# Movies you know you ought to see but probably never will - and why **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421 "2010-02-10T14:54:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/41 "2010-02-11T18:26:36Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I also have not seen the _Godfather_ films, or anything mafia/gangster/underbelly related. Not interested. Don’t care if it’s a masterpiece. > > I have seen _Unforgiven_. It’s bollocks. The ending negates the rest of the movie, which was a self-pitying misery-fest anyway. > > I have also actively avoided most of Stanley Kubrick’s oeuvre. Long, slow, and boring is not my idea of entertainment. > > And of course I will never watch anything by Tarantino for the rest of my life, thank you very much. This. This. and This. I’ll throw in Bridges of Madison County. A touching love story about two homely people I probably wouldn’t like if I met them in real life won’t be sucking up two hours of my life. Add also Snow Falling on Cedars. I tried to make it through the book. The writing was beautiful but the story and characters were so incredibly flat. Friends described the movie as the same way: Beautifully filmed but uninteresting. ---
**Author:** ![RainGrowsBrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@RainGrowsBrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RainGrowsBrite)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/42 "2010-02-11T20:00:32Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I will never see Pan’s Labyrith. It’s been on my DVR for over a year taking up space and I have yet to watch it. I have this same issue with The Kingdom. Its been staring at me from my DVR list for so long that I almost resent it for no good reason. And Pan’s Labyrinth is disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/43 "2010-02-11T20:11:48Z")
Avatar. I just don’t care about it and 3D hasn’t interested me since I was a wee bairn. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/44 "2010-02-11T20:53:06Z")
I know that _Forbidden Planet_ is a masterpiece and plays a seminal role in the history of great science fiction. I also know that it’s based on Shakespeare’s _Tempest_, which is one of my favorite plays (it and _Proof_ vie for the top spot). In fact, I would very much like to see it. But it’s not exactly easy to find copies of it, so unless it gets a big swell in popularity and gets re-printed, I’m probably not going to see it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/45 "2010-02-11T20:53:54Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I don’t like suburban-angst movies: _Ordinary People, American Beauty, The Ice Storm_, etc. Gosh, you’re in a racial majority, well-fed, have a house, at least a little money, and live in the U.S.? How terrible for you. You’re already better off than mebbe 95% of the people in the world. Grow up. Hint: Don’t see _Revolutionary Road_. You’ll thank me later. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/46 "2010-02-11T21:17:48Z")
> [@FallenAngel](#): > > This. This. and This. > > I’ll throw in Bridges of Madison County. A touching love story about two homely people I probably wouldn’t like if I met them in real life won’t be sucking up two hours of my life. Add also Snow Falling on Cedars. I tried to make it through the book. The writing was beautiful but the story and characters were so incredibly flat. Friends described the movie as the same way: Beautifully filmed but uninteresting. I’ve always tried to put my finger on why I didn’t love the book, because I felt like I should, the writing was so beautiful. I didn’t care about any of the characters. I didn’t dislike them, either, but they really are flat, and I just couldn’t get emotionally invested in their problems. ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/47 "2010-02-11T22:00:07Z")
> [@Chakra Nadmara](#): > > Well it’s not meant to be taken very seriously. It’s a comedy if anything, dark as it is. Correct-a-mondo! ---
**Author:** ![Lethal\_Babydoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3be4f8/32.png) [@Lethal\_Babydoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lethal_Babydoll)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/48 "2010-02-11T22:02:28Z")
Anything that celebrates Northern culture. Which I guess is nothing really. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/49 "2010-02-11T22:50:03Z")
_Million Dollar Baby_: I know the plot, and can’t bring myself to care. _Godfather II_: I’ve recorded it a couple of times, meaning to watch it, but never seem to want to. _The Last Temptation of Christ_: I tried to get through it, but only made a half-hour. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/50 "2010-02-11T22:53:03Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > [snip > _The Last Temptation of Christ_: I tried to get through it, but only made a half-hour. You only wasted 30 minutes, then. Smarter than I am. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/51 "2010-02-12T04:06:07Z")
> [@FallenAngel](#): > > …Add also Snow Falling on Cedars… Friends described the movie as the same way: Beautifully filmed but uninteresting. A friend of mine suggested it be retitled, _Paint Drying on Walls_. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/52 "2010-02-12T10:05:04Z")
“Bachelor Party” is on my list of never-gonna-watch-that…that’s the one with the groundhog? And John Candy or something? Just don’t care. Never seen “Saturday Night Fever” and don’t plan to. It just looks like one of those movies you had to grow up with to avoid finding it painfully dorky/cliche. (And John Travolta as a sex symbol has always baffled me.) Never watched any of the Rocky movies, b/c boxing bores me and Sly Stallone is, IMHO, a joke. Never seen “Fight Club” either, even though peoples’ jaws drop when I say this and they inevitably insist I’ll love it. It just doesn’t look appealing. I also won’t watch anything excessively gory/gross. I like horror movies, but not if they’re gross, aka the “Saw” franchise. I prefer to be spooked, not grossed out by physical injuries and blood. I would spend half the movie saying “Tell me when it stops!” to my boyfriend. How annoying would that be? I also avoid anything with Clint Eastwood. Like **Mahna Mahna** I have a somewhat irrational dislike of him, and his long history of making Westerns doesn’t help. Westerns…ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/53 "2010-02-12T10:19:57Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I don’t like suburban-angst movies: _Ordinary People, American Beauty, The Ice Storm_, etc. Gosh, you’re in a racial majority, well-fed, have a house, at least a little money, and live in the U.S.? How terrible for you. You’re already better off than mebbe 95% of the people in the world. Grow up. I’ve got to give Ordinary People a pass on this. Doesn’t matter how rich or major you are. One son died; the other tried to kill himself. I know, it’s just a movie…don’t see how they are so much better off, though. I’d rather be dirt poor and have two living sons. I found the movie to be realistic and moving. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/54 "2010-02-12T13:37:49Z")
> [@Audrey\_Levins](#): > > I also won’t watch anything excessively gory/gross. I like horror movies, but not if they’re gross, aka the “Saw” franchise. I prefer to be spooked, not grossed out by physical injuries and blood. I would spend half the movie saying “Tell me when it stops!” to my boyfriend. How annoying would that be? With you on that. In fact I’ve pretty much given up on watching horror of any kind. Either I’ll be able to suspend my disbelief and be shit scared watching a film (which I actually don’t like), or I won’t and it’s not worth watching because it’s just people pretending to be hurt/killed. > [@](#): > > I also avoid anything with Clint Eastwood. Like **Mahna Mahna** I have a somewhat irrational dislike of him, and his long history of making Westerns doesn’t help. Westerns…ugh. Me three, neither westerns nor films in the Dirty Harry genre appeal to me in any way. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421/55 "2010-02-12T13:55:24Z")
> [@Audrey\_Levins](#): > > “Bachelor Party” is on my list of never-gonna-watch-that…that’s the one with the groundhog? And John Candy or something? Just don’t care. You might be thinking of _Caddyshack_ with a gopher and Bill Murray. Though he has had a run in with a groundhog too. _Bachelor Party_ had Tom Hanks. Not that that is any recommendation, as it also had Adrian Zmed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-know-you-ought-to-see-but-probably-never-will-and-why/528421.md?page=2)