Unpopular Opinions

[BlueSkies]

I watched Swept Away the other night.  Was the last movie Madonna made.  It actually wasn’t all that awful.  It wasn’t great but I finished it.  

[JustHereForFood]

The Craft was a disappointment for me. One of those movies that are so popular and often talked about, that you have an idea what is it before you actually watch it. Well, I had a lot of expectations after I heard so much about how it's about the sisterhood, female friendship, the link between witchcraft and femininity and sure, the first part was about all of that, but then it fell, IMO, to a lot of stereotypes. One, that girls will quickly go from friends to rivals, sometimes in the bitchiest ways possible - sure, it can happen IRL, especially with teenagers, but it seems to happen a lot on TV and in movies, especially if power is involved. And two, that women have problems handling magical or other extraordinary powers - happens a lot more than with male characters. I feel as if it came from some subconscious bias that women can't handle power in real life as well as men. Going "insane" is also frequent result (just think of recent examples in MCU with Wanda, or in GoT with Daenerys).

And it seems to be such a disappointment, because it could have been great, if they just avoided these things. I get why it still has such strong following despite that and that some people love it the way it is, maybe because it seems tragic.

If anyone knows a similar movie, only with a different outcome (meaning one where the friendship between girls/women is central to the story, ideally linked to their supernatural abilities, and it's not portrayed in a negative light in any way), I would very much appreciate a recommendation.

Separate complaint, but related to the above. I just watched Hocus Pocus 2 despite not being that awed by the first movie. I liked it, more than the first one, and I really liked the main "good" characters, I wouldn't mind another story focusing more on them. My problem was the more detailed backstory for the Sanderson sisters, well not the story itself, but how often we see that kind of story. Female characters are victims to a patriarchal society and their experience is linked to how they get magical powers, afterwards they either try to just get justice/revenge on people who wronged them or try to change the establishment, but ultimately get power hungry, or unable to control their powers and end up on the wrong side of moral compas of the story.

There could be a separate thread about how this originates from history and folklore, where witches were usually women who didn't strictly conform to patriarchal standards, either by being too free in their sexuality (by having premarital sex, children out of wedlock, being gay, asexual or just not interested in marriage, ...), or being more independent, trying to pursue a career, you get the idea. Or how later, when hunting witches died out, some of the same behavior was linked to mental illness, especially the one created specifically for this purpose - hysteria.

All of this seems to still influence stories where women possess strong powers, as if people were still afraid of women who could challenge the status quo, even when the status quo is already slowly changing for the better. There is still the need to show us how quickly they can go mad from that amount of power, or abuse it for their own petty purposes.

I'm not saying all of these stories are bad, on the contrary, I like many of them, I love Wicked for example, or Dark Phoenix Saga, I even liked some of the comics where Wanda had problems with controling her powers. And I don't have problem calling an obvious villain evil, if that is how she is portrayed. The problem for me is how we only get this one type of these characters. Can we please get some stories where women get to have awesome, magical powers, use them to overcome their own shitty circumstances, without eventually going evil or crazy? Ideally if they also help others, call out injustice where it needs to be, help get some social justice, but in a normal way, with the emphasis on justice, not because of some pettiness. And I mean stories where it's clear they are the good guys, not the villain we just love to watch more than the hero, whose much better outfits we admire and call fabulous, but ultimately know that they are the villain of the story, so we don't mind when they get eventually defeated by the hero, usually a conveniently pretty young ingenue, who might be spunky but doesn't really get to challenge the status quo.

The only story like what I have in mind that I can think of is Frozen, and even that was a close call, since Elsa was originally supposed to be a villain, only after they created the Let it go song they saw that she is too sympathetic to keep her as villain.

(I'm not really sure this belongs here, but since there isn't a separate topic for gender in movies like there is for TV, this is where I decided to place this tangent.)

[scarynikki12]

I've never seen The Craft about friendship or sisterhood but about the corruptive nature of power. 

[Blergh]

3 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

I've never seen The Craft about friendship or sisterhood but about the corruptive nature of power. 

I disliked that even the girls who had been sympathetic (e.g. the girl with the abusive stepfather, the girl with the extensive body scars, the African-American girl who'd been cruelly snubbed,etc.) were somehow forever ostracized by the protagonist for having temporarily sided with the group's loose cannon rival!

I guess what I'm saying is that since their remorse seemed sincere, I wish they and protagonist had simply decided to put the climactic horrible night behind them and have moved on- even if they all collectively decided to avoid spells from that point on.

[Bastet]

20 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

(I'm not really sure this belongs here, but since there isn't a separate topic for gender in movies like there is for TV, this is where I decided to place this tangent.)

There's one mega thread for gender, race, sexual orientation, etc:

[BlueSkies]

Maniac (1980) is one of the greatest horror movies ever made 

[BlueSkies]

A Rocky fan here but Creed 2 was pretty unmemorable to me.  I give the film some credit for trying to give Ivan Drago more depth but the film felt to me like more a cash grab/remake the Rocky 4 storyline for younger generations 

[BlueSkies]

I never liked Back To The Future.  Enough so whenever I try to watch it I can’t finish it 

[BlueSkies]

While it looks dated today 3 O Clock High (1987) is one of the best teen movies ever 

[Gharlane]

On 9/29/2022 at 11:58 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I didn't hate Body of Evidence and I prefer it over Basic Instinct, which I honestly find boring.

I feel that Basic Instinct was popular only because it was protested by the LGB community.

[Ambrosefolly]

On 11/3/2022 at 11:38 PM, Blergh said:

I disliked that even the girls who had been sympathetic (e.g. the girl with the abusive stepfather, the girl with the extensive body scars, the African-American girl who'd been cruelly snubbed,etc.) were somehow forever ostracized by the protagonist for having temporarily sided with the group's loose cannon rival!

I guess what I'm saying is that since their remorse seemed sincere, I wish they and protagonist had simply decided to put the climactic horrible night behind them and have moved on- even if they all collectively decided to avoid spells from that point on.

I know this is the UO thread, but I disagree. They tricked her into thinking that her parents had been killed and were attempting to kill her and staging it as a suicide. I wish they didn't cut the scene where Sarah healed Bonnie to show how bad Bonnie's betrayal was. (They also shouldn't have cut the scene when Bonnie and Rochelle were trying to talk Nancy from the edge, to show they weren't the blind followers that they were presented). And I don't think that they were that sincere in their apology (though they might have been relieved that they wouldn't be weighted down by killing a relative innocent). I thought Sarah gave them as much grace as they deserved and she was pretty polite to both of them. She bound their powers, but let Bonnie keep her beauty.  But yeah, she didn't want to hang out with people that she couldn't trust. They still made salty remarks when Sarah (IMHO, rightfully) turned down their request to hang out to practice magic, which prompted Sarah to show her powers.

Edited November 19, 2022 by Ambrosefolly

[BlueSkies]

No Small Affair...  one of Demi Moore's first films is an underrated classic 

[Blergh]

16 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

No Small Affair...  one of Demi Moore's first films is an underrated classic 

My UO re Demi Moore is that even when she was young, as pretty as she was, her performances almost all had the depth of a pancake and she barely could emote so I never got how she did more than be a background extra- much less wound up becoming a major movie star for a time!

[BlueSkies]

1 hour ago, Blergh said:

My UO re Demi Moore is that even when she was young, as pretty as she was, her performances almost all had the depth of a pancake and she barely could emote so I never got how she did more than be a background extra- much less wound up becoming a major movie star for a time!

Lol.  I guess you're not a fan.

In this film I thought her character was likeable and she was very beautiful.  Though tbh I liked the film a lot because of Cryer's character in it.  I kinda could see a lot of myself in him

[Wiendish Fitch]

I've said it before, I'll say it again:

I think Mrs. Miniver is good, actually.

I think Greer Garson is good in it, actually.

I don't think she deserved the Oscar more than Bette Davis did that year... but she didn't deserve it less. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 11/26/2022 at 9:13 AM, Blergh said:

My UO re Demi Moore is that even when she was young, as pretty as she was, her performances almost all had the depth of a pancake and she barely could emote so I never got how she did more than be a background extra- much less wound up becoming a major movie star for a time!

I read her memoirs earlier this year.  I don't think she had any training, right?  She was just 'discovered'.  

[methodwriter85]

On 11/17/2022 at 8:46 PM, Ambrosefolly said:

I know this is the UO thread, but I disagree. They tricked her into thinking that her parents had been killed and were attempting to kill her and staging it as a suicide. I wish they didn't cut the scene where Sarah healed Bonnie to show how bad Bonnie's betrayal was. (They also shouldn't have cut the scene when Bonnie and Rochelle were trying to talk Nancy from the edge, to show they weren't the blind followers that they were presented). And I don't think that they were that sincere in their apology (though they might have been relieved that they wouldn't be weighted down by killing a relative innocent). I thought Sarah gave them as much grace as they deserved and she was pretty polite to both of them. She bound their powers, but let Bonnie keep her beauty.  But yeah, she didn't want to hang out with people that she couldn't trust. They still made salty remarks when Sarah (IMHO, rightfully) turned down their request to hang out to practice magic, which prompted Sarah to show her powers.

I didn't think they were all that sincere, either. I think they were only trying to get her to give them back their powers.

One bit that I loved from the movie is that when they're trying to get Sarah to kill herself, they give Sarah this mock congratulatory golf clap about "killing" her mother in childbirth. It's a direct callback to Laura Lizzie and her cronies giving Rochelle a golf clap while harassing her in the beginning of the movie. A nice bit of "the bullied becoming the bullied." 

[Spartan Girl]

Avatar was overrated and I couldn’t give two shits about the sequel.

[Anduin]

53 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Avatar was overrated and I couldn’t give two shits about the sequel.

And yet, they could have fixed it in two ways. Recasting Sam Worthington with a better actor might be tricky, so let's put that to the side. The other way, have Jake Sully say that he's tried talking to the Navi about why humans are here, about moving, but they always changed the subject or didn't listen. Two sentences would have improved the story no end.

Unless the sequel gets really good reviews, for its actual story, I agree that it's a miss.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Re The Craft;

It's too bad Fairuza Balk didn't become more of a star, which may or may not be unpopular. Yeah, Nancy goes careening off the deep end and never comes back, to the point she has to be locked up in an asylum, but Balk fully committed to her shrieking insanity. I barely remember the girl who played the lead, and even a younger Neve Campbell doesn't really stand out, but Balk is wildly entertaining even as Nancy spins totally out of control.

[Shannon L.]

12 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Avatar was overrated and I couldn’t give two shits about the sequel.

I agree and disagree.  As someone who hates 3D movies and will never pay the extra money for them if I can see the movie in other forms, I do have to say that the experience JC created was outstanding.  IMO, that alone made the movie worth the money and there is a part of me that wants to experience it again with this one.  However, the story itself, had it been made w/o the 3D effects, wasn't good, and that has me not wanting to spend the money again.  Also, I'm finding James Cameron even more annoying than usual, so I'm not sure I want to spend the money for that reason alone.

I guess, like @Anduin said, it will depend on what the reviews are for the actual story.

[BlueSkies]

On 11/29/2022 at 1:49 AM, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Re The Craft;

It's too bad Fairuza Balk didn't become more of a star, which may or may not be unpopular. Yeah, Nancy goes careening off the deep end and never comes back, to the point she has to be locked up in an asylum, but Balk fully committed to her shrieking insanity. I barely remember the girl who played the lead, and even a younger Neve Campbell doesn't really stand out, but Balk is wildly entertaining even as Nancy spins totally out of control.

I liked her character in The Waterboy 

[Bastet]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:49 PM, Cobalt Stargazer said:

It's too bad Fairuza Balk didn't become more of a star, which may or may not be unpopular.

I've never seen The Craft, and don't remember her in Almost Famous, but I sat up and took notice of her in Personal Velocity.

[Kel Varnsen]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

I've never seen The Craft, and don't remember her in Almost Famous, but I sat up and took notice of her in Personal Velocity.

Almost Famous is one of my top 3 favourite movies and Fairuza Balk probably has the most to do of any of the non-Kate Hudson Bandaid characters. Her last scene where she tells Billy Crudup what happened and why he is an asshole is great.

[Anduin]

I suppose this belongs here. James Cameron has completely put me off seeing Avatar 2, no matter what the reviews say.

Quote

The reporter then asked the director when might be a good time for audiences to take a quick bathroom break. “Any time they want,” he said. “They can see the scene they missed when they come see it again.”

When I go see it a second time? Seriously? That level of ego completely rubs me the wrong way. I find arrogance to be repulsive. Besides, the last great movie he did was to my mind Terminator 2, 30 years ago. Even Titanic was 1997.

I doubt any big shot Hollywood directors are reading this, but if they are, don't show your swelled head in public. Keep it in check.

[Irlandesa]

I'm not a Cameron fan but I think that's funny. 

It will be interesting to see if he reaches the benchmarks he claims he needs to reach to make money on the movie. 

[jennifer6973]

I don't know if I said this before on this thread,  but I enjoyed Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

[Anduin]

12 minutes ago, jennifer6973 said:

I don't know if I said this before on this thread,  but I enjoyed Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

It's certainly an all right movie. Not the best, but nowhere near as bad as some people like to claim it is. The way some people go on about movies, you'd think it caused mental, or physical, scarring.

[Spartan Girl]

10 hours ago, jennifer6973 said:

I don't know if I said this before on this thread,  but I enjoyed Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

10 hours ago, Anduin said:

It's certainly an all right movie. Not the best, but nowhere near as bad as some people like to claim it is. The way some people go on about movies, you'd think it caused mental, or physical, scarring.

Yeah, that was a bit of an overreaction. Mind you, I didn’t hate it. In fact, if it weren’t for the aliens, I probably would have forgiven everything else because I was just so happy to see Marion again. Even though Mutt being Indy’s son was a lame reveal.

I do hope we see Marion again in the new one.

[proserpina65]

On 12/2/2022 at 9:53 PM, Anduin said:

It's certainly an all right movie. Not the best, but nowhere near as bad as some people like to claim it is. The way some people go on about movies, you'd think it caused mental, or physical, scarring.

Oh, for some of us, it did cause mental scarring.  Marion was the only good thing in a really terrible movie.

Edited December 6, 2022 by proserpina65

[BlueSkies]

Benny and Joon I thought was kind of a boring movie and disappointment.

On paper the film looks real good though and I like That Walk 5000 miles theme song.  I just couldnt get into the movie 

[pancake bacon]

On 11/29/2022 at 10:14 AM, Anduin said:

Recasting Sam Worthington with a better actor might be tricky,

He's not particularly good in Avatar, but Sam Worthington has given great performances, especially his earlier Australian work, which got him US attention. His streak of hot casting a decade ago, while lucky, didn't do him any favors. 

[Blergh]

On 12/6/2022 at 11:11 AM, proserpina65 said:

Oh, for some of us, it did cause mental scarring.  Marion was the only good thing in a really terrible movie.

Agree- and what were they thinking trivializing  an atomic bomb blast survival for comic relief?! I doubt even Bob Hope in the 1950's would have attempted that one! I also think they somewhat blew it via casting Shia LaBeuof for ANY part of that movie much less the part he was cast it (and couldn't Spielberg have told Lucas to take the alien mumbo jumbo to one of his own series?)

Edited December 12, 2022 by Blergh

[Kel Varnsen]

On 12/2/2022 at 9:39 PM, jennifer6973 said:

I don't know if I said this before on this thread,  but I enjoyed Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

I haven't seen it since it was in theatres but I remember not thinking it was that bad either. I remember reading a review when it came out about how a lot of the hatred comes from just it's place in the order of the movies. Like sure there is a lot of dumb crap in it, but there is a lot of dumb crap in the other ones too, but they have the advantage of not being the 4th movie. I mean sure the fridge thing is stupid, but is it really any dumber than using an inflatable raft in place of a parachute, or surviving hanging onto the periscope of a sub as it goes across the Mediterranean sea for what must have been at least days?

[RunningMarket]

On 12/10/2022 at 8:33 PM, Kel Varnsen said:

I haven't seen it since it was in theatres but I remember not thinking it was that bad either. I remember reading a review when it came out about how a lot of the hatred comes from just it's place in the order of the movies. Like sure there is a lot of dumb crap in it, but there is a lot of dumb crap in the other ones too, but they have the advantage of not being the 4th movie. I mean sure the fridge thing is stupid, but is it really any dumber than using an inflatable raft in place of a parachute, or surviving hanging onto the periscope of a sub as it goes across the Mediterranean sea for what must have been at least days?

I'm wracking my brain - is this from an Indy movie? I don't recall the scene.

[Kel Varnsen]

1 hour ago, RunningMarket said:

I'm wracking my brain - is this from an Indy movie? I don't recall the scene.

In Raiders, after the Nazi's capture the ship leaving Egypt with Indy and the Ark. They load the Ark onto a submarine and take Marian. Indy grabs onto the sub periscope. I read an article somewhere where someone figured the distance they traveled and the top speed of a German U-boat and how the voyage would have taken days. And yet when they dock Indy is completely fine, even without any food or water all that time.

[BlueSkies]

Perhaps someone can convince me otherwise but even someone like me who grew up watching De Niro/Scorsese/Pacino films....  I still have no desire to sit through The Irishman 

Edited December 13, 2022 by BlueSkies

[Mabinogia]

NVM wrong movie

Edited December 14, 2022 by Mabinogia
wrong movie

[kiddo82]

2 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

Perhaps someone can convince me otherwise but even someone like me who grew up watching De Niro/Scorsese/Pacino films....  I still have no desire to sit through The Irishman 

Here's my pitch:  Restless night?  Watch the Irishman.  It's just as effective as Ambien without the hangover.

[Blergh]

4 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Here's my pitch:  Restless night?  Watch the Irishman.  It's just as effective as Ambien without the hangover.

Or warm milk without the gas!

[Ms Blue Jay]

Try lactose free milk. But honestly, yeah.  I'm still too scared to drink it at night.

[BlueSkies]

Beavis and Butthead 2022 movie was the only movie I actually watched made in 2022.

I keep meaning to watch the new Top Gun movie but always seemingly find ways not too. Part of me thinks it's going to be too cheesy and formulatic I think.  

[Ms Blue Jay]

People act like Top Gun Maverick is the saviour of cinema, god's gift.  NY Times Film Critic AO Scott was attacked mercilessly for releasing a Top 10 films of 2022 list that didn't include it.  I'm talking tweeted at thousands of times with all sorts of insults saying that he needed to change his list and make Top Gun Maverick #1.  LOL.   Good lord! !!! ! People need to get a grip.

I thought the movie was a bit above average - nothing more, nothing less.  it definitely has its flaws but you would never know it from reading people going absolutely insane over it on social media.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[Wiendish Fitch]

You couldn't pay me to watch Maverick. There, I said it, and on this hill I shall die.

[Shannon L.]

Top Gun: Maverick was fun and the fight sequences are outstanding,  but it's nothing more than fan service for fans of the original.

[Enigma X]

43 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

You couldn't pay me to watch Maverick. There, I said it, and on this hill I shall die.

Hopefully this is not like the Titanic door and there is room for me on that hill. I agree with you!

[WritinMan]

Love Actually is actually a terrible movie.

[Spartan Girl]

3 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

You couldn't pay me to watch Maverick. There, I said it, and on this hill I shall die.

Bury me next to you. I haven’t watched it and never will, but I still can’t for the life of me understand why people are going on like it’s the greatest movie of the year. Like, really?!

[BlueSkies]

7 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

People act like Top Gun Maverick is the saviour of cinema, god's gift.  NY Times Film Critic AO Scott was attacked mercilessly for releasing a Top 10 films of 2022 list that didn't include it.  I'm talking tweeted at thousands of times with all sorts of insults saying that he needed to change his list and make Top Gun Maverick #1.  LOL.   Good lord! !!! ! People need to get a grip.

I thought the movie was a bit above average - nothing more, nothing less.  it definitely has its flaws but you would never know it from reading people going absolutely insane over it on social media.

Basically that’s my take of the movie without actually watching it….  Wont be a bad movie but nothing spectacular 

[Ms Blue Jay]

4 hours ago, WritinMan said:

Love Actually is actually a terrible movie.

I have always agreed.  On social media I am finding that there are a lot of us out there.  We are here and we are legion!

3 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

Basically that’s my take of the movie without actually watching it….  Wont be a bad movie but nothing spectacular 

It's a popcorn movie.....  that's what we used to call them when I worked at the theatre.  Sells a lot of popcorn.  LOL.  Sometimes I like popcorn flicks!  Sometimes not!  For the most part, they do not reinvent the wheel!  

Edited December 19, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay