Movies you've been putting off because of the hype

[singular1]

No Princess Bride quotes from me, but it is just a fun movie. No pressure.
The hype killed Indiana Jones for a friend and me. Too much breathless raving over an old Saturday oater left us both overwhelmingly underwhelmed, with lots of eyerolling and sighing throughout. We couldn’t get out of the theater fast enough when it dragged to a close.
I’m assuming there will be a great deal of mileage varying on that one…

[BrotherCadfael]

@DWMarch

The Princess Bride. I never see descriptions of the great plot and characters or how moving and meaningful the story was. Just “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” Oh and “I want my father back you son of a bitch!” And also IIRC this post will probably be followed by a raft of people saying “inconceivable!” But if the only thing awesome about this movie is line delivery I have no interest.

Eh, well. As you wish.

[BlinkingDuck]

@Lord_Il_Palazzo

I still haven’t seen Inception. I actually got it from Netflix. I let it set by my TV for over four months before returning it, unwatched, because I couldn’t make myself interested enough to try it. The premise looks like it could be entertaining, but it isn’t something I’d ordinarily jump at the chance to see. Still, in four months, I’d probably have watched it, if not for all the recommendations.

Nearly a dozen people have told me that I absolutely must see it, that I’d love it, that it would instantly become one of my favorite movies ever. The Monday after it was released, my (then) office-mate, a real movie-buff, walked in and declares that he’s got a new favorite movie for the first time in over a decade. More recently, when I mentioned to my Aunt that I was returning Inception unwatched, she was astounded. I have to watch it. I’ll love it.

Everyone having told be I’ll love it has just set the bar way too high. If I were to watch the movie and just think it’s OK or even like it or like it a lot, it would still be a disappointment. No movie can stand up to all the expectation that the hype from well meaning fans has generated.

What movies have you been put off of by the hype?

Inception wasn’t really that good…and I am an easy grader…just look at my amazon.com reviews. Out of 5 stars I would give it about 3…maybe 3.5.

Princess Bride is a 5 though

[guizot]

@obfusciatrist

Interestingly, while hype never really puts me off a movie, I do tend to assume that if a book can appeal to enough people to generate hype that I probably don’t want to read it.

I think the same thing can apply to movies, for me at least.

There’s a threshold value to the number of people saying, “You simply must see this movie.” After a certain point, it seems that people just start saying that because other people are saying it. They’re not really evaluating the movie per se, or the likelihood that I’ll like it. It’s almost as though they need other people to justify value of the movie.

[Equipoise]

@BlinkingDuck

Inception wasn’t really that good…

I disagree. Inception is a great movie, intelligent and interesting. The people who are not seeing it because of people saying things like I just said are right to stay very very very far away from it though. It’s definitely not for you.

[WarmNPrickly]

It’s not the hype that’s kept me away, but I sincerely think that these movies will just be a chore to watch. I’ve watched movies like this before, and they always bore me (Citizen Kane, Scareface.)

The Sound of Music
It’s a Wonderful Life
Leonard Part 6
The Godfather
Gone With the Wind
Casa Blanca

[Dewey_Finn]

@WarmNPrickly

The Sound of Music
It’s a Wonderful Life
Leonard Part 6
The Godfather
Gone With the Wind
Casa Blanca

Was that meant for the Sesame Street segment, “one of these things is not like the others”?

[Larry_Mudd]

@Jenaroph

…all the popular girls were all, “OMG it is the BEST MOVIE EVER!!!” (only they didn’t say OMG because it hadn’t been invented yet in those days. But that was the spirit of it.)

The OED cites “OMG” from 1917, so fie on ye whipsnaps.

I can’t really imagine avoiding a movie based on numerous first hand positive reviews, unless I knew that each person had appalling taste, or at least taste that is very far from my own - and then it wouldn’t usually be down to avoiding it because of hype. (ie; several individuals have gushed to me about Twilight, owing to them having the sort of taste that’s common for young women, but it doesn’t have any measurable effect on how likely I am to see it at any time in the future.)

[WarmNPrickly]

@Dewey_Finn

Was that meant for the Sesame Street segment, “one of these things is not like the others”?

I couldn’t help myself when I thought of it.

[Shagnasty]

@WarmNPrickly

I couldn’t help myself when I thought of it.

I SAW Leonard Part 6 in the theater by myself when I was young and wanted to break away from my movie going church group to get some peace. I have seen worse many times since then. I just figured I was missing something because I jumped in late in the beloved series but even then, it wasn’t as horrible as The English Patient by any measure.

[Max_Torque]

@WarmNPrickly

The Sound of Music

Oh yeah, that’s another one. It’s my wife’s very favorite movie, yet I’ve never seen it. But I’ve seen it performed on stage, so I know the story and songs and all. So, I’m not in any kind of rush to see it.

[WOOKINPANUB]

@Shagnasty

The bad part is it still sinks in the re-release. I was hoping new technology could do something to help that. All you who haven’t seen Titanic need to do so right now. I am a 38 year old male and I literally watch it at least three times a week and have for many years. It’s just an incredible movie like a sustained cinematic orgasm. Run, don’t walk to your nearest DVD store and get it. Every day you live not seeing this movie is a day without complete fulfillment.

I’m sensing a mockulatory tone, yet I’m not sure what you’re mocking.

[Shagnasty]

@WOOKINPANUB

I’m sensing a mockulatory tone, yet I’m not sure what you’re mocking.

Just myself. I really do love Titanic that much and have seen it literally many hundreds of times. I can’t explain.

[Don_t_Panic]

@Lord_Il_Palazzo

I still haven’t seen Inception.

Dude, go see Inception. Seriously. Put down whatever you’re doing right now and go see Inception. Right now. Just go.

Damn. That didn’t help, did it?

But you really, properly, seriously should see Inception.

[armedmonkey]

All I know is that if Equipoise says one more goddamn thing about Attack the Block, there is no way I am seeing that movie.

[kushiel]

@A Monkey With a Gun

All I know is that if Equipoise says one more goddamn thing about Attack the Block, there is no way I am seeing that movie.

I feel the same way about a certain musical artist!

[Equipoise]

Like I care? You’re the ones missing out.

[Dung_Beetle]

I, too, develop a mental block against books or movies if they’re talked about too much.
“You have to see it!”
“Oh yeah, well, you’re not the boss of me!”

I remember I was working at a drugstore near a movie theater when “Meet the Parents” came out and it seemed like every third person who came in told me it was the funniest! Movie! Ever! There was no way in hell I was going to see it after that.

[Skammer]

@Dung_Beetle

every third person who came in told me it was the funniest! Movie! Ever! There was no way in hell I was going to see it after that.

You were right to listen to the other two people. There are worse movies than Meet the Parents, but I’d rather have spent that time in the sunshine.

[Don_t_Panic]

You know what? Thinking about Inception… Right now, I really think that it might be the best movie ever. Maybe the best one by like, a country mile. In fact, the idea that any movie could possibly be better than Inception is just silly. Inception is so good that even the parts of it that are bad are almost certainly done that way on purpose, which makes them good. The more I think about it, the better it gets. I really think it bats it so far out of the park that you have to totally rethink what a park even is.
But I’m not going to tell you that.