# When people say they think 8½ is good, do they really mean it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771 "2006-08-07T22:50:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/1 "2006-08-07T22:50:16Z")
[8½](http://imdb.com/title/tt0056801/) Because it isn’t. So I am wondering. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/2 "2006-08-07T22:54:24Z")
I liked it a lot. And yes, I really mean that. There’s no accounting for taste. ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/3 "2006-08-07T23:14:27Z")
I absolutely like it. I’d count it as one of my favourite movies. What is it that you find so dislikable about it, mr. jp? ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/4 "2006-08-07T23:48:35Z")
What didn’t you like about it, **mr. jp**? It’s hardly fair to ask people to defend the movie when you haven’t bothered to tell us why you didn’t think it was any good. Having said that, I loved it. Most of all because of Fellini’s surreal, dreamlike imagery which works so well to show the director’s growing sense of desperation. The opening sequence in which he escapes a suffocating traffic jam by taking flight, only to be yanked down to earth had a huge impact on me when I saw _8 1/2_ as a teen. Likewise, the final parade which was a joyous release after the build-up of so much tension and frustration. Now that I think of it, I wonder what Dave Chapelle thinks of this movie. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/5 "2006-08-08T00:31:41Z")
What I dislike about it? I think criticising the movie doesn’t make much sense. Since the movie cannot be improved by changing it at some finite points of critique. I don’t know really what I was expecting from making that OP. I guess I kind of hoped that people would come forward and say “yeah, you got us, we don’t actually like that silly movie. The world is not really that weird. Also, noone believes in this “god” character. haha, we sure got you there.” ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/6 "2006-08-08T00:36:59Z")
The first time I saw it I thought it was wonderful. The second time I saw it I thought, “What the heckdid I see in this movie, anyway?” So I went to see it a third time, and that time I loved it, again. This was not all at once but over a period of years. Somewhere, after that third time, I wrote down what I loved about it, but I don’t remember offhand. It did seem that my enjoyment of it varied pretty intensely, though. No chemical enhancements any of those times, in case anyone was wondering. So yeah, I meant it when I said it was wonderful. I also meant it, between my second and third viewing, when I said I thought it sucked. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/7 "2006-08-08T00:40:58Z")
Also, mr. jp, when you say the world is not that weird–have you ever been to Rome? Because I thought a lot of the stuff in Fellini’s movies was surreal, until I visited Rome. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/8 "2006-08-08T01:05:41Z")
Yes, it is. If you don’t think it is, watch it again, think about it, and you will realize that it is. And yes, we do. Next question? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/9 "2006-08-08T01:46:19Z")
> [@](#): > > When people say they think 8½ is good, do they really mean it? I say it is one of my very favorite movies, and I absolutely mean it. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/10 "2006-08-08T01:49:01Z")
I haven’t particularly _enjoyed_ it either time that I saw it, but I can see why people like it. Though right now, I don’t remember specifics for you – it’s probably been 8 or 9 years since I saw it last. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/11 "2006-08-08T05:13:02Z")
Like it? [It’s only the best movie Eminem’s ever done!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wec3GCdV7yY) ---
**Author:** ![Jean\_Poutine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a5b964/32.png) [@Jean\_Poutine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jean_Poutine)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/12 "2006-08-08T13:18:43Z")
I admire it more than I like watching it. In other words, I’m glad its on the shelf, but I don’t pull it off and watch it too often. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/13 "2006-08-08T14:07:58Z")
[QUOTE=Jean Poutine] I admire it more than I like watching it. In other words, I’m glad its on the shelf, but I don’t pull it off and watch it too often. [/QUOTE] Funny that. I’ve seen it about a gazillion times. I had an .avi version of it on my desktop for a long time, and would watch bits and pieces of it all the time, especially the end. Man, I love that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-people-say-they-think-8-is-good-do-they-really-mean-it/367771/14 "2006-08-08T14:58:47Z")
[QUOTE=mr. jp] Since the movie cannot be improved by changing it at some finite points of critique. [/QUOTE] 😕 What are “finite points of critique”?