This is me but with Shawshank Redemption. I get what it was trying to go for but I just didn’t vibe with it. I can appreciate the fact that so many people saw something in it that I didn’t. To me it was decent but by no means one of the best films ever
When you find mediocrity unacceptable, popular shit doesn’t usually suit your palate. This isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.
I find it helps to avoid the hype trains surrounding new media releases, as well as anything after the teaser trailer.
Getting one’s expectations up usually results in the said media failing to live up.
Best to go in blind and make your own mind up afterwards!
I reckon I could think of something worse.
I have never tried so hard to like an artist as Frank Ocean. He isnt for me, other than his Earl festures and when Three Stacks did a quick track on Blonde.
Its no disrespect, its me thats the problem
I try to avoid a lot of discourse around movies/books I haven’t seen yet as the expectation can ruin it for me. That said, Infinity War and Ready Player One (the book) still get me angry thinking back on them and the hype didn’t help. (Public opinion seems to have flipped largely on the latter, but there was a point when it was held up)
for me it’s more anger, like “why the fuck did i even waste my time on this and what’s wrong with all these people”
i wish breaking bad was a movie because at least the only time I wasted would’ve been around 2 hours. bring your fucking downvotes i don’t care if you don’t mind pointless plot points that keep going nowhere, and repeatedly underlined things are either dropped unceremoniously, or meet very unsatisfying and unbelievable ends. breaking bad was badly written and entirely carried by its phenomenal actors.
if i lived life thinking there was something wrong with me just because i don’t like something it seems like everyone else likes, then that would be one miserable existence–no thanks. anyway, for me it was the big lebowski–probably the most boring pointless movie i ever sat through
Well that just like, your opinion man…
Shut the fuck up Donny
The one saving grace of lebowski is that when you bring up not liking it the people who do like it are too busy quoting it to argue with you.
Everything’s a fucking travesty with you, man! And what was all that shit about Vietnam? What the fuck has anything got to do with Vietnam? What the fuck are you talking about!?
Agreed on both philosophical ground and impression of Lebowski!
Thank you. Plus his “best friend” (John Goodman) was a complete dick that did nothing of benefit for him the entire movie.
Haven’t watched it in years though, so I was planning to re-watch and see if my opinion changes.
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Any of those boring-ass superhero movies. What is so appealing about hour-long GCI fight scenes and no plot?
I think they just forgot the lessons from the earlier movies. They had action but there was a lot of build up so it meant something.
Now you’re just straight into a boring fight scene with no stakes. And somehow the bigger the stakes the less there are because you know they can’t fail.
And now even the rare consequences can be undone through time travel and multiverse bullshit.
That’s the whole thing with Infinity War, they failed hard and that made it a wild story.
I think they fucked up having Endgame the year after infinity War. Should have left it five years or so, and had things happening in between. I feel we missed out on a gritty R-rated, Punisher style, Hawkeye there. It should have had consequences that were left to feel for a bit, rather than instantly going “magic bullshit go” and reversing it all.
But they fucked that by having Spidey get dusted, so they had to bring it back quick otherwise how would they explain how Tom Holland had gone from looking about 14 to being a man.
I do agree we missed a bit of ronin Hawkeye action, and such. They don’t really have an interest in comitting to going that dark.
The colors! it’s so many. Plus there is a plot it’s just not very deep like in a comic book. The whole source material like 20 pages. It’s not novels.
This is very true, but id like to point out its a us comic thing. I’d invite you to read european comics, belgian ones in specific.
The thorgal series, aria, joko tsuno, or hell even the suske & wiske reboot called amoras. They are teen/adult comics that are a lot darker and more flushed out story wise than us hero comicsI will check those out thank you. We have some more advanced ones here as well they just don’t seem to make movies about it unfortunately.
Thats sad because some real adult/darker themed comics that dont follow the superhero theme are real gems. Got some us recommendations?
Never forget the golden rule: DC;RtRR, or
Disregard capeshit; rewatch The Raid Redemption
Avatar. Technically the 3D was fun, but I can’t understand any of the rabid fandom.
i don’t think I’ve ever seen a rabbid Fandom around it.
it was just an easy approachable pretty movie for the masses. with a massive budget and a very well known director it brought people in to see the best visuals hollywood sfx had at the time. that’s basically how it was marketed, as a tech demo.
I’ve never once seen anyone fanboy about it. it sold well, but didn’t excite many.
on three other hand, avatar the last air bender has a massive and rabid fandom.
don’t think I’ve ever seen a rabbid Fandom around it.
were you around when the movie was just released?
There was an insane weird fandom around it. From people just loving it to full on navi otherkin-ing. People getting depressed and suicidal to not live in that world. And I’m not talking about a handfull of people but quite a large group.
i was around then, I’ve just never met anyone who cared about that movie.
if there were clips going around of people dressing up like that I’d chalk that up to being a marketing campaign.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rabbid Fandom around it.
Avatar is the second-highest-grossing movie of all time, folk can’t seem to get enough of the science fiction epic and are going back for repeat viewings.
it sold well, but didn’t excite many.
Which is why I list it here.
It’s the second highest grossing movie of all time, yet no one who has watched it can quote a single line from it, or recall the name of any character.
Avatar: The Way of Water is 3rd highest grossing (Ignoring inflation) so it’s not just the 3D part.
And people cosplay it frequently.
I really don’t get it.
Huh, I certainly can’t. The only name that I can recall is “unobtanium” because it’s so stupid. “Big dumb movie that has good visuals” has always been my estimation of it.
It was a pretty awesome experience to see in theaters at the time. The story was ass even then but the affects were amazing enough to carry it. My GF at the time and I went back twice to see it. Watching it on a regular screen these days it’s completely forgettable.
It’s very true that “it was just Dances With Wolves in space,” but Dances With Wolves is a good story. A good story + decent directing + pretty visuals = a movie that’s at least decent, if not mind-blowing or whatever.
Avatar 2, on the other hand, definitely suffered story-wise.
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None of yall know how to spell Pocahontas right.
“Dances With Smurfs,” as South Park put it.
Hard agree. Just generic sci-fi with obvious themes and plot.
Nobody actually liked that (Either the Kevin Costner one or the blue remake).
What movie is it for you? For me, The Princess Bride.
inconceivable!!!\
I can see not liking that movie. It’s very specific. Endearing for a shitload of people, myself included, but it’s a very particular brand of comedy.
Movie? Oh god there are so fucking many. One that comes to mind at the moment is Whiplash. Ive seen it 3 times because a dude I cared about deeply loved it. Everytime I saw it I got it less and less. I don’t see why people like it at all.
Oh man. I think Whiplash is amazing and the story absolutely sickens me at the same time. I can absolutely understand people not liking it.
I wasn’t sickened or anything. I was just bored. Just felt overly pretentious to me which, considering the Juliard or whatever school stuff, I figured was the point.
The book is fantastic
Almost done with the Cary Elwes behind the scenes book too
I second The princess bride but to add something new: (although not a movie but a serie)
The Game of Thrones
I love fantasy, I love medieval history, I love huge worlds, I love slow pace. But this one … just didn’t click, I don’t even know why. I gave up after the 4th episode
I know why - Martin can’t write complex characters and confuses shock value for motivations. They’re all caricatures, not characters. Its just a medieval soap opera.
I thought the appeal was the fact that it was a medieval soap opera
medieval soap opera
This sounds accurate when I think about it, maybe I found out why I wasn’t interested. The thing is - I don’t mind medieval soap operas (to some degree), I really liked The White Queen, The White Princess and The Spanish Princess. But those are based on real characters in actual history, I can forgive them for being boring at times since history is sometimes a bit boring. But for me the selling point and the excitement comes from the fact that this actually happened (well … sort of). With GoT it felt like I’m watching one of those medieval soap operas but without the excitement of being based on the real thing
I tried the show twice and never made it to the second episode. Everyone who knows me is blown away by the fact that “I’ve never watched GoT” because I’m such a big fantasy nerd. I’ve even tried the audiobooks but made it maybe 2 chapters in.
i was invited to a viewing party for a GoT season premier. i had never seen any of the show before and had no idea what i was in for beyond “gritty fantasy show”. they all talked it way up, told me it was “sex and violence the TV show” and how much i would love it.
it was so so so boring i thought it would never end. i’m baffled why it’s popular.
I just got annoyed that every character I liked died. Real life is depressing enough without watching fiction that also just bums you out.
See if you can find “Black Sails” It’s got all the sex and violence and intrigue GOT promised in a much more fast paced form.
I once knew someone who told me she couldn’t enjoy the movie because the ships traveled somewhere that was anachronistic to the time period.
Like, what??
Kingsman: The Secret Service. just… no.
Is there a specific reason you didn’t like it or more a general meh?
Like the overall premise of the post asks, it just didn’t click. For people who love it, I don’t think they’re wrong. I generally like the humor, and the cast is great– like legitimately great. But it might be the medieval setting that I seldom find interesting, or the magical/mystical things that I never do.
I mean the setting isn’t really the point. It’s about the characters and their journey. So it sounds like you liked the parts that most people like
Pulp fiction
What?? That movie has everything, it’s like the perfect movie. This is the only answer that has left me genuinely confused.
This whole thread is kinda wild to me, but I think this Princess Bride answer helps me distill it down to: I’m ok with you not liking movies that I love, but how can you say that you don’t understand other people liking it?
I don’t care for Star Wars or Lord of the Rings but never has it crossed my mind that this is more than just a matter of taste, that there are people whose preferences are outright wrong.
The Princess Bride is an action movie that many people don’t realise is an action movie, I love it.
Grave of the fireflies. Didn’t even shed a tear and I cry at everything. Someone psychoanalyze me.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Oh, there is my bus. Thanks to the Net I know all the characters and quotes. But I guess
Mel Brooksthat movie’s humor never really did it for me, sorry.(edit : apologies. I always thought it one one of his)
Unless I’m misinformed, I don’t believe Mel Brooks was involved in The Princess Bride.
I think you may be thinking of Robin Hood Men in Tights.
[off topic?]
I had heard about Gone with The Wind all my life and I knew it was incredibly racist. It finally came on basic cable and I decided to see what all the fuss was about.
I found myself watching and liking a movie I knew was complete and utter bullshit.
Well, as a movie, it’s a good movie. Great directing, incredible acting (for the era), with a dynamic and well paced story. It holds up in technical terms despite the shifts in style and performance that have happened over the years.
If you hum really hard during the racist parts, you could still call it one of the greats. And it isn’t like it’s “birth of a nation” bad in that regard. There’s way worse movies out there from the era, and the era before that was horrible on average.
[nsfw]
Watch an Peter O’Toole movie, ‘The Stunt Man.’ Great movie; funny, scary, exciting, romantic, plus a bunch of great plot twists.
There’s a scene where a kinda schubby screen writer talks about how he paid $1,000.00 to fly to Guatemala to have sex with a 14 year old virgin.
That line was considered only mildly off-color when the movie came out.
Holy crap. That would not go over well any more
Even wilder. Look at the Sean Connery James Bond movies. The smoking and drinking are the least offensive things. Back in the day, Bond was considered suitable to be sold as a kids’ toy.
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/price-result/lot-of-james-bond-collectibles/
Also, Sean Connery was open about about beating women. He saw nothing wrong with it if he felt it was “corrective” of behavior, like a dog.
So part of the reason for the toys is actually a bit of interesting cultural shifting. Basically back then there wasn’t really a separation between adult and kids media unless it was explicitly pornography, so a lot of things we see now as for kids or for adults still had broad appeal in mind.
This shifted through the 60s, 70s, and then solidified some time in the 80s. It’s why Star wars a New Hope has dismemberment while being rated PG, same thing with Indiana Jones.
You can also see this when watching films from the 50s and 60s as they were really designed to cover a variety of genres at once. Has a little romance sub-plot for mom, action sequences for little Tommy and some cool cars/gadgets for dad. Y’know because everything had to be stereotyped to hell and back. But it is jarring seeing how much of variety films old movies really were
While the reasoning for why that is the case is kinda meh, I wish that was done more often nowadays. Sadly it seems like the media that inherited that tendency was video games, which while I love my vidya it does make it harder to backwards push it into film.
As a side note. The MPAA ratings system came out in 1968. Any movie made before that was automatically “G” rated if it had been shown in theaters. So if you showed “Goldfinger” in a theater it would be “G.” But movies get rated differently if it’s VHS/DVD; so when the movie went on sale it was PG, then PG-13.
That’s art for ya.
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-iron-dream-norman-spinrad/7751155?ean=9781490439457&next=t
[nsfw, Nazi flag]
The book was written by a Jewish guy named Norman Spinrad. In the foreword we learn that in 1922 Adolph Hitler went to America and became a science fiction illustrator and, after his English improved, a writer. This is his final and most popular novel, a tale of a young man who was exiled from his homeland and finally returns to find it under the control of a mysterious cabal of mind readers…
I thought Black Panther was mid at best but it made me sound like a racist whenever I mentioned that.
Ironically, this movie is pretty racist. The opening scene is a cliche basketball scene, and Wakanda, despite being a futuristic society, still uses tribal law and decides its leaders by fighting half naked to the death.
I mean I’m confident they were to fight have naked due to eye candy. That 100% worked on me despite the bland writing.
Aquaman too.
Dudes are out there celebrating some aggressively average movies.
Aquaman
I agree with you in general, but I don’t think you can pin this one on the dudes… or at least not the ones below 3 on the Kinsey scale 😆
It insists upon itself.
Any of the mission impossible/fast and furious films. That shit is boring.
