Unpopular Opinions

[WritinMan]

Animal House sucks. I've watched it a couple times and I've never laughed. It's just dumb, and I found myself wishing the house would explode somehow taking out all of the smugfucks in this terribly overrated movie.

[GreekGeek]

The above comment about Animal House made me realize something: I've seen many movies over the years and enjoyed a lot of them, but I've never had that one "super special, watch it over and over and over and quote it repeatedly" movie. At least not the ones that most people seem to gravitate towards. I liked the original Star Wars, Back to the Future, The Princess Bride, and even parts of Titanic, but I haven't watched them more than once.

[Shannon L.]

6 hours ago, WritinMan said:

Animal House sucks. I've watched it a couple times and I've never laughed. It's just dumb, and I found myself wishing the house would explode somehow taking out all of the smugfucks in this terribly overrated movie.

Totally agree.  I don't think I made it through the whole movie.  Give me Caddyshack, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Stripes any day.

UO:  I only like Mel Brooks movies in small doses.  I tend to start getting tired of them by the end.  I can watch individual scenes and laugh, but I think the only one I sat through without my mind wandering was Robin Hood:  Men in Tights (and I only saw it once and barely remember it, except that I thought it was cute).

[Wiendish Fitch]

While we're on the subject of comedies, how's this for a UO? I think Clue is... fine. 

Just that, fine. It's, at best, marginally amusing to me, but I don't find it to be the mind-blowing comedic masterpiece everyone touts it as. Honestly, a lot of it didn't stick with me. I personally thought the older, similarly themed Murder by Death was funnier (despite Peter Sellers's cringy yellowface).

[Blergh]

On 11/24/2019 at 2:00 AM, WritinMan said:

Animal House sucks. I've watched it a couple times and I've never laughed. It's just dumb, and I found myself wishing the house would explode somehow taking out all of the smugfucks in this terribly overrated movie.

Actually, I think it could have worked had it been in a single SNL Short Subject but being subjected to this for over two hours got rather tedious, IMUO.

 Here's something along those lines of a supposed cult classic that I could not even stomach for that period of time. Rocky Horror Picture Show. A friend of mine insisted we had to see it(and the friend was someone who seemed to have put up zero resistance to becoming a cultee)- but even five minutes was more than enough for me to stomach and I refused to see the rest despite my pal's pleadings and insistence that I HAD to watch ALL of it to 'get' it and I was being too square! Nope! To each one's own but I refuse to waste my time seeing something which IMUO has ZERO tolerable characters (forget likable) getting into annoying situations without the slightest legit comedy AND with everyone else in the theater insisting how each and every audience member is 'supposed' to react to each and every single thing happens as though I (as an audience member)  can have no independent thought but must treat everything onscreen and offscreen as though it was a sacred rite of passage! 

Edited November 26, 2019 by Blergh

[Wiendish Fitch]

7 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Actually, I think it could have worked had it been in a single SNL Short Subject but being subjected to this for over two hours got rather tedious, IMUO.

 Here's something along those lines of a supposed cult classic that I could not even stomach for that period of time. Rocky Horror Picture Show. A friend of mine insisted we had to see it(and the friend was someone who seemed to have put up zero resistance to becoming a cultee)- but even five minutes was more than enough for me to stomach and I refused to see the rest despite my pal's pleadings and insistence that I HAD to watch ALL of it to 'get' it and I was being too square! Nope! To each one's own but I refuse to waste my time seeing something which IMUO has ZERO tolerable characters (forget likable) getting into annoying situations without the slightest legit comedy AND with everyone else in the theater insisting how each and every audience member am 'supposed' to react to each and every single thing happens as though I (as an audience member)  can have no independent thought but must treat everything onscreen and offscreen as though it was a sacred rite of passage! 

Rocky Horror Picture Show also falls under my heading of "It's Okay, I Guess, But Not Great". Not at all re-watchable to me; after the "Sweet Transvestite" number, the movie sags (and does anyone else think the movie as a whole is kind of icky?).

And if I see Harold and Maude's inclusion on one more Rotten Tomatoes "So n' So's Five Favorite Movies" list, so help me I will scream obscenities until my neighbors call the cops. 

Edited November 24, 2019 by Wiendish Fitch

[kiddo82]

6 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

The above comment about Animal House made me realize something: I've seen many movies over the years and enjoyed a lot of them, but I've never had that one "super special, watch it over and over and over and quote it repeatedly" movie. At least not the ones that most people seem to gravitate towards. I liked the original Star Wars, Back to the Future, The Princess Bride, and even parts of Titanic, but I haven't watched them more than once.

Princess Bride tops my list of "it's fine" movies that everyone else seems to adore.  I actually want them to remake it so I can watch everyone's head explode.  

[Shannon L.]

The best part of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the soundtrack, but I agree that it's not worth watching after Sweet Transvestite. 

[Crs97]

If you’ll indulge my musical theatre UO interruption, Stephen Sondheim is highly overrated.

[starri]

5 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

And if I see Harold and Maude's inclusion on one more Rotten Tomatoes "So n' So's Five Favorite Movies" list, so help me I will scream obscenities until my neighbors call the cops. 

Co-signed.

[Spartan Girl]

The Monty Python movies suck.

[Mabinogia]

3 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

The best part of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the soundtrack, but I agree that it's not worth watching after Sweet Transvestite. 

That movie will forever be a favorite of mine simply because it gave me Tim Curry in a corset and gave me my very first "fetish" lol

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 11/23/2019 at 7:39 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

He seemed to me to be a kind person, and used his platform to preach kindness, which I didn't know because he was never on my radar except for Eddie Murphy. 

On 11/24/2019 at 2:04 AM, kathyk2 said:

I liked Sesame Street and Electric Company more than Mr. Rodgers.

I watched Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, AND The Electric Company when I was wee and loved ALL of them. I have a photographic memory and I remember watching him and the other shows, so it's not as if I'm remembering through a roses or nostalgia prism. But I still have a sense of humor and thought Eddie Murphy's "take" on it, was absolutely HILARIOUS, and didn't clutch any pearls (if I had any to clutch), or heave my bosom.

In addition to all of that, I also watched Tom & Jerry, Popeye, Woody Woodpecker, Droopy, Looney Tunes, to round out my childhood.

And it's Mr. Rogers. No 'd' in his surname.

[proserpina65]

On ‎11‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 7:39 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

He kind of gives me the creeps. 

Blasphemer!  lol

[Dandesun]

The most fun I had at Rocky Horror was a stage production in downtown DC. I went with one of my nearest and dearest friends. We were both in college. The rest of the audience were significantly older. Gray hair, dresses and suits. We got handed a box of props at the door and the majority of the commentary was provided by cast members stationed around the stage. Certain things like snapping your gloves were caught onto quite easily. My friend knew what to say far more than I (I had been to a couple of midnight showings but not a lot) but it was nuts. It was so weird that it was even more fitting to the weirdness of the show.

But I outgrew the whole thing. I was in my late 20s and helping out a production at the local college and it just wasn't the same. I was in high school went I first saw it. It was weird and freaky and bizarre and it felt provocative and edgy to sheltered, suburban me... which was the whole point.

My sister has said she's never seen it and I told her a) she wouldn't like it and b) we are both way past the shelf life for it. Not saying you can't be in your 40s and still love it, it just didn't have the effect on me that it clearly did for so many others. And I just don't know if it's weird or edgy enough in this day and age. Who knows?

[Annber03]

I think Rocky Horror still has its fans in this day and age, but yeah, I could see some newer fans approaching their love of it a little differently from those who were into it when it first came out.

7 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

But I still have a sense of humor and thought Eddie Murphy's "take" on it, was absolutely HILARIOUS, and didn't clutch any pearls (if I had any to clutch), or heave my bosom.

From what I've heard, Rogers got a kick out of Murphy's take, too :). 

[Spartan Girl]

Get Out was better than Us.

Edited November 28, 2019 by Spartan Girl

[Ohwell]

17 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Get Out was better than Us.

Yes. 

Also, sadly, I think Jordan Peele has started smelling himself.

[Wiendish Fitch]

23 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Get Out was better than Us.

That's unpopular? Dang, shows what I know. I agree, BTW.

The Bodyguard UO: I prefer "I Have Nothing" to "I Will Always Love You". Sorry.

I think Meet Me in St. Louis is awful, save for the songs. Conversely, I think Presenting Lily Mars is Judy Garland's most underrated film.

I don't think Ghostbusters 2 is terrible at all. In fact, I like it a lot.

Claire Foy was fine (not great, just fine) as Lisbeth Salander. It's not her fault The Girl in the Spider's Web was trash (fun trash, I'll grant you, but still trash).

It will never bother me that Ordinary People won the Best Picture Academy Award.

I preferred Toy Story 4 to Toy Story 3. Fight me.

I prefer Kristen Bell's singing voice to Idina Menzel's.

[kiddo82]

1 hour ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

The Bodyguard UO: I prefer "I Have Nothing" to "I Will Always Love You". Sorry.

I think Meet Me in St. Louis is awful, save for the songs. Conversely, I think Presenting Lily Mars is Judy Garland's most underrated film.

I don't think Ghostbusters 2 is terrible at all. In fact, I like it a lot.

Claire Foy was fine (not great, just fine) as Lisbeth Salander. It's not her fault The Girl in the Spider's Web was trash (fun trash, I'll grant you, but still trash).

It will never bother me that Ordinary People won the Best Picture Academy Award.

I preferred Toy Story 4 to Toy Story 3. Fight me.

I prefer Kristen Bell's singing voice to Idina Menzel's.

No fights here.  I like I Will Always Love You but if pressed to pick one I would say I prefer I Have Nothing. 

Meet Me In St. Louis is weird AF.  Presenting Lilly Mars is a cute film.

Toy Story 3 is fairly forgettable save for the final act.  Toy Story 4 never crests as high as Toy Story 3* but I think is consistently better throughout.  The thing that really hurts Toy Story 4 in my opinion is that 3 was such a perfect and satisfying ending to the trilogy that anything that succeeded it was going to feel extraneous.  TS4 is a good, arguably better, movie in its own right, but it could never stand up to the ending that 3 gave us.

Since I'm talking Pixar, my UO is that I hate Inside Out and Joy is pain in the ass.  I've tried to watch it several times hoping I was going to appreciate it more but I end up hating it more.

*The toys thinking they are going to burn to death in the incinerator and then wordlessly resolving to go out holding hands?  Are you fucking kidding me?  It wrecks me every time.  And the payoff with the claw was pure genius.  One of my favorite emotional whiplashes that I can remember.   Then Andy saying goodbye to Woody and NO! I'm not crying.  You're crying!    

[Shannon L.]

On 11/28/2019 at 3:56 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Get Out was better than Us.

I didn't realize this was an unpopular opinion.  I liked Us, but Get Out was definitely the better movie.

15 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

The Bodyguard UO: I prefer "I Have Nothing" to "I Will Always Love You". Sorry.

I'll take it one step further:  Whitney Houston ruined that song.  The first part was beautiful, because, well, she's a great singer, but right after the first chorus through the rest of the song?  Ugh.

13 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Since I'm talking Pixar, my UO is that I hate Inside Out and Joy is pain in the ass.  I've tried to watch it several times hoping I was going to appreciate it more but I end up hating it more.

The best parts of that movie is the family discussion around the dinner table when the emotions from both parents got involved and the end credits (as a cat lover, bit was my favorite :)

[proserpina65]

On ‎11‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 9:40 AM, Shannon L. said:

I'll take it one step further:  Whitney Houston ruined that song.  The first part was beautiful, because, well, she's a great singer, but right after the first chorus through the rest of the song?  Ugh.

I refuse to listen to the screeching abomination that is the Whitney Houston version of I Will Always Love You.  And the thought of having to listen to her sing at all is one of the major reasons I refuse to watch The Bodyguard.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Bodyguard, hate it.     Christmas movies I loathe It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, most of Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Carol.    

Christmas vacation, I like when he turns on the lights, and the electric company has to turn on more power, and when the lights blast the neighbors across the street.  

I also don't know why anyone thinks the Home Alone series is funny or cute.    

Edited December 6, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[kiddo82]

7 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Christmas movies I loathe....most of Christmas Vacation

Just out of curiosity, which parts do not hate?

[Blergh]

14 hours ago, kiddo82 said:

Just out of curiosity, which parts do not hate?

Speaking for myself (and NOT Crazy in Alabama), I liked Aunt Bethany's contributions

Spoiler

(especially her somehow salvaging things via singing the National Anthem when everything else had gone kablooey).

But then, I always liked  the late Mae Questel from Betty Boop onward. Also, she was virtually the only person in the movie Clark genuinely seemed to like and respect (and I can't help but think that maybe Mr. Chase actually felt honored to have had  Miss Questel participate in what would prove to be her last movie).

However; a nadir of the movie was when Clark

Spoiler

profanely berated his parents-in-law AND his own parents.  Yes, I know they hadn't been easy or fair but would it have hurt the movie to have had Ellen ask him to at least tone   down the lingo when speaking to their respective parents? 

[Dandesun]

On 11/29/2019 at 3:23 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

I think Meet Me in St. Louis is awful, save for the songs.

I love Meet Me in St. Louis because it is so fucking weird. Who are these people?! Why are they spending so much time making ketchup? Why is the fact that Tootie is fucking psychotic treated like it's adorable? Why is Rose being the thirstiest bitch in St. Louis treated like it's totally normal?

It's nuts. I love it. Except for Tootie. I hate that little menace.

[Wiendish Fitch]

1 hour ago, Dandesun said:

I love Meet Me in St. Louis because it is so fucking weird. Who are these people?! Why are they spending so much time making ketchup? Why is the fact that Tootie is fucking psychotic treated like it's adorable? Why is Rose being the thirstiest bitch in St. Louis treated like it's totally normal?

It's nuts. I love it. Except for Tootie. I hate that little menace.

LOL! A fair defense if ever I heard one! 

And word on Tootie. She's basically the female version of Macaulay Culkin's character from The Good Son, but doesn't suffer any consequences.

[topanga]

On 11/14/2019 at 10:25 PM, ShadowHunter said:

I have a huge one. I was always fine with Laurie ended up with Amy in Little Woman. 

I was always more surprised Jo ended up with anyone because I never got the marrying vibe from her.  

On 11/14/2019 at 10:25 PM, ShadowHunter said:

I have a huge one. I was always fine with Laurie ended up with Amy in Little Woman. 

I was always more surprised Jo ended up with anyone because I never got the marrying vibe from her.  

Someone else posted this opinion, but I can't find their quote: I am not excited at all about the reboot. I love movies with important female characters, and I liked the novel, but I never loved it. And I never loved any of the film adaptations. I can't articulate why.

On 11/15/2019 at 12:12 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Kubrick was overrated.

Agreed. Now I loved, loved, loved The Shining. But I don't enjoy his other films. I've heard many film critics declare A Clockwork Orange a masterpiece, and it makes me sigh. I couldn't even get through 10 minutes of what I consider a confusing, self-indulgent movie. 

[SmithW6079]

On 11/24/2019 at 10:10 AM, Wiendish Fitch said:

While we're on the subject of comedies, how's this for a UO? I think Clue is... fine. 

Just that, fine. It's, at best, marginally amusing to me, but I don't find it to be the mind-blowing comedic masterpiece everyone touts it as. Honestly, a lot of it didn't stick with me. I personally thought the older, similarly themed Murder by Death was funnier (despite Peter Sellers's cringy yellowface).

Since "Murder by Death" is a spoof of those old-timey detective movies, isn't that the point of Peter Sellers playing the Charlie Chan character? Caucasian actors portrayed Charlie Chan in the "Charlie Chan" movies.

On 11/24/2019 at 4:47 PM, Crs97 said:

If you’ll indulge my musical theatre UO interruption, Stephen Sondheim is highly overrated.

I hate Sondheim.

Here's my big UO: I'm so tired of Tom Hanks and the slavish adoration that he is a some kind of acting god. He's reached the point where no matter what movie he's in,  he's always Tom Hanks, and it's tiring. I read that he's going to play Ove in the American film adaptation of the book "A Man Called Ove," a book I read over the summer and loved. He is so not the right physical type for it. He's just going to "Hanks it up." 

Edited December 16, 2019 by SmithW6079

[Ohiopirate02]

10 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

Here's my big UO: I'm so tired of Tom Hanks and the slavish adoration that he is a some kind of acting god. He's reached the point where no matter what movie he's in,  he's always Tom Hanks, and it's tiring. I read that he's going to play Ove in the American film adaptation of the book "A Man Called Ove," a book I read over the summer and loved. He is so not the right physical type for it. He's just going to "Hanks it up." 

You are not wrong about Tom Hanks, but he is not the only actor doing the same.  See Tom Cruise in any movie this century, or Denzel, or Samuel L. Jackson, or Nickolas Cage.  It's like they have reached the point in their careers where they are untouchable in a way and no director is going to tell them to play the "character" any differently.  

[Shannon L.]

12 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

Here's my big UO: I'm so tired of Tom Hanks and the slavish adoration that he is a some kind of acting god. He's reached the point where no matter what movie he's in,  he's always Tom Hanks, and it's tiring. I read that he's going to play Ove in the American film adaptation of the book "A Man Called Ove," a book I read over the summer and loved. He is so not the right physical type for it. He's just going to "Hanks it up." 

I still like Tom Hanks a lot, but I understand your issue with him.  As much as I like him, there's pretty much a guarantee that in every single movie, you will hear one line that sounds just like Forrest Gump and it bugs me a little. 

[andromeda331]

I like Tom Hanks too. But I've watched so few of his movies in last decade or so. The Post was the last one I saw but I skipped so many of his movies Charlie Wilson's War, the Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demands, Larry Crowne and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. He's gone from being must see movies to one here and there. I don't know if its him, the movie or both. I didn't like the Polar Express, Castaway, Terminal or really the Post (although I really did love Katherine going off on McNamara about knowing Vietnam couldn't be won and still sending troops over. Her son being one of them. I've got family who's served in Vietnam and are still messed up over it. So I really, really enjoyed that scene.).  I like most of his  documentaries and miniseries to the point I like them and am more likely to watch them instead of one of his movies. Like the 1960s, 1970s, the Movies, and 1968. I really liked the Pacific, Band of Brothers and From the Earth to the Moon.  But not 1980s which was way too pro-Reagan, 1990s and 2000s that were just done badly. They really could have done with a couple more episodes and organized better. 

[Danny Franks]

I think Tom Hanks' recent career is very spotty. Movies like Bridge of Spies and The Post were good - worthy movies where he played a high-integrity, straitlaced hero. I think that's always been what he's best at, even in the more comedic roles. There's just something old fashioned about him that suits that sort of character.

But he's done some rubbish as well. The Robert Langdon movies were trash, so was Cloud Atlas, and I couldn't even make it through reading The Circle, let alone try to watch the movie.

We know he has a passion for history, having made so many movies based on historical events and figures, and helped produce the HBO series. I'd prefer he stick to that, because that's where I think he's most consistent and most watchable.

[Ohwell]

One of my favorite Tom Hanks movies was Road to Perdition, mainly because he went against type and played a hit man.

[proserpina65]

On ‎12‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 11:44 PM, SmithW6079 said:

ere's my big UO: I'm so tired of Tom Hanks and the slavish adoration that he is a some kind of acting god. He's reached the point where no matter what movie he's in,  he's always Tom Hanks, and it's tiring. I read that he's going to play Ove in the American film adaptation of the book "A Man Called Ove," a book I read over the summer and loved. He is so not the right physical type for it. He's just going to "Hanks it up." 

I mostly agree with you, but I do think he wasn't Hanksing it up in Road to Perdition or Bridge of Spies.  He was quite good in both movies, and not just "Tom Hanks".  I wish he'd do more things which are outside of his box.

[luna1122]

Forrest Gump is pretty much my most hated movie ever, but I still mostly like Hanks. I do think he's over-revered. He's quite capable of ladling on too much cheese and being too precious and twinkly. Which is why, tho The Circle wasn't a good movie, I enjoyed him in it, playing the lying, scheming, smiling bad guy. I'd LOVE to see him a truly evil character.

[punkypower]

Am I the only one that misses 80s Tom Hanks?

Give me Bosom Buddies, Splash, Dragnet and other similar movies over everything Forrest Gump and after ANYDAY!!

[FormerMod-a1]

No.  I'm with you, @punkypower.  I miss 80s Tome Hanks - the comedies, especially.

[andromeda331]

Not to mention Tom Hanks of A League of their Own. Jimmy Dugan was a disgusting drunk at least for almost the first half but all of his lines were hilarious. "Who's Lou?" "I loved you in Wizard of Oz" "No crying in Baseball". And still was awesome even when he actually started really coaching the team like with the Western Union guy or when ladies chaperone was throwing up so much wondering if its what she did to entertain herself. He really doesn't become the characters he plays anymore. He was so much better when he did.

[raven]

On 12/16/2019 at 3:16 PM, Ohwell said:

One of my favorite Tom Hanks movies was Road to Perdition, mainly because he went against type and played a hit man.

This is one of my favorites too.  I also really liked Bridge of Spies.

Unpopular?  I was bored by League of their Own.  There, I said it.

[Wiendish Fitch]

2 minutes ago, raven said:

Unpopular?  I was bored by League of their Own.  There, I said it.

Come! Join me at my table! I think A League of Their Own is dull and overrated (it doesn't help that I hate baseball).

[raven]

11 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Come! Join me at my table! I think A League of Their Own is dull and overrated (it doesn't help that I hate baseball).

*sits at Wiendish Fitch's table*   Baseball is boooring.  Brad Pitt's baseball movie put me to sleep too.   

More sacrilege opinions - I couldn't make it through Godfather Part 2.  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Mob movies bore me.  Have no interest in The Irishman.

I'm sort of over movies about assholes, which is why I'm not really interested in Joker, though I guess I'll see it once it's on Netflix or whatever.   Villains can be entertaining and/or amusing but I'm tired of tortured backstories.    Just be evil!  Own it!  LOL.

[Wiendish Fitch]

21 minutes ago, raven said:

I'm sort of over movies about assholes, which is why I'm not really interested in Joker, though I guess I'll see it once it's on Netflix or whatever.   Villains can be entertaining and/or amusing but I'm tired of tortured backstories.    Just be evil!  Own it!  LOL.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Massive UO?

I preferred the Wicked Witch of the West when she didn't have a backstory. She was just an evil ol' biddy who got over her sister's death in record time and wanted to murder a kid for her shoes. 

Furthermore, it wasn't Dorothy's fault the Wicked Witch of the East was too slow to move her ass when a damn house was about to fall on her. And you know what? The fact that an entire population of people were literally singing and dancing in the streets, rejoicing that the WWotE was dead is a pretty good indicator that, y'know, she wasn't a nice person and maybe it's no great loss that she croaked!

[Spartan Girl]

37 minutes ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Massive UO?

I preferred the Wicked Witch of the West when she didn't have a backstory. She was just an evil ol' biddy who got over her sister's death in record time and wanted to murder a kid for her shoes. 

Furthermore, it wasn't Dorothy's fault the Wicked Witch of the East was too slow to move her ass when a damn house was about to fall on her. And you know what? The fact that an entire population of people were literally singing and dancing in the streets, rejoicing that the WWotE was dead is a pretty good indicator that, y'know, she wasn't a nice person and maybe it's no great loss that she croaked!

Is it wrong that even though I agree with everything you said, I still love Wicked? It doesn't sugarcoat Nessarose aka WWoTE, who was still very much an evil spoiled bitch. But only my opinion.

Edited December 18, 2019 by Spartan Girl

[Irlandesa]

On 12/16/2019 at 9:39 AM, Ohiopirate02 said:

You are not wrong about Tom Hanks, but he is not the only actor doing the same.  See Tom Cruise in any movie this century, or Denzel, or Samuel L. Jackson, or Nickolas Cage.  It's like they have reached the point in their careers where they are untouchable in a way and no director is going to tell them to play the "character" any differently.  

I think Tom does try to mix up the characters he plays but the problem is that he's just so---recognizably Tom Hanks that it's hard to look past the actor. Denzel to me is the same. Then with actors like Tom Cruise or Samuel L Jackson (or probably even Nic Cage but he is exempt from what I'm about to say), they aren't trying to morph into different characters.  They kind of embrace the fact that they are who they are. And it usually works for me.  I can accept them as the action stars they are and don't have to worry about seeing past them into some completely different character they're trying to play.  It's almost too much work.

[Mabinogia]

20 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

recognizably Tom Hanks that it's hard to look past the actor.

Which is why I don't like when he plays recognizable real people, like Sully, Walt Disney and now Mr. Rogers. Because he is too well known as Tom Hanks so it is I don't see Walt or Mr. Rogers or Sully, I see Tom Hanks playing a role. I know the producers want a "name" to sell tickets but I prefer unknown actors or actors who can really morph into someone else, Charlize Theron in Monster for example, to play real people. I don't necessarily think she's a better actor than Tom Hanks, it's more about the fact that she was physically able to transform into someone who looked nothing like her. Tom Hanks in Saving Mr. Banks just looked like Tom Hanks in an old 40s suit. Tom Hanks in Mr. Rogers just looks like Tom Hanks in a red sweater. 

Of course I'm one of those people who doesn't watch a movie just because a favorite actor is in it. I will, however, not watch a movie because someone I despise is in it. Which is why I am still furious they cast Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible. That was one of my favorite shows growing up but I hate him so much I can't watch the movies. 

[methodwriter85]

On 12/16/2019 at 12:09 PM, Shannon L. said:

I still like Tom Hanks a lot, but I understand your issue with him.  As much as I like him, there's pretty much a guarantee that in every single movie, you will hear one line that sounds just like Forrest Gump and it bugs me a little. 

His Fred Rogers was pretty devoid of the typical Tom Hanks acting tics.

[Shannon L.]

1 hour ago, methodwriter85 said:

His Fred Rogers was pretty devoid of the typical Tom Hanks acting tics.

Yeah, he did a good job in this one. I only caught one very brief Forrest moment. If you watch the trailer, when he says "there are many things you can do", he slips on the words "can do", but that the only time I remember hearing it.

[methodwriter85]

He also disappeared pretty well into Sully. I guess it helps if he's playing a real person he can study. (Didn't see him playing Walt Disney so I don't know about that one.) 

I do agree that Tom Hanks isn't the be-all/end-all of acting, but he does seem to be trying to mix it up now that he's too old for the kind of roles that made him famous aka a boyishly charming man somewhere between age 25 to 45.

Meanwhile Tom Cruise is trying really, really hard to be that guy and it's starting to get sad to watch. I do appreciate that he finally seems to have a love interest in his Top Gun sequel that is over age 35. 

Edited December 19, 2019 by methodwriter85