# Movies Everybody Else Likes Which You Hate...And Vice-Versa

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 1, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572 "2012-11-01T15:51:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 6

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RockytheflyingS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RockytheflyingS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RockytheflyingS)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/101 "2012-11-05T05:21:15Z")

</div>

> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> For many of us, a big part of the appeal—of the book and/or the movie—is that we get to vicariously experience a long journey through Middle Earth. Tolkien’s challenge (and, maybe, Jackson’s) was to make the readers (or viewers) feel the length of the journey without boring them. IMHO he didn’t do too badly at this, but I can see how not everyone would have the patience for all that traveling.
> 
> Everybody seemed to love E.T. when it came out, but nowadays I get the impression that the consensus is closer to your view.
> 
> You don’t go to RHPS for the movie; you go for the audience.

I was born nearly a decade after it came out in theaters. As a child, E.T. scared me. As an adult, the movie bores and slightly creeps me out. I work with children. I think this movie has fallen out of favor. Very few children know what it is if an adult brings it up.

Speaking of alien movies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind hasn’t aged well either. I saw it for the first time last year and found it boring.

I can’t watch more than ten or so minutes of the first Star Wars movie.

Avatar was so bad on so many levels, I have a hard time believing it’s a real film. It reminds me of a film you would see in another film/television show or some type of SNL parody.

I have so many more, but will end with this one. American Psycho. I don’t actually hate it, but it super overrated. I don’t understand why so many guys my age (early 20s), think it’s cool to imitate Patrick Bateman. It really became like a big pop culture thing and I don’t get why.

Likes:

The new Star Wars trilogy. I don’t love the new trilogy, but they’re a lot more enjoyable and easier to get into.

Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes. I don’t love it, but it’s not as bad as people say. The makeup was awesome.

Everyone says they’re garbage, but I love The Evil Dead series. I don’t think they’re the best movies evah, but they’re pretty good. Considering the first two are the same movie. 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/102 "2012-11-05T05:32:29Z")

</div>

I liked \*Dune \*but it didn’t do well and IIRC it got poor reviews. I really liked the first \*Dune \*book and the movie brought it to life. But I will agree that if you had never read the book, or didn’t like it, the movie would be impenetrable.

I walked out of \*Prince of the City \*because I was so incredibly bored. It was the only movie I have ever walked out of. It was nominated for an Oscar (didn’t win).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/103 "2012-11-05T18:32:37Z")

</div>

> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#):
>
> The Man Who Knew Too Little is a Bill Murray flick that everyone thinks is stupid but I think is a brilliant comedy with great performances.

I’ve got your back, I loved that one. I went in with some…concern, because the person who recommended it has often questionable taste, but I laughed the whole way through.

I have also been reminded by this thread of how much I LOATHED Napoleon Dynamite with every fiber of my being.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/104 "2012-11-05T18:53:02Z")

</div>

More votes for:

Big Lebowski…a smattering of humorous dialogue among a lot of sawdust filler  
Kill Bill…should have been condensed into one movie  
Shawshank Redemption…merely above-average in an unthreatening Ron Howard-esque paint by numbers way.

New votes for:

Napolean Dynamite…way more cruel and mocking than sympathetic or funny  
The Bourne movies…a movie dependent on action destroyed by close-up quick cut shaky cam editing.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/105 "2012-11-05T19:00:41Z")

</div>

Stuff I like that most people don’t (some reminded from others’ lists):  
_Xanadu_  
\*Unbreakable \*(the spouse calls it _Interminable_. I like it a lot.)  
_The Last Action Hero_  
The Timothy Dalton Bond movies (I think he was the best Bond, and I might be the only one on Earth who thinks so–I’ve made my peace with that. 🙂 )  
\*Flowers in the Attic \*- the book was a teenage guilty pleasure, and I like the movie just fine too

Stuff I didn’t like that most people do:  
The latest Batman movie (dull, grim, and full of plot holes)  
\*The Princess Bride \*- I tried to watch it twice. Fell asleep both times.  
\*Young Frankenstein \*- I love Gene Wilder. Everybody told me how good this was. Watched a special theater showing of it a few days ago, on Halloween. Spouse had to keep poking me to keep me awake. Sloooooow!  
Any of the Superman films - I just don’t like the character, and haven’t liked any of the movies I’ve seen. Maybe if they’d just accept the fact that everybody on the planet knows Superman’s origin story and stop @#$%ing _retelling_ it…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/106 "2012-11-05T19:31:39Z")

</div>

> [@GreenElf](#):
>
> Hated: I didn’t find Borat funny although it was a popular comedy several years ago.

I’m with you there. I remember that everyone raved about it, both audiences and critics. I rented it and was bored through the first two-thirds and then turned it off.

I did laugh at the bear in the ice cream truck because, hey, bear in an ice cream truck. That was about it, though.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/107 "2012-11-05T19:33:56Z")

</div>

> [@RockytheflyingS](#):
>
> American Psycho. I don’t actually hate it, but it super overrated. I don’t understand why so many guys my age (early 20s), think it’s cool to imitate Patrick Bateman. It really became like a big pop culture thing and I don’t get why.

I have no idea if this is your specific problem with the film, but many people seem to think that American Psycho is a horror movie, when it is in fact an intentional comedy. The joke being that anyone who fully embraces the shallow, materialistic, hyper competitive yuppie lifestyle must actually be a psycho. The film isn’t in any way a character study or analysis of the mind of a serial killer. It’s simply a hearty fuck you to kind of people who are obsessed with designer clothes, exclusive restaurants, trendy pop music, etc.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RockytheflyingS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RockytheflyingS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RockytheflyingS)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/108 "2012-11-05T21:31:22Z")

</div>

> [@SecretaryofEvil](#):
>
> I have no idea if this is your specific problem with the film, but many people seem to think that American Psycho is a horror movie, when it is in fact an intentional comedy. The joke being that anyone who fully embraces the shallow, materialistic, hyper competitive yuppie lifestyle must actually be a psycho. The film isn’t in any way a character study or analysis of the mind of a serial killer. It’s simply a hearty fuck you to kind of people who are obsessed with designer clothes, exclusive restaurants, trendy pop music, etc.

That’s what confuses me. A lot of people quote Bateman like he’s something to look up. Maybe it’s because Christian Bale is popular and handsome. Maybe people are stupid.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/109 "2012-11-05T21:57:33Z")

</div>

> [@Jophiel](#):
>
> I’m with you there. I remember that everyone raved about it, both audiences and critics. I rented it and was bored through the first two-thirds and then turned it off.
> 
> I did laugh at the bear in the ice cream truck because, hey, bear in an ice cream truck. That was about it, though.

I think _Borat_ is one of those films you need to see with a crowd. I first saw it in a packed cinema and it was funny as hell. Watching it as a rental on DVD was awful.

I found _The Ring_ amazingly boring, everyone I knew was going nuts about it but I was completely unimpressed. Trim the story about a haunted video-tape down to 45 minutes, add Mulder & Scully and you’d have a cracking _X-Files_ episode. As a full length film it dragged.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/110 "2012-11-06T00:03:31Z")

</div>

> [@salinqmind](#):
>
> Pulp Fiction. I thought it was appalling (except for the story about the watch!).

> [@Antinor01](#):
>
> Pulp Fiction. 95% fresh on RT from both critics and audience. Called one of the most influential films of the 90s. I disliked it so much I couldn’t even watch the whole thing.

We need to start an “I hated Pulp Fiction” club; for a long time, I thought I was the only one. I _wish_ I could say I haven’t seen the whole thing. It still ranks as the single most disgusting movie I’ve ever seen.

> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> Everybody seemed to love E.T. when it came out, but nowadays I get the impression that the consensus is closer to your view.

Except me. I saw it when it first came out, and walked out of the theater thinking it was the dumbest thing ever put on film.

> [@Greekfreak](#):
>
> **Memento . . .**. Perfect examples of people saying “You just didn’t understand it.” Oh no, I understood it, I just thought it was crap on so many levels.

Oh, god, Memento. Hated, hated that movie. Do people like it because of the “groundbreaking” way it told the story in reverse? It still stunk. Not a single likeable person with any redeeming qualities in the whole thing.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/111 "2012-11-06T01:26:32Z")

</div>

I’ve said it before in another thread, and I’ll say it again.

**[Nothing But Trouble](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102558/)** is one of my favorite, goofy, cheesy comedy movies. I absolutely love it and I’ve seen it more times than I care to admit.

I found it in the Penny Pincher bin at Wal-Mart one night because my college room mate had built it up to be the worst movie absolutely ever made. So I was prepared to heckle it and laugh at it. But, I ended up loving it!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/112 "2012-11-06T08:59:29Z")

</div>

> [@fattigermaster](#):
>
> I always like movies nobody else gets. Hinders me from recommending.
> 
> Watched an old b&w movie on YouTube last night; _The Browning Version_ with Michael Redgrave, I found it so deep and moving, a human statement whose impression I will never forget…but will I recommend it to any of my RL friends? Sorry…no blood, no skin, no cars exploding. But if you like movies your friends don’t “get”, you might like it. I thought it was powerful.

No one else gets?

It is a fucking 8.1 on IMDB.

> **[The Browning Version (1951) ⭐ 8.0 | Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043362/)**
>
> 1h 30m | Approved

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/113 "2012-11-06T09:07:19Z")

</div>

I don’t get what the fuss is about Princess Bride. I don’t hate it but the sheer insane gushing about this movie irks me.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/114 "2012-11-06T09:25:30Z")

</div>

> [@RockytheflyingS](#):
>
> Everyone says they’re garbage, but I love The Evil Dead series. I don’t think they’re the best movies evah, but they’re pretty good. Considering the first two are the same movie. 🙂

Who is “everyone”?

[Evil Dead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/)  
Ratings: 7.6/10 from 74,030 users

[Evil Dead 2](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/)  
Ratings: 7.8/10 from 66,153 users

[Army of Darkness](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106308/)  
Ratings: 7.6/10 from 79,107 users

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/115 "2012-11-06T09:26:53Z")

</div>

> [@Malden\_Capell](#):
>
> I don’t get what the fuss is about Princess Bride. I don’t hate it but the sheer insane gushing about this movie irks me.

I feel the same way but I fully accept that this is probably due to me seeing it first as an adult after it had been very much hyped up to me. My expectations were never going to be met and I was no longer in the target market.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/116 "2012-11-06T09:29:22Z")

</div>

> [@amanset](#):
>
> I feel the same way but I fully accept that this is probably due to me seeing it first as an adult after it had been very much hyped up to me. My expectations were never going to be met and I was no longer in the target market.

Exactly the same with me! Passed me by as a kid. I was on a roadtrip to Wales with some friends when the movie came up in conversation and I said I never rated it much. The driver _stopped the van_ to express his incredulity!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Malden\_Capell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malden_capell/32/5274_2.png) [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/117 "2012-11-06T09:32:19Z")

</div>

But oh, I’m a sucker for the Evil Dead movies. #2 is my favourite. I lost my boxset somewhere ☹

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/118 "2012-11-06T09:34:19Z")

</div>

> [@RockytheflyingS](#):
>
> That’s what confuses me. A lot of people quote Bateman like he’s something to look up. Maybe it’s because Christian Bale is popular and handsome. Maybe people are stupid.

It is quite a common thing when people have a broken concept of irony. I seem to remember Warren Mitchell (who played Alf Garnett, the British original of what became Archie Bunker) saying that he’d often be stopped in the street by people that agreed with what the character had been saying, expecting Mitchell to be Garnett. They never seemed to understand that the joke wasn’t what Garnett was saying, but Garnett himself.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/119 "2012-11-06T10:14:21Z")

</div>

> [@amanset](#):
>
> It is quite a common thing when people have a broken concept of irony. I seem to remember Warren Mitchell (who played Alf Garnett, the British original of what became Archie Bunker) saying that he’d often be stopped in the street by people that agreed with what the character had been saying, expecting Mitchell to be Garnett. They never seemed to understand that the joke wasn’t what Garnett was saying, but Garnett himself.

I shove it in the same category as people who wear Che Guevara shirts (“because he was so peaceful, man”) or (non-Brits who) quote “Remember Remember the 5th of November” as a celebration of liberty after V for Vendetta came out. The latter is especially fun because people seems to think it was a poem supporting V, when in fact it’s a poem recited AGAINST Guy Fawkes, who V was emulating. (I think the writers of the film/comic understood this and intentionally invoked the irony/reclaimed language, of course, it’s just the viewers, I think, getting an odd misconception.) I’ll grant the latter is probably more excusable than the former though.

Anyway, I liked Heathers, but I suspect I liked it for a different reason than most. Most people I’ve met seem to eat up the dark comedy-ness of it. While that aspect was okay, I liked it for the way it took an exaggerated magnifying glass to the way people react to suicides.

I really disliked Inception though. I “got it” just fine, mind you. I really would have appreciated it more if they had just stuck with “Oceans 11 with dreams instead of a Casino” but then they had to throw in all the stuff with totems, which make less sense the more you think about them, and the plot with Mal which was competing for main plot privileges with the perfectly reasonable heist movie going on. I think it really needed to pick a focus: the Mal thing or the hesit thing, and trying to do both weakened the movie immensely. I didn’t want a **dumb** popcorn heist movie, as is the usual insinuation. I would have been thrilled to have a brilliant, well thought out, internally consistent heist movie in a cool universe. I would have even liked a philosophical exploration of reality, and lost life. What I’m not convinced about is that these two things mix. At all. Also, the totems STILL made no goddamned sense given the rules they presented.

There was also Black Swan, which I didn’t really dislike, per se, but I found it was more thoroughly “just okay” than a lot of people. It had a good plot and character dynamics. It even had decent symbolism, but the tone was weird. Rather than switching between emotions and tone naturally, or doing it so abruptly as to cause a deliberate feeling of unease or comedy, it took some weird third option that I’m not sure I understood and made me feel like the script went through 10 rewrites more than anything else.

On the flip side, I liked Shutter Island, which everyone else hated. Maybe I missed something obvious, but I thought it was left up in the air whether or not the main character was really insane or not – not the “obvious twist” everyone else talks about.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572/120 "2012-11-06T11:09:03Z")

</div>

> [@Jragon](#):
>
> On the flip side, I liked Shutter Island, which everyone else hated.

Sorry to keep doing this, people, but …

[Shutter Island](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/)  
Ratings: 8.0/10 from 325,372 users

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572.md?page=5)

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-everybody-else-likes-which-you-hate-and-vice-versa/639572.md?page=7)
