X-Files: Fight the Future: I was dead excited to see Mulder and Scully on the big screen. At the end of it, I just felt… underwhelmed. It wasn’t as bad as the second film (why did they bother with that one?) but I wished it did more with its bigger budget and supporting cast. The inclusion of the Lone Gunmen felt contrived to me.
ETA: I’m browsing through the reviews on IMDB and am surprised at the number of positive comments. Maybe I should stop being a petulant fangirl and give it a second viewing.
The Hurt Locker. I thought it would be a realistic look at the current war but it turned out to be a series of highly improbably situations badly shot.
Ishtar…This for me felt like a movie I was sure to enjoy. I really enjoy buddy comedies, Dustin Hoffman was wonderful actor and did comedy well. Up to that time he had not had a “bad” movie. As for Warren Beatty, even his bad films were entertaining. I was ready for it. I mean, the worst it could be was a fair rip off of Crosby and Hope’s “Road” films. It was the first movie I took my wife to as my wife and I was so worried she might divorce me just because of the movie. It was that bad.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose - the ads made it look creepy. It starred Laura Linney and Campbell Scott (two actors I usually like), it had demonic possession & exorcism! I thought it’d be a blast.
Turns out to be a plodding court procedural with the occasional ‘spooky door slamming by itself’ non-scares. But what was worse than the boring court scenes IMO was the final denouement when Linney’s “heroic” lawyer delivers a summary where she argues that cold hard facts aren’t enough on which to base a decision about a manslaughter case, and that vague feelings based on wacko religious doctrines ought to be counted as equally valid. As one review I read (after seeing it unfortunately) commented “In a time when creationists argue that ‘intelligent design’ be taught in schools in place of evolution, this is not the message movie America needs to see.”
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra. My husband and I grew up on Saturday reruns of old 50s and 60s horror/monster films, and this is a modern spoof filmed on a low budget. It got a lot of rave reviews from people who like the older monster movies so I figured this must be awesome. Oh no. We were both really, really bored. Reading the plot summary at that link, I can’t even remember exactly when we turned it off, so I must have repressed much of it. I really wanted to love this film, and I was so disappointed.
I didn’t hate the movie, but I too had really high expectations for it and felt let down. It had some interesting moments, but I just couldn’t get myself to care for Jeremy Renner’s character and for the most part I was like “meh.”
The Matrix Reloaded is probably my number one. The Matrix is (still) in my top 5 favorite movies all time. I had high expectations for the sequel and while I realized that often sequels pale in comparison to the original, there was still so much they could do with the series and so many awesome direction to take it. Needless to say I was thoroughly disappointed in the movie and after leaving the theater had an intense desire to punch something.
My wife loved it, and it sounded fascinating with the schematic design of the set and filming the overhead shot by stitching the images from a dozen cameras together. I came out of that film pissed off, ready to hunt down the director and kick his ass.
Another film by a European asshole. His most recent film is getting rave reviews, but after the annoyingly vague Caché and incredibly annoying Funny Games, he’s burned his bridges with me. He can go fuck himself.
I didn’t hate The Hurt Locker, but I didn’t see what everyone else saw.
I also didn’t hate The Hangover, but I didn’t find it to be nearly as funny as everyone else.
I think it was because I saw both of them after the hype and was expecting a lot more.
I am not an Adam Sandler fan (to say the least), but I had read glowing reviews and thought it sounded interesting. I like off-the-wall stuff, but it has to be good off-the-wall. I hate this piece of garbage. It was only by stubbornness and sheer will that I endured the entire movie.
But if I tend to like Oscar-bait, artsy-fartsy, character studies - (or at least I’m pretentious enough to think I do), then Lost In Translation is a perfect example. Based on what I heard and based on the fact that people who tend to recommend movies I like recommended that. I hated it.
Recently, An Education. Great reviews. Supposedly exactly up my alley (based on what I’d heard about the story an dplot) I was expecting to at least like it. Instead, it was an Afterschool Special with period clothing and British accents.
“Gladiator”. I like books/Hitler Channel specials on Ancient Rome and I think “I, Claudius” and “HBO Rome” are two of the greatest TV series ever. With Derek Jacobi it seemed like a winner. But except for the opening battle and two fights in the Colosseum, it’s a dud.
Good Will Hunting, Good Will Hunting, Good Will Hunting, and Good Will Hunting.
Lord, I hated that movie, at least the first 50 minutes or so that I saw of it before I walked out of the theater. Maybe it turned absolutely fascinating after that, in which case the joke’s on me, because I’m sure never going to take the risk of trying to watch it again.
I thought Good Will Hunting was going to be an interesting exploration of mathematical discovery and the influences of social class and formal credentials on the research process and the academic environment. And I would have been fine with a nice love story and a young man’s coming-of-age struggle thrown into the mix.
But Og help us, what a load of flatulent ignorant crap. In typical Hollywood style, the actual ideas they were talking about were nothing more than scriptwriter’s code for “LOOK AT THIS CHARACTER HE’S REALLY SMART!!” And the names of famous results and institutions were just reduced to ammunition in tedious dick-waving contests. And most of the females had no function in the movie whatsoever except to gaze adoringly at the alpha males who were REALLY SMART.
The city of Cambridge MA should just pass an ordinance banning Hollywood film crews entirely within its municipal boundaries, and then we’d be less likely to be subjected to squirrel-squicking abominations like Good Will Hunting.
The Royal Tennenbaums … I just ended up hating all the characters and wondering what the heck was THAT all about? Even after hearing how Wes Anderson was SUCH a good movie maker.
Oh yeah, I remember that. You are indeed correct. I loved Scarlett Johansson in that scene; her reaction of mild disgust while gamely being a trooper was spot on.