# Movies You are Surprised You Enjoyed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446 "2008-09-27T05:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/61 "2008-12-01T18:46:20Z")
\*Chocolat. \* My wife’s turn to pick a movie, and I was expecting to be bored silly, but I really enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/62 "2008-12-01T18:59:18Z")
_Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_, since I was bored stiff by the first two movies and don’t care for the books (got through the first three and part of the 4th before giving up). Turns out what I really like is Alfonso Cuaron’s take on it, since the movie 4 & 5 completely underwhelmed me as well. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/63 "2008-12-01T19:05:25Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > \*Babe \*-- the pig movie. I liked it a lot. > > Though the sequel was as bad as I had expected the original to be. ☹ I didn’t see Babe when it was in the theaters because it looked really super stupid. Then **Pig in the City** came out and I dismissed it too. Then Gene Siskel picked it as the best film of the year and just out of WTF?? curiosity I saw it at a 2nd run theater. Oh my god, I LOVED IT! It was dark and creepy and strange and unusual and surreal, right up my alley! It certainly gave me a new respect for Gene Siskel! What balls! After that, I saw **Babe** and quite liked it, but I still think the sequel is the superior movie, by far, for my own tastes. They’re different beasts. One’s a bright, fun, family-friendly movie, the other is dark and challenging, one of the few “kid’s movies” that could go on a shelf next to **Brazil** or **Blade Runner** , or if that’s too lofty, at least next to **Return to Oz** , **Pan’s Labyrinth** and **City of Lost Children**. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/64 "2008-12-01T19:47:23Z")
Fight Club. I really appreciate the fact that they advertised it in a way that did not even hint at spoilers, but I would not have watched it if my son hadn’t brought it home. It is not a mindless testosterone fest. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/65 "2008-12-01T20:34:42Z")
_The Jolson Story._ I never thought I’d enjoy it but I gave it a go because I wanted to see the performance of Larry Parks, whose promising acting career was cut short by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. It turned out to be a wonderfully entertaining movie. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/66 "2008-12-01T20:34:52Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I went to Ghost Town last week expecting it to be poor. I didn’t think Rickey Gervaise could pull off a leading man. > > I liked it. There was nothing new or surprising, it was a typical romcom, but heck I like romcoms. And I want to be in a world where Rickey can end up with Tea. It gives me hope. Same here. I love Ricky Gervais, but I figured it’d be hell to watch when he wasn’t on screen or, god forbid, trying to make me feel bad for his character. I actually teared up a little. I think Téa Leoni’s character helped a lot. **Role Models** recently made my list of movies I was sure would have a few funny jokes then lag by the third act but ended up being both hilarious and sweet. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/67 "2008-12-01T20:55:12Z")
_Titanic_, although I’ve only seen it once and don’t really want to watch it again. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/68 "2008-12-02T01:18:51Z")
**E.T.** , which I never saw during its initial release. IN the ensuing years I came to assume the movie must be all overbearing schmaltz, since there was a small boy and an unbearably cute alien who said “phone home”. But on watching part of it again yesterday, I came to realize that everyone on the project must have been in top form. I don’t usually like John Williams’ music particularly, but I was noticing how wonderfully his score works in various areas around the film, much like it did in the first Star Wars films. **The Stand** miniseries. Apocalyptic stories are harmful with respect to my naturally anxious demeanor, but I loved this. I also don’t care for horror and occult type films, yet Stephen King is so damned good. If the filmmakers are halfway decent, they’ll turn any story of his into a winner. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/69 "2008-12-02T01:37:59Z")
**Citizen Kane** - I know, I know, it’s a classic and one of the best movies ever made blah blah blah, but usually a pedigree like that means it’s going to be deathly dull. I mean, I love and respect Shakespeare, but most of the time, I’d rather pop in Dodgeball. But I really really liked Citizen Kane! It was downright entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/70 "2008-12-02T03:12:17Z")
I might loose my man card for this one, but **Bring It On** Mrs. Rainy wanted to see it, I was really dubious. And this was back when we owned a video store. But it is a funny, sweet little movie. -rainy ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/71 "2008-12-02T11:22:48Z")
I’ll second **The Princess Bride**. I saw it at camp and was already annoyed at the idea of watching movies at camp, much less dumb movies about princesses and love. **Lilo and Stitch**. I thought it looked just awful in previews… and I loved it so much that, as I type this, I’m looking at my three stuffed Stitches. A lot of movies my dad liked, because my dad usually likes really boring movies. **Time Bandits** , **Raising Arizona** , and **Being There** fall into that category. There’s another one I’m trying to remember the title of… I think it was in French and it was about a guy who played the violin (or something. They kept calling it a “viol”) for the king and he fell in love with his violin teacher’s daughter and then left her… anyway, my dad was watching it and I was sort of sitting nearby doing something else. I saw the very beginning, which has a lot of guys in powdered wigs jabbering about music, and decided it didn’t look interesting enough to stop what I was doing and follow the subtitles. About halfway through, though, I started paying attention and it was a lot more interesting than I expected it to be. aha- google says it’s called **Tous les Matins du Monde**. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/72 "2008-12-02T18:02:31Z")
**Strickly Ballroom** - I was not about to enjoy a sureal Australian love story dealing with ballroom dancing with an anti-gypsy subplot, but you know what - I did! ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/73 "2008-12-02T19:44:07Z")
_Four Weddings and a Funeral_. I hate romantic comedies, particularly ones set in foreign countries, but I really liked this movie. The funeral scene was particularly touching. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/74 "2008-12-02T20:49:31Z")
**American History X** , I groaned when I was forced to watch yet another movie about racism, but it was fantastic. In contrast, **Titanic** I was told was not what it looked like in the trailers and wasn’t a romance movie. For years friends and family hassled me into seeing it until the day I finally did, yup, it was exactly the melodramatic crap I thought it was going to be. ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/75 "2008-12-02T21:23:44Z")
**Lost Boys: The Tribe** Enough gratuitous violence and nudity, with relatively good writing, for the subject. I was surprised! ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/76 "2008-12-03T05:31:30Z")
delete ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/77 "2008-12-03T05:55:49Z")
_Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo_, and _Meet Joe Dirt_. They were surprisingly charming and sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/78 "2008-12-13T00:51:12Z")
Mulholland Falls. Not a big Nolte fan, but this part was made for him and Melanie Griffith. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Bruce Damn in that film. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Quasi ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/79 "2008-12-13T01:05:26Z")
I was dern surprised too. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446/80 "2008-12-13T01:11:20Z")
😃 With apologies to any Baldwin fans in the “audience”, but it makes me as happy as a pig in shit when one of the brothers gets his ass kicked in a flick. 😉 Q [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-are-surprised-you-enjoyed/465446.md?page=5)