kefrank

you may have hated eyes wide shut, but i would have trouble accepting any argument that it is overrated in any way. it was panned pretty much across the board by critics and didn't do very well at the box office after opening weekend because of the bad word of mouth from most of the people that went to see it. those who actually appreciated the film (of which i am one) seem to be few and far between at best. if a small core of appreciators can garner a film the 'overrated' tag then maybe i need to reevalute my understanding of what 'overrated' means.

BassDude

LOTR

Fun, but our local reviewer gave both 5 stars.

No.

Rizor

Hmmm. I really love a good 75% of the movies I'm seeing. For example, Casablanca and Taxi Driver are two movies I thought there was no way they'd live up to their praise. But I thoroughly enjoyed both.

Memento- great movie, but I honestly can't see why everyone thinks it's so great.

Se7en- I appreciate it, but I can't see why it's hailed as a masterpiece

Annie Hall- full of some good chuckles, but it doesn't really come together in the end

Raging Bull- some really good stuff, but it's more or less the same old stuff. Rise and fall of some dude.

A Beautiful Mind- I don't know if it's truly overrated. Maybe just because it got nominated for Best Picture, but people generally pan the movie anyway

Spider-Man- kinda the same as the above. Some don't think too highly of it, but comic book geeks (and I don't deny that I'm one) think it's the greatest film ever.

Lawrence of Arabia- it's great and epic in every way, but I don't feel it deserves all that acclaim

Citizen Kane- I admire its contributions to filmmaking, etc. It's a great movie, but the best movie ever?

Chicago- the characters are unlikable and annoying. The plot and storyline is uncompelling. And it'll probably win the Oscar.

costanza187

Titanic

Milt Fargus

thank you! I can't believe it took so long to bring this one up.

The Nature Boy

I do agree on most of your underrated films, but I must confess, I scratch my head at someone calling the Godfather trilogy(specifically 1/2) and Citizen Kane overrated(though several have through this thread).

I do this in the spirit of debate and discourse, so please don't think I'm knocking your film knowledge or accumen, I'm just trying to gain perspective on why they may or may not be overrated. The first two Godfather films are my favorite of all time, so it's hard for me to see many meaninful flaws there.

And I can understand why Citizen Kane would be overrated to some. It's not a particularly emotionally arresting movie, and you won't leave a theater or screening with overwhelming feelings for any character in my experience. But, I do think it's a clinic on filmmaking, and has been a Bible for all films that have followed it, consciuosly or subconsciously. The movie is a marvel, and smoke and mirrors have never looked so brilliant.

So I'd be honored to read the defense!

MarcinL

Here is some way overrated Movies the Last Decade

TITANIC
SPIDERMAN
CHICAGO
HARRY POTTER
MATRIX
INDEPENDENCE DAY

Saxofonix

Essentially, you summed it up there for me .. I simply didn't find The Godfather trilogy emotionally involving at all, on any level. It didn't touch me in any way. The only vaguely sympathetic character there was the one played by Diane Keaton - and she is relegated to a minor part. As for the rest of them .. they couldn't murder each other out fast enough for my liking.

So, sure I can acknowledge the great cinemaphotography and lighting and all the care that went into the technical details .. but in the end, it left me cold. Same for Citizen Kane.

Compare either of them to say .. Leon, The Professional ..

.. then you have no heart.

Anyway, NONE of those emotions were evoked within me while watching Godfather or Citizen Kane. I can see how Citizen Kane would have been influential on whatever followed afterwards, but ultimately, for me, any admiration for those movies would have to be entirely on a clinical / academic level .. and that would bring them down hugely in my estimation.

Caoimhin

As far as I'm concerned, the critical pans and poor performance are still higher than my personal opinion of it. The world could come together as one, demonizing it as one of the most self-indulgent, self-important, pointless pieces of "artistic exploration of the human condition," and I would still consider it overrated. My opinion of Eyes Wide Shut will always be lower than the worst review you could find.

That being said, here are a few that come to mind at the moment:

The Hours
The Age Of Innocence
Ghost World
Saving Private Ryan
The Deep End
Far From Heaven
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Anniversary Party
Most Woody Allen films in which he stars.

You'll notice I'm not a big fan of faux angst and sturm und drang for the sake of taking it to 11.

matome

Forrest Gump
My Big Fat Greek Wedding

The Nature Boy

Well, to each their own, but if you don't find Michael Corleone simpathetic on some level, than I don't know what movie you were watching. He was individual groomed to be something "better" than his family's business, but only when his brother is killed, and his father nearly killed, is he dragged into the business. He's the quintessnetial tragic hero. There is not much empathy engendered in Part II, but there is a tragic sadness as the ease that his father seemingly had being the glue to his family unravels as his brother betrays him, his wife aborts his son, and his sister is a general town whore. If if works for you, it works, and if it doesn't, it doesn't, but I was feeling for Michael in that realm, as you watch the world around you change, and the traditional means you had for achieving power crumble around you. And about the only thing that works for me in Part III is his reconcillation and his attempts somehow undo what he's done over his life, and find a measure of peace through legitmacy. The emotional connection is precisely what works for me in the Godfather.

I think the Godfather films are the greatest merging of emotional material and technical proficency ever. And in the case of Citizen Kane, that proficency is nearly a character in and of itself, and it looks like it was filmed in 2001, not 1941.

What I'm inferring from your statements is that you have difficultly empathizing with the criminal element, which is a fair enough beef. I've often considered that as I watch films, the behavior that's typically abhorent, deviant and despicable is crafted, in the hands of the right filmmaker, to obscure your traditional bias and see people not as criminals, but as people. Which is intresting in the example you cite. I love Leon, and I think it's one of the best films of the 90's. But I must confess, I do have legitmate issues identifying with him, considering the child love aspects of the movie, and it disturbs me on a level whereas I can't really full immerse myself in it. I agree though, what you cited does grab me, but not without taking me out of the film a bit.

If I'm wrong I do apologize, but I'd like to hear more.

Saxofonix

No, it's not that. Consider that we were using Leon as an example, and he is a hitman.

Anyway, you love The Godfather movies .. I don't. And by reason if it being such a critically acclaimed movie, I would have to call it overrated. It's just one of those things.

pagos77

Donnie Darko. Dont get me wrong, I think its pretty good but the way people go on about it on the internet is crazy. This move has some of the worst acting I have seen, which is a shame 'cause I really like the plot.

Lastblade

The English Patient.

At least I don't feel alone, since a Seinfeld Episode was made b/c someone out there do hate TEP.

wendersfan

I have yet to understand what people see in Singin' In the Rain. Here is a movie that combines the popularity of The Sound of Music with the critical approval of 8 1/2. I just can't figure it out.

Admittedly I'm not the biggest fan of musicals, but I've seen enough films of all genres to appreciate a truly great film when I see one, whatever the style. At least I like to think that of myself. There are musicals I really love, like Top Hat. Maybe I just don't care for Gene Kelly...

The Nature Boy

No animosty either way, fellow CD World shopper! I was just looking for the feedback. I do like to get all points of view on things, and since I felt common ground in the movies you thought were underrated, I just wondered what wasn't working in the Godfather(s) for you. Like I said, I didn't want any flames a flarin, I just was geninuely intrested in what you had to offer.

And as an aside, where else do you shop for discs in Northern NJ, I'm always lookin for a good shop?

DonnachaOne

This should be merged with the unpopular movie opinions thread. They're practically the same.

kefrank

in other words, you decided to use a thread about overrated movies to rant about a film you hate so much that you would call it overrated no matter what. that makes your opinion pretty irrelevant to this discussion.

i think you could come up with a much more relevant addition to the discussion by choosing a film that actually is generally rated at least average.

wakwak007

My number one over-rated has to be Slingblade. I know so many people who loved that movie and to me it was so slow and drawnout...pure agony for me... Also, like some others, I've tried to get through Moulin Rouge and it just does not do it for me. ( visually looks great and some of the songs are good but after awhile something is just missing for me. Maybe its the rich guy just isn't "bad enough" to consider him a villain.

Caoimhin

Except that on these boards, it's widely praised and lauded as an artistic achievement, thereby making my opinions no less relevant than yours or anyone else's. There are other films named in these other posts that never got much critical acclaim, but I don't see you criticizing others for their posts. My post was not a personal attack on you or your opinion, simply my two cents.

Furthermore, I think you'll notice that I did, in fact, contribute a number of other films that are generally considered as great films which I found less than worthy.

evenflow

Star Wars.

gondorspit

taxi driver - I mean it's good, but, I don't really ever want to watch it again, it's pointless.

JaxComet

Agreed. Not funny in the least.......Maybe you have to be married?????

randy1320

Pulp Fiction.

By the way...Ty Cobb was not even in Field of Dreams.

caligulathegod

Calling a film "overrated" is just a way of saying everyone else is wrong and you are right. What this thread should be is "Movies I don't like that everyone else seems to enjoy." Several of the films listed are time tested masterpieces beloved by millions. Not everyone is going to like every film. There's nothing wrong with that. Everyone is entitled to his own taste and opinion but is everyone else wrong because you didn't like the film? Perhaps you misunderstood the film? Perhaps you were in the wrong mood when you saw it? Perhaps you didn't see it in the proper context? Perhaps you expected too much? Perhaps you don't have the right life experience or education to appreciate it? I hate caviar. It stinks of fish and tastes too salty. Is caviar overrated? It's pretty damned expensive and is the symbol of sophisticated taste. Is it a terrible food and is everyone else who likes it wrong just because I don't like it? Of course not.
Threads like these seem purposed to just piss people off. There are more elegant ways of stating you don't like The Godfather or Citizen Kane than saying they are bad films and "overrated". I think most people can agree something like "Batman and Robin" was bad despite it having a few admirers. But when you can list some of the most critically acclaimed and beloved films on your list then perhaps they aren't "overrated" but are simply just not to your taste.


(Sorry about that, but these types of threads exist more to insult films and their admirers than to genuinely express one's distaste for a film. I mean, jeeze, one person dismissed an entire decade of films! And Citizen Kane can never achieve its misunderstood hype. Citizen Kane's fame as "best movie ever made" comes primarily from that Sight and Sound list that used to be the only list going until the advent of the Internet. Hardly anyone on the list cites it as the best movie but it appears on the most lists, so averaged out it tops the combined list every decade. It's NOT the best film ever made, it just has more consensus as one of the top ten films ever made.)