I had to walk out of An Unmarried Woman as soon as it got to the “Maybe I’m Amazed” piano thing with mom and daughter.
Quoted that line because it’s the crux of much of my underwhelment. I HAVE to see a movie before friends spoil it, or reviews build it up. If I can walk in with NO preconceptions, I have a chance of being delighted.
I have to disagree. I’m serious when I say that Will Ferrell is a great actor.
So many actors hold back; they want the audience to like them. Yes, you might hate the character they’re playing but they want you to still see the actor playing the character and love the actor.
Ferrell doesn’t do that. He will put aside his ego and stop being Will Ferrell so he can fully commit to being the character. He’s playing at the same level as Daniel Day Lewis or Gary Oldman.
I suspect that a lot of the plot holes were scenes that were scissored in order to edit it for length. Good, but not One Of The Greatest Movies Evah.
I heard nothing but praise for “La La Land” and “Whiplash”, and I shut both of them off after about 20 minutes because I couldn’t come up with one reason to care about the characters. Ditto “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Back on topic, my pick is The Sting.
I liked both actors. I loved Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I like the genre. I had heard all kinds of good things about the movie. I knew it had won several Oscars, including best picture. So I figured this was a sure thing.
But when I watched it, I was not impressed. It wasn’t bad. But I found it mediocre. My thought when I was watching it was that it felt like I was watching an okay made-for-TV move.
The Godfather
I absolutely love the book. I’ve read it several times. But the movie bores me to tears. I forced myself to watch it once, and I still had to spread it out over three days because I’d fall asleep.
I absolutely loved “The Incredibles.”
But “Incredibles 2” was pure horseshit. Totally unnecessary sequel.
Dunkirk.
I don’t get all the rave reviews and award nominations. It was totally boring and forgettable. No decent characters, no real tension. Filmed in pretentious sepia-tinted tones. I’ve seldom seen a major movie that was so flat and dull. Everyone made a big fuss because… Christopher Nolan! Big deal.
The Shape Of Water was quite a disappointment. It felt heavily derivative, painfully manipulative, and ultimately pointless. I really don’t get how it was even nominated for an Oscar let alone won Best Picture.
Black Panther. I realise I am not the demographic that was impacted by it the most, but I thought I’d at least see what grabbed everyone’s attention. Nope. Formulaic and ordinary. Seen it all before, and done better, by Marvel themselves no less.
Coco. Blah. Absolutely nothing special, and failed to move me one bit. A couple of laughs, but that’s it.
Normally I’m a complete sucker for movies like these, but they all totally missed the mark, for me. I wouldn’t mind, not everything’s going to hit, but they were so critically acclaimed and so lauded by audiences, I am frankly a bit dumbfounded by that love they received.
I totally agree. I’ve enjoyed many of Nolan’s movies, but not this one. It felt more like a homework assignment than anything else.
Avatar: Was expecting to like this but found it completely uninvolving. Couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters. Just didn’t understand what all the hype was about.
Tootsie: Ooh, Dustin Hoffman in drag. Took itself much too seriously for a supposed comedy. If you want to see a funny comedy featuring two well-known actors in drag, watch “Some Like It Hot.”
Barry Lyndon: Often hailed as a masterpiece. Dull, uninteresting story. Ryan O’Neal was a lightweight actor and really not talented enough to carry the lead. Beautiful cinematography, though.
Checked out Super Troopers 2 from the library. The first one was great! And it took them 15 years to make a sequel. It was a total mess, and most all the jokes where just a re-hash of the first movie. Pretty damned underwhelmed. 
Incredibly stupid is a bit harsh, but pretty damn close. And pointless.
With you on Withnail and I. I think the problem is that friends - whose opinion you trust - love it, and big it up, and then you watch it and it’s - meh. If I had just happened across it somewhere on late night TV I think I could have sat through it and maybe even have enjoyed it.
And so to:** This Is Spinal Tap**. Exact same thing. Except here, instead of drunken friends shouting I demand to have some booze! they are painfully explaining *But this one goes up to eleven… *and falling about laughing at it.
As an aside, and somewhat off topic, I absolutely loathe Psycho. Well done Alfred, you invented the slasher movie. Thanks for that.
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Good call. I had forgotten about ‘The Sting’. The made-for-TV comment is spot-on. It had a cheesy, cheap look to it in regards to sets, props, and costuming. Sloppy attention to period-correct details. I was in 5th grade when the movie came out, and EVERY kid who could play the piano played ‘The Entertainer’ every chance they got…it’s all we ever heard the next several months. Made me hate that tune, even though I like ragtime piano music.
Forgot about ‘The Godfather’ too. Snoozer. Epic “great movie” that I was “supposed” to like, but never did.
Maybe I expected too much, but Young Frankenstein didn’t do much for me. Mildly funny when it didn’t drag on for too long, and hardly one of the funniest films of all time.
Interesting. I love some of the films listed here as ones that didn’t move people, but I find many more that I agree with
I was underwhelmed by
The English Patient
Any Adam Sandler movie
All Will Ferrell movies (except Elf). I’ll grant that he might be a great actor who gives his all, but that doesn’t mean I care about the movies he’s elected to act in.
Although I love James Cameron, his commitment to film and his ability to get ambitious projects made with superb special effects, Avatar didn’t move me at all. It’s Ferngully with money. If I liked it, I’d own a copy of the DVD.
Most recent comedies don’t do a thing for me at all.
Se7en was a great film save for Brad Pitts horrific performance. He almost sunk the film.
The Incredibles.
Watched late, when half of the internet were going nuts about it. I expected to be amazed.
And it was… fine. It was a fine movie. Everything about it was perfectly okay.
Oh yeah, “Tootsie” definitely fits in that category. A silly plot and a hammy performance by Dustin Hoffman. Maybe you had to see it in the theatre at the time to appreciate it.
But I did see it in a theater, on a Saturday night, with about 500 other people. Only one short scene got a laugh. I don’t recall it exactly, so I’m not sure who said what, but it was something like this: The director tells the cameraman his shot is too close on Tootsie and to pull back until “she looks better.” The cameraman says how far back. The director says “Cleveland.”
Ba-da-boom. Classic joke set-up. Everyone laughed. I’m not kidding you when I say it was the last time anyone in that theater laughed for the rest of the film.