Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Over on the Main Feed, the great James Delingpole evokes J.R.R Tolkien.
Now, I have to admit that I have never read any part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and my attempt to read The Hobbit was aborted. Perhaps I would have found them wonderful and inspiring. But the films left me entirely unmoved and bored.
This got me to thinking about other movies, highly regarded by critics and audiences, whose popularity I simply cannot understand. One of these is Dead Poets Society (Rottentomatoes.com audience rating of 90%). Another is Natural Born Killers (RT audience rating of 80%), which I would probably put at the top of my all-time-worst list.
What titles would you put on a list of popular films whose reputations leave you scratching your head? Don't be embarrassed; we're non-judgmental here.
UPDATE:
Crow's Nest said, "None that I don't 'get' in the sense of failing to understand. But how about some that I can't understand WHY they are so highly rated as they are..."
That is, in fact, what I meant when I (originally) said, "...films that you just don't 'get'": Movies that don't "grab" you in the same way they seem to grab the vast majority of viewers. I have edited the title and body of my post to be more clear.
UPDATE 2:
The opposite question is posed here.
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Comments:
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
I loved DPS and NBK but this topic hits close to home for me.
I loathed Forrest Gump (RT audience rating of 93%) and, in fact, don't understand even the idea of liking that movie. Was also not terribly keen on Good Will Hunting (RT audience rating of 92%) and found it silly. Any other Oscar winners I didn't "get"? Hmm. I thought A Beautiful Mind (91%) destroyed a beautiful book. Seriously, excellent biography.
Jerry Maguire (72%)? UGH.
Aug '10
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Of the four you mentioned, this one is my favorite. I'm not a fan of Tom Cruise, but I am a sucker for stories of male redemption. Perhaps it's a guy thing. Also, as this was my first time seeing Renee Zellweger on the screen, I found her performance endearing, and she did not annoy me as she has done in her later work.
Mar '11
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
None that I don't "get" in the sense of failing to understand.
But how about some that I can't understand WHY they are so highly rated as they are.
Two examples come immediately to mind: Shawshank Redemption and Fight Club.
I found both films enjoyable and entertaining, but to score so highly over at IMDB, for example, is just baffling to me.
Jul '11
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Bambi. I always root for the hunters and the kids get mad with me. Citizen Kane is mine.
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
The Matrix. Totally overrated. (RT Audience rating of 81%)
Nov '10
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Yes, Citizen Kane. Thank you, DocJay, for reminding me. That one left me blank. The best movie ever made? Really? Why?
How about "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Maybe it was Clooney acting goofy in it that made it hard to follow.
Mar '11
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
There's a difference between "just don't get" and "overrated". There are plenty of movies that I think are overrated, even ones that I mostly liked. There are comparably few movies that I "didn't get". I think for instance that Terrence Malick's movies are just plain overrated. But I have trouble "getting" many of Stanley Kubrick's films.
This topic recalls the "overrated books" topic. You can apply the same kind of classification to books as well (The Catcher In The Rye is genius? Really?).
Edited on December 28, 2011 at 6:31pmAug '10
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
I always thought that "Last Year at Marienbad" was my fav obscuro puzzle, but the movie I dubbed " Hats in Manhattan " during the preview , actually known as "The Adjustment Bureau" might take the cake. Dullness ...Matt Damon is thy name .
Nov '10
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Someone who troubles himself to note what actually happens in the film, then note the conclusion the film nevertheless invites us to draw at the end, will perhaps understand why I have long referred to Steven Spielberg's sci-fi classic as "Close Encounters With the Third Reich."
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
I just did not get the level of love there was for The King's Speech.
May '10
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Any Monty Python. Sorry. (OK, already, the parrot's dead ... the guy wants a shrubbery ... the knight doesn't get that he's overmatched -- The bits all deserve one quick chuckle, but then on and on and on they go. Enough!)
Edited on December 28, 2011 at 8:09pmAug '10
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Tolkien's world building and transformation of Nordic legend are an impressive feat, regardless of one's individual taste regarding the tales themselves. I find the Tom Bombadil sequence in Fellowship unbearable, and tend to skip the "songs" every re-read. I do this even though the "songs" are among Tolkien's skilled achievements.
As for films...I loathe LOST IN TRANSLATION (95% on Rotten Tomatoes). I find its, "look how odd Japanese people are" storyline offensive. I also find the film has much of the same artistic pretense and attempt at "avant garde" as Sofia's earlier LICK THE STAR. Both are self-indulgent and non-reflective films.
I also despise SHREK for its inversion of the Wife of Bath's tale. The "ironic" ending of SHREK in essence transforms the woman into the male's "preferred" vision of her, rather than giving the woman a choice of what she wants to be. Read the Wife of Bath's tale, remove your "ironic anti-Disney" glasses, re-watch SHREK and you'll see what I mean.
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
I legitimately did not "get" Donnie Darko, which I tried watching again the other day to see if I'd gotten any smarter or perceptive since the last time I watched it. I haven't.
Jul '10
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Dr Strangelove (94% at RT). That movie is just not funny, and I normally love Peter Sellers.
Aug '10
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Das Boot- that thing lasted longer than the war.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: what the what?
Breakin 2- Electric Boogaloo: What is Boogaloo and how do you electrify it? Elusive.
Dec '10
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
The English Patient. Someone please explain why I'm supposed to care about these 2 adulterers? After sitting in the theater for 36 hours (it seemed liked that) I was ready to crawl into a cave a die.
Edited on December 28, 2011 at 7:09pmJul '10
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Douglas: ...
This topic recalls the "overrated books" topic. You can apply the same kind of classification to books as well (The Catcher In The Rye is genius? Really?).
The genius of JD Salinger was in finding markets for his product. Once he made his fortune, he realized he didn't like his product any more than the oppressed prisoners of the NEA do today and, thankfully, stopped.
For me, it's a tie between Annie Hall and What's Up Tiger Lily? Since Annie Hall did better with critics and at the box office I'll go with that. I did like the lobsters. I thought it was very sad that they lost the melee round and were devoured instead of devouring.
And then there is Hoffa. The first 20 minutes took forever, and then the pacing slowed. Who was the target audience, Hoffa Junior? Of course, I don't get gangster movies in general, and I don't believe Hoffa did very well at the box office. Best gangster depiction I ever saw was the Bruce Willis in the Whole Nine Yards, but these are not people I care to invite into my life. And the Godfather? Pffft.
Jul '11
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
Anything by Woody Allen. Talk about overrated useless junk. Why do people like this guy?
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
I fell asleep both times trying to watch oscar winner "Out of Africa."
I'm usually not the first to agree with a claim of racism, but when that movie beat "The Color Purple" for an oscar, I really had to give the allegation a second look.
May '11
Re: Are There Any Highly Regarded Films Whose Popularity You Cannot Fathom?
I second this! I brought Dr Strangelove up in a post before.