This is one. I felt rather flat about it when I first saw it in the theater, but it has grown on me very much over the years and I now consider it one of Merchant-Ivory’s finest films.
The one I came in here to mention was Martin Scorcese’s “Age of Innocence.”
It seemed a very odd movie for him to be making, and the narrative voiceover, some of the casting choices (all those British actors playing New Yorkers), and the showy directorial florishes irritated me when I first saw it. Like the above, it has grown on me since and I watch my DVD of it 3-4 times a year.
My friend got the anniversary edition for his birthday and told me it was something I absolutely had to see. This being the friend that turned me on to Stanley Kubrick, I assumed this would be a real treat. The first time I saw it I was bored out of my mind. A year later, I noticed it was on TV and decided to just leave it on while I played computer games. For some reason, I started to semi watch it and by the end I couldn’t take my eyes off. Now its one of my favorite sci-fi movies.
Right now, I think I’m growing to love A Clockwork Orange. The first time I saw it, I just thought it was too over the top and just plain confusing. After reading the book, though, I watched it again, and its starting to grow on me. I don’t see it being one of my favorites, but I will put it in my list of “Movies You Should See Before You Die.”
Same here. I was…what, 15? 16? when it came out. I vivdly recall sitting in my basement with my buddies listening to Kill 'Em All or Fistfull Of Metal or whatever it was that day – then turning on the radio and hearing what we thought was a commercial for a new band. “Heavy metal just got a hernia!”, the announcer growled, while the boys played Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You in the background.
Woohoo! Yeah! Rawk! A new kick-ass metal band! We gotta go check them out! Then we discovered that holy crap, they don’t just have an album, they have a fricking movie out!!
Yep…we went into the theater expecting to see a concert film from a new band. Needless to say, we walked out with the most “what the fuck was that” looks you’ve ever seen.
I’ve since come to understand two things: 1) It’s a brilliant satire, and 2) teenagers are fucking morons.
The Thin Red Line. First time around I thought it was a jumbled mess of war movie and existentialist junk. Then I realized it was, in fact, *all *existentialist junk. It became much better, somehow.
I wouldn’t say, “love,” but at first view of Ocean’s 11 – the Clooney version – I recall writing a review in my journal in which I totally trashed it, and demanded that hour and half of my life back.
But since I’ve watched it over a few times, I actually think it’s a pretty entertaining movie.
The latest high-profile movie that everyone loved that I hated recently was No Country for Old Men. We’ll see if my opinion of that changes if I catch in on HBO some day.
Oh … same thing for W. I’m a left-wing tree-hugging, tye-dye patchoulie Birkenstock wearing, hippie dirt bag … but I thought that movie sucked bags. I’ll have to re-view some time and give it a chance.
Fargo and Pulp Fiction. Both of them I couldn’t get through the violence to see the humor at first, and the latter had the added problem of trying to figure out the timeline.
The first time I saw it, I was enjoying the brothers-on-the-run-from-the-law premise. Particularly Quinten Tarantino’s twisted psycho of a character.
Then, suddenly, WTF Vampires?! Why are there vampires now? I was so irritated at the abrupt shift in the plot that I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the movie.
I’ve seen it a few times since then, and I like it more every time I watch it.
It’s interesting how many Coen brothers’ movies are listed, because when I read the thread title, my immediate thought was Raising Arizona. When I first saw it, I didn’t find anything to like at all.
I loved Fargo and Oh Brother at first sight; then realized that maybe I get it now and should give Raising Arizona another shot. (Especially since it’s one of my husband’s favorite movies.)
The Right Stuff. And I’m a long time space exploration supporter who will never forget being thirteen years old and watching on television as men walked on the moon. The first couple of times I tried to watch it I thought it was just too long and boring. I’ve since seen it a few times and have come to quite like it.
And I’ll second A Clockwork Orange. Didn’t care for it at all the first time. I’ve seen pieces several times since, and even watched it all the way through again a couple of years ago. I still don’t think it’s quite a masterpiece, but it has gone up to “weird, but not bad” status IMHO.
Little known fact: Paul Verhoevan’s original title for this movie was Dear American Moviegoing Public, I Hope You All Fucking Die, Fuck Your Mothers, Fuck Your Sisters, You Festering Tards, Oh By The Way Did I Mention That I Fucking Hate You All?.
