If the SDMB hates a movie, I love it

Cafe Society
1

I’ve been reading a lot of movie related threads lately and a lot of Dopers seem to really be ragging on some of my favorite movies. A lot. And it’s really come to my attention that I might have the anti-Dope taste in movies.

One of my all-time favorites is Independence Day. I think it’s one of the greatest blockbusters ever. No fooling.

I am also quite fond of Starship Troopers, The Day After Tomorrow and Alien Versus Predator.

And I enjoyed Signs, but it’s nowhere as good as the four I just listed. If anyone’s interested, I can keep going.

So does anyone else feel like their taste in movies runs counter to the rest of the board?

2

Where do you stand on:

-The Core
-The Matrix Trilogy

?

3

I haven’t seen The Core yet, but the complete hate it earns around these parts has intrigued me.

As for The Matrix trilogy…

The first was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever exited a theater so jazzed about a movie that I really just saw on a whim. The trailer was pretty cool and one of my friends really wanted to see it, so we went. I was (and still am) enthralled.

But I was sorely disappointed in both Reloaded and Revolutions. They had a few nifty fights. But the story was weak and I think the whole thing died when The Architect went on for what felt like forever at the end of 2. The third was just the death spasms of a once in a lifetime original.

4

I get the fact that there is often a snob factor when films are mentioned on the SDMB, but for the most part, I find comments here pretty fair.

Often I will say a film is a “popcorn film” and worth watching, even though it is hardly Oscar worthy. Iron Man was damned good - as a popcorn film - better than the average super-hero flick, but not exactly Gone With The Wind.

Same with television shows - I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, Friends, Sex And The City are pretty much ragged on all the time.

I think when people see a film title (or in my example, television title) they are often inclined to join in the thread to say how much they hate it.

Nothing wrong with that - each to their own - but don’t take it as a consensus.

5

OK, how about the Star Wars prequels? Nothing gets the SDMB blood boiling more than a mention of those three movies.

For me, I liked them. Not perfect, but not a waste of a couple hours either.

6

Does the OP love Showgirls?

7

I think there is a wide variety of opinion here & the film discussions are interesting.
To wit - I’ve read many posts both pro & con the Star Wars prequels; both for & against the LOTR movies. Some things seem to generate more heated posts (Showgirls) but I find that to be part of the fun. Some Dopers I tend to agree with, others not, obviously. Some posts can turn me off to a movie completely (the more I read about “There will be Blood” the more I was sure I didn’t want to see it.)

Some posters do come on strong in their opinions, but I find it’s still an interesting discussion. Compare say to the “writers” on the IMDB for ex. (!)

8

Episode I was good, but clearly not up to snuff when compared to the original trilogy.

Episodes II and III were both awesome. Not perfect, but still really freakin’ awesome.

I’ve never actually watched Showgirls without employing liberal use of the Fast Forward button.

9

Basically it sounds like you want to be entertained and don’t get hung up on geeky details, which - for better and worse - is not the case for many people here. I didn’t like Independence Day, but it’s not THAT bad, and as a non-computer person I don’t care about the implausibility of the computer virus thing, for example.

10

Heh, yes. It’s amazing how many movies are ‘the worst movie ever made’. It’s even more amazing how some posters there seem to consider a whole string of movies each to be the ‘worst movie ever made’ - all at the same time.

11

I too loved Starship Troopers. Never read the book, don’t care.

Also, I loved all of the Star Wars prequels. Sure there were things I didn’t like, but I don’t see the need for the pile on hatred. I thought the Revenge of the Sith was wonderful. It was especially good because my parents told me how Vader came to be 20 some years ago and they were right.

Also Lord of the Rings movies were nearly as good as they could be, although they could’ve made six movies with all of that material.

On the other hand.

The Matrix was not a trilogy, there was only one movie and that’s where the story ends. Anyone who suggests there were other movies is a liar. The Core, Independents Day, and The Day After Tomorrow were awful. I generally like cheesy bad Sci Fi, but they weren’t even up to that level. A lot of people don’t realize this but Armageddon was a comedy.

12

They probably got it from one of the Star Wars books, which would explain it. :wink:

13

First the ones you mentioned Justin_Bailey.

Independence Day. I really enjoyed it, it was funny exciting and paid homage to many other classic Sci-Fi movies.

Starship Troopers: I love the book, Heinlein is my second favorite author. The movie is little like the book and yet I enjoyed it despite all the bad acting. It was a campy piece of fun.

The Day After Tomorrow, Signs and Alien Versus Predator: I did not see these.

I noticed most SDMB posters liked 300, I thought it was putrid crap and was surprised by how many liked it.

**Matrix ** was mentioned, crap, crap that my wife and I were laughing at it was so bad, but not in a fun campy way.

Star Wars, I am not even a fan of the original three but I did enjoy Empire Strikes Back. The newer three were putrid and Natalie Portman is overrated as both an actress and as a beauty. She is pretty, but many of the fan-boys worship her as a goddess. I don’t really get it. I think Carrie Fisher was more attractive in her day, especially in Blues Brothers.

**Lord of the Rings ** movies are very odd for me; I recognize they are great movies, had some good acting in them and are the best fantasy films ever made. On the other side, I am such a complete Tolkien Geek that nearly every change drove be batshit insane.

Armageddon, I enjoyed it despite some bad acting, a bad plot and much silliness. It also had Steve Buscemi who just seems to be good in everything he does.

Speaking of which, he made Con Air enjoyable to watch.

Showgirls was not that bad, a silly dumb movie, but Gina looked great at least.

I Love Lucy: I still love it and I appreciate it was the one that inspired the rest. Way better than the Father Knows Best clones of the day.

** Seinfeld** Your nuts, the SDMB loves this show, I liked it for about 4-5 seasons, but it wore out for me. It just won the sitcom competition in the Game Room.

Friends Guilty as charged, this shows stinks. I never found it funny or cute or watchable.

Sex And The City Not a show I really liked, but my wife loved it.

Jim

14

Well, I’m kinda easy when it comes to SF, so I often disagree with the SDMB fanboy groupthink (don’t tell me there isn’t one, it’s frickin’ obvious there is). I liked the first three Star Wars movies. A LOT. I liked all three of the Matrix movies, though II and III were not nearly as good as I. I liked Independence Day and Alien vs. Predator. Hell, I like a lot of the SciFi Channel’s frickin’ Saturday Night original movies (though I often like them strictly as B movie, I have no illusions that they’re anything but ripe cheese … but I like ripe cheese!)

15

I’m right with you on Indepedence Day. I love it, I think it’s one of my top 5 greatest movies ever. Of course, I’m also a big fan of the 90s action flicks such as The Rock, Air Force One, Speed, and lesser ones like Face/Off and Hard Rain. I’ve noticed that I have a wide range of liking movies. I tend to be easily entertained (which I don’t think is a bad thing at all) and only really, REALLY crappy movies turn me off.

Speaking of really really crappy movies…from a guy who likes most all movies, don’t bother with this one. My friend spent 30 minutes giving me an entertaining summary of the movie one day during class. That summary was a better investment of my time than the actual hour-and-a-half movie, which I only watched because I was on a plane to England and there wasn’t anything else to do.

16

I love, seriously love - as in, think it’s one of the top 25, maybe top 10, movies of all time - A.I. I really liked The Village. Those two together are enough to keep me out of the SDMB Movie Clubhouse.

17

For the ones you mentioned, I absolutely love Starship Troopers. I like it better than the book, and I’m a Heinlein fan. Independence Day - I liked when it came out, but I was only maybe 15 or 16. I kinda doubt I would like it today. AvP I thought was ok. Hated Signs and The Day After Tomorrow.

As for me, the movie I adore - really hold near and dear to my heart - that is most maligned here, is Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I honestly grew up thinking it was the most beloved Indy movie until I mentioned it here once and got barbecued into next week.

All that said, I’ve gained enough life experience by now to understand that the consensus at the SDMB is generally not the consensus in real life, so don’t feel bad about it, Justin_Bailey.

18

I’ll join you. I don’t think it’s better than Raiders but it’s twice the movie that Last Crusade is.

19

How do you feel about later seasons of the Simpsons?

20

I used to (and often still do) feel the same way about Roger Ebert’s reviews: if he loved a movie, I pretty much knew that I would hate it. It didn’t work the other way 'round, though, he could hate a movie and I could hate it.