# Movies that you feel truly \*unfairly\* get dissed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340 "2016-03-08T22:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/81 "2016-03-11T19:55:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Of the above films I’ll agree that **Unbreakable** and **A.I.** were very good films, although I personally don’t care much for them. I was unaware that people were dissing them – I thought they were considered very good films. Unbreakable is a good film that suffers by comparison to The Sixth Sense and it is the first step in Shamalyan’s downward spiral from director of a great movie to a complete hack. AI is one of the worst movies ever made. Everyone involved in making it should have been forced to donate double whatever they made on the movie to charity before being allowed to work again. In a sane and rational world every copy of that movie would be destroyed as a warning to other filmmakers. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/82 "2016-03-11T20:02:32Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > You’re the first person I’ve heard defend Lady in the Water. It’s the first one of his movies that I walked out saying “What a piece of shit.” > And I like The Village and basically nothing Signs and the plant movie…but I HATED Lady in the Water. My brother has, at last count, a 27 minute dissertation on exactly how horrible “Lady In the Water” is. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/83 "2016-03-11T20:22:58Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > You’re the first person I’ve heard defend Lady in the Water. It’s the first one of his movies that I walked out saying “What a piece of shit.” > And I like The Village and basically nothing Signs and the plant movie…but I HATED Lady in the Water. Technically the second because on Page one I said how much I enjoyed Lady in the Water 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/84 "2016-03-11T23:08:24Z")
_John Carter._ They should have gone with the full title of _John Carter of Mars_, but after waiting most of my life for an adaptation, I thought it was very creditable and enjoyable. There were some things I might have done differently, but I didn’t feel I wasted my money, and it didn’t join the long list of SF “scorched earth” adaptations, where they did such a crappy job of adapting a great novel that no one would want to make a remake for decades, if ever (like Zelazny’s _Damnation Alley_.) There was a t-shirt I saw in Britain that said “F\*\*k You, I LIKED John Carter!” Wish I had one. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/85 "2016-03-11T23:12:04Z")
I also liked _Southland Tales_, which may make me unique on this planet. It was an attempt at a Philip K. Dick pastiche, I think, and while it wasn’t a very coherent movie, bits and pieces and many of the performances (Sarah Michelle Geller in particular) were good. Really good score, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/86 "2016-03-11T23:21:09Z")
Double Post. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/87 "2016-03-12T01:41:04Z")
> [@Arizona\_Mike](#): > > _John Carter._ > > They should have gone with the full title of _John Carter of Mars_, but after waiting most of my life for an adaptation, I thought it was very creditable and enjoyable. There were some things I might have done differently, but I didn’t feel I wasted my money, and it didn’t join the long list of SF “scorched earth” adaptations, where they did such a crappy job of adapting a great novel that no one would want to make a remake for decades, if ever (like Zelazny’s _Damnation Alley_.) > > There was a t-shirt I saw in Britain that said “F\*\*k You, I LIKED John Carter!” Wish I had one. I liked Damnation Alley. But I also liked Bug, and Gargoyles and Killdozer so… ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/88 "2016-03-12T03:01:45Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I liked Damnation Alley. But I also liked Bug, and Gargoyles and Killdozer so… Seeing Paul Winfield in DA getting eaten alive by those flesh-eating cockroaches is something that stayed with this 12-year-old for a long, long time. ☹ And Peppard was gross as ever. Always wanted to boogie around in that vehicle - go wherever the fuck I wanted. Saw “Killdozer” when it came on tv - I liked the cool shot of the gears moving on their own. Also saw the pseudonymous, awe-inspiring band (pride of Wisconsin, I believe) four or five times back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/89 "2016-03-12T03:09:30Z")
Do not diss B **u** g. That is an awesome movie. And even creepier than a real horror film. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/90 "2016-03-12T03:24:32Z")
I never particularly cared for Gene Siskel, but I lost all respect for him when he dissed _ **Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure** _. It was painfully obvious that all of the movie’s comedic intent had simply passed him by, going completely over his head. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/91 "2016-03-12T05:14:36Z")
I thought of another one. I really liked Battle: Los Angeles. It had a ton of war cliches but it was interesting seeing them playing out in American suburbs. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/92 "2016-03-12T16:05:05Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I liked Damnation Alley. But I also liked Bug, and Gargoyles and Killdozer so… As a cheesy pleasure, sure. But if they had based it on the novel, whose protagonist is the nihilistic last living member of the Hells Angels, blackmailed into transporting plague serum across a nuclear ravaged U.S., it could have been great. It was a part that William Smith was born to play in his prime. Hell Tanner seems to have been an early prototype for Snake Plissken. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/93 "2016-03-12T16:06:21Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I thought of another one. I really liked Battle: Los Angeles. It had a ton of war cliches but it was interesting seeing them playing out in American suburbs. I liked that, too. It reminded me a little of the old Gold Key _M.A.R.S. Patrol_ comic books series that Wally Wood did. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/94 "2016-03-12T19:00:44Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I don’t hate **Signs** because it’s cool to hate it. I had no idea it was cool to hate it. I hate it because the premise is that there’s no point in trying to do anything for yourself, everything is just what God wants, so fuck it. > [@RikWriter](#): > > I didn’t get that message from it at all. The message seemed to be that things happen for a reason, so don’t let bad things happening to you destroy your faith and hope for the future. I would consider those the same message, stated differently. > [@WhyNot](#): > > Yeah, see, that’s _not_ a twist. That’s a villain’s weakness, discovered at the crucial moment before their demise. They all have them. That’s electromagnets or Krillitane oil or stopping to brag before the hero is dead. > > You can’t go back and watch the movie a second time knowing that bit of information and have it be an entirely different movie - the hallmark of Sixth Sense’s twist. All you gain by knowing that is seeing how they’re setting the scene (literally) for the eventual hero’s triumph. Yes, you can. Because you now know they were never remotely a threat. The hero never triumphs because he was never in any actual danger. That is the message of the film–that there never was any real danger. Trust God and that he has a plan for your life. There’s a reason why people spoiler that aspect. If you know that the aliens can be beaten by [water], you’d know the aliens were easy to stop, and thus they wouldn’t be threatening. (A good example of the “dead aliens walking” trope being used is in _War of the Worlds_. That one, the aliens demonstrate a clear and present danger, even though they are dying.) And, BTW, if they truly do just reveal the weakness in at the critical time, I would consider that a deus ex machina. Now, if they’ve been trying to figure it out for a while, and just happen to figure it out at the last possible second, that’s different. But a weakness falling in people’s laps is bad. I’m not sure where I fall in _Signs_. I just know I didn’t like it even the first time I saw it. ==== Oh, and I guess I should actually answer the OP. My answer remains the _Lost In Space_ movie. I’m not saying it’s a great movie, but I don’t know why it’s held up as an example of a horrible movie. I think similarly of the first _Fantastic Four_ movie that was actually released. I liked them both, and not in a “so bad it’s good” or “guilty pleasure” way. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/95 "2016-03-12T20:41:17Z")
I came to recommend “Lady in the Water” but I see others have beaten me to it, but they didn’t lay out any specifics as to why they liked it, so I will. First of all, I don’t like Shyamalan generally. Didn’t like ANY of his movies, including the Sixth Sense which I found kinda dull. So I just happened to catch “Lady In the Water” without really knowing what it was, and I found myself intrigued and interested. I thought what I was watching was an attempt to put in movie form a modern urban fantasy. It had the earmarks: supernatural creatures invading a modern urban setting, in this case an apartment complex in Florida. It has a nice sense of eeriness. The apartment complex and its inhabitants seem isolated somehow, and you get a sense that anything might come out of the Florida night. The people respond to the supernatural elements in pragmatic, modern ways, typical of urban fantasy. One of the nice elements of the movie is that the mythology is not a well-known Western myth, but seems based on an Eastern myth, so that the supernatural elements come out of nowhere, are not easily categorized, digested and understood by the movie characters. Which leads to the major problem that I and many viewers had with the film, which is that the central supernatural elements of the story are not well constructed. It was kind of fuzzy and nebulous, and that IMHO was what kept it from being a success. You can have plenty of nebulosity and mystery and things never explained in a supernatural story, but the central drama of the mythology needs to be clear, and in Lady in the Water, it wasn’t. Still, it was about the only movie to take on the urban fantasy genre that did a good job of creating that sense of mystery and the undefinable in the midst of everyday life that is central to urban fantasy, and for my money that’s a win. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/96 "2016-03-12T21:05:55Z")
> [@Arizona\_Mike](#): > > _John Carter._ > > They should have gone with the full title of _John Carter of Mars_, but after waiting most of my life for an adaptation, I thought it was very creditable and enjoyable. There were some things I might have done differently, but I didn’t feel I wasted my money, and it didn’t join the long list of SF “scorched earth” adaptations, where they did such a crappy job of adapting a great novel that no one would want to make a remake for decades, if ever (like Zelazny’s _Damnation Alley_.) > > There was a t-shirt I saw in Britain that said “F\*\*k You, I LIKED John Carter!” Wish I had one. Agree wholeheartedly, and have ever since it came out. If you want to know how the film got unfairly shafted, read Michael D. Sellerrs’ book **John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood** > **[Amazon.com: John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood eBook : Sellers, Michael D.:...](https://www.amazon.com/John-Carter-Hollywood-Michael-Sellers-ebook/dp/B00AFCZ1S4)** > > Amazon.com: John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood eBook : Sellers, Michael D.: Kindle Store I also found a fan-made _John Carter and the Gods of Mars_ movie poster and printed it on a T-shirt. I can’t find that mock poster, but apparently there are quite a few of them out there. A lot of fans are pissed off that they didn’t continue the series [https://www.pinterest.com/pin/405535141416868327/](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/405535141416868327/) [http://jeffdoten.dunked.com/the-gods-of-mars](http://jeffdoten.dunked.com/the-gods-of-mars) > **[John Carter of Mars 2: The Gods of Mars Poster : Catspaw Dynamics · Comics,...](https://catspawdynamics.com/john-carter-of-mars-2-the-gods-of-mars-poster/)** > > Will we ever get a John Carter of Mars 2 film? Maybe, maybe not. Poster design by Scott Dutton / Catspaw Dynamics. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/97 "2016-03-12T22:30:46Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Not that they’re ripe with modern disdain, but I’ll suggest **Tango & Cash** and **The Long Kiss Goodnight**. They’re both good, fun action movies that seem to have been overlooked for some reason. I’m surprised Tango & Cash isn’t a bigger cult hit. It’s a movie made of nothing but bitchy one-liners, oily action stars, and 80s violence. The first time I saw it, I was amazed I hadn’t had people recommending it for years. My contribution would be Sky Captain. I can understand that not everything gels perfectly and it makes a few needlessly weird choices, but I think it holds together as a very solid pastiche of old action serials and has some fantastic visuals. ---
**Author:** ![Paegan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/258eb7/32.png) [@Paegan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paegan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/98 "2016-03-13T01:44:23Z")
I really like the movie _Watchmen_ but almost everyone I know shoots it down in a flaming ball of hatefulness. I first watched it not knowing any of the background or where the inspiration for it came from. _Shrug_…I watch it every time its on TV…which seems like quite often. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/99 "2016-03-13T03:27:00Z")
> [@Paegan](#): > > I really like the movie _Watchmen_ but almost everyone I know shoots it down in a flaming ball of hatefulness. I first watched it not knowing any of the background or where the inspiration for it came from. _Shrug_…I watch it every time its on TV…which seems like quite often. I thought Watchmen was generally acclaimed and considered a topnotch film by critics and most filmgoers. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2016, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340/100 "2016-03-13T08:07:45Z")
Oh, and the Karate Kid remake wasn’t that terrible. Yeah, I went there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-you-feel-truly-unfairly-get-dissed/748340.md?page=6)