One that I would add is Ocean’s 11 (2001). The ensemble cast of course makes it work, but the way the story is told and the visuals are what take it a step above. You can predict the outcome, but the fun of the movie is the execution, which is well done.
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The Shawshank Redemption is perfect.
I think most people would watch Jackass the movie over Citizen Kane.
Consider it dumped upon. Not a terrible movie, but something that we would all agree is good? No.
The Shawshank Redemption is a very good movie, but it’s also damn depressing. If I had a choice between re-watching that and re-watching my beloved Jurassic Park, it’d be the dinosaurs every time!
I will grant that Citizen Kane is a bit of a slog, though it’s objectively a good film. But Casablanca? I think that one is timeless.
Fair point.
I’ve gone through the thread, to see if there are any films which others have nominated, and which I have (a) seen, and (b) feel that said film is not at least “good.”
The only film I see mentioned in the thread that I have to nix is Blue Velvet. I saw it when it was first released (I was in college), and it was way too strange and disturbing for my tastes. I did not enjoy it at all.
Yeah that’s a contender
You can take those off your list, I can’t stand Tom Hanks. I think he’s a terrible actor who plays the same role in every movie. He does, however, seem like a genuinely nice person.
I hated Groundhog Day. Bill Murray’s character is too misogynistic and manipulative.
I loves me some Lynch, and Blue Velvet runs a close second to Lost Highway as a favorite. But I did a double-take when I saw it nominated. Not that I would nix it myself, but I have to recognize that Lynch, in general, is a niche taste.
I don’t think Hanks is a terrible actor, but I’ll agree with taking Forrest Gump off the list. That one just rubs me the wrong way.
Speaking for myself, I’m 46, a child of the 80s and 90s. I grew up watching not only the modern stuff, but also the (often) black and white classics with my parents – often on “Saturday Night at the Movies”, a program that aired on the weekend on TV Ontario, a public broadcasting channel where I grew up.
Casablanca is definitely a classic and while obviously dated, I don’t have one bad word about it. I last saw it when I was maybe 13, but I would love to re-watch it as an adult.
Sound of Music is one of my all-time favorite movies! Yes, it’s a musical, but it’s a musical done right. Good actors with on-screen synergy, lavish sets, Alpine scenery, and good music. Yes, it’s a musical, but it’s not sung-through and the songs are of high quality.
Citizen Kane though, was a bit of a disappointment. I watched it around the age of 18 precisely because a teacher – a teacher I esteemed – recommended it. Mr. C., my grade 12 English teacher, also taught a film or media subject, and liked to make film references from time to time. In a context that now escapes me, he said (during the 1996/1997 school year) that some people said Citizen Kane was the best film ever made. When I watched it, though, my impression was rather “meh”. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t really sympathize with the main character, all the research to answer the question of what “Rosebud” meant didn’t really make sense. OK, there was storytelling going on there, (and I know that the movie used filmography techniques that were revolutionary for its time), but seriously, after seeing anything by Kurosawa, or by Spielberg, calling this “the best movie ever filmed” seems almost obscene.
That said, I would give Citizen Kane a second chance. Like I said, I didn’t hate it. When I have some time I may watch it again and see if I like it more the second time.
King Kong (1933)
The Third Man (1949)
Seven Samurai (1954) - If you haven’t seen it on a big screen, you haven’t seen it
I could watch Casablanca every year for the rest of my life. But I’m 66 years old.
I think a lot of younger people today weren’t taught as much about the events leading up to WW2 to fully appreciate Casablanca. I think a lot of teaching of that era was drowned out by WW2.
I once loaned the DVD to a friend of mine, an educated fellow about fifteen years younger than me, who liked war movies. I had to explain to him the background reasons why Rick could not return to America. While the script states explicitly that Rick ran guns to the rebel side in the Spanish civil war and Haile Selassie’s forces in Ethiopia, you had to understand that since the U.S. was officially neutral in those conflicts, Rick had essentially committed treason.
My late mother also hated Casablanca, probably for similar reasons.
I dunno; if I haven’t seen a movie, then I’ll refrain from saying that it’s bad, but I also can’t really agree that it’s good. I’m not sure how to fairly account for this: If we just say that “haven’t seen it” counts as “good”, then the winner would be some movie so obscure that only one person here has seen it. But if we count “haven’t seen it” against a movie, then any movie will have some folks who haven’t seen it.
But maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow.
No way these are contenders, even the best bond films seem super predictable and derivative now (because they basically invented so many action film tropes). That’s an issue with a lot of the really seminal classic films, they just seem predictable and boring when watched for the first time now
Also boy howdy so much misogyny! Like actual misogyny, as in hatred of women, not just being sexist.
My next-door neighbor said she didn’t like it because it’s the same thing over and over again. No, I am not making this up.
IMO this is being pedantic and fighting the OP. If one Doper has never seen a movie, or dislikes all film, does that mean we cannot all agree?
Sure, this post can be overly parsed in all manner of ways. Or folk could just go along with the clear and often repeated intent.
I saw it once, on DVD (so you know the minimum timeframe). Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it, remember very little about it.
I don’t think you were expected to sympathize with the main character of Charles Foster Kane. And the bit about researching the origin of Rosebud as his last word was, I thought, just a framing device to review his background. Though learning that he missed the innocence of his childhood did make him a little sympathetic.
I have to say, we turned this movie off after 15 minutes, it was soooo stupid. I’d heard so many good things about the classic screwball comedy, and …boy what a letdown.