A neat movie of this ilk I saw with absolutely no expectations that I thoroughly enjoyed was “Let It Ride.”
It starred Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr and David Johannson. Dreyfuss is a down-on-his-luck horse racing gambler who has a ‘very good day.’
I’ve seen it several times now. Always makes me smile.
“You had me at ‘Hell no.’”
I’ll 2nd Notting Hill and add Waking Ned Devine. That movie was an unexpected hoot!
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank
Fight Club. When Mr. Rilch and I went to see it, I was in a crabby mood. I wanted to see Three Kings, because I thought a balls-out action/satire would get me out of it. But we ended up seeing FC, probably because it was the film at the CineramaDome. I had been misinformed about the film; for some reason I thought it was one of those Good Will Hunting stroke jobs about boys proving themselves at a man’s game and being deafeningly cool. The opening scene didn’t convince me otherwise, but as it went on, I started to be eager to see where it was going. Then the plane crash scene happened, and from then on, the screen was a magnet and I was a paper clip. By the end, I was convinced that I’d seen one of the best films of the year; still am. So I got my balls-out action/satire after all.
Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together.
—Red Green
“A Walk In The Clouds”
It was great!
I hate drama and love stories. Once I watched this movie I watched it over and over again. HBO tends to play a movie at least year.
Special: It depends, really. The Matrix is a science fiction/martial arts movie. It has a lot of reality flaws, but IMHO, the special effects, the premise, and especially the fight scenes make up for it.
The Sixth Sense is an interesting thriller. I hope you haven’t seen any trailers for it. The thing about it is that it’s is somewhat slower paced than The Matrix. More creepy than scary.
You can’t go wrong with either one, actually.
You say “cheesy” like that’s a BAD thing.
“American Beauty” - I saw it the first night it premiered here, and afterwards I just sat in my chair, soaking it in. It was great.
“Star Wars” - I finally saw it after all my friends raved about it. I was all prepared to hate it b/c I was expecting something like “Lost in Space.” But I loved it. In fact I saw it last night again with my kids.
“Rain Man” - Wow. Just an awesome movie.
“Fried Green Tomatoes” - Ultimate chick flick. Intriguing, funny. I loved it.
“Sense and Sensibility” - Okay, okay, Emma Thompson was too old for her role, but I thought it was a wonderful movie that captured the wit of Austen’s book.
“Something about Mary” - another movie that I was just TOO sophisticated for, and I ended up guffawing along with the rest of the audience.
Like a good 90% of all adaptations, the book was much better. I’d suggest you pick it up if you liked the movie. It’s by Fannie Flagg, and the full title is Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.
Breaking Away - My brother recommended this one; when he told me what it was about, I thought, why would I want to watch this? Yet it turned out to be one of the best movies I’ve seen.
Ever After - I took my wife to see it, thinking “chick flick”, but I think I liked it more than she did.
I have to agree with Gilligan on the movie “Ever After”. First saw it on cable about a month ago…and I love it.
Ditto on “What’s eating Gilbert Grape”, one of my favorite movies.
Shadowfox
“We are what we pretend to be.”
Local Hero went in knowing nothing came out wanting to own a copy and now I do. If you’ve never heard of it - and I’m guessing most of the world hasn’t - it stars Peter Reigert and Bert Lancaster and is a quiet little comedy.
Crossing Delancy A nice film which SO has called ‘that chick flick’, don’t usually like Amy Irving but she was ok in this, the real treasure was the woman who played her Bubby, though. Also stars Peter Reigert.
All of Me Yeah, I know, but I was very pleasantly surprised by this film. A harmless comedy with good performances. Loved Richard Libertini.
Dead Again mentioned earlier, it is one of my favs.
Strange Days very weird, occasionally very disturbing, but it does stick with you. Outstanding performances by Angela Bassett and Ralph Finnes but really bad music.
The Secret of NIHM an animated kid flick that all the adults fell in love with. Good voice talents inc. Sir Derek Jacobi, Peter Strauss, and Dom DeLuise.
Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience - this is the ideal life.
–Mark Twain
Blue Thunder - never thought I’d be into a movie starring a helicopter.
We had to watch several movies during senior year in college, and the only one that I stayed awake for was “The Graduate.” And I liked it even more when I watched it in my college film class.
How could I charge full price to the man whose lust for filthy magazines kept me in business through that first shaky year. Oh, by the way, here’s your new issue of “Gigantic Asses.”
-Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Sixth Sense was most definitely a movie I was suprised I liked. I went expecting some dumb, gory, horror flick, and found a fantasic, well acted, intriguing movie.
Ever Afteris another. Even though I am a “chick”, I don’t really like chick flicks, which is what I was expecting. Ever After really drew me in.
Banks, I love Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I watch it when ever I get a cold and it always makes me feel better.
Jerry Maguire. Don’t like Hollywood, don’t like Tom Cruise, nearly left after the blindingly dull first 30 minutes … and ended up absolutely loving it.
There’s Something About Mary. I echo PunditLisa’s comments, above.
Lars Von Trier’s The Kingdom (Part I - haven’t seen Part II yet). I expected it to be good in an arty sort of way, but never in a million years would I dream I could sit absolutely spellbound through a four hour film and still be gagging for more at the finish.
For me it was The Full Monty, Anna and the King and October Sky. All incredible movies that I heard nothing or bad reviews on
I really try to be good but it just isn’t in my nature!
Office Space - funny as all hell
couldn’t find ‘sixth sense’ or ‘the matrix’ in any local theater (will have to get to the video store). did see ‘bicentennial man’. not at all what i expected. the ideas kept waking me up last night. i finally decided it reminded me of ‘the velveteen rabbit’, for what it’s worth. hilarious in parts, very deep in others. maybe it was a chick flick. still has me pondering.
Driving Miss Daisy. I remember when this movie was released, and I swore not to see it, because it was just the movie, you know? I almost never follow the too-hyped movies. I finally rented DMD about a year after it won the Oscar. By the end of the movie, I was banging my head into the wall, in a vain attempt to smack some sense into myself. I could not believe I had been so stubborn. That was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Still one of my faves.
Fargo and Slingblade. I had wanted to see both of these, but didn’t have the money. They looked pretty good. My husband and I rented both of them, and watched them both in one evening (kids–do not try this at at home!). Holy crow. Took about a week for the shock to wear off. Awesome films.
L.A. Confidential. A friend highly recommended this one. I hadn’t watched this one because Kim Basinger has never impressed me. I watched it because the only thing I had ever seen James Cromwell in was Babe, and I loved him in that. Well, this movie blew up my skirt & parted my hair. Still not a Kim Basinger fan, though.
Last, but not least, the aforementioned Babe. I don’t remember why I didn’t see this movie at the theater, but I think it was because of money again. I thought it looked like a cute little movie. Yeah, that cute little movie had me bawling like a baby. Still does, and I’ve seen it so many times I’ve lost count.
The following movies are ones that I apparently like more than most people. To be honest, I may be cheating given what brdrcolle asks. I no longer remember what I was expecting when I saw most of these films. Furthermore, I decided to blow off the condition that the film be a big film, not a independent one. This is from over twenty years of movie watching, not just from recent viewing, so in some cases I haven’t seen the film recently.
Chungking Express
Cyclo
David Holtzman’s Diary
Slacker
Menace II Society
Code of Silence
Play Misty for Me
Ride the High Country
House of Games
Blood Simple
Freaks
After Hours
The Year of Living Dangerously
Carrie
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (the one directed by Terry Gilliam)
Seven Beauties
Barry Lyndon
La Jetee
Four Weddings and a Funeral
My Brilliant Career
I guess I must stay up with the critical and popular opinion more than brdrcolle does. I don’t include The Usual Suspects, as much as I like it, because everything I read about it beforehand was favorable.
Casablanca…I never thought it could be as good as the hype, it was wonderful.
The Gauntlet was tremendous.
The Usual Suspects
Pulp Fiction - WOW!
Ever After
The Princess Bride
Scrooged - w/Bill Murray
Toy Story 2 - by far and away the best movie I have seen in ages
Big Daddy - I wasnt expecting very much, and it was pretty good.
Robin Hood - the kevin costner one…the only good movie he has ever done.
Never Been Kissed - sigh!
youve got mail - again, I wasnt expecting very much, and I liked it.
Armegeddon &
Independence Day… I usually dont care for action movies, but these were excellent.
Preparing to watch:
Notting hill (tonight)
Grifters
Shaft
Taps
The Big Chill
Waking ned devine