Unpopular Opinions

[Shannon L.]

Oh! How could I have forgotten about the Sharon mess?!  I agree with you on that point, too. As for Jane, I didn't think that she and Chris had the best chemistry of the bunch, but I didn't not like them as a couple, either.  Cute is the perfect word for them. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Shannon L.

[Hiyo]

I'm kind of ok with what happened with Sharon. My UO is that she is at least somewhat interesting now. The plot mechanics to get her there were somewhat wonky, but if nothing else, I am at least interested to see where they are going with her now.

 

[Spartan Girl]

7 hours ago, Hiyo said:

I'm kind of ok with what happened with Sharon. My UO is that she is at least somewhat interesting now. The plot mechanics to get her there were somewhat wonky, but if nothing else, I am at least interested to see where they are going with her now.

 

They didn’t have to make Sharon evil for her to be interesting. The problem was the writers never bothered to anything more with her. And the excuse that there aren’t more female villains in the MCU is bullshit, there were plenty of female villains they could have easily dug out from the comics instead of trashing the character one of the female heroines.

And like I said before, the fact that they contrived Steve to forget about her and not help her just to have an excuse for a heel turn is an insult to both characters. 

[Hiyo]

Quote

They didn’t have to make Sharon evil for her to be interesting. The problem was the writers never bothered to anything more with her. And the excuse that there aren’t more female villains in the MCU is bullshit, there were plenty of female villains they could have easily dug out from the comics instead of trashing the character one of the female heroines.

And like I said before, the fact that they contrived Steve to forget about her and not help her just to have an excuse for a heel turn is an insult to both characters. 

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on most of those point then.

[Spartan Girl]

@Hiyo that’s what the UO thread is for! 😁

[GHScorpiosRule]

And heeeere's my take on it all. I don't believe--refuse to believe (the last few minutes nothwithstanding), that Steve didn't look or search for Sharon.

The fact is, she wasn't important to this franchise--the last time we saw her was in Civil War, and even that, barely.

As I stated in another thread---might have been the unpopular thread for television shows when discussing The Falcon and The Winter Soldier--someone had posted (and I can't recall which thread) that Steve did search for her. That he didn't find her, or there was no throw away line about him looking for her but not being able to find her? I'm not blaming Steve for that.

And in the short time between Endgame and the show? Well, Sharon, KNOWING that "they" would be after her, and she accepted that, just decides to take the traitor route because, Steve didn't find her? Oh boo-fucking-hoo. She's living high on the hog.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of her to begin with, but her shit-talking Steve as if she had been forced or emotionally blackmailed to help him, Bucky, and Sam? She can miss me with that bullshit.

Again. I'm blaming the writers. directors, or whoever--they knew Chris wasn't coming back, and they know what kind of man/hero Steve is. They should have done a better job writing him out.

[Spartan Girl]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Again. I'm blaming the writers. directors, or whoever--they knew Chris wasn't coming back, and they know what kind of man/hero Steve is. They should have done a better job writing him out.

On that we can agree!

Edited to add: And I would think if Steve had managed to secure pardons and therapy for Bucky, then the Steve we knew would have surely at least arranged it so a pardon was ready for Sharon on standby for whenever they found her instead of just having Sam do it all. Just saying…

Edited May 10, 2021 by Spartan Girl

[Dandesun]

Yeah, this is solely on the writers. You know, the ones who intended on having Steve and Sharon be living together at the beginning of Infinity War, couldn't quite figure out how to make it work and then scrapped the whole thing and just erased her completely... and then had Steve wind up with Peggy at the end anyway? The entirety of that felt like the writers were just like 'Sure! Let's do this! Whatever! He was Peggy's husband ALL ALONG!'

I am also not remotely upset at Steve not appearing in FatWS. That is SAM and BUCKY'S stories. As much as I adore Chris' Steve, his story is done and he seems fine with that. I can imagine Steve in the background because canon never bothered me anyway. But I do think that an Evans cameo in FatWS would have pulled away from Sam taking on the mantle and Bucky getting to a better place on his own merits. Of course they love Steve, of course Steve loves them but Sam was right... ultimately, what Steve thought didn't matter, it was up to them.

Basically, I get that RDJ and CE were done-zo after Endgame and so they wrapped up the storylines and plenty of people out there are absolutely fine with all of it. So be it. I can imagine up my own stuff and that's what I've been doing ever since I was a kid anyway but real life isn't comics where people can be ageless, super aged and then de-aged on whatever plot point gets dreamed up. They have to come up with the next generation.

Do I like how it was done? No. But I've moved past it for the most part and just carry on. Again, canon never bothered me anyway.

[Shannon L.]

@Dandesun, you make a good point about Chris not making a cameo in TFATWS.  Did I miss a comment from any of them about talking to Steve since he turned over the shield?

[methodwriter85]

On 4/13/2021 at 7:20 PM, kiddo82 said:

It's funny because that's exactly how I feel about the Mara sisters.  Rooney is known as the more "prestige" one (she certainly gets better roles, no argument on that) but there is something about her that just reads bland to me.  On the other hand I find Kate more interesting to watch.  

Case in point: 

Her character doesn't say a word in this clip but I'm riveted at the end when she realizes Oscar's character wrote the song about her.

[Danny Franks]

On 5/9/2021 at 4:48 AM, Crs97 said:

Judy was one of those rare breeds who could be both stunning and girl next door.  Just flat out beautiful.

I haven't seen many Judy Garland films, but I think you perfectly summed up how I felt about her in Meet Me in St. Louis. 

She's the pinnacle of 'girl next door who you realise you're absolutely in love with' in that movie. And not even because the boy next door is in love with her. She just has a combination of beauty and a down-to-earth, approachable and normal quality that a lot of A-list stars just couldn't manage. Especially not the A-listers of the 40s and 50s, who seemed like they lived on a plane above mere mortals.

[kiddo82]

The trailers for Cruella remind me that I usually find Emma Stone overrated.  She's fine when she just gets to be charming like in Crazy, Stupid Love.  But when she has to play a character like in The Favorite, or from what I've seen of her in the Cruella commercials, I feel like I can always see her "acting."

Edited May 13, 2021 by kiddo82

[methodwriter85]

On 4/13/2021 at 9:27 PM, starri said:

Having suffered through enough straight men uncomfortably doing gay romance on screen, I have to disagree with that one. 

Three really notable exceptions for me in my opinion...

Wes Ramsey and the former actor formerly known as Steve Sandvoss in Latter Days...

Trevor Wright and Brad Rowe in Shelter...

And Armie Hammer and Timothe Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name...

I also thought Colin Farrell and Dallas Green had a really sweet chemistry in A Home At the End of the World...not scorching hot, but sweet which worked for the childlike way of Colin's character.

But this brings me back to my own gay cinema unpopular opinion  in that I never really felt the chemistry between Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. I think that's the main reason I never really got into the movie, save for Anne Hathaway's sublime acting scene here.

Edited May 13, 2021 by methodwriter85

[Dancingjaneway]

I find Call me by Your Name to be super creepy. A man that age should NOT be into a boy that age. I don't find anything about it romantic. I don't know if it's because it's two men but I am not cool with it straight or gay. I also feel the same way about the movie Lolita. NASTY! To me that isn't art that is living out pedo fantasies. 

[Blergh]

On 5/12/2021 at 9:56 PM, kiddo82 said:

The trailers for Cruella remind me that I usually find Emma Stone overrated.  She's fine when she just gets to be charming like in Crazy, Stupid Love.  But when she has to play a character like in The Favorite, or from what I've seen of her in the Cruella commercials, I feel like I can always see her "acting."

Was there any need for anyone besides Glenn Close to do that role? Surely, they could have just re-issued her original movie instead of trying to remake it- especially with someone so blah.

[Spartan Girl]

Look, I like Emma Stone but judging from the trailer she’s basically just doing an impression of Glenn Close. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

I'm just sick of villain origin stories, period. Can't a bitch just be evil?!

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I'm just sick of villain origin stories, period. Can't a bitch just be evil?!

[Ambrosefolly]

2 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I'm just sick of villain origin stories, period. Can't a bitch just be evil?!

Are you my spirit animal? I prefer animated Maleificent to Angelina Jolie's Maleificent. 

[Crs97]

I hate this trend because I always end up wondering if they either (1) want me to decide it’s no big deal that villain did villainous things because villain was once a victim, too (which no) or (2) convince me there is no truth, just alternate facts (which I blame for the state of the world we live in right now).

[scarynikki12]

6 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I'm just sick of villain origin stories, period. Can't a bitch just be evil?!

I don’t mind origin stories but they’re typically used to excuse the villainy. It’s rarely presented as “the story you heard was just propaganda and here’s the truth” but more commonly just “they had a shit life too so who cares that they were going to murder puppies, killed people, or engaged in cannibalism? FEEL SORRY FOR THEM DAMMIT!! Oh and the hero you know was once rude to someone which means they’re way worse.”

That is always my issue. Give me an alternative of a classic story and I’m fine. Try to convince me that Lady Tremaine had every right to enslave Cinderella because someone once hurt her feelings and we’re going to have words. 

[Wiendish Fitch]

52 minutes ago, scarynikki12 said:

I don’t mind origin stories but they’re typically used to excuse the villainy. It’s rarely presented as “the story you heard was just propaganda and here’s the truth” but more commonly just “they had a shit life too so who cares that they were going to murder puppies, killed people, or engaged in cannibalism? FEEL SORRY FOR THEM DAMMIT!! Oh and the hero you know was once rude to someone which means they’re way worse.”

That is always my issue. Give me an alternative of a classic story and I’m fine. Try to convince me that Lady Tremaine had every right to enslave Cinderella because someone once hurt her feelings and we’re going to have words. 

Have you ever read The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande Velde? It's a glorious collection of tales that successfully re-frame Rumpelstiltskin as a hero and the king as the real villain. One of the very, very, very few times this sort of thing has been done well, IMO.

[Mabinogia]

My UO is I don't mind villain backstories. I didn't like Maleficent not because they gave her an excuse to be cruel but because they gave her a shitty excuse to be cruel. I would have been fine with something like humans taking more and more land was causing the fairy land to go nearly extinct and she takes it out on a helpless child because she's a typical bully who goes after someone they know they can best rather than going after someone who might actually fight back. Instead there was all this stupid lost love shit. BOOOO

 

[GreekGeek]

I'm not thrilled by the re-opening of movie theaters. Or rather, I'm not thrilled by the type of movies coming to the re-opened movie theaters. It looks like we're in for more comic book movies and CGI monsters like Godzilla vs. Kong. I'm already nostalgic for the smaller movies about real people, like Nomadland and Minari.

[Ohiopirate02]

10 minutes ago, GreekGeek said:

I'm not thrilled by the re-opening of movie theaters. Or rather, I'm not thrilled by the type of movies coming to the re-opened movie theaters. It looks like we're in for more comic book movies and CGI monsters like Godzilla vs. Kong. I'm already nostalgic for the smaller movies about real people, like Nomadland and Minari.

I have no intention of stepping into a movie theatre until next month and In the Heights opens.  That's about the only upcoming movie I need to see in a theatre.

[Spartan Girl]

My UO is that I hate these higher streaming rental prices, which are more than I ever paid for a movie ticket. So yeah even if what is coming out isn’t great, at least I won’t pay THAT much to watch it when it’s safe to go back to theaters.

[Raja]

14 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

My UO is that I hate these higher streaming rental prices, which are more than I ever paid for a movie ticket. So yeah even if what is coming out isn’t great, at least I won’t pay THAT much to watch it when it’s safe to go back to theaters.

That is only unpopular with Disney who assumes that you would have taken a family of 5 at primetime Friday night to see their movie. Not us, the one or two watching on the discount matinee 

[Spartan Girl]

Yeah, but I don’t really like paying $19.99 to rent a movie either. Renting used to be cheaper than going to a movie, but you just had to wait longer to do it.

[JustHereForFood]

OK, I didn't think this was unpopular at first, but in recent years I have heard some people complain about the ending of The LOTR trilogy, saying that it was too long, tedious, had too many endings, etc. So, my opinion is that it was fine as it was. We have spent over 9 hour with these characters and I wanted to see how all of their journeys end. I would have felt cheated out if some of it was missing. I already felt that way with Saruman's story arc.

And speaking of LOTR, I prefer The Hobbit movies to the book. I was actually bored by the book - now, this is not a criticism, I am certain that it was because the book was meant for children and I read it when I was already an adult. If I read it sooner, I might have find it more compelling. But I really liked the movies, especially the first one. Sure, part of it was definitely nostalgia for LOTR movies, but I also liked how the story was told. I agree that the trilogy was a bit long though. If it was up to me, I would have kept the first movie as it was and combine the second and third into one, leaving out mostly the scenes with Elves and Laketown people. Or keep it as a trilogy, but with shorter films, ending the first one when Bilbo meets Gollum.

[Danny Franks]

2 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

OK, I didn't think this was unpopular at first, but in recent years I have heard some people complain about the ending of The LOTR trilogy, saying that it was too long, tedious, had too many endings, etc. So, my opinion is that it was fine as it was. We have spent over 9 hour with these characters and I wanted to see how all of their journeys end. I would have felt cheated out if some of it was missing. I already felt that way with Saruman's story arc.

I think it was fine too. If anything, the movies cut down on the ending of the books, by cutting the Scouring of the Shire.

It could have been filmed and edited better, but I think seeing the Hobbits reunited, seeing the realms of men bow to them and then seeing them go home and resume their lives was lovely. I'd have preferred at least one more scene with Merry and Pippin back in the Shire, and would definitely sacrifice Aragorn's song.

I can't agree with you on the Hobbit, though. I couldn't even make it the whole way through the first movie in that trilogy. I turned it off in embarrassment when the Dwarves were all singing and throwing plates around in Bag End.

[Hiyo]

I liked the ending for Return of the King. I never got the too many endings argument.

I liked the Hobbit movies, but I think they would have worked better as 2 movies instead of a trilogy.

[JustHereForFood]

14 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

I can't agree with you on the Hobbit, though. I couldn't even make it the whole way through the first movie in that trilogy. I turned it off in embarrassment when the Dwarves were all singing and throwing plates around in Bag End.

OK, that would have made me pissed if I were Bilbo, especially how they ate all his food, but it seemed to be in character for them. I preferred the Misty Mountains song.

[Anduin]

As a big Tolkien fan, I saw all three Hobbit movies in the cinema in the first week. They were all terrible. Apparently a lot of the stupid stuff was forced on Jackson by the studio, but that doesn't change them being just plain bad. Besides, even in TTT you can see the mistakes that lead to the Hobbit disaster. I hear the extended editions are better, but I just don't have the strength of will to try them.

While the Misty Mountains is a good song, I prefer another version I heard. There was a live puppet version somewhat inspired by kabuki. The Misty Mountains song was performed a little faster. It was a real belter, rather than the solemn and sombre movie version. Sure, when you read the lyrics, it's sombre. But the faster one was still a very good performance.

[proserpina65]

On 5/7/2021 at 6:29 PM, Razzberry said:

Garbo. Why is she such a legend?  To find out I watched a few of her movies.  Yes, she's pretty and a good actress, but so were many women. A few things annoyed me, such as always thrusting neck back and staring off into the distance - perhaps the result of being paired with so many old geezers.  

Garbo in Mysterious Lady

Garbo in Ninotchka

In Queen Christina

In Wild Orchids

Yeck!  No wonder she vanted to be alone.

In most of those shots, she was making sure her face was in the light in the most flattering way.  Like how Tyra tells the hamsters on America's Next Top Model to do.

[Rushmoras]

On 5/18/2021 at 4:53 PM, Anduin said:

As a big Tolkien fan, I saw all three Hobbit movies in the cinema in the first week. They were all terrible. Apparently a lot of the stupid stuff was forced on Jackson by the studio, but that doesn't change them being just plain bad. Besides, even in TTT you can see the mistakes that lead to the Hobbit disaster. I hear the extended editions are better, but I just don't have the strength of will to try them.

While the Misty Mountains is a good song, I prefer another version I heard. There was a live puppet version somewhat inspired by kabuki. The Misty Mountains song was performed a little faster. It was a real belter, rather than the solemn and sombre movie version. Sure, when you read the lyrics, it's sombre. But the faster one was still a very good performance.

That's... not an unpopular opinion actually; most people (even in real life) that I talked to did not much like the Hobbit movies. Hell, when I watched them I felt like I'm watching someone play a video-game (so much badly done CGI that took me out of the movie entirely).

[GreekGeek]

On 5/7/2021 at 6:29 PM, Razzberry said:

Garbo. Why is she such a legend?  To find out I watched a few of her movies.  Yes, she's pretty and a good actress, but so were many women. A few things annoyed me, such as always thrusting neck back and staring off into the distance - perhaps the result of being paired with so many old geezers.  

 

I think the mystery of her added to the legend--why she walked away from her career and became a recluse for decades.

[Blergh]

13 hours ago, GreekGeek said:

I think the mystery of her added to the legend--why she walked away from her career and became a recluse for decades.

Of course, Miss Garbo added to the mystique by zealously keeping her private life out of the public sphere even at the height of her stardom. Yes, she may have one time been engaged to her onetime costar John Gilbert in the 1920's but she would never marry or have any offspring (and she believed that who she slept with was no one else's business) .  Also, she seemed to have been a very shy person offscreen who didn't want any extra attention- viewing film work as a means to earn a comfortable living but nothing more and could instantly tell if there was a 'guest' among   film crews of dozens and would stop the production until the 'guest' was ejected.   Ironically, she wasn't trying to be a legend or glamorous but she wound up becoming that via hiding her unforgettable face from early on. 

[Hiyo]

She is also misunderstood due to her most famous quote being misquoted.

Quote

The most famous quip attributed to Greta Garbo is short and sardonic: “I want to be alone.” But the actress, who made a practice of shunning reporters, premieres and fan mail, claimed that she had been misquoted. “I never said, ‘I want to be alone,’” she explained, according to a 1955 piece in LIFE magazine. “I only said, ‘I want to be let alone! There is all the difference.”

 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 5/12/2021 at 10:56 PM, kiddo82 said:

The trailers for Cruella remind me that I usually find Emma Stone overrated.  She's fine when she just gets to be charming like in Crazy, Stupid Love.  But when she has to play a character like in The Favorite, or from what I've seen of her in the Cruella commercials, I feel like I can always see her "acting."

I appreciate this.  My version of this is Saoirse Ronan.  

[Spartan Girl]

I don’t know if this is an UO or not, but I like Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy. 

[Shannon L.]

11 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I don’t know if this is an UO or not, but I like Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy. 

I love Drax in GOTG. I didn't like him quite as much in the second one-they made the character too silly,  imo. 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Shannon L.

[Wiendish Fitch]

PIggy-backing off of this, I hate Peter Quill, and I hope he and Gamora never, ever, ever get together. 

This reminds me: Chris Pratt's appeal eludes me. I don't find him good-looking or charming, and as an actor he's passable at best. I dunno, I just get undercover douchebag vibes from him. It also pissed me off when he was praised for his "dad bod", while most actresses have to toil and starve themselves to lose weight they barely had to begin with.

[Spartan Girl]

9 hours ago, Shannon L. said:

I love Drax in GOTG. I didn't like him quite as much in the second one-they made the character,  imo. 

I still like him in the other movies, though they do tend to overdo the “he has no filter” bit. 

[Shannon L.]

6 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I still like him in the other movies, though they do tend to overdo the “he has no filter” bit. 

I wrote this on my phone in bed half asleep--I didn't add the word "silly", but I'm glad you know what I meant.  ☺️   @Wiendish Fitch, I go back and forth on Chris Pratt, but I do think he was a good choice for Peter Quill.

 

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by Shannon L.

[Anduin]

42 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I still like him in the other movies, though they do tend to overdo the “he has no filter” bit. 

Yes, they leaned into the comedic element a little too hard.

[proserpina65]

I don't think Muriel's Wedding is a good movie.  I didn't find it funny or heartwarming or whatever it was supposed to be.  Muriel is just as much a bitch as the rich girls she hated.  And yeah, her parents were awful, but financing your "dream" trip by stealing from them is pretty awful.

Did love all the ABBA, though.

[Wiendish Fitch]

1 minute ago, proserpina65 said:

I don't think Muriel's Wedding is a good movie.  I didn't find it funny or heartwarming or whatever it was supposed to be.  Muriel is just as much a bitch as the rich girls she hated.  And yeah, her parents were awful, but financing your "dream" trip by stealing from them is pretty awful.

Did love all the ABBA, though.

Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one! 

Yeah, the only thing I like about Muriel's Wedding is that it was Toni Collette's star-making role. 🤩

[andromeda331]

6 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I don't think Muriel's Wedding is a good movie.  I didn't find it funny or heartwarming or whatever it was supposed to be.  Muriel is just as much a bitch as the rich girls she hated.  And yeah, her parents were awful, but financing your "dream" trip by stealing from them is pretty awful.

Did love all the ABBA, though.

 

6 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Thank goodness, I thought I was the only one! 

Yeah, the only thing I like about Muriel's Wedding is that it was Toni Collette's star-making role. 🤩

Nope, I didn't like it either. My mom and I watched it together because the previews made it look like it was going to be a good heartwarming movie or something. Nope. It was just bad and so was Muriel. I agree about the ABBA though.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Classic Hollywood fans, please forgive me, but I think Tyrone Power was a total charisma vacuum and not even all that good-looking (it's the scary eyebrows and crap-eating smile). He just came across as too vacuous to be a leading man, IMO. I thought he was at his best when playing slimy douchebags instead of heroes, like in Nightmare Alley.

[Hiyo]

The only film of his I can say I really liked was Witness for the Prosecution, but then, I really enjoyed that film overall.