*Chocolat. * My wife’s turn to pick a movie, and I was expecting to be bored silly, but I really enjoyed it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Titanic, although I’ve only seen it once and don’t really want to watch it again.
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.
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
Lost Boys: The Tribe
Enough gratuitous violence and nudity, with relatively good writing, for the subject. I was surprised!
delete
Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo, and Meet Joe Dirt.
They were surprisingly charming and sweet.
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
I was dern surprised too.
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