# Great Films You Never Intend To See **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2007, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885 "2007-09-03T08:51:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/21 "2007-09-03T20:21:55Z")
[QUOTE=askeptic] Mel Gibson’s Christ movie. Whenever anyone asks if I have seen it I tell them I read the book so I know how it ends. [/QUOTE] That’s first on my list, too, followed by **Raging Bull**. I don’t do boxing movies. ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/22 "2007-09-03T20:30:17Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] Seconded on _Schindler’s List._ Also include every disturbing horror movie that has been praised-- _Seven_? I’m sure it’s a masterpiece. _Silence of the Lambs_? Likewise. I’ve got a vivid enough imagination as it is, thanks. [/QUOTE] I saw “Seven” in the theater. Imho, my strong opinion, it was as far from a masterpiece as you can get. I don’t know what everyone sees in that picture. It’s a vulgar display of film making; over the top in every bad way a film can be. And, btw, I thought “Silence of the Lambs” was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/23 "2007-09-03T20:36:01Z")
[QUOTE=kevja] I saw “Seven” in the theater. Imho, my strong opinion, it was as far from a masterpiece as you can get. I don’t know what everyone sees in that picture. It’s a vulgar display of film making; over the top in every bad way a film can be. And, btw, I thought “Silence of the Lambs” was excellent. [/QUOTE] Actually, I felt like that about “Seven” as well. At the end, everyone I knew was like, “OMGthatwasamazing!!” while my reaction was, “Sooooo… what?”, I thought it was gratuitous, pointless crap. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/24 "2007-09-03T20:39:25Z")
The Maltese Falcon - it was cited here, months back, as a movie that one HAS to watch to be considered at all culturally literate. I have zero interest in noir/hard-boiled detective/etc stuff, unless it’s being combined with a genre I do - comedy, SF, superhero. Especially not one that’s been referenced, parodied, and ripped off as much as MF. Any of the Universal monster movies I haven’t seen yet - I love horror and monster movies, but I’ve seen 3 Universal movies - Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Mummy. The only one of them I liked at all was the Mummy. I liked that one a lot, to be sure, but the record so far doesn’t make me particularly inclined to think any of the others will be any less plodding and boring than D and F. (I didn’t like the novel of Frankenstein, either, actually, although I did enjoy Dracula.) ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/25 "2007-09-03T20:51:09Z")
[QUOTE=Shamozzle] I’ve never seen “Schindler’s List” either. The documentaries on PBS, etc, with the piles of bodies, and a visit to Dachau, have been enough, TYVM. [/QUOTE] I understand not wanting to see it, it is a horribly depressing movie. Until you think about how Oskar Schindler saved over 1,000 people, and those survivors and their descendents now number around 15,000 people that wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t intervened. It’s a little easier to see when you think about that. But still pretty hard to watch. As for me, I doubt I’ll ever see **The Godfather** , I’m not into mob movies. And **Citizen Kane** , I already know about Rosebud but I don’t quite understand what that has to do with anything… ---
**Author:** ![Obscure\_Reference\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Obscure\_Reference\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obscure_Reference_3)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/26 "2007-09-03T21:49:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Shamozzle > > > [@](#): > > > > Quote: > > Originally Posted by Loach > > _Neither of those is close to being a horror movie._ > > _No, but they are “heads in jars/rape with blades/skin as fashion” movies. So, call it what you will._ [Simpsons] If you don’t watch the violence, how will you become desensitized to it? [/Simpsons] > [@](#): > > Originally posted by RedRosesForMe > _As for me, I doubt I’ll ever see The Godfather, I’m not into mob movies._ I’m a frustrated movie-addict and normally I’ll watch anything once. A movie-addict whose choices are severely restricted atm due to very young children. Lack of time and opportunity, and impressionable young minds mean I don’t think I can handle any more Disney animation for a while… I respect that there are some things that people just don’t wanna watch. I disagree with your reasoning on this one, though. “The Godfather” is a mob movie in the same way “Watchmen” is a comic book or “Hamlet” is a story about a whiny brat. True, but very, very misleading. “The Godfather” is about loyalty and evil and love and family and friendship and grief I suggest people watch it if for no other reason than there are a billion jokes that you’ll get now that you never got before. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/27 "2007-09-03T21:58:42Z")
[QUOTE=Obscure Reference #3] [Simpsons]“The Godfather” is about loyalty and evil and love and family and friendship and grief I suggest people watch it if for no other reason than there are a billion jokes that you’ll get now that you never got before. [/QUOTE] It’s true. There are so many more “Simpson” episodes that I can laugh about now that I’ve seen it–well, one at least. Still need to see two and three. That was also the way I felt about “The Sopranos” before I broke down and became a fan. I don’t have any desire to see “Titanic,” though… ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/28 "2007-09-03T22:03:38Z")
**Citizen Kane** - I started a thread here a few months ago about what was so great about it and whether I should watch it. I listened to the first part of it at work on a listentoamovie site at work and couldn’t take it. My reasoning is astoundingly stupid. They kept saying the word Xanadu over and over and I couldn’t stand the sound of the word. The most favorable association I was making was something to do with Scientology. I can’t ever listen to the word Xanadu again plus I don’t care anything about media moguls. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/29 "2007-09-03T22:52:42Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] Seconded on _Schindler’s List._ Also include every disturbing horror movie that has been praised-- _Seven_? I’m sure it’s a masterpiece. _Silence of the Lambs_? Likewise. I’ve got a vivid enough imagination as it is, thanks. [/QUOTE] Olives, I’ve seen Seven. Yes, it’s a well-constructed, well-made movie. And yes, you are absolutely right in skipping it. It’s not good mind food. ---
**Author:** ![back\_before\_irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@back\_before\_irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/back_before_irony)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/30 "2007-09-03T22:58:11Z")
Won’t ever watch any with horror scenes, like the Steven King ones. Or Cuckoo’s Nest. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/31 "2007-09-03T23:05:50Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] **Citizen Kane** - I started a thread here a few months ago about what was so great about it and whether I should watch it. I listened to the first part of it at work on a listentoamovie site at work and couldn’t take it. My reasoning is astoundingly stupid. They kept saying the word Xanadu over and over and I couldn’t stand the sound of the word. The most favorable association I was making was something to do with Scientology. I can’t ever listen to the word Xanadu again plus I don’t care anything about media moguls. [/QUOTE] _starts to recite “Kublai Khan”_ ---
**Author:** ![H3Knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@H3Knuckles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H3Knuckles)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/32 "2007-09-04T00:36:58Z")
I’d just like to pitch in here and say that I agree with **Marlitharn** ’s sentiments about Hollywood’s treatment of movies like _Titanic_ and _Pearl Harbor_, I have to say that the former was a pretty awesome movie to see in the theaters for the sheer spectacle of the film. Not just the crash, but the overall grandiose recreation of the ship was pretty great to see up on the big screen, but I can totally agree that take away that experience, and there isn’t much left to recommend the film (aside from a naked Kate Winslett, yowza! 😃 ). As for me, basically any drunken-frat-f@$# movies, like _Animal House_, or a certain kind of Highschool movie like _Fast Times at Ridgemont High_\*. _Porky’s_ either. Or the more modern take on this like _Old School_. Maybe it’s just me but these movies just don’t interest me. Additionally, many of the 80’s comedy movies like _Meatballs_, _Caddyshack_, etc. I love movies like the _National Lampoon’s \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Vacation_ series, or _Three Amigos_\*\*, or even _Spies Like Us_, but it’s always been my impression that that era of films seemed to fall into one of two subtly different styles, and I get really particular about it. This may very well just be my own personal hang-up though. Totally irrational, I guess, but while I loved _Shrek_, I havew absolutely no interest in ever seeing any of the sequels. I can’t really say why. I will never, ever watch movies like _Saw_ or any other gratuitosely gruesome flicks. I don’t really even like movies like _House of a Thousand Corpses_. Lastly, the bulk of the “Frat Pack” comedies made today (movies with Ben Stiller, the Wilson brothers, Will Ferrell, etc). I actually like quite a few works from each of those actors, but the glut of movies they’ve been in lately mostly look like pure garbage, IMHO. …Wow, I kind of sound like a snob, don’t I? :eek: Oh well, back to reading anime fanfiction (a truly tasteful medium 😛 ). \*In retrospect I realize Fast Times doesn’t really fit in with that group, but it’s another flick that the more I hear about it, the less I want to see it. \*\*Not to be confused with the (also excellent) _Three Caballeros_ Disney cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/33 "2007-09-04T00:46:17Z")
I’m not interested in seeing **Lawrence of Arabia**. **ambushed** : I hated GWTW and you’re not missing a thing. So much melodrama, so many people that I wished would die, die, die. **Dmark** : If you don’t mind sitting through the occasional boxing bout, or perhaps fast forwarding it, you might try **Cinderella Man**. It will not leave you feeling like crap the way MDB would. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/34 "2007-09-04T01:06:49Z")
[QUOTE=Tapiotar] Olives, I’ve seen Seven. Yes, it’s a well-constructed, well-made movie. And yes, you are absolutely right in skipping it. It’s not good mind food. [/QUOTE] My Aunt has a way of describing these kinds of movies in ways that make me never want to see them. She has described ‘‘Seven’’ as a film that struck her with shock and bewilderment that people actually think about those things and apparently think they’d make good movie plots. She’s gone through every morbid painstaking detail of _Saw_ and described the sickening sound of someone’s skull getting crushed in _Casino._ Considering the descriptions themselves made me nearly throw up, I don’t figure I ought to push my luck. (My ‘‘physical/psychological torture’’ threshold is incredibly low. I had to briefly leave the theater for both _The Cell_ and _Pan’s Labyrinth_, and I walked out in _Beyond Borders_ though I keep trying, repeatedly, to get all of the way through it.) So while we’re at it, let me add the no doubt FABULOUS film, _Reservoir Dogs,_ which is one of the only ones I really have any true desire to see, though sadly I never will. I will never see lots of excellent movies, for the simple reason that they will cause me to lose sleep every night for the rest of my life. > [@](#): > > [Simpsons] If you don’t watch the violence, how will you become desensitized to it? [/Simpsons] Exactly. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/35 "2007-09-04T01:15:18Z")
Citizen Kane Birth of a Nation (although I have seen a small section of this) The Passion of The Christ Gone with the wind Brokeback Mountain\* \*This is the only one I’m actively avoiding though. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/36 "2007-09-04T01:46:49Z")
[QUOTE=Omega Glory] \*This is the only one I’m actively avoiding though. [/QUOTE] Just to clarify-it’s not because of the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/37 "2007-09-04T01:55:06Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] That goes for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, too. [/QUOTE] This is the movie that immediately popped into my mind when I read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/38 "2007-09-04T02:10:49Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] **The Hours** - great cast, great reviews, but watching a film about three suicidal lesbians? Uh, no. [/QUOTE] I only remember two suicidal lesbians (and a suicidal gay man). I’m avoiding \*\*Titanic \*\*just because I don’t want to hear that song again. But Kate Winslet is hot, so I may eventually give in. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/39 "2007-09-04T02:25:11Z")
[QUOTE=Idle Thoughts] I may get stoned here but… I have never seen, and have no desire to see: **Citizen Cane _Casablanca_?!? Chicago Gone With the Wind Godfather one, two, three** Really, any movie made before 1975 (with some exceptions, maybe about fifty). And upon reading the replies so far in this thread, I see I’ve only seen TWO of the movies mentioned so far. **Titanic** and the movies in the **PotC** series. Other than those two, never seen any of the rest either and have no desire to. [/QUOTE] IMO, every American should see Casablanca. Them’s my sentiments. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intend-to-see/417885/40 "2007-09-04T02:29:06Z")
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