or love. There have been some movies of late that just blew me away and they are the ones I never thought in a million years that i would enjoy, let alone love.

i am pretty much an action and horror guy, but the musical movies of late have really thrown me for a nice loop.

"Dreamgirls"...i literally bawled like a little school girl after seeing this magnificent piece of cinema. it wasn't because i was sad, but because i was blown away at how good it was and more importantly how much enjoyment i got out of it. i just thought the performances combined with the music made for a very special movie.

"Walk The Line" was very similar in that respects to DG and i loved it as well though not as much.

these are just a couple movies that deviated drastically from my normal tastes that gave me so many "happy happy joy joy" feelings.

Cabin Fever. I heard a lot of so-so reactions to the film and it took me forever to watch it because of word of mouth. I ended up absolutely loving the film.
I was also pleasantly surprised with Transformers.

Bring it On. Ok, I didn't LOVE it, but I found it to be much better than I ever expected it to be. Not a great Oscar worthy movie, but a fun movie to watch more than once.

Titanic.

I'm pretty good at knowing what I'm going to like, so I don't get throw a curve too often. However, there is one recent instance of a film proving me wrong and, lame as it is, I really liked Grandma's Boy. It was goddamn funny and, for what it was, it had me rolling.

Stealth - Not sure why I didn't think I would like it but I bought it out of a bargain bin a few months ago and loved it.

300
Grandma's Boy
Mr. & Mrs. Smith

You're not the only one. I remember a thread from years back were people were comparing Bring it On to Braveheart...I'm not kidding.

The trailer for this movie made it look pretty bad, so I was quite surprised how funny it was once I got around to seeing it on DVD.
Nick Swardson is hilarious in this movie: "Dude, jerking off on my mom is one thing, but banging your grandmother and her roommates? That's like... legendary."

Moulin Rouge

Finding Nemo

I'll vote for Bring it On as well. I watched it in a hotel while travelling from work, simply to see Eliza Dushku (big Buffy fan at the time). I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it.

It's currently one of my favorite movies of all time and one the few movies I'll watch start to finish at any time.

For me - Dazed and Confused. I knew nothing of it coming into it. (Friends dragged me)
And came out of the movie loving it!

Legally Blonde. Now it is one of my guiltiest movies to watch. I really enjoy it very much.

Same here. I recall watching this on Thanksgiving with the family a couple years back. I dreaded it at the time, but ended up liking it.

Apocalypto
Blood Diamond

Loved both of these movies, didn't think I would.

Most recently, Hairspray.

I think my wife wanted to see it when it first came out on video, I dreaded it because it represented (based on previews) everything I hate in and about movies. I can't believe I ended up enjoying it so much. I may have watched it 4 or 5 time since then (although I don't have the actuall balls to buy it) and watch when ever I come across it on HBO.

I hate to say it but I'm tempted to rent Bring It ON now.

The Insider. I really really hate political thrillers (The Constant Gardener, Syriana, etc) but was blown away by the Insider -- the direction, the photography, the performances, and by association the dialogue.

Alpha Dog and Black Snake Moan...both bc of Justin Timberlake

A couple more for me...

Moulin Rouge A friend of mine saw it in the theater and asked me if I wanted to go. I said no way. I got to see it for free on DVD, and gave it a chance because of the good word of mouth it got from the time it came out. It was a really good movie, and I regretted not seeing it on the big screen...I somehow thought it would have looked really good in a theater.

Super Troopers The trailer for it made it look completely stupid and just another dumb cop comedy, somewhere on the same level with the latter part of the Police Academy series. I begrudgingly went to see it in a theater with a friend when plans we had to go to a comedy club fizzled out and there was really nothing else to see. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, and found that the trailer did not do the movie any justice at all.

Pan's Labyrinth...I knew nothing about this and the trailers made it look like a fantasy kid's movie...I didn't even know it was rated R until after I saw it and found out why.

Recently, Transformers.

Before Sunrise/Sunset. I loathe Ethan Hawke and figured these movies must be the height of art-house pretentiousness but I sat down and absolutely fell in love with the characters and dialogue.

Chicago -Hate musicals, but this one was actually pretty decent & it wasn't as boring as most of them are.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith -Not a fan of Jolie or Pitt but this movie was a really good action flick & it was pretty well written. That sex scene was pretty great.

Bridge to Terabithia. I thought this was going to be a fantasy world type movie which I rarely like, but it turned out to be something wonderful.

I will also second Moulin Rouge

bring it on
Chronicles of Narnia
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants