# Some people just have no taste in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175 "2010-07-19T00:31:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/21 "2010-07-19T03:06:25Z")
Why not have her get on to do the whole “Movie’s you’ll like” thing. Part of reason behind Netflix is to let it suggest movies for for by selecting what you like and dislike. They do a pretty good job. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/22 "2010-07-19T03:19:06Z")
> [@Captain\_C](#): > > **The Matrix** – “I don’t get it. He can fly now?” (I assume referencing the last scene where Neo shows he can control physics) Ah, but this means she watched the whole movie. Does this mean she likes dystopian SF? There’s a category you can mine for her. If she liked _True Lies_ (lots of action), maybe she’d like the _A Fish Called Wanda_, the _Bourne_ movies, or _Mission Impossible_, _Con-Air_, _Face-Off_, _Mr. and Mrs. Smith_, or one of those buddy cop movies with lots of action. _Lethal Weapon_, _Beverly Hills Cop_. Some not terrible “sweet” movies – _The Fisher King_, _Night at the Museum_, _Big Fish_, _Overboard_. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/23 "2010-07-19T03:23:37Z")
If she likes True Lies she is probably a big Arnold fan. try Commando next ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/24 "2010-07-19T03:24:31Z")
Peoples’ tastes are different because people are different. And there are different reasons to watch a movie in the first place. It might be to put you into a mood, pull you out of a mood, as background noise, to learn something, to people-watch; I don’t know many people with a narrow movie-style preference, as one tends to watch whatever will do the job at the moment. So the whole ‘I don’t get people’s taste’ or ‘We raised her to watch ‘good’ movies’ just floors me. It almost makes no sense at all, except in the ‘I don’t care for what they watch, therefore it must be wrong’. Which also doesn’t make any sense. At least the old lady made it through whatever Matrix film that was, cause I sure didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/25 "2010-07-19T03:31:33Z")
How old is your mother? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/26 "2010-07-19T04:26:06Z")
You need to have thicker skin. I don’t know what you are expecting, but normally, very few people share your opinion about anything. Think of food, for example. How many people do you know have the same favorite food you do? Favorite drink? Favorite color? That being said, why don’t you just send her stuff at random and not pay attention to what she says about them? ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/27 "2010-07-19T04:46:34Z")
She likes action movies she doesn’t need to invest too much of herself or time into. My kinda gal. Send her The Fifth Element, Armageddeon, Enemy Of The State and The Italian Job…and let me know what she thought of those. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/28 "2010-07-19T04:58:13Z")
> [@Captain\_C](#): > > **Doomsday** – “It was too silly” (yet she liked the Mad Max movies) Doomsday? That goofy sci-fi, mindless dude flick with Rhona Mitra? You sent that to your mom? Really? heh, I’m just busting your balls, but I agree with the other posters. Send her flicks you think she’d like, not flicks you’ll be proud of her for liking. Start with Oscar nominees\* that aren’t kids movies (anything animated in any way) or targeted for dorm rooms. (Anything action or sci-fi.) This means no District 9 – which my mom loved, btw, along with Snatch, Fight Club and the Hangover – or Avatar or Up or any of that crap. Just movies “for grownups.” Recent nominees for grownups include: An Education The Lovely Bones The Messenger Up In The Air The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Doubt Frost/Nixon Milk The Reader No Country for Old Men Juno Charlie Wilson’s War Michael Clayton Atonement There Will Be Blood \*Films that got a nom for best picture, best director, best screenplay, best actor/actress, or even just a best supportiong actor/actress. I’ll always remember the SDMB thread for The Prestige, where the OP practically danced a jig that finally there was a movie for grownups to look forward to, as opposed to all the comic book / animated / sci-fi / action drek that usually filled theaters. So of course the magician double-feature is something to consider: The Prestige and The Illusionist. Other than that, I can offer a ton of suggestions she’d probably like if you’re interested. Better if we get feedback on some of the movies she did like first, though. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/29 "2010-07-19T06:52:01Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Some not terrible “sweet” movies – _The Fisher King_ Did you and I watch the same Fisher King? Because I don’t really think it’s a good movie for a mom or anyone else for that matter. The main character is a straight-up asshole. Robin Williams is random and more scary than funny. You can dress Amanda Plummer up in NYC chic and she still manages to look like a strung out crack whore. The flashback to when Robin Williams’ wife gets shot is incredibly gory. Her whole head gets busted open by a shotgun blast and blood and brains splatter all over the place. It was some shocking violence in a movie that had been playing violence for laughs earlier. I can’t remember exactly how it ended but I remember that just as things start going good for the characters Robin Williams gets beat to a pulp and ends up in a coma. Not the feel good movie of the year, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/30 "2010-07-19T11:35:59Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Ah, but this means she watched the whole movie. Does this mean she likes dystopian SF? There’s a category you can mine for her. I wouldn’t think so, because if you get the SF part, you get why Neo can fly at the end. Then again, there are people like my Dad who don’t quite get SciFi, and miss a lot of what’s going on, but still love it for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/31 "2010-07-19T11:51:53Z")
Does Netflix still have the capability to make sub-accounts? If so, I’d just give up now, maybe increase the number in the plan by a disc or two, and let her manage her own queue. Life’s too short to try to get other people to watch movies. My girlfriend, for example, keeps putting all these really bad horror movies into the queue (both instant and DVD.) I generally hate horror movies because they bore me. It’s just not worth setting up a second account or anything like that when both people are in the same house. But if you’re having to coordinate with her at some distance, then I’d just make her manage her own dang selection. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/32 "2010-07-19T13:34:51Z")
Profiles, my friend! You can do Profiles on your Netflix account. We have one for TV shows, one for him, one for me, one for us, etc. They tried to do away with them what, maybe a year ago? They found out in a hurry that Profiles are the only thing keeping the American marriage together. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/33 "2010-07-19T14:50:59Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > My daughter has similar tastes to my wife and me. We don’t agree on all films, but still have similar opinions on about 75% of them. > > We raised her to appreciate a good movie. Hey, **RealityChuck** , twenty years from now, when your daughter is picking feelies on CyberFlix to be downloaded directly into your brain, please post back to Straight Dope 2.0 and tell us how you are liking them. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/34 "2010-07-19T15:29:22Z")
I will. I suspect I’d feel the same way. She likes the things that make a good movie: interesting characters and plot. Special effects and violence are a trivial element in what makes a movie good. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/35 "2010-07-19T16:14:45Z")
> [@](#): > > District 9 – “I stopped watching 10 minutes in, they shook the camera too much” Seems like a valid excuse. I hate the Bourne series because of the shaky camera and the .5 second clips that were put together the make a fight scene. Those two things just gave me a headache. They can definitely overuse that shaky cam. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/36 "2010-07-19T18:01:30Z")
The OP’s mother needs her own Twitter/Facebook to post these reviews. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/37 "2010-07-19T18:13:38Z")
In your mom’s defense, True Lies is a pretty awesome film. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/38 "2010-07-19T18:36:06Z")
I’ve mentioned this before, but I have to bring up again my good friend, a 40-ish woman, who hasn’t read a book, newspaper, or magazine since high school. (she isn’t unintelligent, but popular culture goes right over her head.) Doesn’t have a computer, doesn’t watch TV, and when she was married her husband’s favorite movie he actually tried to make us watch when we were over there was that godawful country bears Disney movie. (the only thing they watched on TV? MTV. Jackass and Cribs and hip hoppers.) So she picks out DVDs from the Red Box every weekend by looking at the pictures. If it hints at a “romantic comedy”, she rents it, so that’s all she ever watches. The stupider, the better. Anything else holds no interest. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/39 "2010-07-19T18:42:56Z")
I agree with her assessment of Snatch. 😛 And I assume you are actually talking about the movie _[Inglourious Basterds](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361748/)_ and **not** _[The Inglorious Bastards](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076584/)_, in which case I agree on that one as well. (the latter of course being a 1978 film which was quite good, and the former being the 2009 Tarantino rubbish) ---
**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:** [July 19, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175/40 "2010-07-19T19:01:14Z")
> [@evilbeth](#): > > Send her some Meg Ryan films–You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle. Great cinema? No, but other than being vapid, I can’t think of much objectionable content. Yeah, she’ll get a real kick out of “In The Cut” or “The Doors”. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-just-have-no-taste-in-movies/547175.md?page=3)