IMHO there can be movies which are “good” but I don’t like – some folks can’t separate.
For example, I never want to see Shindler’s List again, and I can see folks not liking it (or even hating it) not thinking it a good movie – that is harder
I don’t like horror movies in general, but acknowledge some may be good. Seven Samurai is long and slowly paced for modern tastes, but was a pioneer in motion pictures.
I lost track how many times Lawrence went insane in Lawrence of Arabia and have no real desire to see again but have a hard time not calling it good. Bridge over the River Kwai is many history (and other) problems, but not good?
Again, I feel folks should separate “movies I like” vs “movies that are good”, but I acknowledge some think they are the same thing.
Seven Samurai is one of my favorite movies, but I doubt it’ll survive scrutiny. On the other hand, if Chariots of Fire is on, I have something else to do. Anything else. (That’s a “no” on CoF.)
At that point in the movie, he just comes across as a jerk. You might conclude, after seeing the rest of the film, that he didn’t want to be hurt again. Still, a lot of people can get hurt once and yet keep themselves from hurting other people. The point of the movie is that he learns from his experience. Rick realizes that Victor loves Ilsa as much as he loves her. He learns that one of them has to be disappointed. He decides that the best thing for everyone is to let Ilsa and Victor leave on the airplane.
I agree. I don’t like horror. I don’t watch horror movies. I won’t watch Silence of the Lambs. But if y’all tell me it’s a good movie, I’m not going to disagree, either. And i watched, but didn’t enjoy, Psycho. But i think it was a good movie, too, just not the kind of movie i like.
I think The Sound Of Music and Mary Poppins are good movies, too, even if there are some people who don’t enjoy musicals.
People say this when they’re dismayed to find out that not everybody likes the same things that they do.
Movies that I nominate that I didn’t notice were named already : The Wrong Trousers (Wallace and Gromet) if short films count The Miracle Worker (the original with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke) To Kill a Mockingbird
Count me as not liking virtually anything from the Hays Code era (1934-1968). Generally, people refer to these as black and white movies, but I can only think of them as Hays Code movies. I feel pretty much the same about them as I do primetime network television: having to be creative to get around heavy-handed censorship is not a virtue, and I do not grade on a curve. It is no coincidence that the golden age of great films started immediately after the code was abolished.
Speaking of, that reminds me, regarding Pulp Fiction:
Bad guys having to pay for their crimes was one of the tenets of the Hays Code. I am quite happy that movies no longer have to abide by this kind of puritanical ethic.
All that said, I think I agree that genre films are pretty much right out. Name a genre and there will be people who don’t like virtually anything in that genre. Horror, fantasy, sci-fi, musicals, westerns, superheroes, etc…
Although, to be fair, I do like some movies from genres I do not like. I don’t like musicals but I do love Blues Brothers; I don’t like westerns but I loved the
True Grit remake and really liked the 3:10 to Yuma remake quite a bit. (Plus I consider Deadwood one of the greatest TV shows ever.) I don’t like animation but I liked the South Park movie, which is actually a two-fer for me since it’s also a musical.
So that basically leaves drama, romance and comedy. I guess for those three styles I would nominate or second:
Drama: Network
Romance: Ghost
Comedy: My Cousin Vinny
Which I find a little odd because the southerners depicted in the film are depicted very respectfully overall, IMHO, especially the judge. Nobody was demeaned, not even the prosecutor or the prosecution’s witness.
Yes, the film abounded in stereotypes—especially with the accents and mannerisms—but not just of the southerners, but the people from NYC as well.
I saw a bluesky thread recently abo I t films which are much better than they need to be, which seems to be a necessary if not sufficient criteria for this thread.
Regrettably, the only two I can remember are
Galaxy Quest and
Arthur Christmas
but l think they’re contenders.
Genre us a stumbling block, as pointed out. Some people dont like musicals, some dont like melodrama, I personally dont l ike horror. A film that everyone likes is necessarily going to have to transcend its genre. For example I loved Get Out. But generally I think if any film is going to get close to universal appeal it will have to be something which even peope disinclined to the genre can find something in.
I can imagine someone saying/feeling that, if it wasn’t the kind of movie they like, but they recognize that it’s a good movie of that kind.
“That was a good movie, but I didn’t like it… because it was too violent.” Or “…because it was too depressing.”
It’s possible to not like musicals, or animated movies, or kids’ movies, while fully admitting that that doesn’t make such movies objectively bad, and that it’s possible for a musical or an animated movie or a kids’ movie to be a very good movie, well-made and very enjoyable for those who do like that kind of movie.
I’ve watched Casablanca a few times. I have tried to like it. But I just can’t get past Bogart’s “wooded” acting style. He sounds (to me) like he’s just quickly blurting out words he memorized from the script. Gary Cooper did the same thing in his movies.
I only saw Wizard of Oz a couple years ago, but was blown away how great it was. Easily one of the best movies of all time, and must’ve been unbelievable in 1939. I’m non-US-American, and haven’t read the book.