Unpopular Opinions About Film

It’s not better than Terms. It played more like a sitcom to me than TOE. It was a good follow up, and I actually own the dvd of it. But no Winger (I know she died but still) and no Jeff Daniels left a hole in the film. MacLaine is wonderful in both films though.

Pauline Kael on West Side Story:

[quote]first you take Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and remove all that cumbersome poetry.

No. Just…no.

I hate TERMS, but don't think so, OP.

Ishtar wasn’t that bad. Neither was Author, Author.

^ Blind, deaf, dumb

I liked Istar too! I wanted to like Evening Star but it bored me to tears.

Casino is better than Goodfellas. It's more fun to look at and Robert De Niro is a better narrator than Ray Liotta.

I've never seen The Goonies, and I ain't ever fucking going to. Stop telling me to do so.

OP- You don't know what you're talking about.

THERE- I SAID IT.

I don't think Catwman with Halle is too bad, it's more like a guilty pleasure (so bad it's good) experience. Also, I don't get why people were asking her to give back her Oscar just for starring in the film. Way over the top reactions.

This is an opinion that’s easier to arrive at when you hate Debra Winger.

I think excessive gun violence in films is mentally unhealthy for younger viewers... and some older viewers too.

The only thing I remember about The Evening Star is that Shirley MacLaine forced the studio to almost completely edit out Marion Ross’ performance because Ross was apparently very, very good. Shirl didn’t want to be outshone.

Streisand gave MacLaine advice on how to achieve this.

It's AnnE Francis r15.

I thought The Sound Of Freedom and Leave The World Behind were both great movies.

"Barbie" was a boring mess.

R9 Saw Goonies when I was in HIgh School. It gave me a headache (constant screaming) and I walked out. I think you had to be 7 yrs old to enjoy it.

Notorious was an uninteresting boring movie. I don’t care what those at TCM say.

David Lynch's "Dune"is better than the Timothay ones. The story is absurd (spice... giant sandworms... talking fetuses) and begs for charismatic actors and some black humor.

It's a Wonderful Life is complete dreck

I couldn't care less about Christopher Nolan, or these fucking Dune movies, or superhero franchises... or most of what film fanboys on social media rave about.

America Ferrera and the fugly actress who played the brat daughter were the worst part of the Barbie movie. The brief scenes of Barbie and the ghost of Ruth Handler were much better than the crap scenes of the America Ferrera and the brat daughter.

[quote] "Barbie" was a boring mess.

Not sure how unpopular an opinion that actually is...

If a foreign movie is truly great, I will suffer through subtitles. But no way am I doing that for anything that's merely run-of-the-mill. Too much of my attention is pulled to the text while I'm missing the visuals of a MOVIE. If I wanted to read, I would pick up a book.

A few movies that were worth the effort: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.... and Spring; Parasite; Devil's Backbone

Cruising was not only really well done, a modern classic , it was also brutally honest as to what it showed ..

R27 if it were released today people would be offended by its reality which is very much real.

R28

True even though back then they only used the PG version of what they had filmed. Something like 20 mins cut by censors.

20 is a guess. Now lost to history.

And what a hard to believe double, someone who had a brief scene in the Exorcist turned out to be a real like serial killer and his story was somewhat incorporated into Cruising.

Kevin Spacey was always a bad actor.

Jennifer Jason Leigh is a bad actor.

Adam Driver exists because straight directors don't want a leading man who is too pretty.

Ryan Gosling ruined Barbie. He looks nothing like Ken. Yet the movie became all about KEN and his ego.

The Ruth Handler stuff was total BS though. All she cared about was $$$.

I'm a miserable cunting Negative Nancy with middle brow tastes. I've found my people in this thread.

Incense still bitching about Barbie. Move on, ladies.

And here I thought Barbie was a chicks movie

Once Upon a Time in America is an awful, juvenile film.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is an awful, juvenile film.

Martin Scorsese isn’t the genius he wants us to think he is.

R37 Neither is Christopher Nolan, Zack Snyder, Greta Gerwig, or Quentin Tarantino.

True R38 but I would argue Scorsese is widely held in much higher regard in the pantheon of film than the directors on your list.

R21 people watching DAvid Lynch's Dune should just imagine it as a completely different work from the book. It works much better that way. It's still incomprehensible but it works as a fever dream.

Cruising is fantastic.

Showgirls not even in the bottom 1000 of worst films ever made.

Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino) was a good movie, but everything after that (by Tarantino) was not good.

Sharon Stone’s post-Casino Renaissance wasn’t as bad as people make it out to be.

Last Dance, Diabolique, Sphere, & The Muse are all highly entertaining.

R43 agree. I really liked Diabolique but truth be told I never saw the original. I also liked The Avengers (Uma and Raif) directed by the same guy. It wasn't perfect but it was fun. Also, Extraordinary League of Gentleman was a great popcorn movie.

What was that,R42?

I think Scorsese has some restraint or at least a very judicious film editor. His movies are nowhere near as bloated as Nolan and Tarantino's vanity projects, both of whom I still like despite their tendency to make movies that are 30-60 minutes longer than they need to be. Scorsese is definitely more talented.

Snyder has been doing superhero movies for the past 10+ and isn't highly respected. Gerwig needs to prove Barbie wasn't a fluke.

R46 MS works with the same team on nearly every film and he has a meticulous editor. His continuity is the best in the business.

Forrest Gump deserved to win Best Picture over Pulp Fiction.

Pulp Fiction hasn’t held up. FG is an epic film.

Speaking of Scorsese - I find the lead character (Archer?) in “The Age of Innocence” to be insufferable. Lewis also has no chemistry with Pfeiffer.

I hate that movie.

R50 that’s one of Marty’s worst movies and I love MP

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret is anti-Christian. The Jewish grandmother (played by Kathy Bates) is fun and understanding. The Christian grandparents, who Margaret only meets once, are troublemakers and not likeable, and haven’t been given the time to get to know her.

When I see Meryl Streep in a movie, all I see is Meryl Streep "ACTING!"

R53 that’s a pretty popular opinion around here

Shooting on digital instead of film never looks good.

Audrey Hepburn was charming, but except for "The Nun's Story" she could not act worth a damn in anything.

I abhor Some Like It Hot and A Streetcar Named Desire.

I love "Love, Actually".

Vincente Minnelli was a hack who never made a single truly good movie. An American In Paris came close to being one but that seemingly endless fantasy ballet sequence sucked all the life out of it. His films are all badly paced and overblown. Meet Me in St. Louis, so beloved on DL, has moments of brilliance, but is still a drag to watch. On Moonlight Bay with Miss Doris Day was an unpretentious, low-budget take on that film and it actually ended being so much better...Probably because it didn't have that annoying air of self-importance found in pretty much all of the Arthur Freed musicals.

The only good thing Minnelli ever made was Liza.

R55 you are 100% correct. Digital is shit. There is no depth.

R9, what?! The Goonies is timeless. Go watch it!

I like Age of Innocence. I think Daniel Day Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer had plenty of chemistry. They had to express their affection for each other in an incredibly subtle and restrained way because of the psychotic social customs of their time. I can see why someone would think they had zero chemistry because they barely talked about their love and never had sex or kissed. They were the only people in that social circle who questioned the rules. The level of detail in that movie is exquisite.

Stanley Kubrick wasn't talented enough to be the cruel asshole he was.

Monster's Ball was a terrible movie and Halle Berry shouldn't have won an Oscar.

I completely agree, r62, but i think that is indeed a pretty unpopular opinion on this site. Michelle Pfeiffer was perfection on this. Scorsese says it was the most violent movie he ever made.

Agree R64. Heath Ledger was the only who expressed real love for his father. His performance is what I remember most.

R64 it was jarring to see Berry in that kind of role and it rode that to what's ultimately a strange movie. It's like loaded with despair and in your face from the start. Death row, obesity, abuse, child's death and accident, suicide and then the movie finally gets going. I always felt it tried too hard. I thought Ledger and Thornton's more restrained work was more effective than all her manic shouting and crying histrionics.

Judy Garland overacts embarrassingly in almost all of the performances people laud her for on this site, including "A Star is Born," "Judgment at Nuremberg," and "I Could Go on Singing." Her best performance is in 'The Clock," but that's because Minnelli reined her in much more.

Not only is Meryl Street *always* ACTING, but she's ruined a couple of films because she is ACTING. Had another actress been cast, the movie would be better.

R65 I also like The Age go Innocence. As R62 stated the detail was incredibly precise. Down to how the gloves were laid on the table. I was always surprised Pfieffer was not nominated for this. She gave a very soft feminist honest performance that never seemed forced. Also loved Ryder's sly, cunning performance.

R50, THANK YOU!!! I hated that movie too. The two leads have ZERO chemistry. There is no fire there. I thought it was just an all around mediocrity. I still think Bringing out the Dead is his best post-Goodfellas movie.

Wes Anderson movies suck.

I think Mean Streets is a bit overrated in Scorsese's catalogue. I think it's a very good movie but not a great one. It feels underwhelming compared to Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, King of Comedy, After Hours and Goodfellas.

Scorsese's cameo as the taxi passenger in TD was pretty great. DeNiro's eyes through the rear view mirror as he speaks is pretty remarkable. You can almost see something register and he starts to formulate his plan. And it was quite natural for a director.

R74, I almost thought Scorsese was going to be like Hitchcock where he makes appearances in all of his movies after I saw Taxi Driver and After Hours. You're right about Taxi Driver, that whole scene is so fucking creepy. It almost feels like it exists purely in Travis's mind. Ahhh, the 70s, when movies didn't have to be about Marvel to make millions!

[quote]R65 Scorsese says it was the most violent movie he ever made.

It’s a claim that makes no sense to those who know his films. He just needed a tasty sound byte to sell the movie.

Yeah, it sucked. Massively overrated movie. I don't care how "pretty" it is, the acting is not convincing.

Braveheart is fantastic. I don't care how historically inacurate it is, it's entertaining, brutal, inspiring, romantic, and touches on alot of important subjects. The character arcs of Robert the Bruce and Princess Isabelle are also excellent. It's the example of what a great epic should be.

There isn't one movie Emma Stone has done that made me think she's a terrific actress. She's average and definitely overrated.

Agree about Emma Stone. Easy A was somewhat enjoyable, but I absolutely hate her in everything after that.

With the wonderful exception of "An Unmarried Woman," Paul Mazursky's movies are screechy sitcoms in search of a laugh track, sappy tearjerkers yanking the heartstrings, or sloppy mashups of the two.

R9 I highly suggest you watch Goonies. It's totally worth it! The movie that defined a generation.

While You Were Sleeping is a much better romcom than Pretty Woman and Sleepless in Seattle.

The Blair Witch Project is one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and I'm a horror fan.

[quote] There isn't one movie Emma Stone has done that made me think she's a terrific actress. She's average and definitely overrated.

I feel the exact same way about Jennifer Lawrence, Florence Pugh, and Zendaya.

Animation conveys more emotion and sentiment than live action.

“Up” and the “How You Train Your Dragon” series are far more human and connective to the human experience than any live action movie.

Brad Pitt, Winona Ryder, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts are always ACTING too.

He's obviously referring to emotional violence, r76. Daniel Day Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer loved each and probably could have had a future together. Their entire social circle worked to crush that relationship both as a favor to Winona Ryder and because the relationship between an engaged man and a divorced woman violated their rules. It was heartless and much sadder than Joe Pesci getting what he deserved in that cornfield.

I thought Winona Ryder gave the best performance in Age of Innocence.

Madonna should have stuck to costarring. She does really well as a side character--Desperately Seeking Susan, A League of their Own, etc. The one great lead role she had was Dangerous Game but that's because Abel Ferrara verbally abused the shit out of her. There are worse actresses than Madonna.

R88, not R76, but that's still a big stretch. Jake LaMotta's story is far sadder.

R86, that's why I generally hate live action remakes of animated shows.

Lucy had her good moments in Mame.

Julia Roberts really has no acting range. I wouldn't call her a true talent. For the life of me I can't understand how she can be such a popular A-lister when her talent is more suited for daytime soaps.

Don't even get me started on that laugh and horsey mouth.

R94, that's not an unpopular opinion on this forum. I think Julia was by far the best actor in August: Osage County.

Jackie Brown is a better film than Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs.

It's not a groundbreaking work of advanced, technical cinematography. But it's a better film, with better acting, better production design, better pacing, and better music.

2001 a space odyssey is boring

Jurassic Park was more deserving of Best Picture than Schindler's List.

The Godfather Part III wasn't that bad.

Dawson's 50 Load Weekend = tepid and tentative recording of a gangbang, and drags on.

You forgot better writing, R96.

R101 Because it was originally written by Elmore Leonard, a genius.

Another heart for Jackie Brown here. It's really great slick entertainment. Very sharp. I love Pulp Fiction too but I do admit it doesn't hold up as well. But I still appreciate it.

Summer of Sam is Spike Lee’s best film.

[quote]Summer of Sam is Spike Lee’s best film.

Patti LuPone’s droopy boobies beg to differ.

R102, Leonard did not write the movie script

54 would’ve made a much stronger film if they had left the male bisexuality plot intact.

R107 that’s a very popular opinion on Datalounge

I didn’t like the newer film version of “All Quiet on the Western Front” (2022) all that much. Why that movie got so much acclaim and awards is beyond me! As someone who considers the Erich Maria Remarque novel one of my favorite books (I’ve even read it 3 times), I was heavily let down by the German Netflix version of this classic anti-war story. The 1930 film version and even the 1979 TV movie version were miles better.

For being a film told in the novel’s original language (German), the filmmakers blew it on this one. Great characters and subplots were omitted just so I could spend 5 minutes watching a man getting burned to bits onscreen. More energy, money, and time were spent on sound and visual effects instead of crafting a take on a story so significant and universal nearly a century after the novel’s initial publication. Give me a break!

The "Talkies" ruined cinema.

Christopher Nolan is a DP masquerading as a director.

I wouldn't mind seeing Christopher Nolan attempt a DP

Never got the hype for CASABLANCA.

There's not nearly enough pointless remakes and superhero movies coming out. Hollywood is awash in creativity and full of real risk-takers with deep artistic integrity.

Let me throw another log on the fire regarding PULP FICTION. I despise that movie and can’t bring myself to watch any other movies directed by him.

I actually enjoyed DOOM and HOUSE OF THE DEAD. I know, let the chastising begin.

Saw is much better than necessary.

Gone With the Wind>>>Casablanca