Divergent on a flight and thought it was absolutely awful. Saw Deliver Us from Evil with my girlfriend because of a timing issue and it was cringeworthy
But I expected more. Need to watch it again and see if I like it more the second time around. It was kind of boring the first time but Not bad by any stretch...
Godzilla...there were definitely some boring parts
It didn't meet my expectations. People were raving about this movie like it broke new ground and was the slam dunk best movie of the year. To me it was just another solid movie with a good cast. Jennifer Lawrence stood out though. She was tremendous.
On the flip side I thought wolf of Wall Street was awesome. Some complained that it was too long or that the 2nd act was too depressing so I went in with tempered expectations. It didn't disappoint. Typical Scorsese magic.
this way about the identity thief (not in the movie theater - came on HBO thought I'd give it a shot), who doesn't love fat person self-deprecation, but it's like hollywood thinks they found the female chris farley.
to say it sucked is unfair to all other movies that sucked. It sucked by biblical proportions. Fellas, if the lady wants to see it, take it from me...run and hide
Man of Steel was a colossal pile of crap too.
I had some issues with Wolf of Wall Street, but wouldn't come close to saying it sucked, def worth seeing IMHO
Yup, American Hustle was a snoozer, shame to waste such a good cast
I loved Lost in Translation, but I can see why some didn't like it.
I also let my girl choose Magic Mike to rent. Good grief. We usually alternate choosing the movie, but I told her we were skipping her next turn after that one and I got to pick 3 in a row
Rushmore was cute, but each successive one just kept piling on more and more forced quirkiness. I gave up after The Darjeeling Limited.
American Hustle was good but not as good as I'd been led to believe.
Lost In Translation had a few decent moments but overall I never saw what the big deal was, and I choose to blame the acclaim it got as the reason Bill Murray never does comedy anymore.
But if I had to pick one widely praised movie that I absolutely despise, it would be American Beauty. What a fucking steaming pile that turd was.
But I expected more. Need to watch it again and see if I like it more the second time around. It was kind of boring the first time but Not bad by any stretch...
It was bad by EVERY stretch!
Maybe it's just more annoying to those who live in the Bay Area because we're more apt to notice its egregious continuity errors. For example, what's-his-face's kid was being evacuated on a bus crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Not long after, what's-his-face is told that his kid has safely arrived at Oakland Coliseum. Did they forget about the Bay Bridge, or just prefer to take the scenic route most likely to first be attacked by a Pacific-travelling giant monster?
Also, you cannot get a nuclear weapon with a payload that makes Castle Bravo "look like a firecracker" from: China Town, to a boat, to a safe distance in the ocean in 30 minutes. Especially when 5 people are carrying that nuclear weapon to the boat. And why were people still working in an office building even after a) Godzilla just attacked the Golden Gate Bridge, and b) some monster just unleashed an EMP that would have knocked out your power anyway? And why would these ancient monsters have developed EMP that would have been worthless for about 99% of their time on Earth?
Those are among the many stretches by which it was bad.
Isn't that the way it often is. If a movie has been built up to where you expect a lot it often disappoints, but if you watch something you know nothing about it is often enjoyed.
But then again, how can you really make a movie that can live up to the book, even with all of the CGI?
Lost In Translation is my favorite movie...definitely not for everyone, but having lived a very transient life for a long time making temporary connections with those around me, it was just an amazing movie for me.
But then again, how can you really make a movie that can live up to the book, even with all of the CGI?
Lost In Translation is my favorite movie...definitely not for everyone, but having lived a very transient life for a long time making temporary connections with those around me, it was just an amazing movie for me.
I was pretty disappointed with Ender's Game too, Ronnie, but I actually liked it better the second time around.
I actually think they'd have been better off making "Ender's Shadow" first, giving those who haven't read the books Beans POV. I've always felt that was a better and more morally ambiguous book.
by strong negative reactions to Lost In Translation. I can see not loving it. I suppose I can even see not liking it. But hating it? What was there to hate about that movie?
a Jewish member of the American Nazi Party and later the KKK, who committed suicide shortly after learning his Jewish heritage was going to be made public in a New York Times piece. Like I said, loosely inspired, so don't take that as a spoiler.
What Jackson has done with one good book turned into a money engine trilogy, is spoil any kind of relationship he has with Tolkien. Instead what he has done is forge a new and powerfully corrupting relationship with George Lucas and his awful Star Wars prequels.
And this one "The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia"
Seriously... this took place in Georgia... WTH does Connecticut have to do with it..
I thought it was about a person named Georgia. 20 minutes into the movie I asked my wife.. "why is everybody talking with a southern accent in Connecticut?
Gravity was made for the same reason Avatar was made
for its visuals. If you are looking for a profound story then you aren't going to like it. If you appreciate exquisite visuals, then its a great movie. I wish I saw it in iMax.
fantastic cinematography and directing, but the acting was sub-par and i was never on the edge of my seat. Part of the problem was I watched this and Zero Dark Thirty in the same night and ZDT blew it away. Talk about tension even though you already know the outcome.
Bridget Jones Diary. My wife and I went with another couple to dinner and a movie. the ladies picked this thriller.
About 30 min in I couldn't take it anymore, I held my stomach and made the diarrhea sign, my wife made the gross face and move out of the way. I went to the lobby and played video games for 30 min. I went back in signaled I was ok and watched again for another 15 min or so and then diarrhea face again and I spent the rest of the time in the lobby eating snacks and playing games.
The movie ended and I was playing a video game with a box of snow caps next to me and my wife just rolled her eyes.
So I would say Bridget Jones Diary from just the 30 min or so that I saw was an awful, awful movie.
I thought Black Swan was terrific, with American Hustle putting me to sleep after act 2. Bale/Adams were great, but it was too drawn out and i felt the other characters were over-acted (much like Silver Linings Playbook).
The "Bring Back Tuck and Nicks" crew are out in full force today.
ps...note to self...never, ever, ask BBI for movie advice again.
Oh yeah, and whoever recommended "The Strain" a few weeks back is the king of this turd crew. Freakin' horrrrible.
It sure did. It was a giant caricature pretending to be some sort of deep, biting satire. It's completely empty of any real meaning. Lester is a wretched, selfish piece of shit whose supposed awakening is nothing more than feeding his own ego. The rest of the characters are even more repulsive pieces of shit. Chris Cooper is an outright cartoon character. The entire purpose of the thing seems to be that the life of wealthy suburbanites is just so excruciating and tortured - how novel!
The fact that the cast is talented and the movie is technically flawless shouldn't obscure the fact that, at its heart, it is utter and total dreck.
go into what makes a movie suck or not for any one person...personal taste, what mood you're in at the time, what venue you're watching it in, outside annoyances, something small that you just can't ignore ruins the whole movie for you, actors aren't working for you in the particular role, too unrealistic, too realistic....etc, etc. I've had experiences where I hated it the first time but liked it upon the second viewing and vice versa.
If you actually took the time out of your lives to sit down and watch Jersey Girl, Garden State and The Notebook, you deserve the results. I mean, what were you expecting?
But then again, how can you really make a movie that can live up to the book, even with all of the CGI?
You can't. Most of the book's plot took place within the head of the main character. I did not see the movie because I read the book and knew there was no way to make it a decent movie. Did you read the other 3 books after that? Ender's Shadow was also very good.
If you actually took the time out of your lives to sit down and watch Jersey Girl, Garden State and The Notebook, you deserve the results. I mean, what were you expecting?
I guess you took the time out of you life to watch them if you're passing judgement on them.
The "Bring Back Tuck and Nicks" crew are out in full force today.
ps...note to self...never, ever, ask BBI for movie advice again.
Oh yeah, and whoever recommended "The Strain" a few weeks back is the king of this turd crew. Freakin' horrrrible.
It looks like the dickheads that can't accept the fact that people don't have the same taste in movies as them are out in full force also..... oh wait. It's just you.
takes the cake. Most overrated piece of nonsense movie I have ever seen in my life. I go to the movies a LOT, and that's one movie I wanted my money back from. Outside of the visuals in space NOTHING about this movie was good.
Gee, an obvious Hollywood remake of a movie that's been remade multiple times. Did you expect the producers to hire writers to turn it into a Shakespeare tragedy, or a special effects bonanza with a dumbed down script?
To be fair, I didn't see the most recent remake because I expected it to be Hollywood trash.
Gravity has to be one of the worst 'respected' movies ever.
The Lone Ranger missed, but very few claimed it was anything to write home about.
Anchorman 2 was pathetic. I don't think anyone thought it should be nominated for any awards, but it was highly anticipated. definitely a movie that should have been aborted at the idea stage.
If you actually took the time out of your lives to sit down and watch Jersey Girl, Garden State and The Notebook, you deserve the results. I mean, what were you expecting?
I guess you took the time out of you life to watch them if you're passing judgement on them.
Where did I pass judgement? I never said whether I've seen them or not, but why let facts get in the way. The fac of the matter is, those movies were known to be piling pieces of shit, so I'm not sure what these guys were expecting.
Where did I pass judgement? I never said whether I've seen them or not, but why let facts get in the way. The fac of the matter is, those movies were known to be piling pieces of shit, so I'm not sure what these guys were expecting.
You blantantly inferred what your judgement was, an inference I obviously read correctly given your "piling pieces of shit" comment.
Anyway, Garden State was widely praised by critics and viewers.
and just like a move or not like a movie. Others should give it a try. A movie that didn't live up to wild expectations shouldn't be considered a let down.
I read reviews to get a sense of whether or not I should see it in theaters or wait. I pretty much ignore the finer details and form my own opinion.
I understand that the film's visuals are its selling point and what makes it unique. And they were well done. But for God's sake, give us something in the way of a story to make us care about this character. Avatar's was utterly cliched but at least it was something. Ribisi's character added a mildly interesting angle.
I was so bored with the endless banter in Gravity between the 2 characters. If I wanted to watch a film just for the visuals I'll rent Baraka.
Revolutionary Road was horrific and annoying as fuck
Two upper middle class suburbanites laboring mightily to find a way to be miserable. I wanted to slap both of them.
Compare that to "Shoot the Moon," also about wealthy, viciously unhappy suburbanites whose marriage falls apart, but there is a logic there, you understand why they are so unhappy. There is an authenticity to "Shoot the Moon," that is just missing from Revolutionary Road.
Maybe the former was just poorly written and poorly cast and acted. There was ZERO chemistry between DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, which is weird, considering that they had terrific chemistry in Titanic. I blame poor writing. Diane Keaton and Albert Finney, OTOH, were on fire. The depth and intensity of their hostility towards each other directly reflected the depth and intensity of the love absolutely believed they once shared. Keaton and Finney are better actors, IMHO, than DiCaprio and Winslet.
I don't know what it is about Leonardo DiCaprio. Seems like he peaked in "What's Wrong With Gilbert Grape" and has been a relative lightweight ever since.
Battle Los Angeles.... my god...... AWESOME FREAKING TRAILER
This easily is by a far and wide margin much worse than any other movie discussed on the thread. Either nobody else has seen it or it was so bad people have actually blocked it out from their minds.
I can list a ton of flat out bad movies, but they are pretty much universally known as being bad so its not worth doing.
The most recent movie that everyone loved that I couldn't stand was "Frozen". Though the story was extremely predictable, giving away the villian as soon as its introduced, the snowman wasn't funny, and the songs too over the top.
Compared to recent animated movies like "The Lego Movie" "Brave", "Despicable Me", etc, I thought Frozen thoroughly fell short.
A few movies I didn't love that were very well received. Note: for all of these movies, I don't think they are bad, but were not worthy of the never-ending praise they received.
1) The Black Swan
2) Gravity
3) The White Ribbon (foreign)
4) Cache (foreign)
5) Snowpiercer (holy Christ what a piece of shit movie)
I could do this for a while actually so I'll stop there.
But they're indies and mostly don't play outside of art houses in big cities. So what's left for the masses are mostly play-down-to-the-lowest-common-denominator junk.
So what did you expect?
1 through 4 I enjoyed, but thought they were overrated
What did you expect...it was directed by a Korean director. Aside from the cult favorites like Old Boy and a few others, Korean written and directed movies are melodramatic overrated products.
Yeah, that was my general intent. I was approaching it more from the perspective of a movie that disappointed you, either because you'd read good reviews/heard good things, or had some irrational predisposition that the movie would be good. Godzilla got good press as "Godzilla done right," and it simply wasn't. Even setting aside all the errors that might not bother your average movie-goer, Godzilla was only in the movie for maybe 5 minutes of screen time!
And no, this wasn't "The Jaws Effect" where the movie is scarier when you don't see the monster.
What I'd read led me to believe that it was brilliant, and parts of it were definitely interesting, compelling, affecting, gorgeously shot, etc. But I had a certain expectation of its "tone" and was a bit disappointed that it had another. I wouldn't say it sucked -- I reserve that for Godzillas of the world -- but it let me down.
RE: RE: 1 through 4 I enjoyed, but thought they were overrated
What did you expect...it was directed by a Korean director. Aside from the cult favorites like Old Boy and a few others, Korean written and directed movies are melodramatic overrated products.
The reviews are fantastic for Snowpiercer... better than for Oldboy (which I loved like most movie buffs).
a movie doesn't make it a shitty movie. A movie can be well made and well acted and we might not like the topic and thus we say it's shitty. It's shitty to us, but the movie itself actually isn't shitty at all.
Was a waste. The debris seemed to follow Sandra Bullock like they were alive and targeting her.
That movie was an utter joke. Avatar and its shitty story is Shawshank Redemption when compared to Gravity.
Godzilla was OK. Considering the abomination with Matthew Broderick(sp?), it was OK. A movie about Godzilla and Godzilla was on screen for like 5 minutes. The scene were he does the atomic blast was orgasm worthy.
Ender's Game wasn't anything special but definitely not as bad as Gravity. Gravity was a piece of shit.
Forrest Gump Best Picture of the Year, American Beauty Best
was Suckerpunch. What a horrific shitshow that movie is. Luckily it clued me into the fact that I'm just not going to enjoy Zack Snyder. I've been right so far.
I read a review that pretty much captured my feelings about the film... "Halfway through I was hoping an alien would pop-up out of nowhere." The visuals are amazing, but the plot and dialogue are terrible.
RE: Forrest Gump Best Picture of the Year, American Beauty Best
it's not really about individual scenes, it's about the general vibe of the film. There was just no subtlety to the film whatsoever. They hit you over the top of the head with their "people are different, we need to learn how to get along" message.
it's not really about individual scenes, it's about the general vibe of the film. There was just no subtlety to the film whatsoever. They hit you over the top of the head with their "people are different, we need to learn how to get along" message.
I agree 100% on why you don't like it, but it wasn't that bad, IMO. lol
I totally see your point though.
RE: Forrest Gump Best Picture of the Year, American Beauty Best
Crash is the bigger offender in that regard. I'm surprised the characters even had actual names rather than White Cop #1, Black Carjacker #2, Rich Black Motorist #1, etc. It's a cartoony morality play that has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
yet it won Best Picture, if it was crap it wouldn't have even
been nominated. It also won from it'd group of peers in the industry who probably got the message in a different light than you. As for American Beauty it was hauntingly terrific
To win an Oscar, there only has to be a plurality of votes, not a majority. So, back when there were only 5 nominees for Best Picture, the winner could win with as little as 21% of the vote. 79% of voters could pick a loser.
IOW -- the fact that something/someone wins and Oscar is hardly evidence of anything resembling universal appeal.
Today, it's even less since there are more nominees.
RE: yet it won Best Picture, if it was crap it wouldn't have even
been nominated. It also won from it'd group of peers in the industry who probably got the message in a different light than you. As for American Beauty it was hauntingly terrific
Well...I'm not sure. The Hurt Locker was also full of cliched caricatures of soldiers on the battlefield of Iraq, yet it won Best Picture.
It mainly won because the cinematography was great (technical aspect of filmmaking), and it covered the war like no movie prior to it (even if it had contrived plot line and cliched characters), which I'm sure that the voters ate up. The movie was overrated and didn't deserve the win.
To win an Oscar, there only has to be a plurality of votes, not a majority. So, back when there were only 5 nominees for Best Picture, the winner could win with as little as 21% of the vote. 79% of voters could pick a loser.
IOW -- the fact that something/someone wins and Oscar is hardly evidence of anything resembling universal appeal.
Today, it's even less since there are more nominees.
It was a masterpiece of filmmaking technically as far as the cinematography and editing and performances are concerned, but it was all in the service of a wretched story. Hell, even Sam Mendes says it is overrated.
Eric - Among active directors? Big fan of PT Anderson, the Coens and Scorcese. Spielberg has fallen far, but his high points are magnificent. Don't love everything Kubrick did, but Paths of Glory, The Shining and A Clockwork Orange are amazing. Reprehensible piece of shit that he is, Polanski is a tremendous filmmaker.
A Clockwork Orange was terrific so at least we agree on one
Watched this one with my brother's kids after I heard about some of the buzz it was getting. The praise for this supposed "Disney classic" seemed endless. It wasn't warranted, though. What a dud. And that song "Let It Go" became so insufferable to hear it everywhere especially when it started getting regular radio play.
Bottomline: No real antagonist, no actual conflict resolution since there was never any real conflict to begin with, and a farce of a last minute villain twist that makes M Night Shyamalan's The Village look like M Night Shyamalan's Sixth Sense.
It certainly was not a laugh out loud comedy a la Caddyshack or Animal House. It was more a very subtle skewering of reality TV with its fake chit-chat and manufactured drama.
The plot hit some slow points and the wrap up was a disappointing as they come, but I still walked away thinking that it was an outstanding film and, taken as a whole, a very funny movie.
I'll never see Jacques Cousteau or Whale Wars in the same light again.
Not recent, but the suckiness is still seared in my memory.
been nominated. It also won from it'd group of peers in the industry who probably got the message in a different light than you. As for American Beauty it was hauntingly terrific
Not true in the least. There is more politics involved in Oscar Noms and awards than in most Senatorial elections. The best movie(s)don't always win.
But even if it was true, do you rely on the Academy to tell you which pictures you like? Maybe you don't but that is what your post implies.
Whether a movie is "good" or "bad" is a highly subjective decision based almost exclusively on the individual's taste. I personally make my decision on whether the movie entertained me or not and that judgement may change with my mood. I have been entertained by some of the more universally proclaimed craptastic disasters the come out and I have been bored to tears by some of the most widely acclaimed movies of the last fifty years. There's no accounting for taste.
It was very well done except for one minor detail: it was adapted from the American version of the novel, which did not contain the 21st and true final chapter. The book is a question of free will vs things like aversion therapy and behaviour modification. While Kubrick's film ends with Alex sarcastically stating "I was cured all right...", Burgess' s additional chapter shows Alex briefly return to a life of crime only to grow bored quickly. He finds himself wanting to settle down and start a family.
Burgess had a message and vision and Kubrick, as he's want to do, shit on it and made it his own thing. But don't tell his fanboys that, he only ever improves the source material.
ed, that's your interpretation, no one tells me what to watch or like
most movies made about/with the current conflicts as the backdrop pretty much suck. Maybe onsies and twosies involving special warfare missions based on real life events are ok (Zero Dark Thirty and The Lone Survivor), but most of the others are political drivel or cliched shitshows.
The Godfather Part II
Shawshank Redemption
Citizen Kane
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Graduate
Alien
Life is Beautiful
The Dark Knight
Terminator
Caddyshack
Airplane
Thank you for reminding me of Life is Beautiful. i thought I was the only person who hated that film.
I thought as a romantic tale, the first half of the film was OK. The problem I had was the second half of the film making the Holocaust into a slapstick knockoff of Charlie Chaplain. I found that tough to stomach and watch.
But while I liked it when I first saw it in my late teens (and mostly because of the soundtrack, the spanning of multiple decades with him spliced into real footage gimmick, and its humor), it's not something that's aged for me. It kind of seems like a celebration of just going along with whatever you're handed, with any deviation being punished.
I can also imagine why some dislike Shawshank Redemption
I never fail to be entertained by it, and if I'm flipping channels and find it playing I'll often stay put regardless of where I find myself in the movie. It's right up there with any movie in its ability to make you hate its environment of injustice and cheer when it's defeated. But let's face it: it's melodramatic as all hell and just a tad too folksy for many tastes.
some of the more douchy BBI-ers who don't respect anything without subtitles have in fact claimed Shawshank Redemption "not great" and Braveheart "downright bad".
It's what makes BBI great and intolerable at the same time (like a microcosm of the world).
would have been better (but also probably more infuriating) if it had stuck to the way the book ended ambiguously. Get rid of that scene where Red and Andy reunite on the beach, and just leave it at Red hoping such a reunion will happen with something resembling credible hope, a feeling he'd been denied for decades. That would have been cool.
would have been better (but also probably more infuriating) if it had stuck to the way the book ended ambiguously. Get rid of that scene where Red and Andy reunite on the beach, and just leave it at Red hoping such a reunion will happen with something resembling credible hope, a feeling he'd been denied for decades. That would have been cool.
Not a huge fan of the ending, but I like some of the other changes from the book like the warden shooting himself, much more poetic than the book.
I also thought Brooks hanging himself was more powerful than the book.
but yeah the ending was disney-ish, still didn't ruin an all-time classic.
would have been better (but also probably more infuriating) if it had stuck to the way the book ended ambiguously. Get rid of that scene where Red and Andy reunite on the beach, and just leave it at Red hoping such a reunion will happen with something resembling credible hope, a feeling he'd been denied for decades. That would have been cool.
Not a huge fan of the ending, but I like some of the other changes from the book like the warden shooting himself, much more poetic than the book.
I also thought Brooks hanging himself was more powerful than the book.
but yeah the ending was disney-ish, still didn't ruin an all-time classic.
I can't remember Brooks' fate in the book, but I do remember that what-his-face wasn't shot by order of the Warden once it was discovered he knew Andy was innocent. Instead, he was transferred and Red was left to wonder if it was by what's-his-face's choice or not. I thought that was much darker/cynical, and probably more realistic, and would have painted the Warden in a way that wasn't nearly as mustache-twirlingly cartoonish.
The movie's methods of hammering you over the head and removing any doubt as to how absolutely good and absolutely evil each character was just became very evident to me in comparison after reading the short story.
would have stirred some debate with his fans. Maybe this will work:
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
It's funny, I've met people who have very vociferously argued the opposite. I never read the book and haven't seen the movie in over a decade, so I can't participate in the argument, but it always struck me as an argument someone makes simply because of an anti Stephen King agenda.
I really hate Stephen King, so I'm inclined to view the movie versions of both Shawshank and The Shining as superior despite never having read the books :)
Regarding A Clockwork Orange - no opinion, having never read that book either. I did try reading it once in high school, but found the slang inpenetrable and gave up.
would have stirred some debate with his fans. Maybe this will work:
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
It's funny, I've met people who have very vociferously argued the opposite. I never read the book and haven't seen the movie in over a decade, so I can't participate in the argument, but it always struck me as an argument someone makes simply because of an anti Stephen King agenda.
Big fan of The Shining (movie), but I will say that I found the book a bit better, especially as it goes a deeper into the path to madness of Jack. With that being said, the performances of Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall were incredible.
And yes, Shawshank Redemption (movie) was better than the novella.
Speaking of Kubrick...Full Metal Jacket sucked donkey balls. Come at me, bro!
would have stirred some debate with his fans. Maybe this will work:
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
It's funny, I've met people who have very vociferously argued the opposite. I never read the book and haven't seen the movie in over a decade, so I can't participate in the argument, but it always struck me as an argument someone makes simply because of an anti Stephen King agenda.
That's it in some cases, some people just don't respect King as a writer. I think it's plain snobbery in many instances. I'm not gonna rattle off a list of books but suffice to say I'm fairly well read. I appreciate and in many cases love classic literature. Same with fantasy (D&D nerd thru and thru. Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Strahd, Drizzt Do'urden...go ahead, have at it), modern comedy, biographies and memoirs, whatever. And King is one of my favorite writers.
As for The Shining, I really don't understand how someone who has read the book and seen the movie could prefer the latter. Aside from changing the ending (drastically, and in one aspect considered by some to be Kubrick giving King the figurative middle finger as King made his displeasure known the more Kubrick deviated) he made the characters little more than props. Hey look, it's Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson. Shelley Duvall could have been replaced by an ironing board.
And, honestly, it's kind of a mess. Definitely prefer Full Metal Jacket despite its flaws. The first half is simply amazing and dead on (despite a few demerit points for being filmed in England and looking nothing like Parris Island).
would have stirred some debate with his fans. Maybe this will work:
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
It's funny, I've met people who have very vociferously argued the opposite. I never read the book and haven't seen the movie in over a decade, so I can't participate in the argument, but it always struck me as an argument someone makes simply because of an anti Stephen King agenda.
That's it in some cases, some people just don't respect King as a writer. I think it's plain snobbery in many instances. I'm not gonna rattle off a list of books but suffice to say I'm fairly well read. I appreciate and in many cases love classic literature. Same with fantasy (D&D nerd thru and thru. Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Strahd, Drizzt Do'urden...go ahead, have at it), modern comedy, biographies and memoirs, whatever. And King is one of my favorite writers.
As for The Shining, I really don't understand how someone who has read the book and seen the movie could prefer the latter. Aside from changing the ending (drastically, and in one aspect considered by some to be Kubrick giving King the figurative middle finger as King made his displeasure known the more Kubrick deviated) he made the characters little more than props. Hey look, it's Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson. Shelley Duvall could have been replaced by an ironing board.
That's why King remade it in a made-for-TV movie that was much closer to his vision (and predictably nobody watched it). He had a topiary and everything. But that's part of the problem when you hand a book off to a guy who is no less iconic than the author; he is going to have his own vision. And while Kubrick's The Shining wasn't entirely faithful to the book it was a fine film in its own right.
would have stirred some debate with his fans. Maybe this will work:
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
It's funny, I've met people who have very vociferously argued the opposite. I never read the book and haven't seen the movie in over a decade, so I can't participate in the argument, but it always struck me as an argument someone makes simply because of an anti Stephen King agenda.
That's it in some cases, some people just don't respect King as a writer. I think it's plain snobbery in many instances. I'm not gonna rattle off a list of books but suffice to say I'm fairly well read. I appreciate and in many cases love classic literature. Same with fantasy (D&D nerd thru and thru. Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Strahd, Drizzt Do'urden...go ahead, have at it), modern comedy, biographies and memoirs, whatever. And King is one of my favorite writers.
As for The Shining, I really don't understand how someone who has read the book and seen the movie could prefer the latter. Aside from changing the ending (drastically, and in one aspect considered by some to be Kubrick giving King the figurative middle finger as King made his displeasure known the more Kubrick deviated) he made the characters little more than props. Hey look, it's Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson. Shelley Duvall could have been replaced by an ironing board.
That's why King remade it in a made-for-TV movie that was much closer to his vision (and predictably nobody watched it). He had a topiary and everything. But that's part of the problem when you hand a book off to a guy who is no less iconic than the author; he is going to have his own vision. And while Kubrick's The Shining wasn't entirely faithful to the book it was a fine film in its own right.
The made for tv one was pretty bad too. It stuck to the book right down to the ending but the kid who played Danny was awful. Like, Anakin in Episode 1 awful.
For a long time I hated the movie, just let my bias and the differences influence me too much. I wwtched it again recently (it's been on HBO or one of them a lot recently) and decided to go in completely open-minded with no thoughts on the book. Taken as its own story I can't deny that it is a very good movie. But if a filmmaker like Kubrick stuck to the script...now that would've been a great movie.
collectively praised by critics though? I honestly don't remember, since it came out a time in which you really only had access to a few major reviews. I just took a quick peek at IMDB's archived reviews and there are departures to be found.
I do remember everyone loving it. It had a lot of gimmicks going for it. The double-disk soundtrack was ubiquitous, everyone was all like, "How did they superimpose Tom Hanks onto video with JFK and make it look like he was talking to him!!?!" 60's and 70's nostalgia almost always goes down easy, etc.
Sucked? I dunno, I'd watch it again I'm sure, and I'd laugh at the funny parts, but it wouldn't hit me like it did when I was in my late teens.
IIRC a lot of critics thought Pulp Fiction should have beaten Gump
at the Oscars. It was a nice, safe choice that was enormously popular with audiences, but as I recall it mostly got good but not not great reviews.
I don't think it's a stretch to say that it was hugely popular largely as a nostalgia vehicle for Baby Boomers who still dominated the viewing public in 1994. At the time the Boomer generation was in the 30-50 age group, and the movie tried to shoehorn in as much cultural detritus from their era as possible.
Of the films mentioned that I didn't care for much or at all: The Darjeeling Limited, Lost in Translation, Eraserhead, Life Aquatic, Revolutionary Road, Silver Linings Playbook. I VERY rarely see films that totally suck because I avoid films I think will be less than at least very good after reading a few reviews & seeing what the IMDB rating is, etc. If it's under a 7 I usually don't bother.
The film The Shining was great but the book was even better. Ditto for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Thought Clockwork Orange was better than the book, which also was great. Never read Shawshank. Speaking of crappy films, The Stand was an excellent book but the TV film sucked royally.
- Vanilla Sky
There, I fixed it for you.
Recent movie , The Giver....what a snoozer
Second vote for Lost in Translation, and Seinfeld already covered my disdain for The English Patient pretty well.
On the flip side I thought wolf of Wall Street was awesome. Some complained that it was too long or that the 2nd act was too depressing so I went in with tempered expectations. It didn't disappoint. Typical Scorsese magic.
she's awful and that movie was a train wreck.
Man of Steel was a colossal pile of crap too.
I had some issues with Wolf of Wall Street, but wouldn't come close to saying it sucked, def worth seeing IMHO
Yup, American Hustle was a snoozer, shame to waste such a good cast
I loved Lost in Translation, but I can see why some didn't like it.
I also let my girl choose Magic Mike to rent. Good grief. We usually alternate choosing the movie, but I told her we were skipping her next turn after that one and I got to pick 3 in a row
American Hustle wasn't great (the De Niro cameo was hackneyed and seemed forced) but some worthwhile parts and good acting. This scene is classic.
For me (and this was somewhat unexpected): The Dark Knight Rises. I loved Begins, liked TDK, and despised TDKR. It was a mess of a film.
American Hustle was good but not as good as I'd been led to believe.
Lost In Translation had a few decent moments but overall I never saw what the big deal was, and I choose to blame the acclaim it got as the reason Bill Murray never does comedy anymore.
But if I had to pick one widely praised movie that I absolutely despise, it would be American Beauty. What a fucking steaming pile that turd was.
Yeah, it was awful
It was bad by EVERY stretch!
Maybe it's just more annoying to those who live in the Bay Area because we're more apt to notice its egregious continuity errors. For example, what's-his-face's kid was being evacuated on a bus crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. Not long after, what's-his-face is told that his kid has safely arrived at Oakland Coliseum. Did they forget about the Bay Bridge, or just prefer to take the scenic route most likely to first be attacked by a Pacific-travelling giant monster?
Also, you cannot get a nuclear weapon with a payload that makes Castle Bravo "look like a firecracker" from: China Town, to a boat, to a safe distance in the ocean in 30 minutes. Especially when 5 people are carrying that nuclear weapon to the boat. And why were people still working in an office building even after a) Godzilla just attacked the Golden Gate Bridge, and b) some monster just unleashed an EMP that would have knocked out your power anyway? And why would these ancient monsters have developed EMP that would have been worthless for about 99% of their time on Earth?
Those are among the many stretches by which it was bad.
Amen to that.
Funny -- We had no idea what it was, no expectations, so we enjoyed it.
adventureland - awesome
Ghost Rider, could have been one of the better comic book film franchises, murdered in its infancy by Nicholas Cage
Totally disagree with Lost In Translation and Silver Linings Playbook, which were both well written and well acted.
true grit remake - I liked it
Lost In Translation is my favorite movie...definitely not for everyone, but having lived a very transient life for a long time making temporary connections with those around me, it was just an amazing movie for me.
Yes. An absolute nightmare of a movie.
Lost In Translation is my favorite movie...definitely not for everyone, but having lived a very transient life for a long time making temporary connections with those around me, it was just an amazing movie for me.
I was pretty disappointed with Ender's Game too, Ronnie, but I actually liked it better the second time around.
I actually think they'd have been better off making "Ender's Shadow" first, giving those who haven't read the books Beans POV. I've always felt that was a better and more morally ambiguous book.
adventureland - awesome
Two solid assessments.
Have you ever seen The Believer? I think it's probably his best.
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I actually willingly watched that and expected greatness because I had just seen Half Nelson, in which Ryan Gosling was outstanding.
Have you ever seen The Believer? I think it's probably his best.
I haven't! I'll have to check it out.
Anyone see The Guest? I hadn't heard of it until today and I'm intrigued.
Amazing Spiderman 2 ... wanted so bad to like it ... but tried to do too much in too little time
Eraserhead ... WTF was up with that movie ?!?!?!?
No wonder coming here makes me feel really cool.
More like The Desolation of Tolkien.
The "Bring Back Tuck and Nicks" crew are out in full force today.
ps...note to self...never, ever, ask BBI for movie advice again.
Oh yeah, and whoever recommended "The Strain" a few weeks back is the king of this turd crew. Freakin' horrrrible.
And this one "The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia"
Seriously... this took place in Georgia... WTH does Connecticut have to do with it..
I thought it was about a person named Georgia. 20 minutes into the movie I asked my wife.. "why is everybody talking with a southern accent in Connecticut?
Bridget Jones Diary. My wife and I went with another couple to dinner and a movie. the ladies picked this thriller.
About 30 min in I couldn't take it anymore, I held my stomach and made the diarrhea sign, my wife made the gross face and move out of the way. I went to the lobby and played video games for 30 min. I went back in signaled I was ok and watched again for another 15 min or so and then diarrhea face again and I spent the rest of the time in the lobby eating snacks and playing games.
The movie ended and I was playing a video game with a box of snow caps next to me and my wife just rolled her eyes.
So I would say Bridget Jones Diary from just the 30 min or so that I saw was an awful, awful movie.
As far as disappointments, for me, "Black Swan" takes the cake. I absolutely hated that film.
While we are on Pitt, and while not his fault, the Counselor was awful. 2 good scenes and the rest was trash.
The "Bring Back Tuck and Nicks" crew are out in full force today.
ps...note to self...never, ever, ask BBI for movie advice again.
Oh yeah, and whoever recommended "The Strain" a few weeks back is the king of this turd crew. Freakin' horrrrible.
It sure did. It was a giant caricature pretending to be some sort of deep, biting satire. It's completely empty of any real meaning. Lester is a wretched, selfish piece of shit whose supposed awakening is nothing more than feeding his own ego. The rest of the characters are even more repulsive pieces of shit. Chris Cooper is an outright cartoon character. The entire purpose of the thing seems to be that the life of wealthy suburbanites is just so excruciating and tortured - how novel!
The fact that the cast is talented and the movie is technically flawless shouldn't obscure the fact that, at its heart, it is utter and total dreck.
Totally agree, it ruined Robin Williams for me
I guess you took the time out of you life to watch them if you're passing judgement on them.
The "Bring Back Tuck and Nicks" crew are out in full force today.
ps...note to self...never, ever, ask BBI for movie advice again.
Oh yeah, and whoever recommended "The Strain" a few weeks back is the king of this turd crew. Freakin' horrrrible.
It looks like the dickheads that can't accept the fact that people don't have the same taste in movies as them are out in full force also..... oh wait. It's just you.
To be fair, I didn't see the most recent remake because I expected it to be Hollywood trash.
Gravity has to be one of the worst 'respected' movies ever.
The Lone Ranger missed, but very few claimed it was anything to write home about.
Anchorman 2 was pathetic. I don't think anyone thought it should be nominated for any awards, but it was highly anticipated. definitely a movie that should have been aborted at the idea stage.
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If you actually took the time out of your lives to sit down and watch Jersey Girl, Garden State and The Notebook, you deserve the results. I mean, what were you expecting?
I guess you took the time out of you life to watch them if you're passing judgement on them.
Where did I pass judgement? I never said whether I've seen them or not, but why let facts get in the way. The fac of the matter is, those movies were known to be piling pieces of shit, so I'm not sure what these guys were expecting.
Ditto American Hustle.
It's sad what generates buzz these days.
Dallas Buyers Club- Great acting but the movie itself wasnt great.
I tried watching this but lasted on 40 minutes or so.
I don't watch many bad movies anymore. Figured I'd give this a shot since some of the reviews were ok but nope, it sucked so I quit.
You blantantly inferred what your judgement was, an inference I obviously read correctly given your "piling pieces of shit" comment.
Anyway, Garden State was widely praised by critics and viewers.
Chicago
Shakespeare in Love
i mean it happens..
I read reviews to get a sense of whether or not I should see it in theaters or wait. I pretty much ignore the finer details and form my own opinion.
Hey, I like movies where Marines get to kill aliens.
But yeah, while fun to watch, the movie did suck.
I actually didn't even watch it since I don't watch movies starring wrestlers. And they didn't kill any aliens.
I was so bored with the endless banter in Gravity between the 2 characters. If I wanted to watch a film just for the visuals I'll rent Baraka.
Compare that to "Shoot the Moon," also about wealthy, viciously unhappy suburbanites whose marriage falls apart, but there is a logic there, you understand why they are so unhappy. There is an authenticity to "Shoot the Moon," that is just missing from Revolutionary Road.
Maybe the former was just poorly written and poorly cast and acted. There was ZERO chemistry between DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, which is weird, considering that they had terrific chemistry in Titanic. I blame poor writing. Diane Keaton and Albert Finney, OTOH, were on fire. The depth and intensity of their hostility towards each other directly reflected the depth and intensity of the love absolutely believed they once shared. Keaton and Finney are better actors, IMHO, than DiCaprio and Winslet.
I don't know what it is about Leonardo DiCaprio. Seems like he peaked in "What's Wrong With Gilbert Grape" and has been a relative lightweight ever since.
This easily is by a far and wide margin much worse than any other movie discussed on the thread. Either nobody else has seen it or it was so bad people have actually blocked it out from their minds.
A really solid dialogue heavy film (like Rev Road) with Winslet is Carnage. John C Reilly and christoph Waltz co star. Only a couple years old.
I can list a ton of flat out bad movies, but they are pretty much universally known as being bad so its not worth doing.
The most recent movie that everyone loved that I couldn't stand was "Frozen". Though the story was extremely predictable, giving away the villian as soon as its introduced, the snowman wasn't funny, and the songs too over the top.
Compared to recent animated movies like "The Lego Movie" "Brave", "Despicable Me", etc, I thought Frozen thoroughly fell short.
Hey, I like movies where Marines get to kill aliens.
But yeah, while fun to watch, the movie did suck.
I'm with you. I loved battle Los Angeles. Good escapist fun. It also happens to have great sound on blu ray
Me too. Listing universally-deemed bad movies is shooting fish in a barrel.
1) The Black Swan
2) Gravity
3) The White Ribbon (foreign)
4) Cache (foreign)
5) Snowpiercer (holy Christ what a piece of shit movie)
I could do this for a while actually so I'll stop there.
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that got good reviews yet you still hated.
Me too. Listing universally-deemed bad movies is shooting fish in a barrel.
I took it to mean recent movies since he said "Recently watched disappointments go here."
So what did you expect?
D+ all the way around....and for me, comic books movies get an automatic B on principle alone.
Seriously, what a piece of absolute garbage.
What did you expect...it was directed by a Korean director. Aside from the cult favorites like Old Boy and a few others, Korean written and directed movies are melodramatic overrated products.
The version with Urban was very good, in my opinion. And it actually received good reviews as well.
Yeah, that was my general intent. I was approaching it more from the perspective of a movie that disappointed you, either because you'd read good reviews/heard good things, or had some irrational predisposition that the movie would be good. Godzilla got good press as "Godzilla done right," and it simply wasn't. Even setting aside all the errors that might not bother your average movie-goer, Godzilla was only in the movie for maybe 5 minutes of screen time!
And no, this wasn't "The Jaws Effect" where the movie is scarier when you don't see the monster.
"Eddie Murphy and Robert DeNiro.. you can't go wrong"
wrong
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5 made me want to stop watching movies.
What did you expect...it was directed by a Korean director. Aside from the cult favorites like Old Boy and a few others, Korean written and directed movies are melodramatic overrated products.
The reviews are fantastic for Snowpiercer... better than for Oldboy (which I loved like most movie buffs).
95% of people liked it.
That movie was an utter joke. Avatar and its shitty story is Shawshank Redemption when compared to Gravity.
Godzilla was OK. Considering the abomination with Matthew Broderick(sp?), it was OK. A movie about Godzilla and Godzilla was on screen for like 5 minutes. The scene were he does the atomic blast was orgasm worthy.
Ender's Game wasn't anything special but definitely not as bad as Gravity. Gravity was a piece of shit.
Both films are dogshit----BBI
Both films are dogshit----BBI
Plenty of weak movies win Oscars. Crash won for Best Picture for crissakes! NO ONE likes Crash!
I agree 100% on why you don't like it, but it wasn't that bad, IMO. lol
I totally see your point though.
Both films are dogshit----BBI
Are you surprised? I'm sure there's at least a few here who think the Godfather and citizen kane are overrated.
IOW -- the fact that something/someone wins and Oscar is hardly evidence of anything resembling universal appeal.
Today, it's even less since there are more nominees.
Well...I'm not sure. The Hurt Locker was also full of cliched caricatures of soldiers on the battlefield of Iraq, yet it won Best Picture.
It mainly won because the cinematography was great (technical aspect of filmmaking), and it covered the war like no movie prior to it (even if it had contrived plot line and cliched characters), which I'm sure that the voters ate up. The movie was overrated and didn't deserve the win.
IOW -- the fact that something/someone wins and Oscar is hardly evidence of anything resembling universal appeal.
Today, it's even less since there are more nominees.
Very interesting...thanks for the insight.
Eric - Among active directors? Big fan of PT Anderson, the Coens and Scorcese. Spielberg has fallen far, but his high points are magnificent. Don't love everything Kubrick did, but Paths of Glory, The Shining and A Clockwork Orange are amazing. Reprehensible piece of shit that he is, Polanski is a tremendous filmmaker.
you don't know now but someday you will
Half Baked?
Bottomline: No real antagonist, no actual conflict resolution since there was never any real conflict to begin with, and a farce of a last minute villain twist that makes M Night Shyamalan's The Village look like M Night Shyamalan's Sixth Sense.
It certainly was not a laugh out loud comedy a la Caddyshack or Animal House. It was more a very subtle skewering of reality TV with its fake chit-chat and manufactured drama.
The plot hit some slow points and the wrap up was a disappointing as they come, but I still walked away thinking that it was an outstanding film and, taken as a whole, a very funny movie.
I'll never see Jacques Cousteau or Whale Wars in the same light again.
Not true in the least. There is more politics involved in Oscar Noms and awards than in most Senatorial elections. The best movie(s)don't always win.
But even if it was true, do you rely on the Academy to tell you which pictures you like? Maybe you don't but that is what your post implies.
Whether a movie is "good" or "bad" is a highly subjective decision based almost exclusively on the individual's taste. I personally make my decision on whether the movie entertained me or not and that judgement may change with my mood. I have been entertained by some of the more universally proclaimed craptastic disasters the come out and I have been bored to tears by some of the most widely acclaimed movies of the last fifty years. There's no accounting for taste.
Here's a toast to movies that entertain.
It was very well done except for one minor detail: it was adapted from the American version of the novel, which did not contain the 21st and true final chapter. The book is a question of free will vs things like aversion therapy and behaviour modification. While Kubrick's film ends with Alex sarcastically stating "I was cured all right...", Burgess' s additional chapter shows Alex briefly return to a life of crime only to grow bored quickly. He finds himself wanting to settle down and start a family.
Burgess had a message and vision and Kubrick, as he's want to do, shit on it and made it his own thing. But don't tell his fanboys that, he only ever improves the source material.
Shawshank Redemption
Citizen Kane
The Bridge on the River Kwai
The Graduate
Alien
Life is Beautiful
The Dark Knight
Terminator
Caddyshack
Airplane
All lame. So, so lame.
- BBI
I thought as a romantic tale, the first half of the film was OK. The problem I had was the second half of the film making the Holocaust into a slapstick knockoff of Charlie Chaplain. I found that tough to stomach and watch.
It's what makes BBI great and intolerable at the same time (like a microcosm of the world).
Not a huge fan of the ending, but I like some of the other changes from the book like the warden shooting himself, much more poetic than the book.
I also thought Brooks hanging himself was more powerful than the book.
but yeah the ending was disney-ish, still didn't ruin an all-time classic.
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would have been better (but also probably more infuriating) if it had stuck to the way the book ended ambiguously. Get rid of that scene where Red and Andy reunite on the beach, and just leave it at Red hoping such a reunion will happen with something resembling credible hope, a feeling he'd been denied for decades. That would have been cool.
Not a huge fan of the ending, but I like some of the other changes from the book like the warden shooting himself, much more poetic than the book.
I also thought Brooks hanging himself was more powerful than the book.
but yeah the ending was disney-ish, still didn't ruin an all-time classic.
I can't remember Brooks' fate in the book, but I do remember that what-his-face wasn't shot by order of the Warden once it was discovered he knew Andy was innocent. Instead, he was transferred and Red was left to wonder if it was by what's-his-face's choice or not. I thought that was much darker/cynical, and probably more realistic, and would have painted the Warden in a way that wasn't nearly as mustache-twirlingly cartoonish.
The movie's methods of hammering you over the head and removing any doubt as to how absolutely good and absolutely evil each character was just became very evident to me in comparison after reading the short story.
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
It's funny, I've met people who have very vociferously argued the opposite. I never read the book and haven't seen the movie in over a decade, so I can't participate in the argument, but it always struck me as an argument someone makes simply because of an anti Stephen King agenda.
I thought both movies were excellent; in some regards better than the book(s). Deviating from the stories in some areas, but they were both excellent.
there are a lot of cases where I feel the book to movie translation is awful, neither of these two fit that bill.
for me.
Regarding A Clockwork Orange - no opinion, having never read that book either. I did try reading it once in high school, but found the slang inpenetrable and gave up.
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would have stirred some debate with his fans. Maybe this will work:
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
It's funny, I've met people who have very vociferously argued the opposite. I never read the book and haven't seen the movie in over a decade, so I can't participate in the argument, but it always struck me as an argument someone makes simply because of an anti Stephen King agenda.
Big fan of The Shining (movie), but I will say that I found the book a bit better, especially as it goes a deeper into the path to madness of Jack. With that being said, the performances of Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall were incredible.
And yes, Shawshank Redemption (movie) was better than the novella.
Speaking of Kubrick...Full Metal Jacket sucked donkey balls. Come at me, bro!
I'm kidding of course
"Eddie Murphy and Robert DeNiro.. you can't go wrong"
wrong
This thread is cracking me up and this is my favorite post. Honorable mention to the Forrest Gump haters
Only on BBI would there be so much collective agreement that movies that are collectively praised by the masses and critics are steaming piles of shit
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would have stirred some debate with his fans. Maybe this will work:
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
It's funny, I've met people who have very vociferously argued the opposite. I never read the book and haven't seen the movie in over a decade, so I can't participate in the argument, but it always struck me as an argument someone makes simply because of an anti Stephen King agenda.
That's it in some cases, some people just don't respect King as a writer. I think it's plain snobbery in many instances. I'm not gonna rattle off a list of books but suffice to say I'm fairly well read. I appreciate and in many cases love classic literature. Same with fantasy (D&D nerd thru and thru. Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Strahd, Drizzt Do'urden...go ahead, have at it), modern comedy, biographies and memoirs, whatever. And King is one of my favorite writers.
As for The Shining, I really don't understand how someone who has read the book and seen the movie could prefer the latter. Aside from changing the ending (drastically, and in one aspect considered by some to be Kubrick giving King the figurative middle finger as King made his displeasure known the more Kubrick deviated) he made the characters little more than props. Hey look, it's Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson. Shelley Duvall could have been replaced by an ironing board.
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In comment 11869627 j_rud said:
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Speaking of Kubrick...Full Metal Jacket sucked donkey balls. Come at me, bro!
I'm kidding of course
+1
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
Don't you talk about Kubrick like that! He is awesome!
lol
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In comment 11869627 j_rud said:
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would have stirred some debate with his fans. Maybe this will work:
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
It's funny, I've met people who have very vociferously argued the opposite. I never read the book and haven't seen the movie in over a decade, so I can't participate in the argument, but it always struck me as an argument someone makes simply because of an anti Stephen King agenda.
That's it in some cases, some people just don't respect King as a writer. I think it's plain snobbery in many instances. I'm not gonna rattle off a list of books but suffice to say I'm fairly well read. I appreciate and in many cases love classic literature. Same with fantasy (D&D nerd thru and thru. Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Strahd, Drizzt Do'urden...go ahead, have at it), modern comedy, biographies and memoirs, whatever. And King is one of my favorite writers.
As for The Shining, I really don't understand how someone who has read the book and seen the movie could prefer the latter. Aside from changing the ending (drastically, and in one aspect considered by some to be Kubrick giving King the figurative middle finger as King made his displeasure known the more Kubrick deviated) he made the characters little more than props. Hey look, it's Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson. Shelley Duvall could have been replaced by an ironing board.
That's why King remade it in a made-for-TV movie that was much closer to his vision (and predictably nobody watched it). He had a topiary and everything. But that's part of the problem when you hand a book off to a guy who is no less iconic than the author; he is going to have his own vision. And while Kubrick's The Shining wasn't entirely faithful to the book it was a fine film in its own right.
And Next of Kin.
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In comment 11869635 santacruzom said:
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In comment 11869627 j_rud said:
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would have stirred some debate with his fans. Maybe this will work:
The man fucking ruined The Shining...
It's funny, I've met people who have very vociferously argued the opposite. I never read the book and haven't seen the movie in over a decade, so I can't participate in the argument, but it always struck me as an argument someone makes simply because of an anti Stephen King agenda.
That's it in some cases, some people just don't respect King as a writer. I think it's plain snobbery in many instances. I'm not gonna rattle off a list of books but suffice to say I'm fairly well read. I appreciate and in many cases love classic literature. Same with fantasy (D&D nerd thru and thru. Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Strahd, Drizzt Do'urden...go ahead, have at it), modern comedy, biographies and memoirs, whatever. And King is one of my favorite writers.
As for The Shining, I really don't understand how someone who has read the book and seen the movie could prefer the latter. Aside from changing the ending (drastically, and in one aspect considered by some to be Kubrick giving King the figurative middle finger as King made his displeasure known the more Kubrick deviated) he made the characters little more than props. Hey look, it's Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson. Shelley Duvall could have been replaced by an ironing board.
That's why King remade it in a made-for-TV movie that was much closer to his vision (and predictably nobody watched it). He had a topiary and everything. But that's part of the problem when you hand a book off to a guy who is no less iconic than the author; he is going to have his own vision. And while Kubrick's The Shining wasn't entirely faithful to the book it was a fine film in its own right.
The made for tv one was pretty bad too. It stuck to the book right down to the ending but the kid who played Danny was awful. Like, Anakin in Episode 1 awful.
For a long time I hated the movie, just let my bias and the differences influence me too much. I wwtched it again recently (it's been on HBO or one of them a lot recently) and decided to go in completely open-minded with no thoughts on the book. Taken as its own story I can't deny that it is a very good movie. But if a filmmaker like Kubrick stuck to the script...now that would've been a great movie.
I do remember everyone loving it. It had a lot of gimmicks going for it. The double-disk soundtrack was ubiquitous, everyone was all like, "How did they superimpose Tom Hanks onto video with JFK and make it look like he was talking to him!!?!" 60's and 70's nostalgia almost always goes down easy, etc.
Sucked? I dunno, I'd watch it again I'm sure, and I'd laugh at the funny parts, but it wouldn't hit me like it did when I was in my late teens.
I don't think it's a stretch to say that it was hugely popular largely as a nostalgia vehicle for Baby Boomers who still dominated the viewing public in 1994. At the time the Boomer generation was in the 30-50 age group, and the movie tried to shoehorn in as much cultural detritus from their era as possible.
The film The Shining was great but the book was even better. Ditto for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Thought Clockwork Orange was better than the book, which also was great. Never read Shawshank. Speaking of crappy films, The Stand was an excellent book but the TV film sucked royally.