The title says most of the question but lots of movie snobs turn up their noses at movies that are extremely popular yet they feel the need to criticize just because of their popularity. Which of those do you still really like even though you don’t like to admit it?
For me, I can’t get enough of the movie Titanic even though I am about the opposite of a teenage girl. I am going to watch it for about the 125th time as soon as I submit this thread as a matter of fact. The other one is Forrest Gump. I had a very large Irish gay male boss once that hated the movie because he said “it gives stupid people hope”. He gave movie reviews and radio voice-overs in New Orleans so I had to respect his opinion a little but I still like the storyline and I still find the movie inspiring.
Which very popular movies do you really like despite being a snob about such things?
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. A lot of people seem to dislike it, and it has a fairly poor rating on imdb. I love it, and I gave it a 10 on there.
Also, I liked the first Steve Martin Pink Panther movie really well. The second one was awful though.
I don’t mind admitting that I love both Forrest Gump and Dances With Wolves, even though they are two of the biggest movies that internet movie snobs love to hate.
When The Dark Knight was released there was a lot of hate going on for Tim Burton’s Batman and Nicholson’s Joker. This came completely out of left field. Great movie, great Joker. Just not as “deep” as the hipsters THINK *Dark Knight *is.
When I saw the thread title, I immediately thought Titanic. It is very fashionable to dislike it these days, but I can’t imagine why. It totally defines drama, humor, directing, story, characters, special effects, and epic. One of the greats…TRM
Actually I think now that Gen X and early Gen Y-ers are grown up, his movies have sort of a retro-chic cache.
*Crash *gets a lot of hate on these boards. But I actually liked it.
Was it worthy of the Best Picture Oscar? That’s arguable. Was it a little heavy-handed at times? Sure. But contrary to what a lot of people seem to believe, it didn’t present race as a black and white issue and I thought it was pretty honest in how it portrayed people’s belief systems.
Yeah, comparing Jack Nicholson’s and Heath Ledger’s performances is like comparing apples and oranges. They’re two completely different characters for two completely different movies. Nicholson’s Joker, I thought, worked very well for what Tim Burton was going for with his film. And Ledger’s Joker likewise was a perfect fit for the mood Nolan was trying to create.
In answer to the OP, no. If I like a film, I say I like it (e.g., Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, Crash, Burton’s Batman) despite what anyone else thinks.
Same if I dislike a film (e.g, Alien, Gattaca)
Re Batman and Crash: the criticism of them is generally based on the fact that there is another good film they’re compared to, with the false assumption that they can’t both be good films. Both Batman and The Dark Knight are excellent film, as are Crash and Brokeback Mountain, but many people can’t hold that concept in their heads.
Well damn, when I read the thread’s title I thought, “That’s about as ‘meta’ as a thread can get.”
Movie Snobs: What Popular Movies Are Fashionable to Dislike But You Still Do?
In other words: What movies do I, as a discriminating movie viewer (“snob”), realize it’s fashionable to dislike, but dislike anyway even though it makes me appear to just be following fashion?
Unfortunately it’s just another thread about liking movies that got bad/average reviews. Not that there’s anything wrong with that Shagnasty, but you got my hopes up that I’d be reading something damn strange.
Thin Red Line, really? Dunno if that really counts towards the OP, considering it’s supposed to be about films you feel guilty about enjoying as a film snob, and it seems to me that Terrence Malick sits in the Movie Snob Pantheon of Esteemed Directors.
In fact, I can’t think of anyone I’ve met who says they love one or more Malick films who hasn’t also been a self-described film snob… the average movie-goer doesn’t have much patience for long, lingering takes with minimal dialogue.
Mendes and Minghella don’t quite have the same cachet with the film snob crowd, but their overall body of work is respectable enough to keep your Official Film Snob status safe and sound.
As to the OP, the movie most likely to get my Film Snob card revoked is A Knight’s Tale. Yes, it’s a silly romantic comedy and the anachronistic music choices are more cheesy than witty (Moulin Rouge did it far better, IMO)… but it’s also one heck of a fun romp with some really cool costuming and snappy dialogue. Plus Paul Bettany does a hell of a job as Chaucer.
A lot of people hate romantic comedies and have a special hate for ones containing Hugh Grant.
Actually his are the only ones I like. I’ve seen Notting Hill, About A boy, Love Actually dozens of times.
Another vote for Titanic. I’m just sort of “eh” about the tacked-on love story, but the documentary aspect – the drama of the ship sinking and the incredible hubris of the whole venture – is something I find very engaging. All the little sounds and effects of the Titanic’s own demise, as well as snippets about how the various passengers and crew responded… it makes my hair stand on end and breaks my heart. It’s shattering every time I watch it, because I can’t forget that this ship really did go down, and all those people really did die. I thought that part of the movie was very well portrayed.
One movie I happen to like that it seems no one else does is The Postman; I’m not even a big fan of it, but so many people seem to hate it that I end up getting stuck defending it. I think Kevin Costner was well cast for that role (he does well in as a quiet loner type, I think), and I personally find the whole reluctant hero story to be much more interesting than a lot of other types. I also think it’s interesting to see how ordinary people put in extreme circumstances react. Sure, it’s not a terribly deep movie, but it was still entertaining and still made me think. It’s no blockbuster, sure, but it’s also not the complete pile of crap that everyone seems to think it is.
Also, I agree with what was said about Batman and Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the Joker. It was very well done, fit the movie perfectly, the character was fresh, and he stole the movie almost as much as Ledger stole Dark Knight, except that there actually was more about Bruce Wayne in that film since it was the first one, while Dark Knight could get away with what had been established in Batman Begins.
I think most people who have actually seen The Postman like it.
I think it gets a bad rap since it came out a mere two years after the failed Waterworld. I don’t think many people gave it a chance and thought “Oh no, Costner is doing another post-apocalyptic film? Didn’t he learn from Waterworld?”
and they never even bothered watching it dismissing it on it’s premise alone.