Overrated movies which you have seen

[scouse mac]

Yeah, Im not sure there has ever been such a thing as a good Steven Seagal movie.

[neverending]

To Scouse:

Hah- no it won't- Cinerama theatres no longer exist. The last one in existance- Omaha's Indian Hills was torn down several years ago to make way for- yes- a parking lot, despite efforts from the Omaha City Council and a group that included the likes of Ray Bradbury and Leonard Maltin to have the building declared a historical landmark.

It was in a very real sense the end of an era. The end of the time when going to the cinema was an EVENT- something you planned for, you got dressed up for, and you looked forward to because you knew you were going to an elegant location for a special occurance.

The moronic bean-counters who control the movie going experience today have no concept of providing a meaningful, special event for customers. It's simply how many ten dollar bills can they stuff into each little compartment of the multiplex in the maximum number of times per day. The actual movie is just an afterthought. This is why so many movies are pure crap. The movie industry cares little about the quality- and neither does the audience.

[neverending]

Originally Posted by missmacabre

This is what I mean. I like an action movie just as much as any guy, don't get me wrong. There is, however, this unspoken guy rule where the certain action starts are god. I can't speak ill of David Carusoe around my boyfriend or he goes bat shit crazy about how I just don't get it. These guy's guys actors who can't act worth shit, in movies that only get ratings because there are so many wannabe, macho men in the world.

aaaand I'm prepared for the fact that most of you are gonna want to burn me at the stake now.

Haha- I agree with you, MissM. Except for maybe a couple Stallone & Arnie movies- I think Arnie actually does a decent job with comedy- like Twins or True Lies. Stallone did a credible job on Copland, and you can't deny Rocky was his magnum opus.

Peple get mad at me when they ask me- "don't you ever want to just turn off your brain and have a good time with some mindless action?" and I answer no. I have a brain, and I enjoy using it. Even when I'm watching guys with huge muscles run, punch, shoot, bleed, destroy vehicles and blow things up I want some component to engage my intelligence- not insult it.

[scouse mac]

Originally Posted by neverending

To Scouse:

Hah- no it won't- Cinerama theatres no longer exist. The last one in existance- Omaha's Indian Hills was torn down several years ago to make way for- yes- a parking lot, despite efforts from the Omaha City Council and a group that included the likes of Ray Bradbury and Leonard Maltin to have the building declared a historical landmark.

It was in a very real sense the end of an era. The end of the time when going to the cinema was an EVENT- something you planned for, you got dressed up for, and you looked forward to because you knew you were going to an elegant location for a special occurance.

The moronic bean-counters who control the movie going experience today have no concept of providing a meaningful, special event for customers. It's simply how many ten dollar bills can they stuff into each little compartment of the multiplex in the maximum number of times per day. The actual movie is just an afterthought. This is why so many movies are pure crap. The movie industry cares little about the quality- and neither does the audience.

Could not agree more. There are precious few films made that actually need to be seen on a big screen where the experience is enhanced by it, not that the screens are too big now.

There is only one independant single large screen cinema left in Liverpool, the Woolton Picture House http://www.wooltonpicturehouse.co.uk/ which really struggled to stay open until a group of cinema lovers got involved. It was here where I made a point to see Lord of the Rings films purely on the basis that they needed the biggest screen possible.

Probably the modern day equivalent to Cinerama theatres would the IMAX which has a screen about five storeys high.

[UngodlyWarlock]

Originally Posted by neverending

To Scouse:

Hah- no it won't- Cinerama theatres no longer exist. The last one in existance- Omaha's Indian Hills was torn down several years ago to make way for- yes- a parking lot, despite efforts from the Omaha City Council and a group that included the likes of Ray Bradbury and Leonard Maltin to have the building declared a historical landmark.

Unless you are talking about something different that I am not aware of...
http://www.cinerama.com/TemplateHome.aspx?contentId=1

Seattle most definitely has a Cinerama. It *was* closed, but Paul Allen bought it and paid for it to be refurbished. It's an amazing theater. A little less so now that all these new theaters have the IMAX thing, but the screen is still an absolute behemoth....and I usually choose to see the big movies there when I can.

As for the topic of this thread:
I think it's interesting that so many of you don't consider *when these movies came out* and measure them against their contemporaries at the time. Sure, by todays standards some of them might be "overrated", but a lot of the classics are deemed as such because of what they did at the time. I'll use Star Wars as an example, because it's easy....Sci-fi was completely DEAD at that point in history. Obviously Lucas openly admits to borrowing concepts and styles from even older movies and radio serials, but the fact is it made a *huge* impact when it came out. Stuff like that, Excorist, 2001 etc may be "boring" or "cheesy" or any other adjective you want to use compared to a lot of modern day filmmaking, but they aren't overrated, imo. They deserve the "classic" status as far as I am concerned. Every bit of it.

Maybe a proper term would be something such as "popular movies that you hate".

For me, I will definitely agree with the Cannibal Holocaust mention. That movie just plain sucks. It serves it's purpose in horror history, but it's just not a good flick.

[neverending]

Originally Posted by UngodlyWarlock

Unless you are talking about something different that I am not aware of...
http://www.cinerama.com/TemplateHome.aspx?contentId=1

Seattle most definitely has a Cinerama. It *was* closed, but Paul Allen bought it and paid for it to be refurbished. It's an amazing theater. A little less so now that all these new theaters have the IMAX thing, but the screen is still an absolute behemoth....and I usually choose to see the big movies there when I can.

You're right- I was unaware that theatre was open.

As for the topic of this thread:
I think it's interesting that so many of you don't consider *when these movies came out* and measure them against their contemporaries at the time. Sure, by todays standards some of them might be "overrated", but a lot of the classics are deemed as such because of what they did at the time. I'll use Star Wars as an example, because it's easy....Sci-fi was completely DEAD at that point in history.

I put Star Wars on my list and I meant it-based on any scale. I saw Star Wars the week it was released and I hated it. As I mentioned in another post in this thread- even when I'm watching escapist entertainment I want my mind engaged. Star Wars was such a muddled mess, full of plot holes and IMO set sci-fi cinema back 30 years. I want intelligent sci-fi dammit!

I couldn't disagree with you more about the state of science fiction films in the 70s. Some of the science fiction films that came out in the 70s which I consider far, far better movies than Star Wars:

Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind
THX 1138
A Boy and His Dog
The Andromeda Strain
A Clockwork Orange
Fantastic Planet
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Silent Running
Sluaghterhouse Five
Soylent Green


"Completely DEAD?" Well, if by completely dead you mean "experiencing a rennaisance by producing science fiction films of a higher quality and greater depth of storyline and width of subject and theme than ever before" you may be right.

[Elvis_Christ]

Originally Posted by ChronoGrl

Halloween and Black Christmas. Then again, it could be that I'm just not a fan of the 70s/80s slasher film.

Love those but I've got a soft spot for the trashier ones. Black Christmas and Halloween are almost Italian in style not quite Giallo but pretty close.
You should check out Bay of Blood if you haven't already sounds like you'd dig it.

Originally Posted by scouse mac

Yeah, Im not sure there has ever been such a thing as a good Steven Seagal movie.

Out For Justice is brilliant.

[Ferox13]

Originally Posted by scouse mac

Yeah, Im not sure there has ever been such a thing as a good Steven Seagal movie.

It might no be Citizen Kane but OUT FOR JUSTICE is an amazingly entertaining film. William Forsythe stills the show. Plus Seagal gets to fight Dan Inosanto..

The first time i saw this was the opening week in the cinema with a 6 pack of cheap cider.

[Despare]

Originally Posted by neverending

Peple get mad at me when they ask me- "don't you ever want to just turn off your brain and have a good time with some mindless action?" and I answer no. I have a brain, and I enjoy using it. Even when I'm watching guys with huge muscles run, punch, shoot, bleed, destroy vehicles and blow things up I want some component to engage my intelligence- not insult it.

You don't have to "turn off your brain" to appreciate action flicks, it's simply a different level of enjoyment. Adrenaline pumping films depicting impossible stunts performed among explosions and gunfire are great and serve their purpose well. Sure, you can over analyze them, but when you get right down to it they provide a similar thrill to watching fireworks. Loud noises and choreographed explosions can appeal to people with or without brains.

Anyway, my "number one" over rated film (the one that causes people to gawk at me with amazement when I tell them I don't like it) is American Beauty.

[ferretchucker]

Originally Posted by missmacabre

Jurassic Park (don't hit me Ferret!)

I would...but god damn do I love my avatar...


And yes, Christian Bale is definitely overrated not just as Batman, but as an actor. He was good in American Psycho, but when I look at him I just feel...cold. There's nothing to like about him...