Unpopular Opinions

[tribeca]

It's A Wonderful life is my mom's favorite movie.  Dad and I used to always say how George really didn't have a wonderful life.  As I got older I started to really notice that George's big dreams really were "making a million before he was thirty, traveling and building things"  he didn't have any real focus.  When I watched the film when I got older I always felt George's dad understood this and that's why he wanted him at the Building and Loan.

 

[nilyank]

 

As I got older I started to really notice that George's big dreams really were "making a million before he was thirty, traveling and building things"  he didn't have any real focus.  When I watched the film when I got older I always felt George's dad understood this and that's why he wanted him at the Building and Loan.

 

George's father was right. He couldn't see it as the years went by, but George was building a better community and was able to do it during the Great Depression and World War 2. He was an extremely kind and generous man who ended up sacrificing for everyone he knew. That is why it is satisfying to me when the whole town comes through for George in the end. They loved him  and did not believe the lies that Potter was spreading. The people in Bedford Falls knew what George had done for them even if George knew his own angel to show him what life would have been without him in it.

[Ubiquitous]

Am I the only person who thinks this Interview kerfuffle was created to increase ticket sales for a crappy movie?

[BooBear]

Am I the only person who thinks this Interview kerfuffle was created to increase ticket sales for a crappy movie?

I just don't think they are that smart.

[Kel Varnsen]

I don't think so. This is the end (same writers and actors) made a shit ton of money with a similar, small, budget. No reason for Sony to think the interview wouldn't make money too.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

They ARE smart enough to know how to protect their most crucial partners - the distributors (Carmike, AMC, etc.).  Those folks were facing epic legal liability if the slightest thing happened (Check out the Aurora, CO deal in which they are 100% innocent of anything) and they decided to punt.  So, instead of letting their friends take hits to their brand/reputation, Sony did it on their behalf.  

 

I also believe Sony thought it would be able to collect insurance cash.  Several reports indicated they were flat refused by their insurers.  Then, a day later, voila!  Limited independent distribution, thus continuing to indemnify their partners, and a wide digital distribution.  

 

Follow the money, y'all.  YMMV. 

[Helena Dax]

I really like James Franco. I mean, he isn't my favourite actor or anything, but he seems to be a very interesting guy and I'd love to meet him and talk to him. 

[Janet Snakehole]

I would think this was all a gambit to get press if the personal info and social security numbers of Sony employees had not been released.

Honestly, my selfish unpopular opinion is that I am afraid that the Disaster Artist is in trouble if the Interview does not do well. I really want to see a movie made of that book. I also want another Tommy Wiseau movie.

[Canada]

I don't like E.T.  Never have, never will.  There, I said it!! 

[Julia]

I don't like E.T.  Never have, never will.  There, I said it!! 

 

I was young and impressionable, and I thought I was supposed to cry, and I tried really hard. I never did manage. 

 

There's a billboard off Rte 17 in the Catskills that has seen way better days - like most of what's off Rte 17 in the Catskills - which says that ET was filmed around there. That makes me sadder than the movie did.

[Gemma Violet]

I don't like E.T.  Never have, never will.  There, I said it!! 

 

I don't like E.T. either.  I think it might be because I saw it several weeks after it came out and by then, almost everyone I knew was touting it as the greatest family movie ever made since The Wizard of Oz.  By the time I finally saw it, I guess my expectations were over the moon, and I was sorely disappointed.  I always thought if I had seen it the day it came out with no preconceived notions, I would have liked it.

 

The same thing happened with Casablanca.  I saw it last year for the first time after hearing about how great it was all my life.  Talk about a disappointment!  The first half hour was pure boredom.  It picked up a little after that, but still, I'd never in a million years think this would turn out to be a classic.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Gemma Violet

[Janet Snakehole]

ET scares me. Like, not the movie, but ET himself. He always seemed shady to me.

[CaughtOnTape]

I don't think the Lord of the Rings movies were that great.

[harrie]

I don't like E.T.  Never have, never will.  There, I said it!! 

 

I have never seen E.T. nor do I plan to.   Does that count as an unpopular opinion? 

[harrie]

The same thing happened with Casablanca.  I saw it last year for the first time after hearing about how great it was all my life.  Talk about a disappointment!  The first half hour was pure boredom.  It picked up a little after that, but still, I'd never in a million years think this would turn out to be a classic.

 

That's too bad; Casablanca is probably my favorite movie ever, and part of that is because it was allowed to sneak up on me, so to speak.  But I've had movies ruined for me by people who praised them too much, and have had the same "Wha- that's it?!?" feeling. If someone starts trying to sell me on a flick, now I ask them to dial it back a little so I can keep my expectation in check.  Because it sucks when someone asks "Well, how'd you like (something they raved about)" and I have to find an answer that won't hurt their feelings. 

[BooBear]

I don't like E.T. either.  I think it might be because I saw it several weeks after it came out and by then, almost everyone I knew was touting it as the greatest family movie ever made since The Wizard of Oz.  By the time I finally saw it, I guess my expectations were over the moon, and I was sorely disappointed.  I always thought if I had seen it the day it came out with no preconceived notions, I would have liked it.

 

I hate ET too. I saw it in the theater and was completely lost as to why everyone else loved it.  I had no preconceived notions, I think I was 7. But even when it comes on now I am left lost. Though the music is good.

[Pippin]

A few unpopular opinions.

 

I find It's a Wonderful Life to be an extremely depressing movie and I avoid it at all costs.  I don't get the joy it's supposed to  generate. At all.

 

I can't remember the last time I saw an alleged comedy out of Hollywood (or a major studio)  that was actually funny.  Most so-called comedies seem to be written for, and by, 13 year old boys.  (I have nothing against 13 year old boys, but I don't share that sense of humour, and I particularly don't want to watch 2 hours' worth of fart jokes.)  Said movies are often about unlikeable people doing stupid or illegal or cruel things with no consequences and we, the audience, are supposed to find it hilarious.  Comedies that are based on wit, good dialogue and real humour seem to be thin on the ground.  Fortunately, I have The Movie Network, so I don't have to pay movie theatre prices to see H'Wood releases; I am patient, I can wait. 

 

On a related note:  I don't think Jim Carrey is funny.  I was bored the other night and so ended up watching Liar Liar.  Someone should make Carrey sit down and watch a real master of physical comedy; someone like Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.  There were some scenes where it looked like Carrey was having a grand mal seizure as opposed to doing a double take. 

 

Finally, I think movies would be immeasurably improved if all writers wrote as if they had no budget for CGI or FX.  Then they would have to concentrate on such old-fashioned things as story, character and dialogue.

 

 

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I don't think the Lord of the Rings movies were that great.

Me neither. I think they are decent action movies, but I got really tired really fast about how everyone thought that Peter Jackson was amazing and how no one else ever could have brought those books to the big screen. I never really bought that considering he had a giant budget a crazy amount of runtime, and some very detailed source material (really no other directors?). Plus it always bugged me that the 3rd one won best picture over Master and Commander: the far side of the world, which I thought was a way better movie, and much more of an achievement, as far as filming everything on water and telling an interesting story. 

[emjohnson03]

 

 

On a related note:  I don't think Jim Carrey is funny.  I was bored the other night and so ended up watching Liar Liar.  Someone should make Carrey sit down and watch a real master of physical comedy; someone like Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.  There were some scenes where it looked like Carrey was having a grand mal seizure as opposed to doing a double take. 

 

 

Word to ALL OF THIS. This is the very reason why I can't stand Jim Carrey. I like this dramatic stuff (The Truman Show is great, The Majestic is another random film that I will always watch ). The comedy is SO over the top that it takes away from the film. When I tell people I'm not a fan they look at me like I have two heads but really? The yelling, the screaming, the over exaggeration just grates.

[wanderingstar]

I think I made it about half way through A Christmas Story before finally giving up.  I just didn't see what the big deal was.

 

 

I don't get the hype over this movie either.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Gillian Rosh

[VCRTracking]

 

Word to ALL OF THIS. This is the very reason why I can't stand Jim Carrey. I like this dramatic stuff (The Truman Show is great, The Majestic is another random film that I will always watch ). The comedy is SO over the top that it takes away from the film. When I tell people I'm not a fan they look at me like I have two heads but really? The yelling, the screaming, the over exaggeration just grates.

 

I grew up watching him on "In Living Color" and when the writing's good he's good. I also  hope you guys have watched or will at least watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It's not just a good Jim Carrey movie, it's a GREAT movie period. He and Kate Winslet are sooooooooooo good in it and the ending, just...wow.

 

 

The same thing happened with Casablanca.  I saw it last year for the first time after hearing about how great it was all my life.  Talk about a disappointment!  The first half hour was pure boredom.  It picked up a little after that, but still, I'd never in a million years think this would turn out to be a classic.

 

Really? I love Casablanca,and  I love the atmosphere of Rick's Cafe in those early scenes, with all those people  from different countries, desperate to escape the Nazis, and the intrigue and the dialogue is great.

 

Here might be an unpopular opinion. I like digital projection and prefer it to celluloid. A movie on celluloid already has dirt and scratches after a few weeks but a digital still looks great even after two months. As long as theirs no glitch it's the ideal experience.

Edited December 28, 2014 by VCRTracking

[blueray]

I finally saw Finding Nemo a few months ago when I was baby sitting and I don't get why it was so popular, even with older people. I was bored. And a bit offended that they were making a joke about someone who has memory problems.

Edited December 28, 2014 by blueray

[Shannon L.]

 

I finally saw Finding Nemo a few months ago when I was baby sitting and I don't get why it was so popular, even with older people. I was bored. And a bit offended that they were making a joke about someone who has memory problems.

I thought it was cute, but my favorite moments came from peripheral characters like the sharks who were trying to stop eating fish and the seagulls with their "mine, mine, mine!" and the little crab who started to do a karate move only to end up jumping in the water.

[weyrbunny]

I don't get the critical reverence for The Grand Budapest Hotel. Watched it recently, and it was...fine. But it's not even in my top 5 favorite Wes Anderson films.

 

So it's about standing up to Facism, so it's darker and (marginally) less whimsical than his prior films--portions of the film are actually boring. And I don't think I've ever been bored by an Anderson film before.

 

Ralph Fiennes' performance was very entertaining, at least.

[Jipijapa]

Steve McQueen.  Never got the appeal.  I didn't like him in ANYTHING.  I especially hate watching The Great Escape with my family and all of them rush into the room when McQueen is on his motorcycle.  Because nearly any other actor in that movie is cooler and a better actor than McQueen...  (not to mention, knowing the story of the making of the movie, how McQueen quit the movie in a whiny snit because he thought his character wasn't heroic enough, and he had to be talked back into it, and they put the motorcycle stunt in there to placate him).

 

Don't even get me started on comic book movies, they have virtually driven me away from the movie theater.  DC? Marvel?  I don't fucking know or CARE.   When did this stuff start taking over mainstream culture?   I liked comic book nerds better when they were in their bedrooms being nerds, they were a lot sweeter and more polite.  (Also, can you imagine the stars of years past being expected to play superheroes all the time?)  When this genre finally dies out (for whatever economic reason), I will dance and spit on its grave. 

 

Daniel Craig is a good Bond, but his tenure has been overshadowed by the fact that all of his Bond movies have been absolutely horrible - increasingly so.  Skyfall wasn't even a James Bond movie - it was more like Skyfall: The Adventures of MI6 featuring James Bond.

 

As for E.T... I felt defective because I was the only one of my friends who didn't dissolve into a puddle of tears when we saw it in the theater (age 12-13 or so).  But I thought it was good.  When it came on TV a few years later, I was astonished at how boring it seemed.  And, considering the massive success of the movie and what a cultural phenomenon it was, it's interesting to me how few people seem to treasure it today. 

Edited December 29, 2014 by Jipijapa

[bubbls]

I've never been able to sit through "Miracle On 34th Street." It bores me plus I have an irrational hatred towards Natalie Wood and I don't like kid movies. 

 

I assume this is unpopular, but I love all those Blair Witch copycat movies, the ones that are supposed to be home movies. 

[DrSpaceman]

Word to ALL OF THIS. This is the very reason why I can't stand Jim Carrey. I like this dramatic stuff (The Truman Show is great, The Majestic is another random film that I will always watch ). The comedy is SO over the top that it takes away from the film. When I tell people I'm not a fan they look at me like I have two heads but really? The yelling, the screaming, the over exaggeration just grates.

 

 

He is actually much like the late, great, Robin Williams.  When he tones down his act and stops acting manic, in dramatic roles or comedic roles, he can be very funny.  When he just acts crazy like Fire Marshall Bill or Ace Ventura, I find it annoying. 

 

Robin Williams became like that to me over time.  His manic, mile a minute rants could be good, but that wore thin over time and I found him much more enjoyable when he played his characters more dramatic and.....well, normal

[Princess Sparkle]

I don't think the Lord of the Rings movies were that great.

I want a seat at your table.  I actively hate those movies, and they leave me bored to tears.  I saw Return of the King when it came out, just to see what all the hype was about, and kept getting mad that every time I thought that freaking movie ended, it didn't.  GAH, I hate those movies!

 

Avatar is another one that I never understood.  From a purely visual standpoint, yes it is an achievement.  From a creative, cohesive, well-acted standpoint, that movie is shit.  Boring, too long, and my goodness, Sam Worthington is one of the least charismatic people to ever grace the big screen.  And for a $200 million plus budget, couldn't they have found a dialect coach for him?  He slipped back into his Australian accent so distractingly, that I thought I fell asleep in the theater and missed a plot point that he wasn't American.  

[FozzyBear]

I want a seat at your table. I actively hate those movies, and they leave me bored to tears. I saw Return of the King when it came out, just to see what all the hype was about, and kept getting mad that every time I thought that freaking movie ended, it didn't. GAH, I hate those movies!

Avatar is another one that I never understood. From a purely visual standpoint, yes it is an achievement. From a creative, cohesive, well-acted standpoint, that movie is shit. Boring, too long, and my goodness, Sam Worthington is one of the least charismatic people to ever grace the big screen. And for a $200 million plus budget, couldn't they have found a dialect coach for him? He slipped back into his Australian accent so distractingly, that I thought I fell asleep in the theater and missed a plot point that he wasn't American.

I loved all three of the Lord of the Rings movies. Still think they're amazing.

Avatar? Oh. My. God. I don't know if I've ever endured such a boring movie. I tried to watch it three times and gave up each time because I was so damn bored. Once I just picked up a book and started reading instead.

I don't really like Saving Private Ryan. It's fine I guess and the storming of the beach is well done but it is miles away from being my favorite WWII movie.

[Janet Snakehole]

Princess Sparkle, I couldn't agree more about Avatar.

It was Pocahontas/Dances with Wolves in Space. I admire the world building and visual effort put into it, but seriously they couldn't spend any time creating a better story?

And really, unobtainium?

[VCRTracking]

Seeing Avatar in IMAX in 3D was great. On TV at home, not so much.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Avatar is one of the most boring, aggressively derivative movies I've ever seen. I kid you not, I nearly dozed off once or twice.

 

Here's a classic film UO: I preferred Teri Garr's adorably neurotic Sandy to Jessica Lange's mopey Julie in Tootsie. Garr doesn't get the credit she deserves as a comic actress.

[scarynikki12]

The only part of the LOTR trilogy that I enjoy is that scene right after Sam and Frodo have left the group.  Legolas runs into the scene saying something like "they've reached the Northern shore!" and I start cracking up because: A) he's talking about the other side of the river, B) we can see the other side of the river as he's talking (meaning it's not that wide) and C) he's being WAY too dramatic.  Legolas enjoyed being Captain Obvious (we used to play that drinking game in college) but his dramatics get to the point in that scene where I just cannot take it seriously and start giggling.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Here's a classic film UO: I preferred Teri Garr's adorably neurotic Sandy to Jessica Lange's mopey Julie in Tootsie. Garr doesn't get the credit she deserves as a comic actress.

 

As someone who has adored Jessica Lange since Frances, which actually came out in the same year as Tootsie, I think she was just miscast. Goldie Hawn might have been able to pull off Julie a little less mopily, but Lange didn't really fit the part.

[proserpina65]

Plus it always bugged me that the 3rd one won best picture over Master and Commander: the far side of the world, which I thought was a way better movie, and much more of an achievement, as far as filming everything on water and telling an interesting story.

 

I will go to my grave thinking that Master and Commander deserved the Best Picture Oscar that year.  And Peter Weir deserved Best Director.  Talk about working as if there was no budget for fx - M & C is a master class in mostly doing without cgi and fx.

[Ohwell]

I loved Master and Commander and thought it deserved Best Picture/Director.  However, I think the movie came out during a time when Russell Crowe was being a dick for whatever reason, and that hurt the movie's chances for awards and even at the box office. 

[proserpina65]

One of my UOs - I think Daniel Craig is a terrible James Bond.  He's stiff, humorless and looks bored all the damned time.  Why the producers chose him instead of Clive Owen will forever be a mystery to me.  Here's hoping he'll be done after the next film (not the one currently filming, unfortunately) and they have the good sense to replace him with Idris Elba.  (Or the aforementioned Owen, if he'd still be willing.)

I loved Master and Commander and thought it deserved Best Picture/Director.  However, I think the movie came out during a time when Russell Crowe was being a dick for whatever reason, and that hurt the movie's chances for awards and even at the box office. 

I don't remember him being a dick at the time (not like when A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man came out), but it is Russell Crowe, so that's always a possibility.  It's entirely probable that his hissy fit at the Baftas cost him the Best Actor Oscar for A Beautiful Mind.

 

Possibly an UO - I still love him as an actor, even though he's chosen some questionable projects over the last few years.  And I really want to see the WWI movie he's made, The Water Diviner.

[cincivic]

I , too,dislike, Avatar. My husband loves it and made me watch it. I couldn't make it all the way through and after 30 minutes I was looking for something sharp to stick in my eye. I have never, and nor will I ever, watch anything with a Hobbit. And I have never seen E.T. No one in my family has for some reason. We are proud of that fact. Haha. We don't call it E.T. we call it eht.

[tribeca]

My UO

League of Their Own

Kit annoyed me at times but I always understood how she felt.  

[caracas1914]

I just could never get into  "Lawrence of Arabia", and God knows I tried.

 

Yes, it's visually beautiful with all the wide desert  scenes, but maybe because I found the title character a tad  too enigmatic; thus Peter O'Toole never gave me a fix on Lawrence for all that O'Toole  was still so pretty in those days.  The films seems clunky when it's suppose to be lyrical.   I confess most latter David Lean bores me, though I thought "A passage to India" was his best late work.

Edited January 7, 2015 by caracas1914

[Ohwell]

The thing that annoyed me about two of David Lean's movies - "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr. Zhivago" - was that the theme songs were played over and over and over again.  Drove me nuts.

[Princess Sparkle]

My James Bond UO:

 

Timothy Dalton was my favorite Bond, and as for George Lazenby, I think On Her Majesty's Secret Service was actually pretty good.  I can think of at least 5 worse Bond movies off the top of my head.

[proserpina65]

My James Bond UO:

 

Timothy Dalton was my favorite Bond, and as for George Lazenby, I think On Her Majesty's Secret Service was actually pretty good.  I can think of at least 5 worse Bond movies off the top of my head.

Dalton wasn't my favorite Bond, but I did like him a lot in his first outing.  I also really liked Lazenby, and wouldn't have minded having him instead of Roger Moore.  OHMSS was quite good, I agree.

[Princess Sparkle]

Dalton wasn't my favorite Bond, but I did like him a lot in his first outing.  I also really liked Lazenby, and wouldn't have minded having him instead of Roger Moore.  OHMSS was quite good, I agree.

Roger Moore was just so...old as James Bond. I mean, if I'm picking a replacement Bond that I want for the long haul, I wouldn't have gone with the guy who's three years older than my original actor, especially when his first film will be eleven years after the series has started.  His James Bond outings contain the majority of my least favorite Bonds (Moonraker and A View to a Kill might be my two least favorite Bonds).  

[Sweet Tee]

 

 

My James Bond UO:

Timothy Dalton was my favorite Bond, and as for George Lazenby, I think On Her Majesty's Secret Service was actually pretty good.  I can think of at least 5 worse Bond movies off the top of my head.

 

I still like Craig the best, but Dalton is a very close second.  I adore that man as an actor and I loved the way he played Bond.  I enjoyed both his movies as well.  Lazenby was fine.  I certainly prefer him to Moore.  But the main reason I love OHMSS is because of Diana Rigg.  She killed it in that movie.

Edited January 7, 2015 by Sweet Tee

[Popples]

I just could never get into  "Lawrence of Arabia", and God knows I tried.

 

Replace Lawrence of Arabia with Gandhi, and this is me. I've sat down to watch it at least four times and I just couldn't make it past an hour; it's so dry.

[caracas1914]

Well at least Lawrence and the Omar Shariff character trump watching a bald man in a diaper for 3 hours. Ghandi screams " serious film about an important historical icon". It's like watching a 30's Warner biopic without the Paul Muni makeup.

Edited January 7, 2015 by caracas1914

[Rick Kitchen]

A Passage to India.  Only movie I almost walked out of.  And I did keep falling asleep.

[Julia]

It drove me nuts that the wise indian elder who represented the passing of tradition in Passage to India was played by Alec Guinness. Just, did you seriously not just spend a couple of hours beating me over the head with the smug stupidity of the british trying to define indian culture?

[Wiendish Fitch]

I'm finally going to quit being a wuss and admit a UO that will surely get me flayed alive by my fellow Classic Hollywood fans. I'm sorry, but I can't keep this to myself any longer.

 

[Deep breath]

 

I think Ronald Colman was handsomer and sexier than Cary Grant! I can't help it! That voice, those eyes, that easy charm, it's all too much! I was rooting for Colman over Grant in The Talk of the Town (God, I hate that movie), and there are only a few Grant films I could love as much as Random Harvest!

 

 

Let the derision and scorn commence, I'm ready for it.