# Movies you hate but everyone else seems to love **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564 "2006-05-20T20:42:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/21 "2006-05-20T22:30:11Z")
_All That Jazz._ I generally dislike movies about show business anyway, but this one was horribly tedious. Plus it had no likable characters in it. I was hoping the protagonist would just die already and get it over with. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/22 "2006-05-20T22:30:26Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] There was no science fiction in _Signs_. For me, the valid flaws you point out pushed the movie into the “mediocre” category. On the other hand, I don’t know of anyone who thinks _Signs_ was good, let alone a masterwork of cinema. [/QUOTE] I thought it was good, although very flawed. I liked it enough to conceive of a ludicriously complex fanwank to cover most of the glaring plotholes. Certainly not a masterwork of cinema, although arguably a masterwork of cinematography. If they’d had a script good enough to match the camerawork, it would have been one of the all time great movies. Anyways, put me down for _Forrest Gump_, _Saving Private Ryan_, and the first _Shrek_. Blech on all three. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/23 "2006-05-20T22:33:22Z")
I hated Napoleon Dynamite. Not funny or entertaining at all, and I know a lot of people with very similar tastes to mine who just worship it. I’m not a big fan of either Shrek movie (way too self-aware and cutesy, with the constant feeling of “aren’t we clever?”), Forrest Gump, or E.T. – I hate feel-good schmaltz. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/24 "2006-05-20T22:35:25Z")
[QUOTE=Agrippina] The Princess Bride. I don’t hate it, but I don’t think it’s the pinnacle of comic gold everybody else seems to think it is. [/QUOTE] Amen. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/25 "2006-05-20T22:39:55Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] I liked it enough to conceive of a ludicriously complex fanwank to cover most of the glaring plotholes. [/QUOTE] Including the “Some little Middle Eastern village figures out how to defeat the aliens and from there it spreads through some apparently magical means to the rest of the world, meanwhile eluding the attention of the CNN reporter with a zillion connections to every information outlet in the world” one? I’d like to read it. ---
**Author:** ![bigdfrombigd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bigdfrombigd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bigdfrombigd)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/26 "2006-05-20T22:43:03Z")
Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/27 "2006-05-20T22:44:23Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] Including the “Some little Middle Eastern village figures out how to defeat the aliens and from there it spreads through some apparently magical means to the rest of the world, meanwhile eluding the attention of the CNN reporter with a zillion connections to every information outlet in the world” one? I’d like to read it. [/QUOTE] Lots of places discovered how to defeat them independently. That village simply happened to be (one of) the first ones to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/28 "2006-05-20T22:45:32Z")
Caddyshack! ---
**Author:** ![bigdfrombigd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bigdfrombigd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bigdfrombigd)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/29 "2006-05-20T22:45:43Z")
[QUOTE=bigdfrombigd] Me too. [/QUOTE] That would be about The Princess Bride. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/30 "2006-05-20T22:48:51Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] Well, what is it? Does she hate _Forrest Gump_ too? [/QUOTE] I think the reason people keeps watching it is because nobody hasn’t found out yet. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/31 "2006-05-20T22:55:58Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] Lots of places discovered how to defeat them independently. That village simply happened to be (one of) the first ones to do so. [/QUOTE] So the reporter was lying? Well, if we allow that, I can fix every plot hole ever constructed. _Signs_ would be a piece of cake. It wasn’t really water, it was concentrated sulphuric acid! They just _said_ it was water. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/32 "2006-05-20T22:57:18Z")
**Pretty Woman**!!!111 ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/33 "2006-05-20T23:09:24Z")
I’ll second the _Lord Of The Rings Trilogy_ Was there are story in there anywhere? mm ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/34 "2006-05-20T23:12:15Z")
Again when I mention that I hate those movies to anyone, they reply with ‘you must not have kids or like animation etc’. SO I always preface it with "I love Spirited Away, most of the Pixar movies, I love Donald Duck shorts from the 1940s etc etc, but I hate Shark Tale, Madagascar and Finding Nemo. Little kids are always going to like animated movies like those. But the great thing about Toy Story , Bugs Life (examples) are they appeal to adults as well with the clever storylines and jokes. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/35 "2006-05-20T23:12:23Z")
[Alien](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/alien.htm). How scary can a movie be when the characters are utter morons who deserve to die? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/36 "2006-05-20T23:15:24Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] [Alien](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/alien.htm). How scary can a movie be when the characters are utter morons who deserve to die? [/QUOTE] How come you never responded to my critique of this silliness? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/37 "2006-05-20T23:20:41Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] So the reporter was lying? Well, if we allow that, I can fix every plot hole ever constructed. _Signs_ would be a piece of cake. It wasn’t really water, it was concentrated sulphuric acid! They just _said_ it was water. [/QUOTE] Nah, he was just mistaken or confused. News guys get stuff wrong all the time, especially right when the story’s breaking. Look at all the bogus stories that got reported the day of 9/11, or in the aftermath of Columbine. It’s not a plot hole, it’s verisimilitude. One of the things that made the movie interesting to me was that it was presenting the invasion from the point of view of someone who was not at the forefront of the invasion, or instrumental in driving the aliens away, or had any sort of a clue about what was really going on. The movie is full of people giving him conflicting reports, speculation, wild rumors, and out-right superstition, all being passed along as fact. Why would TV news be any more reliable, in that situation? Heck, I don’t even consider this a proper fanwank, it’s so easy to explain. C’mon, now, ask me something _hard_! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/38 "2006-05-20T23:24:56Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] C’mon, now, ask me something _hard_! [/quote] Why did the aliens come here in the first place? How come Mel Gibson’s brother is smart enough to stand upright and speak intelligibly, but not smart enough to grab his own baseball bat and club the intruder? What is an overweight Indian dude called Ray doing driving a jeep in Hicktown, USA? How come the aliens can travel between planets (probably star systems) but can’t break down a wooden door? What were the aliens doing during the first half of the film, when they make noises at night for no particular reason? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/39 "2006-05-20T23:27:25Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] Nah, it’s not just the idiotic and unbelievable science fiction. The plot sucks six ways till Sunday. There’s not a surprise in the entire film. The moment you see Mel Gibson, you know how it’ll end: he gets his faith back. The divine message is “swing away” - yeah, figuring out that you might want to hit the intruder with a baseball bat, that takes a deity. We’d never have thought of that ourselves. The funny moments aren’t. And so on. It’s just a shitty movie. [/QUOTE] Signs. Feh. I like his new credit card commercial a thousand times better than that sucky flick. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564/40 "2006-05-20T23:34:11Z")
**Pulp Fiction**. I couldn’t even finish watching it. It was gratuitously violent and profane, I do not identify with drug abusers, and it seemed disjointed and pointless. I gave up when Christopher Walken was explaining to some kid about a pocket watch. I also bailed out of the Second Star Wars ( **Not the Empire Strikes Back** , but the second second one.) When Ani found his mother, and I realized I had been checking the clock every five minutes, I discovered I was not engrossed in the movie. Both were on TV, so I found a good book to read instead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-hate-but-everyone-else-seems-to-love/357564.md?page=3)