# Great Films You Never IntendED To See
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intended-to-see/418467
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 8, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intended-to-see/418467 "2007-09-08T15:37:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intended-to-see/418467/61 "2007-09-22T01:57:14Z")
**Maria Full of Grace** and **The Magdalene Sisters** are both movies that I assumed would just be too depressing to watch. Both movies blew me away and made a real impact.
**Big Fish** is one that I figured would be just outlandishly bad. It’s one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen.
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### Author:  [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2007, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intended-to-see/418467/62 "2007-09-22T02:03:27Z")
Another vote for both _Casablanca_ and _Fight Club,_ as well as _L.A. Confidential_.
_L.A. Confidential_ has slipped a little in my estimation, though, since I’ve found out that Russel Crowe wasn’t acting in that movie; he was just being himself.
And Branagh’s _Henry V_ was also my intro to Shakespeare; we also did the “read in H.S. English class” thing, and nothing sucks the life out of Shakespeare like having it read aloud by a quasi-literate mouth breather:
"To…
…be…
…or…
…not…
…to…
…be…"
You get the idea.
So, as bad as Brangh’s _Henry V_ might be compared to other professional works, it made a hell of a first impression, by way of comparison to having it read aloud in class by disinterested, middle-class, midwestern, American teenagers.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2007, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intended-to-see/418467/63 "2007-09-22T04:55:05Z")
[QUOTE=ExTank]
So, as bad as Brangh’s _Henry V_ might be compared to other professional works, it made a hell of a first impression, by way of comparison to having it read aloud in class by disinterested, middle-class, midwestern, American teenagers.
[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I just need to dispell this idea that Brannagh’s _Henry V_ is considered bad compared to other Shakespeare adapations. Obviously, quality in film is subjective, but few other Shakespearean films have met with the critical and commercial success that _Henry V_ did. It’s arguably the definitive film version, and since the only other contender start Laurence fuckin’ Olivier, that’s saying quite a bit. Anyone who tells you different is probably French.
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### Author:  [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2007, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intended-to-see/418467/64 "2007-09-22T12:44:08Z")
Just trying to avoid getting entangled in a “Branagh vs. Olivier” debate with **Lust4Life** and others. 🙂
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### Author:  [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intended-to-see/418467/65 "2007-09-22T23:31:37Z")
A family member twisted my arm to see **Vanilla Sky.** I think that Tom Cruise is a loathsome creep and a shi\*\*y actor, so this film _really_ surprised me. I can only conclude it was done right by accident…
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### Author:  [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2007, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intended-to-see/418467/66 "2007-09-23T01:20:38Z")
“Full Metal Jacket”.
I went to see it with a bunch of rowdy mates, expecting to see a blood-drenched Vietnam war slaughterfest, or another “Apocalypse Now”.
Despite the fact that I hated it (or thought I hated it) when I walked out of the cinema, something about it niggled inside of me and I went back and saw it 3 or 4 more times. Not only now is it one of my very favourite films of all time, but it was my gateway to all the wonder that is Stanley Kubrick.
mm
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-films-you-never-intended-to-see/418467/67 "2007-09-23T01:45:16Z")
My accidental discovery of the sheer awesomeness that is _Moulin Rouge!_ is detailed in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251295).
Great, great movie.
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