I know I’m not the only one let down by the uber hyped film “Dances With Wolves in Space” (aka Avatar) but it sets the benchmark for disappointment for me.
I’ve never liked Jerry Maguire…it was caught between being a sports movie and a rom/com. And fell flat on both counts.
See, now that surprises me. I thought Pan’s Labyrinth was amazing, with the interplay between the real-world story of Ofelia, her mother and her abusive stepfather, and the fantasy world.
But, like all Guillermo Del Toro’s movies, the real stars are the set design, the effects, and Doug Jones. Del Toro is just amazing at world-building; the little throwaway scene at the beginning of the movie, where a preying mantis becomes a fairy, shows just how good he is at creating beings that are both realistic and fantastic, gorgeous and disturbing. And Doug Jones is just otherworldly; the Faun andthe Pale Man were both deeply unsettling, mesmerizing, and beautiful.
YMMV, of course.
I, too saw “The Big Chill” with a friend with whom I’ve also long since lost touch, and she loved it.
It was definitely a clone of the much better “Return of the Secaucus 7”, which I saw a few years later.
I saw it in the theater at the time, and it was being hyped as Da Best Movie Evah. Oh, I liked it, but it dated itself and I could tell.
Ooh, ooh, I have another one! The Witch. That was strongly hyped, including by people on this board, and when Mr. Rilch and I saw it, we came very close to asking for our money back. Utilmateiy, we didn’t ask, on the grounds that a cinema can’t be responsible for the quality of a film. It might have been redeemable if the director had followed through on the premise of people being driven mad by tainted corn. But no, it has to be that witches are real…but then it ends right when she joins the coven. So neither possibility pays off. WTF?
What, no mention of the Resident Evil series yet? But then, it was far less than underwhelming.
Good inclusion. I sleep with the tv on (or my laptop on Netflix or something), and I bought the trilogy when it first came out as a set as opposed to individual discs. Those films were worth watching once, but I stay so bored by them that I can’t even pop one of the discs in and fall asleep. Apparently, if I’m going to ignore something, it has to be something I enjoy.
Plus, they were never hyped to be great. So there’s very little disappointment. You go knowing they are bad. And often times they are slightly less than bad, so you come out a little surprised.
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
It ended up being “gay guy with strange mouth has a band” rather than “best voice in rock history”
Not enough music.
Another was ‘Walk the Line’.
It didn’t seem as much a chronicle of Johnny Cash’s life/career beyond a love story about him and June Carter Cash. Hollywood always has to go for the lowest common denominator of sappiness.
I liked *Fargo *a little more than that. It was a solid film, and I’m a big fan of Frances McDormand as well as the Coen brothers. But it sure didn’t live up to all the critical acclaim.
The new TV series “Fargo” is a lot better, actually. At least Season 1.
Serious question: if you were expecting to hate it, then why did you watch it? Forced to watch by a family member, or some other ‘captive audience’ situation?
Agreed. I thought his performance was so one-note. I still don’t get this one.
+1. Big disappointment. Don’t understand the point of this film.
Completely unwatchable…except for Nicole Kidman’s nakedness.
re: Amelie
There’s not much point in defending a ‘fluff’ movie but I’m going to do it anyway. She kept meddling in other peoples’ lives (not always successfully) because she couldn’t fully inhabit her own life. Basically, she chickened out of meeting that guy the first time. She was ostensibly too shy / timid to make personal connections and always stood on the sidelines until that older guy she’d been spying on tried to teach her a lesson about fully being alive.
Anyways it’s just a cute little movie (that I obviously liked 
but I can see how it’s too quirky for some.
The Blair Witch Project, I read a reviews that raved about how scary it was. My friend and I went to see it in the theater and we both were completely underwhelmed. I was really in for a scary movie, too.
Also, I thought Something About Mary was lame, just not funny.
Easy Rider. Good god, what a boring ass movie!
It was an ass movie?