Movies you love but (most) everyone else hates

[Trent Roman]

I'm also curious whether they ripped off Counter-Earth from Marvel Comics or the other way around--although I'd bet money that a Planet X on the other side of the sun but in Earth orbit is an older idea than either (if a terrible one).

Somewhat, yes. "Antichthon"--the planet opposite Earth--was first imagined up by Philolaus, Pythagorean philosopher of the 5th century B.C.E. Phil was convinced that geocentrism was incorrect and that the planet rotated around something (a central fire which, for some reason, wasn't the sun), but to balance things out in the geometry-based cosmology of the time, needed an object of equal dimension and mass on the other side of the central fire. The extra planet might seem odd to us now, but the non-geocentric solar system it enabled was a breakthrough that wouldn't be improved upon until Kopernikus & Co. two thousand years later.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Joeman]

Since this thread is alive again...


The Dark Backward - 100 people saw it. 98 hated it. Me and one other person loved it (4.4/10 imdb rating).

 

[Gaith]

I hope I don't get in trouble for bumping this thread, but I really have to sing the praises of The Matrix Revolutions. I just watched it for the first time yesterday (TNT aired all 3 Matrix movies back-to-back-to-back), and was completely blown away by it. There were a few things that I wasn't quite clear on, and a few characters who could've used some deeper introductions, but that's ultimately neither here nor there.

The only real substantial complaint I have is that the ultimate direction of Neo's story arc in the film could've been spelled out a bit more succintly, especially after he said that he needed to go to the Machine City, but the film worked well for what it did explain, and ultimately the conclusion was satisfactory, especially since the closing coda with the Oracle, Sati, and the Architech did provide some clarification and clarity in that regard.

I also have to give the filmmakers props for having the creative wherewithal to A) maim Neo in the real world and B) kill off Trinity, both of which were things that I really wasn't expecting (especially the latter, given that they'd already mined that particular plot point during the climax of Reloaded).

Those parts were decent enough, but they were only half the movie; the other half was an agonizingly long and dull Zion battle/Mjolnir flight sequence. Amusingly, the battle was so lame that even the Matrix wiki doesn't bother to list the names of the two women rocket-fighter, even though they score far more screen time than events which last only a minute or so but get whole paragraphs.

It feels like the brothers W only had time to write half a story, yet the CG teams curiously had enough time and resources to do the whole thing.

But the biggest handicap is that nothing in the movie is anywhere near as cool as either the subway fistfight of the first movie or the freeway extravaganza of the second. That, and many of us fully expected a Neo/architect fight, with both crazily re-coding reality all around them in a mindf*** of Lynchian-meets-Michael Bay proportions. Instead we get a gravity-free fistfight, which is not as interesting as a grounded one.

 

[FluffyUnbound]

If we're still listing movies we love that most other people hate, I have to say:

The Postman
Zardoz
The 13th Warrior
Damnation Alley
Soylent Green
Watchmen

BTW, I would have put Conquest of the Planet of the Apes on my list, but in my world, everyone loves that movie just as much as me.

 

[Arpy]

I thought everybody loved Clue!

I knew you were a man of taste the moment I saw your excellent avatar - the foreign language, colors, Obama poster look...really cool.

Khan!

 

[Avalon]

Amusingly, the battle was so lame that even the Matrix wiki doesn't bother to list the names of the two women rocket-fighter, even though they score far more screen time than events which last only a minute or so but get whole paragraphs.

Wait -- are you just talking about in the synopsis over there? Because Zee and Charra do have their own entries under "Characters"...



I thought the most annoying/missed-the-boat thing about REVOLUTIONS was that they'd set up this amazing backstory for Kid in THE ANIMATRIX and then completely ignored the possibilities. He self-substantiated. Dying in the Matrix didn't harm him like the others -- even Neo had difficulty with that. Kid could have been their best weapon against Smith. Instead, he's treated like an annoyance.

 

[Kegg]

Renaissance was largely panned/mediocre reviews, but I thought it was a lot of stylish noir fun, really.

Count me in for someone who liked Sky Captain, too. I thought the stuff that came directly from the original short worked best and Jude Law was horridly miscast, but I did enjoy it overall.

 

[Worfmonger]

^Loved Sky Captain... need to pick that up on blueray.

Also, though obviously not sci-fi, I've seen Cutthroat Island probably seven or eight times and it's always a blast to watch.

Peace

Worfmonger

 

[RandyS]

Count me in for someone who liked Sky Captain, too. I thought the stuff that came directly from the original short worked best and Jude Law was horridly miscast, but I did enjoy it overall.

Count me as another. It wasn't a great movie, but it was fun, and I enjoyed it.

 

[Gaith]

Amusingly, the battle was so lame that even the Matrix wiki doesn't bother to list the names of the two women rocket-fighter, even though they score far more screen time than events which last only a minute or so but get whole paragraphs.

Wait -- are you just talking about in the synopsis over there?

Indeed. You know - the synopsis being concerned with that which drives the story forward.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Add one vote for Dragonheart...

 

[DigificWriter]

I hope I don't get in trouble for bumping this thread, but I really have to sing the praises of The Matrix Revolutions. I just watched it for the first time yesterday (TNT aired all 3 Matrix movies back-to-back-to-back), and was completely blown away by it. There were a few things that I wasn't quite clear on, and a few characters who could've used some deeper introductions, but that's ultimately neither here nor there.

The only real substantial complaint I have is that the ultimate direction of Neo's story arc in the film could've been spelled out a bit more succintly, especially after he said that he needed to go to the Machine City, but the film worked well for what it did explain, and ultimately the conclusion was satisfactory, especially since the closing coda with the Oracle, Sati, and the Architech did provide some clarification and clarity in that regard.

I also have to give the filmmakers props for having the creative wherewithal to A) maim Neo in the real world and B) kill off Trinity, both of which were things that I really wasn't expecting (especially the latter, given that they'd already mined that particular plot point during the climax of Reloaded).

Those parts were decent enough, but they were only half the movie; the other half was an agonizingly long and dull Zion battle/Mjolnir flight sequence. Amusingly, the battle was so lame that even the Matrix wiki doesn't bother to list the names of the two women rocket-fighter, even though they score far more screen time than events which last only a minute or so but get whole paragraphs.

It feels like the brothers W only had time to write half a story, yet the CG teams curiously had enough time and resources to do the whole thing.

But the biggest handicap is that nothing in the movie is anywhere near as cool as either the subway fistfight of the first movie or the freeway extravaganza of the second. That, and many of us fully expected a Neo/architect fight, with both crazily re-coding reality all around them in a mindf*** of Lynchian-meets-Michael Bay proportions. Instead we get a gravity-free fistfight, which is not as interesting as a grounded one.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you vis a vis the sequences in question, Gaith, at least in terms of the substance of both. The only two complaints I have re: those sequences are that, IMO, they could've stood to do a couple of jump-cuts between both sequences and Neo and Trinity, especially since it would've been an opportunity to do what I said and give us some setup for what Neo ultimately does in asking for a truce, and that, as mentioned earlier, they could've stood to give certain characters more in-depth introductions (particularly Zee's rocket-launcher partner and the old guy that Kid was paired with).

With all of that said, I stand by what I said about the film working well enough in terms of what they did give or show us.

 

[Set Harth]

Instead we get a gravity-free fistfight, which is not as interesting as a grounded one.

Gravity-free is awesome if done right. See: Inception.

 

[Greg Cox]

Add one vote for Dragonheart...

I liked Dragonheart, too. It had heart and sincerity.

"I go to save the Dragon! Who goes with me?"

 

[PointyHairedJedi]

Dune. Even with Sting's "acting", even with the plot muddle, even with some of the hopelessly misplaced characterizations, it's one of my favourite SF films.

Someone earlier I think mentioned Judge Dredd. Script was a bit of a kludge, but it managed to get a surprising amount right about the world of the comics. When I'm Supreme Dictator I shall make Luc Besson do some sequels for me. Or else.

 

[Rii]

A Hole in My Heart (average IMDb rating: 4.5)

It managed to temporarily put me off both food and pornography, and it's not exactly Moodysson's best or most coherent work, but there's no mistaking the heartfelt emotion which drove the creation of this film: a deep, seething rage directed largely at the audience and our obsession with shallow, voyeuristic spectacle in the form of reality television and pornography and our corresponding lack of empathy for others. Moodysson may as well be standing in front of the camera impersonating Russel Crowe: "Are you not entertained?!"

 

[Set Harth]

Watchmen

Do most people really hate Watchmen or are they just indifferent? All I know is that no one I know ever even discusses it, except for one person who was a fan of the book.

 

[Myasishchev]

Somewhat, yes. "Antichthon"--the planet opposite Earth--was first imagined up by Philolaus, Pythagorean philosopher of the 5th century B.C.E.

Man, Philolaos would have to rip off Roy Thomas.

Actually--absolutely apropos of nothing--Adam Warlock's time on Counter-Earth is probably the most boring story the character ever starred in (at least, perhaps, until Starlin started to lose his mojo in the early 2000s, Infinity Abyss et al), despite how profoundly it defined his character. Which is a shame, because in synopsis it sounds really good. Almost as if Robert Heinlein had written it. And titled it Stranger in a Strange Land.

I knew you were a man of taste the moment I saw your excellent avatar - the foreign language, colors, Obama poster look...really cool.

Khan!

Thanks! It took longer to make than it looks--although granted a lot of that was to verify the Hindi.

But the biggest handicap is that nothing in the movie is anywhere near as cool as either the subway fistfight of the first movie or the freeway extravaganza of the second. That, and many of us fully expected a Neo/architect fight, with both crazily re-coding reality all around them in a mindf*** of Lynchian-meets-Michael Bay proportions. Instead we get a gravity-free fistfight, which is not as interesting as a grounded one.

Y'know, I thought that the final battle with General Zod was pretty cool, but yeah--this would've been much better.

I see no reason why we couldn't have had both, actually--and did away with the infinite tedium.

I'd like to do some surveys to see just how many people wanted Zion nuked to death by the machines by about the two-hour mark of Matrix Revolutions. (Or, actually, the ten minute mark of Reloaded. Good God Zion sucked. Perhaps counter-intuitively, literally the only scene in Zion that I thought worked at all was the dance dance orgy revolution. At least there was a kind of thematic and--even more importantly--subtle point to that.)

Gravity-free is awesome if done right. See: Inception.

Interestingly, the far better fight between Tommy from Third Rock and the Henchmen of the Subconscious is when gravity is in flux, but not gone. The actual freefall fight is not nearly as cool.

 

[MANT!]

Mission to Mars.. a flawed yet compelling film to me..with the best spacecraft designs since 2001...and pacing to match..

Moon Zero Two...The first space Western..silly campy fun from Hammer Films..


quite a few more though the titles don't come to mind..

 

[Captain Pike]

Can you give me the idiot's guide explanation?

See http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement
http://objectmatrix.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!BA7DBC3966A6FA91!1870.entry or http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid183_gci341428,00.html

Basically, imagine you have 2 particles. Say electrons, for arguments sake.

The 2 electrons form part of a system, like an atom. We know from observation of this particular type of system, that one electron spins one way, the other spins in the opposite direction.

The moment we observe one electron spinning clockwise (relative to our point of observation) we automatically know (without observation) that the other one moves counter-clockwise.

It doesn't matter how separated these two particles are, they can now be separated by light years, and they still share this relationship. The moment we observe one spinning clockwise, we instantly know the rotational state of the other one.

This sounds like mere common sense, until you apply that other nonsensical quantum law, the law of superposition which states that the particles actually have no rotation at all until we observe it. It's like Schrodinger's cat - it is both spinning both ways and not spinning at all in a kind of 'nether' state, until it is observed.

If that's true, then it's almost like there is some kind of instantaneous transmission or communication between the two particles, regardless of distance between them - though quantum phsyicists state there is no information shared in this way.

At this point, my head starts to hurt normally.

And how does this relate to The Matrix Reloaded?

NFI. Someone asked about Quantum Entanglement, and although I could never boast a confident knowledge of the subject, I do have an inkling of the essence of the idea, so I responded.