# Name an unjustly derided movie.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 13, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549 "2014-11-13T18:22:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/61 "2014-11-14T04:32:08Z")
> [@Quimby](#):
>
> Amazing Spider-Man 2. I liked it a lot. The entire world is wrong and I’m right 🙂
>
> Battle: Los Angles. A really good war movie.
>
> I’ll also say Josie and the Pussycats. It makes fun of the movie you think it is.
Aaron Eckert’s face as he realizes he is fighting aliens is worth the price of admission. He has that WTF look that I can picture a real Marine Sgt would have on their face in the event this really happened. Outstanding acting.
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#):
>
> Preach it, brother! It’s not a great movie, but I like it for what it was. For some reason though, it actually makes people ANGRY. Jeffrey Jones’ weirdly funny performance as the Dark Overlord is worth the price of admission alone.
>
> Lit-tle pond-hop-per. . .
I liked this movie. The critics were wrong.
---
### Author:  [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/62 "2014-11-14T04:42:06Z")
> [@NDP](#):
>
> I think the main reason **Dances With Wolves** gets a lot of flack is because it beat out the better regarded **Goodfellas** for Best Picture.
>
> As for **Signs** , I hold by my opinion that it’s a good film until right after you see the video footage of the alien at the Mexican birthday party. After that point, the movie (and M. Night Shyamalan’s subsequent career) went downhill.
What a crazy career:
Sixth Sense: Cool, obvious ending just knowing there was a twist but fine.
Unbreakable: LOVE Unbreakable, fantastic soundtrack, the look of the film…
Signs: Fine, I liked it. Spirituality in Sci-Fi is a classic staple actually
The Village: Didn’t see it, but figured out the ending…
Ok, NOW at this point in his career…I read about the pitch meeting he had over Lady in the Water. And the point of the article was to kind of make you side with MNS. But I immediately said, “Uhm. The suits are right. You don’t need this much money to make that film.” The rest is history. Never saw it though
The Happening. I had no problem with it. Come on guys, it really is just a B-Movie. Not everything has to be fantastic. But between MNS backlash, and maybe a little bit of people being tired of Zooey and Wahlburg, this is supposed to be one of the worst films ever? Please. Haven’t seen anything since. But I found it funny that After Earth didn’t even advertise that he was the director.
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### Author:  [@Gerald\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerald_II)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/63 "2014-11-14T05:02:37Z")
Masters of the Universe.
And Signs was awesome.
---
### Author:  [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/64 "2014-11-14T05:19:17Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#):
>
> Aren’t there two Elephant Movies–one based on the stage play, the other night. I’m almost certain I’ve seen both on YouTube.
> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> I wouldn’t be surprised if a filmed version of the play is around, but I’ve never heard of one being released theatrically.
Yes, there is a filmed version of the play. Unlike the David Lynch film, and like actual stage productions of the play, the actor playing Merrick did not wear any make-up to look like the actual “Elephant Man,” albeit, he did alter his voice, and walk with a limp (and a walking stick). This is the thing that got the critics all in a snit, IIRC. It was so elegant not to use ugly make-up, and the Lynch film was making Merrick into a Universal-style monster, blah, blah-- neglecting the fact that this is what Merrick really looked like. (He was quite short in real life due to a bad spinal curvature, and John Hurt was normal height, but otherwise, looked pretty much as Merrick had looked in life.) I’m not sure what production the play was a taped version of-- Glenn Close was in it, so probably US, but I don’t know if it was produced just to air on TV, or if this was the Broadway cast. It aired, IIRC, on ABC. You can probably stream it somewhere.
Aha:[Amazon has it.](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002667GMG?ref_=imdbref_tt_wbr_aiv_c&tag=imdbtag_tt_wbr_aiv_c-20)
---
### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/65 "2014-11-14T11:25:47Z")
The only film called “The Postman” I’d heard of until now was “Il Postino,” a mild, lovely, poignant, highly praised drama about a postman in rural Italy who comes to love the love poems of Pablo Neruda.
So, when you guys started talking about how it was not as bad as critics made it out to be, I thought, “okay, that’s a little weird, but whatever.”
Then, when you started talking about all its high-action scenes, I thought, “what were you guys smoking when you watched this movie?”
A second of googling cleared it all up for me, of course.
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### Author:  [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/66 "2014-11-14T11:39:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> **Dances With Wolves** : it’s become a tiring meme to bash this great film simply because it stars Kevin Costner, who admittedly has made some clunkers since then. But this movie had an outstanding cast and was beautifully filmed. I’ve watched it several times, the last time after reading the umpteenth ‘teh sux’ comment, and it’s as engrossing as the first time I saw it.
I never disliked the film because Costner. He’s fine at his job, and the visuals are indeed stunning. I do dislike the film because Noble Savage + White Guy Better At Injuning Than The Injuns.
The same is true of _The Last Samurai_, BTW. I mean, I actually _like that movie, it has some gorgeous shots and Ken Watanabe can be ~~mai hasubando~~ but goddamn_ the cultural appropriation was strong in that one.
---
### Author:  [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/67 "2014-11-14T11:41:11Z")
**Dutch**. Always my first thought with these kinds of threads. I wouldn’t use the word _unjustly_ because I don’t know how to gauge that, but it’s 14% on RT and I don’t think I’ve ever heard or read anyone say anything good about this movie. Yet I find it a rather touching, well-acted, more-or-less solid film within a common genre/formula. Ed O’Neill gives a very good performance and I think there is surprisingly good chemistry between him and the kid. I’m not saying the movie’s a masterpiece, but I find it mystifying why it seems to have left almost no positive impressions at at all.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/68 "2014-11-14T12:50:55Z")
I could never understand why Daredevil is so vilified. I would put it in the middle of the pack when talking about superhero movies. Not as good as Iron Man or Captain America, better than The Fantastic Four.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/69 "2014-11-14T12:57:36Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#):
>
> Yes, there is a filmed version of the play. Unlike the David Lynch film, and like actual stage productions of the play, the actor playing Merrick did not wear any make-up to look like the actual “Elephant Man,” albeit, he did alter his voice, and walk with a limp (and a walking stick). This is the thing that got the critics all in a snit, IIRC. It was so elegant not to use ugly make-up, and the Lynch film was making Merrick into a Universal-style monster, blah, blah-- neglecting the fact that this is what Merrick really looked like. (He was quite short in real life due to a bad spinal curvature, and John Hurt was normal height, but otherwise, looked pretty much as Merrick had looked in life.) I’m not sure what production the play was a taped version of-- Glenn Close was in it, so probably US, but I don’t know if it was produced just to air on TV, or if this was the Broadway cast. It aired, IIRC, on ABC. You can probably stream it somewhere.
>
> Aha:[Amazon has it.](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002667GMG?ref_=imdbref_tt_wbr_aiv_c&tag=imdbtag_tt_wbr_aiv_c-20)
Yes. I saw the play after it hit Broadway, so I know how it’s performed\* I agree that some critics were annoyed by what they might have seemed as gross depicxtion of an actual deformed Merrick. But, to be realistic, even if someone had turned Pomerance’s play into a movie (instead of simply filming a stage production), I have no doubt that they would have made the actor up to resemble the real Merrick. The objections on that basis are foolish.
\*Pomerance’s play started off-Broadway, but was too big a hit to stay in a small theater. I’d already read the play before I went to see it.
I was also sensitive to the topic because I had read of Merrick’s case long before. I stumbled across a copy of Ashley Montague’s book _The Elephant Man: A Study in Human Dignity_ later on, and was fascinated by the story when I’d read it in more detail. I thought it would make a great play, and started going about writing one – when I learned of Pomerance’s play. Damn! Scooped again!
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/70 "2014-11-14T12:58:28Z")
> [@Kobal2](#):
>
> The same is true of _The Last Samurai_, BTW. I mean, I actually _like that movie, it has some gorgeous shots and Ken Watanabe can be ~~mai hasubando~~ but goddamn_ the cultural appropriation was strong in that one.
I dunno, I’m not seeing cultural appropriation in it. It’s ahistoric, but that’s not the same thing, IMO.
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/71 "2014-11-14T13:07:14Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#):
>
> Jeffrey Jones’ weirdly funny performance
But you repeat yourself…
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/72 "2014-11-14T13:19:24Z")
> [@Kobal2](#):
>
> I never disliked the film because Costner. He’s fine at his job, and the visuals are indeed stunning. I do dislike the film because Noble Savage + White Guy Better At Injuning Than The Injuns.
Was he? IIRC, the only thing he was better at was shooting a gun, and at the climax oif the movie, the Sioux rescued _him_ and not the other way around.
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/73 "2014-11-14T13:50:56Z")
> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> _Joe Dirt_ - it’s a sweet, uplifting story of an idiot, who refuses to quit, bumbling his way across the US in search of his family.
>
> _Mom and Dad Save the World_ - it’s silly, it’s ludicrous, and it made me laugh. And it has Kathy Ireland!
Yes and Yes!
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### Author:  [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/74 "2014-11-14T14:10:11Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#):
>
> No, but having a kajillion military bases all over the world does.
No, it doesn’t.
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### Author:  [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/75 "2014-11-14T14:14:16Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#):
>
> As for Starship Troopers, it’s a brilliant satire on the Empire of United States. Been to a ball game lately?
Fwiw i agree - don’t know about ball games but it foreshadowed an awful lot about the second Iraq invasion. Very smart.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/76 "2014-11-14T14:21:44Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#):
>
> _Hudson Hawk_
>
> The problem was that it was a comedy, and people were expecting an action movie. Taken for what it was, rather than what people wanted it to be, it was a fun film.
It doesn’t quite reach the heights of _Big Trouble in Little China_ or\* The Adventures of\* _Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension!_, but it does sit nicely on the shelf next to them. I think Sandra Bernhard and Richard E. Grant are two of the best bad guys in cinema. They are definitely World Crime League.
---
### Author:  [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/77 "2014-11-14T14:24:28Z")
> [@Quimby](#):
>
> Amazing Spider-Man 2. I liked it a lot. The entire world is wrong and I’m right 🙂
The Spider-Man reboot gets unfairly derided just because it’s a reboot and people reflexively roll their eyes at reboots.
They haven’t been great, mind you. But they haven’t actually been bad either. They’re perfectly mediocre stories with very very good lead actors. Garfield and Stone are _great_ in these. The stories haven’t matched them so far, which is unfortunate. But the movies are OK rather than awful.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/78 "2014-11-14T14:42:42Z")
_The Golden Child_. Not great, but not the total train wreck everyone makes it out to be.
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### Author:  [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/79 "2014-11-14T15:00:05Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> Last Action Hero. No one seemed to be ready for Arnie to parody himself - at least, his action hero self.
I’ll second that; it did a nice job of toying with (or if you want to get all lit’ry about it, “deconstructing”) action-movie tropes and cliches.
---
### Author:  [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-an-unjustly-derided-movie/704549/80 "2014-11-14T15:17:34Z")
> [@Zsofia](#):
>
> For some reason **Oscar** is 13% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t get it - I think it’s a cute little movie.
I completely agree, it’s a farce, and it’s funny as long as you’re not expecting too much from it. If it was anyone but Stallone, it would have gotten better ratings, I’d bet, but he was very good in it.
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