# Movies that surprised you - good or bad ways. (spoilers, I assume) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512 "2014-07-31T18:12:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/21 "2014-08-01T02:17:49Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > …Re: _Limitless_ - there’s a current thread about another movie which repeats that sane “10% of your brain” canard. IIRC it is said by a non-credible character so I’ll give it a pass. But I almost would’ve avoided it because of that… Point taken. At least in _Limitless_, the canard is put in the mouth of the utterly untrustworthy, slimy ex-brother-in-law, and phrased, “You know how they say…” So the movie doesn’t ask you to buy into it as being scientifically accurate (unlike, I hear, _Lucy_). ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/22 "2014-08-01T02:33:06Z")
I’d been hearing about this “cult favorite” movie called **[Eraserhead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074486/?ref_=nv_sr_1)** for a long time so I rented it to see what the raving was about. Well, after suffering about an hour of this pile of dogshit I threw in the towel. This movie, in my not so humble opinion, has got to be the worst film in the history of mankind. I would rather sit for 2 hours in room filled with Ebola patients listening to Neil Young records at full volume than see it again. That’s how much I hated it. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/23 "2014-08-01T09:37:43Z")
Most recently for me Rush. I’m not a fan of racing. I certainly knew nothing about the two main characters; however, that movie was incredible. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. Everything about the movie was well done. I ended up reading about the two main characters. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/24 "2014-08-01T10:42:37Z")
Thru the magic of Netflix and our local cable freebies On Demand, I’ve watched some movies that were apparently huge in their day, and maybe they’re just too dated, but I was left feeling cheated. **Sunset Boulevard** - All I knew of this was whatever Carol Burnett did on her show, but I wanted to see where she got her material. I couldn’t bring myself to care about any of the characters or what happened to them. Maybe I need to see it again because I missed something? **Mrs. Robinson** - Definitely very dated, but I still found it annoying and not at all believable. Spoiled rich kid boinking an older married woman even tho he doesn’t seem to want to. One thing that really stood out was all the smoking - funny how times have changed. **Mystic Pizza** - OK, I guess, but predictable. Maybe I’m just too old now to get it. Maybe if I’d seen it in my teens or 20s (even tho I was in my 30s when it was made) I might have reacted differently. I didn’t hate it, but I have vague memories of it getting really good reviews - I supposed I could be wrong about that, too. Wonder what I’ll pick next time I’m bored and in control of the remote… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/25 "2014-08-01T11:21:56Z")
Was “Mrs. Robinson” the sequel to “The Graduate”? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/26 "2014-08-01T11:46:38Z")
Going way way back – _The Shining_. I had read the Stephen King book and enjoyed it and fully expected to like the movie, but it ended up giving me a case of the creeps. It’s been so long that I don’t remember many details of what I disliked except for one – Jack Nicholson’s over-the-top, “Heeeeere’s Johnny!” It was many years before I could bring myself to watch another Nicholson movie, although now his also over-the-top performance in _A Few Good Men_ is one of my favorites. But as for _The Shining_, I would have walked out if not for the fact that I had gone with a friend. But when the movie ended, I mentioned this to my friend and she said her reaction was exactly the same – she wanted to walk out but assumed I wanted to stay. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/27 "2014-08-01T13:30:15Z")
I was very surprised to enjoy _Ace Ventura_ and _Fight Club_. In the first case, I was expecting an inferior, all too formulaic product. In the second, I was expecting a completely different kind of film. _Prometheus_ surprised me in the same way that I’d be surprised if everyone forgot my birthday. I just couldn’t believe that Ridley would go to so much trouble just to let his characters be so dumb. ---
**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:** [August 1, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/28 "2014-08-01T14:03:25Z")
**How to Train Your Dragon** and **Megamind** were both surprisingly good to me since I largely think of Dreamworks as Pixar’s talentless cousin who relies on stunt celebrity voice acting in lieu of an actual good story/characters. Those two, though, I’d watch any time. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/29 "2014-08-02T02:29:07Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > **How to Train Your Dragon** and **Megamind** were both surprisingly good… Agreed as to both. Likewise _The Lego Movie_. ---
**Author:** ![orangeapples](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@orangeapples](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orangeapples)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/30 "2014-08-02T03:09:46Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > _Galaxy Quest_ surprised me too. I really love it. > > **The Leonardo di Caprio/Clare Danes version of _Romeo and Juliet_.** I usually prefer the plays as period pieces set and costumed for the time in which they were set. But this “contemporary” version was splendid. (Boldng mine) Seconded. I watched it several years after it was released because it was on and I had nothing better to do. Very impressed with it, and enjoyed seeing cast members I recognized in roles I never would’ve pictured them in, like Paul Rudd and John Leguizamo. Jamie Kennedy does Shakespeare, never saw that coming. _O Brother, Where Art Thou_ caught me completely off-guard. A friend suggested I watch it, but didn’t give me much detail. That film blew me away, and is now on my all-time favorites. Much love for the Odyssey nod. Also enjoyed _Galaxy Quest_ a ton, but that one didn’t surprise me. 🙂 For a bad example; _American Beauty_. I was genuinely surprised by how much I detested that movie that so many people were telling me I just had to watch. Oh, how I hated it. “That’s not beautiful,” I angrily explained to the people on my television screen, “It’s trash! Pick it up and throw it away.” ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/31 "2014-08-02T10:58:57Z")
In the surprised-I-liked-it category, there’ve been a few with Jim Carrey: **The Mask** , **The Truman Show** … After cringing at some scenes in _Ace Ventura_, I had every intention of avoiding any exposure to this actor. **Army of Darkness** (director Sam Raimi). About as silly as they come. Really fun once you realize that it’s not meant to be taken seriously. In other threads, I’ve mentioned **Runaway Train** (director Andrey Konchalovskiy). In the surprised-I-disliked-it-so-much category: **The English Patient**. I got the feeling that I was expected to swoon at some point, but it just seemed pretentious and overblown. Scorcese’s version of **Cape Fear**. Too grisly and obvious for me. **Once Upon a Time in the West**. I probably have to see it a few more times, but to date it hasn’t “drawn me in.” It’s surprising for me because my appreciation of _The Good, the Bad and the Ugly_ grows with each viewing. **The Godfather. Part II**. Maybe the only problem is that I can’t help comparing it to its predecessor. Not a bad film, but some parts seem contrived. Not quite the same thing, but there are two films that stand out in my mind because, although I enjoy them greatly, they contain elements that I have to do my best to ignore. While **Casablanca** has some great lines, most of the dialogue strikes me as being affected and even absurd. It’s not really a problem for me because something strange happens to my perception of time whenever I see this film. It starts, it takes me someplace and, before I know it, it’s drawing to a close. What more can you expect from a film? **Night of the Hunter** has some truly hair-raising moments, but other scenes fall oddly flat, as if the film had been hastily thrown together using first takes that would normally have been repeated. I think most of said scenes are toward the end, so maybe it was due to production issues rather than artistic criteria. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2014, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/32 "2014-08-02T11:30:03Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Was “Mrs. Robinson” the sequel to “The Graduate”? 😉 Thanks for shining a spotlight on my brain fart! 😛 Now hush! ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/33 "2014-08-03T12:41:48Z")
I recently saw **Annie Hall** for the first, and last, time. It was extremely underwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/34 "2014-08-03T17:48:41Z")
I saw\*\* Melancholia\*\* today with Kirsten Dunst and was surprised in a good way. I felt like I was simply watching it to see what all the buzz had been about, but found that I liked the movie quite a bit. Depressing, but it’s about depression in many ways and I think it handled it well. > [@Iggy](#): > > I recently saw **Annie Hall** for the first, and last, time. It was extremely underwhelmed. Funny you mention it. I hated Annie Hall and I expected to love it. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/35 "2014-08-03T19:29:45Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Forgot to mention; **World War Z** bit the big one. Money can’t buy me love. I expected that one to be bad because I knew the movie was only superficially similar to the book. _Role Models_ starring Stifler from _American Pie_ isn’t isn’t a high concept comedy movie but it’s far better than it had any right to be with a hilarious Jane Lynch in a supporting role. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/36 "2014-08-03T19:47:43Z")
Five Minutes To Midnight - not a movie technically, but a five part miniseries. A police officer visits the grave of his recently diseased wife where he discovers an old case file of an unsolved murder. It’s him, he’s supposed to die in five days which seems like a cruel joke until stuff in the file starts happening. Lifepod - Also a miniseries, essentially Hitchcock’s Lifeboat except set in the future where a diverse group of people are stuck in the only escape pod left when their ship explodes. Was it a terrorist act and if so are they on board? I expected both of these to suck balls, but after only a few minutes couldn’t stop watching. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/37 "2014-08-03T22:01:10Z")
“Starship Troopers”-Was expecting mindless stuff, not brilliant satire. Even without the satire it’s got Clancy Brown and Michael Ironside. “Can’t Hardly Wait”-A lot better than I thought it would be. In a similar vein…A friend and I went over a friends house to watch “The Natural”. eventually the guy who owned the house, his girlfriend came over. And then eventually my friend left, so it was me and this guy and his girlfriend. I know they wanted me to leave but the film was so damn good, I wasn’t going to. Another place, me and a group of friends were all watching “The Thing” (1982). Eventually everyone either fell asleep or left, but I’ll be damned if I was going to miss the rest of that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/38 "2014-08-03T22:08:09Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > A police officer visits the grave of his recently diseased wife… Burying her just because she’s ill seems a little harsh. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/39 "2014-08-03T22:14:10Z")
**The Wind Rises** - So, Hayao Miyazaki has a great track record. Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky, Tortoro, etc. This, at least for now, is his final movie. A serious movie about the designer of the Japanese airplanes used in WW2. And it was drop dead boring. I guess the animation was nice, but it did not even blow me away. Shockingly poor movie to end on. I still don’t believe its his final movie(and no, I don’t think Studio Ghibli is closing). ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512/40 "2014-08-03T23:21:03Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Burying her just because she’s ill seems a little harsh. 🙂 I know! That’s what I thought! Stupid iPad autocorrect… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-surprised-you-good-or-bad-ways-spoilers-i-assume/694512.md?page=3)