Good: The Lego Movie. I was expecting a fun diversion, but it was a lot better-written and touching than I thought it would be.
Bad: Speed Racer. Admittedly my expectations weren’t high to begin with, but I really, really, really hated this movie, and walked out halfway though, which I almost never do.
Absolutely loved it when it was first released, saw it again a couple of times on VHS, still loved it. A few years ago, twenty-plus years later, I felt like watching it one more time (on DVD); I hated it. Couldn’t finish it. Diane Keaton’s character, who was so adorable in the 70’s/80’s, didn’t age well for me.
Amen. I can’t agree more strongly with everything you said. I’m a rabid Coen Brothers fan, love most of their movies, and like the rest. Until this one. I still can’t get over how awful it is.
And my entry for movie I expected to hate: Bridges Of Madison County. I knew about the book (didn’t read it), and expected Clint Eastwood to embarrass himself sharing the screen with Meryl Streep. I was surprised by how good the film was. Not something I ever need to see again, but it wasn’t bad at all. Apparently the story was rewritten by someone who knew how to write, and Clint held his own with Meryl. Still not much of an actor, but he wasn’t bad.
She’s Out of My League
I ran across it on cable one winter Saturday afternoon. It was too cold to go out so I was flipping channels. I got sucked in and really enjoyed it.
Good
I thought I was going to be the first one to mention Galaxy Quest. I saw it once it started being shown on cable and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. Great homage to Star Trek.
Gravity. I really wasn’t looking forward to this movie. I thought it was going to be boring, just Bullock and Clooney up in space, stranded. Was surprised at how much I got into that movie. Great film.
Bowfinger. I think I watched it at a friends house and thought it would be a waste of time. The name alone was kind of stupid and I doubted if it even made any money with such a name.
Oh my goodness, it was so funny. When Steve Martin is explaining about when Tom Cruise made that vampire movie…
Bad
Birth of a Nation. I was expecting to be offended by the film but not bored. I had previously seen other silent films like Griffith’s other epic Tolerance, as well as classics like Nosferatu, and Phantom of the Opera, all of which I enjoyed. But Birth of Nation I just found boring.
Bubba Ho-Tep. I had read a great review of it in a newspaper and thought the premise was hilarious. I already imagined Elvis in a retirement home, and then, once he sees an over-sized, mystical scarab scurring into his room, he kicks over his unnecessary walker, and assumes a judo pose. The movie was not that funny to me. Entertaining but not that funny.
Heat. Bought this during my DVD collecting phase expecting something on the level of Godfather, Goodfellas, and Donnie Brasco, especially after hearing all the rave reviews for it. Instead I found I didn’t care for any of the characters, or the situation they were in.
I was stunned at how good, and genuinely powerful, Everybody’s All-American was. It’s the last movie I’d have expected to like … I’m not into football or college athletics, the title/advertising look like just another corny sports movie - and I live in Yankeeland. But it was fantastic and I’ve watched it multiple times. All the characters are instantly relatable and well drawn, and the story has the ring of truth about it. An overlooked masterpiece in my opinion. It’s also got incredible, subtle and convincing aging makeup - the characters go from teens to middle age more seamlessly than any movie I can remember.
I think it is called Intolerance, not Tolerance.
Minority Report. The trailers showed this ridiculous scene of futuristic cars driving up the side of a building. Tom Cruise in a special effects loaded sci-fi movie didn’t seem to offer much of substance. I avoided it on release and didn’t see it until years later on Netflix.
I discovered it had a plot that made sense. It wasn’t a remake of some formula I’d seen over and over. The plot has twists I didn’t expect. In between the glitzy effects and stunts, Cruise’s character is revealed to be deeply damaged – I cared about him. I was quite startled to find out how much I liked this movie.
I did not have high expectations for I, Robot but ended up enjoying it because it was high-energy and fun. However, I have no attachment to the source material.
Alien Vs. Predator was supposed to be a giant suckfest. No matter who wins we lose! But it turned out to be one of my favorites in the Alien franchise. Seeing an Alien Queen actually doing something was awesome and well overdue.
AVP2 on the other hand… I expected awesome and I got suck instead. I thought we had all the right elements for a great Alien movie: Reiko Ayelsworth (from 24) as the Ripley-esque heroine, deadly aliens that melt people’s faces off, tough US soldiers using automatic weaponry against the xenomorph hordes, a powerful hybrid Alien-Predator xeno that could kick a Pred’s ass one-handed, et cetera. All the right ingredients for a great action flick. Instead we get the pizza delivery guy fawning over a ditzy girl… in the dark. Terrible movie all around.
The Dark Knight was supposed to be incredible and amazing but it didn’t work for me. The film was long and ponderous and the good guys spent too much time losing. I am not a big fan of plots in which the bad guy controls everything up to and including his capture and subsequent breakout.
Kick Ass 2 looked great in previews but turned out to be a whole of of watching the heroes get their asses handed to them. Was I supposed to be rooting for the villain?
FINALLY! I’ve never met anyone else who hated this movie the way I did. I spent a dollar to see it and I felt ripped off. “Where are we, and why should I care?” I moaned as the scene changed randomly yet again. Ugh.
August: Osage County had all sorts of acclaim. My wife rented it, we watched it and afterwards both said “It was well acted but at no point was I actually enjoying watching it nor do I feel like I took anything worthwhile from it”.
In Bruges- I know a lot of people here love it, and I enjoy dark comedy, so I expected to love it, but I just didn’t like this one at all.
Did anyone else see Video Games: The Movie?
I love video games and love documentaries, but it was horrible. It was like a super fast kindergarten history of video games. Ludicrous and far from deserving to call itself “video games the movie”. Avoid it.
I recently saw Lucy and Snowpiercer. Very disappointed in both.
There are a couple mentioned upthread, but I have to agree with Groundhog Day. Way better than I expected.
Oh man, I’ve never heard of it but now I really want to see it!
Agree completely. Eddie Murphy was well into the “suck” portion of his career and Steve Martin hadn’t done anything particularly noteworthy in years. Would have ignored it entirely but watched it on a recommendation and loved it.
And, for a different perspective on Inside Llewyn Davis:
94% rating on RottenTomatoes, 92% on Metacritic, 2 Oscar nominations, AFI Movie of the Year, 50 worldwide awards and 99 nominations.
I’ve watched it at least three times. Also, I’ve never seen a Coen Brothers film yet that I didn’t like.
Hated it. Why is it when the woman cheats- it’s soooo damn fucking romantic, but when a man cheats it’s so very eviiiiiil?
Don’t know what the trope name is, but I’m sure there’s a trope for it. Men do it because the 'nads are running the show. Women do it because they’re left with no other way to combat the drudgery and misery that their lives have become.
Truth in television, sure, but hardly universal the way Hollywood seems to want it to be.
I must be spending too much time at TVTropes lately, that’s the second time today it’s been come up in a post. 
I saw Heaven’s Gate for the first time just a few years ago ago and really enjoyed it. I think it must have been the 2012 cut. It’s not the greatest film I’ve ever seen but including it on “Worst Movies Ever Made” lists is complete nonsense.
Was it 3 hours and 40 minutes?