way too seriously. It's a superhero movie, not Citizen Kane. Watching the movie, I got the sense that it was up its own ass, just like Star Wars.

You may now proceed to burn me at the stake, but it's just my opinion.

 

[zakkrusz]

Well, Moon, V For Vendetta, Star Wars, and The Matrix are all great films. The rest, however, I couldn't care less about.

 

[Kegg]

He's got a point about Star Wars, actually.

No, really. Seeing it as an adult I've never really connected to it the way I did when I was a kid. I'm still a Star Wars fan because... well.. I was one of those twelve year old boys he refers to to begin with!

So my question is, since it is on the list, was Moon good or is it overhyped?

I think it's one of the best sci-fi films ever. Go see it and decide for yourself, though.

I strongly disagree with the condemnation of V for Vendetta. That's one of my all-time favorite movies.

I'm truly puzzled by the love so many people have for There Will Be Blood.

Well. Each to his own, then.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Star Wars is The Wizard of Oz for straight men.

The Matrix was Star Wars for club poseurs.

V for Vendetta was libertarianism packaged for people who think they are liberals.

The Hangover involved a wedding, and therefore was an acceptable movie for couples and women, compared to giant transforming robots from space.

 

[Othello]

Moon- have never seen it but plan to

The Hangover- don't see the appeal either. It's paint by numbers comedy. Not really anything special at all.

V for Vendetta- while not as bad as they say it's also not as good as many people claim.

The English patient- never seen so can't comment

There Will be Blood- never had a desire to see it.

The Mist- I liked it pretty much but it's another one that isn't as bad as the writer here thinks or as good as others think.

Four Weddings, Notting Hill and Love Actually- Liked all three but Love Actually is actually the best romantic comedy I've ever seen. Don't see how anyone could not like this movie? The other two are decent but LA is great.


Star Wars - Including this movie really puts this guy's judgement in the seriously flawed category.

The Matrix - Well, while the Star Wars inclusion makes me question him this helps redeem him. Easily a supremely overrated film and trilogy.

Mulholland Drive - Have never seen it.

 

[FluffyUnbound]

I think The Hangover was big because motion picture comedy goes through phases where it's dominated by a handful of personalities. How many Wil Ferrel movies did we need, really?

And The Hangover came out and all the people in it were fresh faces [to movie audiences, at least]. If you don't watch The Office, you might walk into The Hangover and say, "Hey, who's this Ed Helms guy, he's pretty funny!"

If you made the same movie, but it had Wil Ferrel and Rob Schneider in it, everyone would have said "Meh."

 

[sojourner]

Sigh, another self important blogger trying to make himself look more impressive by trashing popular movies.

Or possibly just expressing his personal opinion. Everyone doesn't like Star Wars.

And not everybody hates it. "Popular" does not equal "universally loved". Also, it's interesting that your first impulse was that I was defending Star Wars.