Unpopular Opinions

[Shannon L.]

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Either one of those would have been much more deserved, though I personally wanted Taron to win.

Me, too. I usually get over the irritation of my perceived Oscar flubs quickly,  but I'm still bitter about that one. 

[Crs97]

So many times I think the actor has really won the Oscar for his previous role or nomination, like the members saw Joaquin’s name and thought he was a great Johnny Cash and maybe should have won for that so they gave it to him for Joker instead.

[Spartan Girl]

I’ll go further: Joker owes its success to a little thing called the Streisand Effect. Had people not made such a big deal about it in the beginning, riling up the controversy before it was even released, it wouldn’t have gotten so much attention. Without all that, it was just a movie about Joaquin dancing around in clown makeup. It was a mediocre Batman prequel that could have been written by a half-assed fanfic writer, and as a so-called study of mental illness/class system it was pretentious and mediocre, and to quote Family Guy, it insists upon itself.

[JustHereForFood]

I generally don't like people complaining about movies they didn't watch, but after watching the trailer and reading the synopsis, I think I can safely say that I hate Joker, without the need to watch it. And I am a huge Batman fan. I hate all the praise it received and that it is even counted as a superhero movie. It's not. 

[katha]

Yeah, Phoenix' win was the traditional screwed up "we're making it up to you" Oscar, because the Academy thought that they "owed" him for superior work (personally, I think he should have gotten it for "Her").

And the idiotic thing is, I think the majority of the people who voted for him knew that he didn't deserve it for "Joker", they're just trapped in that stupid "logic" of the Oscars. And they set another one of those mechanisms in motion because IMO it seemed as if sentiment in the industry was that Driver deserved it on the actual performance. So now some members of the Academy think they "owe" it to him and in a few years' time the whole cycle might repeat itself. Eyeroll. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

Frances McDormand is wonderful... but I still wish Carey Mulligan or Viola Davis had taken home the Best Actress Oscar this year. 

Nomadland is good, but it's nowhere near as memorable as Promising Young Woman and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. The latter films had their flaws, certainly, but they will stay with me much longer than Nomadland.

I agree about Joaquin Phoenix's undeserved, IMO, win for Joker, because hype and controversy did too much of the heavy lifting (as Spartan Girl pointed out). 

Another UO: I don't think grim, dark, and dreary automatically translates into "good", or "more worthy of acclaim". I mean, I like Silence of the Lambs, but I wouldn't mind living in a reality where Beauty and the Beast had won for Best Picture. 

 

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Another UO: I don't think grim, dark, and dreary automatically translates into "good", or "more worthy of acclaim". I mean, I like Silence of the Lambs, but I wouldn't mind living in a reality where Beauty and the Beast had won for Best Picture. 

Take me with you!!!!!

Seriously, while I don’t mind having a Best Animated Feature category, I will always be a little salty that it pretty much killed whatever chances any animated movie had of winning Best Picture.

[proserpina65]

On 10/2/2021 at 6:03 PM, Shannon L. said:

This one may get me barred:   My favorite Die Hard movie is Die Hard With a Vengeance.

Naw, we won't hate you for that.  I mean, you're wrong (the first is the best), but it's very good.  There's no Alan Rickman, but still . . .

On 10/2/2021 at 6:38 PM, Bastet said:

I'm not into action movies in general, so I'm not the target audience, and thus how the original made so many people's favorite Christmas movies list is something I will never understand.

You kinda do have to appreciate action movies, I think.

I appreciate 4 primarily because a lot of it was filmed in the Baltimore & DC area, and I live in Maryland so I recognized a lot of stuff.

 

Edited October 4, 2021 by proserpina65

[proserpina65]

Okay, here's an unpopular opinion:  I don't like any of the movies for the Disney 'renaissance' - not Beauty and the Beast, not the Lion King, not Aladdin, not The Little Mermaid.  None of them.

[Bastet]

22 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Okay, here's an unpopular opinion:  I don't like any of the movies for the Disney 'renaissance' - not Beauty and the Beast, not the Lion King, not Aladdin, not The Little Mermaid.  None of them.

I can't say I don't like any of them, because I've never seen any of them, due to my own unpopular opinion: I don't want to, as I have almost no interest in animated programming.  Even as a child, I watched far fewer cartoons and Disney movies than most, and as I got older I lost pretty much all interest in anything animated.  As an adult, I've seen The Land Before Time and Finding Nemo.  (Maybe a couple more, but I looked up "50 best animated movies" and hadn't seen any of them.)  I didn't like either of them (why the fuck are the moms always dead?!).

It's for the same reason I'm mostly not into sci-fi, epic fantasy, and such - I am not drawn (no pun intended) to things that aren't real.  I read mostly non-fiction, and, while I watch a lot of fiction - alongside a lot of documentaries - it's fiction that is a dramatization of real life, not something set in an alternate world.  I've tried three times to watch Star Wars and never once made it through, I have zero interest in stuff like The Lord of the Rings, I don't even care to watch Indiana Jones, etc.

My action movie aversion is part of this as well; I hate movie violence - and toxic masculinity - but there's also the unrealistic nature of all the explosions and diabolical plans that turns me off.

Hell, I can't even handle most movie musicals because I'm too distracted by the fact real people don't just randomly burst into choreographed song and dance.

(With all that said, though -- While I only like a handful of movie musicals, I like a great deal more on stage.  And, despite my issues with the exploitation, glorification, and normalization of violence, I have an odd affinity for many horror films, which is a whole other psychological analysis of what in that genre appeals to me despite its shortcomings.  I'm my own little enigma.)

[proserpina65]

21 hours ago, Bastet said:

can't say I don't like any of them, because I've never seen any of them, due to my own unpopular opinion: I don't want to, as I have almost no interest in animated programming. 

I had young nephews at the time, so I've seen at least part of them.  Although my one nephew greatly preferred The Jungle Book and The Rescuers Down Under, which were much, much better movies.

[Wiendish Fitch]

So Will Smith is once again publicly expressing regret for turning down The Matrix to star in Wild Wild West.

To the good Mr. Smith, I say: buck up, because you got to be in Independence Day and Men in Black, both of which are way more fun than The Matrix, which I personally find ponderous and overrated.

And, yes, Wild Wild West is very bad, and I feel sorry for everyone in it (Kenneth Branaugh, why?!?), but check out the plot summaries for Seven Pounds and Collateral Beauty* and then tell me if you think Wild Wild West (which, bare minimum, had a great title tune) is Will Smith's worst film.

*No, I'm not going to tell you to actually watch them, I'm not that cruel.

[GHScorpiosRule]

4 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

*No, I'm not going to tell you to actually watch them, I'm not that cruel.

😅😅😅

[SherriAnt]

I don't know how unpopular this is, but I hate that it seems like every single movie and tv show has to have a romance! Especially when there is no rhyme or reason for it. I want to see monsters, fighting and explosions, not sappy looks and long sighs. 

[proserpina65]

5 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

So Will Smith is once again publicly expressing regret for turning down The Matrix to star in Wild Wild West.

To the good Mr. Smith, I say: buck up, because you got to be in Independence Day and Men in Black, both of which are way more fun than The Matrix, which I personally find ponderous and overrated.

And, yes, Wild Wild West is very bad, and I feel sorry for everyone in it (Kenneth Branaugh, why?!?), but check out the plot summaries for Seven Pounds and Collateral Beauty* and then tell me if you think Wild Wild West (which, bare minimum, had a great title tune) is Will Smith's worst film.

*No, I'm not going to tell you to actually watch them, I'm not that cruel.

They all suck.  I just find Wild Wild West the most offensive because it defiled the memory of a fantastic series.

[festivus]

21 hours ago, SherriAnt said:

I don't know how unpopular this is, but I hate that it seems like every single movie and tv show has to have a romance! Especially when there is no rhyme or reason for it. I want to see monsters, fighting and explosions, not sappy looks and long sighs. 

I think it is unpopular considering how many movies I've seen that just have to shoehorn a romance in when there is no reason it needs to be there. Telling a story of friendship is just as interesting but since that rarely gets priority, I get all excited when I see it. Now, I'm talking about just movies in general, like action or superhero movies, not a rom-com or whatever when you know that's the purpose of the movie. 

[JustHereForFood]

I kind of like Kristen Stewart. I haven't seen her in many things, but apart from Twilight, she was good in everything I saw. And with Twilight, I would like to make a case that she did the best she could with what was written for her. I find it frustrating that those movies are still held against her, when 1. I don't find them worse then any trash teenage comedy like American Pie or She's all That, 2. Robert Pattinson played the other main character and he doesn't get half as much complaints as Kristen, despite being not any better. On the contrary, he seems to be somehow respected for trashing those movies and I think we can fairly say, based on some past experiences, that if a woman made those same comments about movies that made her famous, she would get a negative reaction instead.

[Crs97]

On 10/8/2021 at 1:53 PM, festivus said:

Now, I'm talking about just movies in general, like action or superhero movies, not a rom-com or whatever when you know that's the purpose of the movie. 

One of the things I love about Tony Stark and Pepper Potts’ relationship is that it never dominated the entire movie, but was just a nice side note to interesting characters (that had crazy chemistry).

[Shannon L.]

1 hour ago, JustHereForFood said:

And with Twilight, I would like to make a case that she did the best she could with what was written for her.

Don't forget, a lot of times, they are following the director's vision.  I was lucky enough to get a chance to read the script for the first movie (I had never read the books) and many times, I saw things in my head as a bit lighter and at times, even humorous, but was shocked to see everything done so serious and lackluster.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

On 10/2/2021 at 8:21 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Joaquin Phoenix did not deserve an Oscar for Joker.

I did appreciate that he mentioned his brother in his acceptance speech. No one ever talks about River anymore, except maybe as a cautionary tale, so it was nice that he got some recognition.

[starri]

13 hours ago, Crs97 said:

One of the things I love about Tony Stark and Pepper Potts’ relationship is that it never dominated the entire movie, but was just a nice side note to interesting characters (that had crazy chemistry).

I think Gwyneth Paltrow pushes stuff that it actively harmful to the world through GOOP, but I really adored her Pepper.  I didn't realize I had waited 20 movies to see her in the Rescue armor, but I wanted to audibly cheer when it happened.

[Wiendish Fitch]

In honor of Halloween, some SPOOK-TACULAR UOs!

Sorry, moving along...

I hate Hocus Pocus. There, I said it. I don't know what that says about me, but I got it off my chest. I'm sick of seeing it everywhere.

I don't like horror franchises. Michael Myers, Chucky, Freddy, Jason, Jigsaw, the whole lot, I'm just bored with them at this point. 

As great as Bela Lugosi is in the part, I actually find Dracula kind of meh, despite being directed by my favorite horror director Tod Browning. Speaking of which...

1936's Devil Doll is the best B&W horror film no one has ever seen. 

The only Universal horror movie I truly adore is The Invisible Man, because of Claude friggin' Rains. Plus, the special effects are kind of impressive for the time.

[Katy M]

4 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I don't like horror franchises. Michael Myers, Chucky, Freddy, Jason, Jigsaw, the whole lot,

I'm definitely with you on that one.

[Browncoat]

5 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I hate Hocus Pocus. There, I said it. I don't know what that says about me, but I got it off my chest. I'm sick of seeing it everywhere.

Agreed 100%. 

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I hate Hocus Pocus. There, I said it. I don't know what that says about me, but I got it off my chest. I'm sick of seeing it everywhere.

I've never watched it.  Every once in a while, I think I should, since it has so many fans and I've enjoyed Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy in other things (Sarah Jessica Parker, not so much), but it just does not appeal to me enough to follow through.

[Shannon L.]

I didn't hate Hocus Pocus, but I didn't love it. It was cute.  For me, it falls into the category of movies that I didn't think I'd like at all, but were better than I thought they'd be.

Edited November 1, 2021 by Shannon L.

[Spartan Girl]

18 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I don't like horror franchises. Michael Myers, Chucky, Freddy, Jason, Jigsaw, the whole lot, I'm just bored with them at this point. 

Agree, but I will make an exception for Chucky because at least that franchise knows not to take itself seriously and has fully embraced it’s crazy, making a full transition into horror comedy—a genre I will take over slasher/regular horror any day. 

[proserpina65]

In the same Halloween theme: TCM ran the original Frankenstein on Saturday night.  I understand that it's considered a classic and I get that it was groundbreaking in its day.  And Boris Karloff was amazing.  But honestly, there were moments that were so hokey my friend and I were almost giving it the MST3K treatment.  (Idk, maybe it's because I read the book and the movie is pretty much nothing like the book?)

Fortunately TCM followed that up with Young Frankenstein so all was good.

[Wiendish Fitch]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

In the same Halloween theme: TCM ran the original Frankenstein on Saturday night.  I understand that it's considered a classic and I get that it was groundbreaking in its day.  And Boris Karloff was amazing.  But honestly, there were moments that were so hokey my friend and I were almost giving it the MST3K treatment.  (Idk, maybe it's because I read the book and the movie is pretty much nothing like the book?)

Fortunately TCM followed that up with Young Frankenstein so all was good.

Honestly, I find the first Frankenstein a bit of a snooze (when Boris Karloff's not onscreen, anyway). Bride of Frankenstein is good, campy fun.

But it made Karloff a star, so I'm happy.

[andromeda331]

My favorite Frankenstein is Young Frankenstein from Mel Brooks. It was crazy, it was funny and fun. From TV season 2, episode 2 from the Librarians Frankenstein who was brought into the world from the book to stall Flynn and Jones. While he does attack them they end up convincing him that he could play pro sports with his strength, get plastic surgery, and Jones even helps him set up an account on Tinder where he finds a match and he's released into the world. 

[Dandesun]

On 10/31/2021 at 9:44 AM, Wiendish Fitch said:

I hate Hocus Pocus. There, I said it. I don't know what that says about me, but I got it off my chest. I'm sick of seeing it everywhere.

 

My sister finally got around to watching it last year and absolutely hated it. So she has no patience for it come October. We've got friends and family who love it and want to make it a tradition but she refuses.

Which is fine. I like the movie but I don't need to make it an October tradition or anything and I'm certainly not going to force something she hates on her. I did come up with making Practical Magic an October tradition and that went over amazing so that's what we do.

Neither of us like horror either so October is an iffy month for themed movie nights. She's just happy hockey is back so that's what's usually on anyway.

[Mabinogia]

I love a good ghost story/movie but I hate the trend of these "found footage" style movies. As soon as I see a shaky hand held I'm out. 

[starri]

16 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I love a good ghost story/movie but I hate the trend of these "found footage" style movies. As soon as I see a shaky hand held I'm out. 

Found Footage is a really easy subgenre to do, but a really hard one to do well.  For every good one, there are six that are bad.

OTOH, a few years ago there was a (non-horror) example called Searching with John Cho which was frankly amazing.  Plus, it was super-cool to have a movie with an AAPI main character where that was just incidental.

[Wiendish Fitch]

20 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I love a good ghost story/movie but I hate the trend of these "found footage" style movies. As soon as I see a shaky hand held I'm out. 

I just don't get why these are still a thing. I mean, they know that we know they're not real, right? Isn't the gimmick kind of played out at this point?

[Katy M]

7 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I just don't get why these are still a thing. I mean, they know that we know they're not real, right? Isn't the gimmick kind of played out at this point?

We know all movies aren't real.

[Ohiopirate02]

2 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I just don't get why these are still a thing. I mean, they know that we know they're not real, right? Isn't the gimmick kind of played out at this point?

They have to be some of the cheapest movies to produce and they bring in a ton of money at the box office.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I realize I expressed my opinion in a stupid way. Of course we know movies aren't real, but I just fail to be impressed by "found footage" movies. Even the shakiest of shaky-cam films still boast of cinematography that's too good to be convincing as some rando holding a video camera or phone, so it just makes me wonder what the point is? What are they trying to achieve? 

I just think the gimmick is muddled and played out.

[proserpina65]

19 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I realize I expressed my opinion in a stupid way. Of course we know movies aren't real, but I just fail to be impressed by "found footage" movies. Even the shakiest of shaky-cam films still boast of cinematography that's too good to be convincing as some rando holding a video camera or phone, so it just makes me wonder what the point is? What are they trying to achieve? 

I just think the gimmick is muddled and played out.

The Blair Witch Project was really different when it came out, so it worked.  After that, though, every time a film used that technique, it became less and less effective, imo.

[Wiendish Fitch]

27 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

The Blair Witch Project was really different when it came out, so it worked.  After that, though, every time a film used that technique, it became less and less effective, imo.

Well said. Hell, I'll be honest and admit I always found The Blair Witch Project kind of a bore.

[proserpina65]

40 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Well said. Hell, I'll be honest and admit I always found The Blair Witch Project kind of a bore.

I tend to be very susceptible to the "noises/movement/suggestion of something just beyond the edge of my sight" thing, so I found it scary when I saw it in the movies.  I probably wouldn't now, though.

[Wiendish Fitch]

5 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I tend to be very susceptible to the "noises/movement/suggestion of something just beyond the edge of my sight" thing, so I found it scary when I saw it in the movies.  I probably wouldn't now, though.

Blair Witch is definitely a "love it or hate it" thing. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Wiendish Fitch

[Bastet]

I love it.  But when it became a sleeper hit, the slew of "found footage" knock-offs that followed was inevitable.  I didn't realize that genre was still a thing.

[Mabinogia]

8 hours ago, starri said:

OTOH, a few years ago there was a (non-horror) example called Searching with John Cho which was frankly amazing.

I love John Cho. Maybe I will give that one a try. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 11/4/2021 at 3:36 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

Well said. Hell, I'll be honest and admit I always found The Blair Witch Project kind of a bore.

And it’s STOOPID! There is no way for me to get lost in the woods in Montgomery County, MD!! So many of us who lived (live) there, had nothing but contempt for the premise and all the “OMG!! I’m soooooscared!!! Something is OUT THERE!”

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Edited November 5, 2021 by GHScorpiosRule

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And it’s STOOPID! There is now way for me to get lost in the woods in Montgomery County, MD!! So many of us who lived (live) there, had nothing but contempt for the premise and all the “OMG!! I’m soooooscared!!! Something is OUT THERE!”

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

And you never really even know what the hell is going on either!!! The ending would have been so much scarier if we actually, you know, saw SOMETHING other than them just standing in a corner! Show us the stupid witch already!!!!

[Annber03]

I've only seen Blair Witch once, about...ten years or so ago, I want to say, and all I really remember from it were the three kids arguing with each other and swearing much of the time. I'm all for a good story about being lost in a creepy wooded area, but this particular movie didn't really scare me, either. Maybe if I'd seen it when it originally came out it might've had more of an impact on me? I dunno. But from what I do remember of it, I can see where aspects of it would freak others out. 

[Bastet]

I saw the theatrical release when it came out, and a few months later I was given a copy of a different cut of the film, and thought if the director had settled on a combination of the two it would have been excellent.  But I still really like the theatrical version for its positives, how different it was at the time, its sleeper hit status (I love when indie films find a huge audience and upset the status quo), and that great shared audience experience of seeing it in the cinema with people who appreciated it.  I haven't seen it in eons.  I might order the DVD; the impact won't be anywhere near the same all these years and all those imitations later, but revisiting it from a different perspective won't lessen the memories of seeing something fresh at the time.

My Blair Witch UO, and I've said this before, is that I love the much-parodied crying video in all its snotty glory (even as I laugh at some of those parodies).  Heather has realized they're almost certainly going to die out there, and feels it's her fault. Leaving something behind in the hopes of it being found and at least providing answers, saying good-bye, and apologizing to their families, isn't supposed to be pretty and tidy; I think it's acted and shot appropriately. 

[Annber03]

35 minutes ago, Bastet said:

its sleeper hit status (I love when indie films find a huge audience and upset the status quo)

It's amazing how many horror films that were made on a shoestring budget wound up being really successful. Blair Witch, Night of the Living Dead, Halloween...  There is definitely something to be said for keeping it simple, especially when it comes to telling a horror story. 

[starri]

I certainly don't think she's the world's greatest actress, but I actually like Natalie Portman.

And I'm praying that having good material and a strong director works in her favor in Thor: Love and Thunder, as the Goddess of Thunder arc in the comics is one of the best Thor stories I've read.

[andromeda331]

17 hours ago, starri said:

I certainly don't think she's the world's greatest actress, but I actually like Natalie Portman.

And I'm praying that having good material and a strong director works in her favor in Thor: Love and Thunder, as the Goddess of Thunder arc in the comics is one of the best Thor stories I've read.

I'm a fan of hers too. Since the Phantom Menace but I've liked a lot of her other movies too.