There’s a bunch of films on that AFI list that I have no interest in seeing. The top one is Gone With the Wind. Too long and seems overly melodramatic.
And I will probably be slapped on some Homeland Security list of Un-Americans, but I’ve never seen It’s a Wonderful Life in its entirety. I know the whole plot of the film, but never had much interest in sitting down to watch the whole thing.
It seems funny to not want to see Birth of a Nation because it is racist, and then see a list of the top 100 films of the 20th century that includes Gone With the Wind.
In some ways, GWTW is worse. At least as racist as BoaN, but more accessible, since it is not a silent film.
Back to the OP - I have never seen Forrest Gump or Schindler’s List, and don’t really want to. But I am not sure why.
Regards,
Shodan
I have a (not very rigidly observed) policy about going to movies where the movie is based on a book and most of the movie critics say, “the book is better.” In that case, I figure I should read the book and skip the pale imitation. This policy was inspired by The Remains of the Day: I had read the book and couldn’t really see how it would make a good movie. So I decided to skip the Anthony Hopkins/Emma Thompson vehicle, and haven’t had any cause to regret it. (More recently this policy got me out of having to see Possession.)
I’ve never seen Black Hawk Down, partly because I figured it would really make more sense to read the book (see above) and partly because of my abiding hatred of schlockmeister producer Jerry Bruckheimer. But I’ve already fallen off the Bruckheimer wagon by seeing Pirates of the Carribean, so I guess I might as well go rent it now…
Oh. My. Gggrgglkghlkk–
FYI, Schindler’s List is NOT a good source for history education. In fact, it’s abomination in that regard. So see it for entertainment (unless you think that it’s also an abomination to use the death camps as light entertainment), but look elsewhere for history.
I know that Schindler actually did a lot of what he did for financial gain. When I say history, I could care less about the story of Schinder, but I meant it in the terms of Nazi takeover, camp conditions, and depictions of the Jewish people. Speilberg’s mom was in a camp, and that film was one of his lifelong endeavors to make, so I respect the movie in that vein.
You know, for a film about a blind guy, the sound quality of Scent is pretty bad. There is a lot of clipping and distortion whenever Pacino raises his voice.
Personally, I have no interest in seeing things like Finding Nemo, Toy Story, or anything else pumped out by the Disney powerhouse.
If it’s any consolation, you’re not the only one. 
That’s exactly where its inaccuracies are most heinous. Please look further afield for historical information about the treatment of the Jews, the camps, etc. For a better idea of what really went on, see *Shoah * or The Sorrow and the Pity, for a start. (If you’re willing to sit through *Birth * just out of historical curiosity, these other movies are far more valuable as historical documents than *Schindler * or Birth.)
FWIW, I’m a pretty hardcore Disneyhater myself, and I like the Pixar movies. They tend to be a lot more irreverent, a bit darker, not as saccharine, as your usual Disney fare. I’m pretty happy that Pixar left Disney; maybe they’ll get even better. So though I can’t recommond The Emperor’s Grgglghlgrgkh, or PocaHORKK, or The Little Squirmaid, I do recommend the Pixar pics: Toy Stories, Bug, Monsters, and Nemo.
I’d recommend reading ‘The Protocols…’, because it will give you an insight into the origins of a huge number of crackpot conspiracy theories…
I thought that too, but I loved it. In a weird way, I think it’s underrated. There’s a level of depth there it’s not often given credit for.
When I read the thread title the first movie I thought of was Mystic River. I don’t mind a depressing movie, but it just looks a bit too bleak and repulsive for my tastes.
For me it’s sports movies. I’m just not interested. So, even though I smiled a few times during Bull Durham, I’m probably never going to see Raging Bull, Field of Dreams, Hoop Dreams or The Natural.
Actually the best reason I’ve seen for owning and reading ‘The Protocols…’ comes from my father’s Treasury of Jewish Folklore: A Polish Jew, a poor man, who’s donkey just died, putting an end to his carting business, is seen having sold his cart to buy a copy of ‘The Protocols…’
“Zev, why are you reading that trash?”
“I like reading how powerful I am.”
I’ve heard a nearly identical story - except it was a Polish Gentile reading a Nazi hate rag. Looks like the anti-Semites are co-opting.
Now, now. Not ALL Poles are/were anti-Semites. 
And even some who were still protected Jews from the Nazis. Of course collaboration was fairly common, but you can never tell…
Wow. . .after looking at AFI’s list, I realized there are a LOT of acclaimed movies I’ve never seen nor have any inclination to see. Among them: Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz (no, I’ve never seen it), and Ben-Hur. I notice they’re all old films…maybe I’m subconsciously biased against aged movies.
E.T. I’m just not interested in finding out whether I’d like it or not. It was aimed squarely at my age group when it was released and I wasn’t interested then either.
I have no interest whatsoever in ever seeing Titanic. Probably not critically acclaimed but hey.
I never said they were. The point is that the story is about how stupid and bigoted the readers of such things are - so when you’ve got Joshua Q. Publicstein doing the reading, it comes across as anti-Semitic. That’s why I said it looked like the anti-Semites had co-opted the story; it makes your Treasury of Jewish Folklore sound like a poisonous tome that also contains “The Tale of the Big-Nosed Usuring Parasite” and “How The Kikes Killed Christ”.
Anyway, we’re drifting right off topic now. Fancy a bagel?
Birth is actually the movie I’d most like to see right now. I’ve just finished reading John Ronson’s Them, which mentions it quite a few times in the context of Hollywood Jewry. Does anyone know where a copy of said movie, and/or a full-length (I’ve only read synopses) copy of The Protocols might be available?
I have an innate fascination with racists and racist literature and so on, to the point that I attended a National Front meeting in Britain, and a Klan rally in the middle of the Ocala National Forest. Keep in mind I’m half Indian, half white, and I look all Indian.
To those who refuse to see Forrest Gump, I say I did too, and then one day it was on HBO and I was too sick to get up and change the channel… I wondered what else I’d been missing, because it’s a really good film.
Nine-odd Oscars means the critics did some acclaiming, I think. That said, I sat through the first five minutes and couldn’t stand it anymore.