Inspired by this thread:
Folk have expressed their opinions that The Princess Bride and Shawshank are “bad” films. Made me wonder if there is ANY movie we can all agree is entertaining and worth watching/rewatching.
I doubt there is. But I’ll offer Casablanca. Who hates that one?
I’d appreciate if folk would not shoot down any suggestion just thinking they are being humorous.
Fellowship of the Ring? Or the Lord of the Rings as a whole?
I’d also suggest that very few find Empire Strikes Back to not be a good movie.
Very few these days, but I’d bet that back in 1980 the critics that seemingly criticize sequels just because they’re sequels were probably not difficult to find.
I used to run a retrospective film festival, and by far the most popular film I ever screened was Casablanca. While my audience tended toward older folks rather than younger, I never met anyone who said they didn’t like it or that it was overrated. It’s one thing to see it on TV, and quite another to watch it on the big screen with others, which most people alive today have never done before.
Sorry, I’m going to say no to all those suggestions. I’ve never been a Tolkien fan, and saw the trilogy (and The Hobbit one, too) but didn’t care for them much.
As for The Empire Strikes Back, my first and enduring reaction was that it was just an in-between film, holding a place between the first and third episodes.
I loved Star Wars (1977). I was in line to see it at the Uptown Theater in Washington DC on opening day. I was 21 years old. I still think it’s a fun romp, and would have been perfectly happy if it had been the only Star Wars film.
I think Casablanca is great, but ISTM that we’ve had people here who didn’t get it. We’ve had people who wouldn’t watch any B&W movies!
As the old joke goes: “It’s just a bunch of quotations strung together!”
I agree - but for a different reason. I LOVED the books. Probably re-read them more than any other books. I think it is quite rare for someone to really appreciate a movie made of a book they love.
I had recently considered rewatching the Fellowship films to see if time had mellowed my distaste when they came out. But the Hobbit - no need to watch that bloated crap again.
Not sure how this fits with my stated preference:
Do you agree with that “old joke”?
Casablanca was my first thought when i saw the thread.
My mom didn’t like the Tolkien movies.
If i was going to suggest any star wars movie, it would have been the first.
It was within the last decade that my mom first saw The Empire Strikes Back, and she thought it was kind of silly. I think she couldn’t get past Grover as a wizened old sage. Then again, Mom isn’t really a movie-watcher of any sort.
Well, I’m sorry. I last saw Casablanca ten or twenty years ago, and I thought it was boring.
That’s fine, Dung. Every party needs a pooper! 
So, if we eliminate Casablanca, what are our next suggestions? (By my preferred rules for this thread, any sincere objection - as opposed to recitation of jokes, old or new - nixes a film.)
With Star Wars, I could imagine at least some folk dismissing it simply saying that they “don’t like SciFi.”
I was wondering about Wizard of Oz. Or perhaps seasonally, Miracle of 34th Street?
But even with The Wizard of Oz and Casablanca, I’ve learned that no matter how much I like a movie, there is a limit as to how often I wish to rewatch them. Eventually I seem to hit a “lifetime maximum”, at which point I have to NOT watch it again - at least for several years. My wife is more willing than I to watch some of our/her favorites with more regularity.
Given the challenges I perceive in finding TV or new movies I want to watch (food for a different thread), I’ve started seeing what our library has in terms of movies I remember having enjoyed in the past, but never rewatched. Things like the newer Oceans Eleven, Up in the Air, Catch Me if You Can. Just solid entertainment (IMO), but nothing that really wowed me and that I never rewatched - or at least not for some time. I put a bunch on hold, and will see how it goes.
How about The Sound Of Music? I watched that about 300 times when my kids were little, and it held up let well.
Solid nominee. Maybe not a masterpiece, maybe a tad too long, but I’ll agree that it is at the very least a good movie.
That’s what I get for incautious reading 
No intentions here of shooting down Casablanca or its eminently quotable screenplay.
I would put Empire “worship” right up there with the linked Princess Bride. IMO, Empire is a good movie, but nowhere as good as its reputation. I never get the whole “it’s the best Star Wars movie!”. No, Star Wars is the best Star Wars movie, no question!
It has some real stupidity, the early manifestations of Lucas being Lucas, such as the asteroid with air and gravity and a giant space slug.
It also suffers from being the middle of a trilogy, so it doesn’t end, it just "to be continued"s out.
It helps Empire’s reputation that Jedi sucked, but in reply to the OP, I would not say Empire is great.
There are plenty of us that don’t like The Sound Of Music. I know I’m not alone. Now I wonder about Mary Poppins? Is that universally liked?
Among more recent films, I’ve never seen much hate or even mild disdain for Spirited Away.
There’s probably some selection effect there, though. I suspect that there are plenty of folks who wouldn’t like it (don’t like animation, or don’t like foreign films, or don’t like environmental messaging), but those folks mostly would never watch it in the first place.
Spirited Away: Sorry, I didn’t like it. Very dark for me. I didn’t love the animation.
And I watch a fair amount of anime at this point. Though not back in 2001.
Empire Strikes Back is the only Star Wars movie I think is actually a good movie. Star Wars was solid, the rest were bad movies or worse.
Nope for me. When I was a kid, I hated all the things it changed from the book (not to mention how cheesily theatrical it is). I’ve mellowed on it a bit over the years, but I still can’t say I like it.