The Faculty…i thought it was grippping stuff. Critics loathed it.
The Big Hit: Facec it, in how many movies have you seen a guy risk his life for a videotape just cause it is due at the video store? Hilarious flick.
Armageddon: Well, i didnt love it, but it was enjoyable ,corny sappiness aside…
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes wasn’t all that bad.
Oh, yeah. I’m with Schnitte.
Steven Speilberg’s A.I. was pretty much everywhere considered dull and overdone, but I found it very moving.
I’ll also mention Waterworld, which I didn’t precisely “love”, but I’d heard so many times that it was the worst movie ever, that when I finally got around to viewing it I was pleasantly surprised. An enjoyable B-movie rip-off of The Road Warrior, if that’s what you’re in the mood for.
A Life Less Ordinary
Problem was, A.I. was a Kubrick movie that was bastardized by Spielberg. Kubrick was known for making movies that rely on innovation and shock value, while Spielberg just plucks at your heartstrings any way he can. The critics were disappointed not because the movie was too overdone compared to the rest of Spielberg’s work, but it was far, far too overdone compared to Kubrick’s.
[spoiler]The movie was intended to be far darker, grittier and rougher than Spielberg made it out to be. Among the changes:
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The city they go to, the one with strip joints, etc., was meant to be extremely sexual, far more so than presented. For example, when they are entering the city, they don’t pass through a woman’s mouth. Instead, try to imagine a suspension bridge held up by two giant legs…
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The movie as envisioned by Kubrick ended with david staring at the blue fairy underwater. Just convince yourself of this, and the movie’s suddenly much better. The bit about the alien looking robots and “one perfect day” was just an optical illusion created by, oh, a weather balloon. There. Now can you see why everyone was disappointed? If only Kubrick had lived to see it through.[/spoiler]
I’ll vote for “Waterworld” and “The Big Hit”!
Another classic that didn’t necessarily get bad reviews (I can’t recall) but bombed at the box office was “Rounders”. It was movie about poker with Ed Norton and Matt Damon. Everybody I have shown this movie too, absolutly loved it (guys and girls of all ages and interests).
MtM
Quite right about A.I., InquisitiveIdiot. I wanted to like it, so the first time through, I did - although the section with the… whatever they were supposed to be - the last 20 minutes, anyway, was just painful. Funny what you say in the spoiler, I.I. - I always KNEW that was the case. I guess it’s not that hard to figure out, given that Spielberg is the maestro of cheesiness.
I knew Kubrick would have ended the movie like that, and the emotional impact would’ve been huge, in my opinion. Would’ve been fascinating and thought-provoking. Kubrick DID want Spielberg to direct the movie, and he would’ve been right for it in some ways - there were touches that showed Kubrick may have been right. But he wouldn’t have left Spielberg to write the script (and he would’ve been producing had his original plan come to fruition - though it probably wouldn’t have; Spielberg sort of distanced himself from the project because he knew when Kubrick had a vision, the only thing a collaborator would do is get in the way.
Most people I know who go back, now 7 years later, and watch Showgirls with the hint that it’s a dark satire, finally get it: it’s actually far more complex a film than it was ever given credit for.
I liked Final Fantasy. I watched it not once, but twice.
As I was going to mention in the recent Harlan Ellison thread , he was the only reviewer who liked David Lynch’s “Dune”.I liked it , too.
I loved Stargate, but was shocked to find it only got a 24% from Rotten Tomatoes.
I liked Dirty Work, too, but I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that critics hated that one.
And I’ll second The Big Hit. That was far better than what critics gave it credit for.
Eye of the Beholder - Most people found it contrived and confusing, and in some parts I suppose it was… but I loved it. I loved Eye’s daughter showing up in weird places, and I loved the sudden ending, which most people just couldn’t deal with. Also, it has a stunning music score, which has never been made available in a separate form.
Mars Attacks
The Postman got horrible reviews and while I didn’t think it was great, I found it entertaining and engaging.
Ishtar.
ID4
I’ll toss in a second on the Postman, and Stargate. Dungeons and dragons was pretty much a major loser but I’m thinking about buying the DVD for the last few minutes, a huge aerial battle involving hundreds of dragons.
My more recent favorite that got trashed was Death to Smoochy I love that movie. A highly entertaining look at the dark side of childrens television. Some great improv rants by Robin Williams, and who could forget the “Parade of Hope Foundation, the roughest of all the charities”
I enjoyed At Close Range with Sean Penn and Christopher Walken. Critics trashed it, but I thought it was compelling. Incidentally, it also featured the only Madonna song I ever liked.
Frequency was also good, but went nowhere at the box office. I never liked Dennis Quaid but he was pretty good. Maybe I liked it more because of the special features on the DVD.
Putting aside for the moment the fact that Shallow Hal is clearly the greatest movie of this millenium, I have to say I really, really, really liked Joe Versus the Volcano. I guess I’m just a sucker for you’ve-only-got-a-few-months-to-live movies or something.