Films That I Think Are Good That Most People Don’t

Punch Drunk Love. I LOVED that film. I have seen it 10 times. I own it. Adam Sandler is fantastic, he is a fantastic dramatic actor when given the opportunity. Luis Guzman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Emily Watson … I thought it was terrific.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I thought it was the best movie I’d seen in years. I’ll never forget the first time I saw it. Now of course I’ve seen it a gazillion times, but that first time? It was a completely three-dimensional emotional experience. I laughed, I cried, I thought really hard about stuff, I reflected, I marveled at the acting … I think it’s a brilliant film.

Living Out Loud Another genius film. Danny Devito’s best work. Some of Holly Hunter’s best work. I took this film personally. It’s a painful movie – but beautiful as well.

Husbands and Wives This Woody Allen film got tepid and uncomfortable reviews when it came out – but not only did I love this film but it’s one of my favorites of Woody Allen’s. It can’t hold a candle to Manhattan Murder Mystery, but then again, what can? Everyone is at the top of their game here. Liam Neeson, Mia Farrow, Sidney Pollack, Juliet Lewis – Blythe Danner, Judy Davis. All of them

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91 Responses to Films That I Think Are Good That Most People Don’t

  1. Cullen says:

    I absolutely agree with Punch Drunk Love and Eternal Sunshine …. I haven’t seen the other two. Oddly, most people I know loved Eternal Sunshine ….

    I would submit Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Event Horizon as two movies I loved that most people I know did not.

  2. red says:

    Cullen – I can’t even tell you how excited I am to meet someone else who loved Punch Drunk Love!! Great movie! Wasn’t Luis Guzman just GREAT???

    And good call with Hitchhikers Guide – I loved that as well.

  3. red says:

    I thought of another one. She-Devil with Meryl Streep and Rosanne Barr – Now i know my friends Mitchell and Alex loved that film – but it’s a lonely place, thinking that that film is funny. Meryl Streep is a comedienne. It is one of her funniest most insane performances.

  4. Cullen says:

    I didn’t like She-Devil, but I did like Streep’s performance in it.

  5. mitchell says:

    luiz guzman sends his kids to smirkus camp…we’ve hung out at the barn in Greensboro..such a nice guy!!! anyway,enough name dropping…loved “Stuart Saves His Family”…for anyone with a disfunctional family its rather painful to watch first time around..then it is hysterical. also a forgotten eighties film..All Night Long…only saw it because Babs was in it…it was falsely advertised as a new Barbra Streisand movie..its not..its about Gene Hackman having a mid-life crisis and he’s great in it…Diane Ladd, a very young(and yummy)Dennis Quaid are in it as well.
    …also…when it came out it was deemed self-indulgent and over-the-top but ive always thought All That Jazz is a BRILLIANT movie…i think time has revealed that the critics were wrong at the time…watching it reminds us how safe and anemic po-mo filmmakers of today can be(i.e.Rob Marshall). Fosse throws everthing into the stew..the first ten minutes as “Joe Gideon” tries to cast his chorus for a musical with George Benson’s “On Broadway” as the soundtrack is pure. liquid. genius. Also the sexy(!) “Take Off with Us” musical number is so hot and poly-sexual…it makes Jack and Ennis’ sex scenes seem like an episode of Friends.

  6. mitchell says:

    in She-Devil..Meryl Streep is trying to keep calm as her life is being taken over..dont know why but when she very quietly and pointedly tells everyone at lunch that”…it’s cream of w-a-t-e-r-c-r-e-s-s.”..its freakin hilarious!

  7. Lisa says:

    I’m going to have to ponder this one. If the question was “What movies do you HATE that everyone else loves?” Well, I got a million of ’em. But this? I’m going to have to think about.

  8. Cullen says:

    Ooh, for some reason, Mitch’s comment made me think of another (and I ponder “for some reason,” because it’s totally unrelated to anything he said): Mom and Dad Save the World. So funny.

  9. mitchell says:

    tell me more Cullen…i think i’ve heard of it??!!

  10. red says:

    Mitchell – I love your comment on All That Jazz. I think it’s a masterpiece, frankly. And I love your comment about po-mo filmmakers – never would have thought about it that way but you are so right.

    Really personal raw film – like a vivisection!!

  11. red says:

    Lisa – Yeah, I agree – maybe I’ll do that one next. I have a ton of those and some are very controversial and people always yell at me when I tell them the movies I didn’t like. hahahahaha

  12. mitchell says:

    exactly..he didnt hold anything back..i think people were embarrassed for him when it first came out..like “he’s exposed too much.too much!!!”..but it said more about them and the times than it did about the movie…now taht he’s passed away…its probably easier to peak into to such a personal and self-aware statement.

  13. mitchell says:

    wow..could my spelling be more atrocious?? sorry Sheil!

  14. Cullen says:

    Mitchell – it stars Teri Garr, John Lovitz and Eric Idle. John Lovitz is the ruler of a planet and kidnaps an entire family because he has fallen in love with Garr. If she doesn’t become his bride, he’ll destroy the planet. Her husband and kids help ruin his plot and help an oppressed people overthrown his facist regime. Hilarity ensues.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104905/

  15. red says:

    That sounds absolutely hysterical.

    And I love Teri Garr!!

  16. LB says:

    i loved Punch Drunk Love too, and also happen to think that Adam Sandler is fantastic. (I really liked Spanglish – which I didnt expect at all). And Eternal Sunshine -Wow. I thought it was the most original and fantastic love story I’d ever seen.

  17. JFH says:

    Wait, most people didn’t like All That Jazz?

  18. mitchell says:

    im on the Teri Garr train as well…and no..JFH..when it came out…i remember that the critical response was literally angry..and people stayed away in droves..although Roy Scheider got great reviews for his acting…which is truly deserved..its a great chance to see him outside of Jaws before his love affair with plastic surgery.

  19. mitchell says:

    oh btw..thanks Cullen!

  20. red says:

    Amazing to think … because I think the film (All that Jazz) is kind of art-house genius – and yet also as entertaining as a popular film.

    It’s kind of one of a kind. Or maybe not – but definnitely one of a kind in American film.

  21. mitchell says:

    and Sheil..i just ordered Siobhan’s cd over at CD Baby…sooooo excited..cant believe i dont have it..and the whole thing with the getting signed to a cool funky label…she’s the real deal!!!! give her my love! Im waiting by the mailbox for the cd to arrive!

  22. Cullen says:

    No problem, Mitchell.

    What kind of music does Siobhan make? And, how do you pronounce Siobhan (he says, finally swallowing his pride)?

  23. Another Sheila says:

    Yes to everything about Eternal Sunshine. My husband and I rented it some time ago, and when it ended, we just turned to each other, jaws dropped, like, “This didn’t win EVERY POSSIBLE AWARD???”

    I also really loved The Life Aquatic, which everyone else seems to have disliked rather intensely. Bill Murray … man, whatever it is he does in those Wes Anderson films, he just does SO well, and no one else does it.

    French Kiss with Kevin Kline and Meg Ryan. I have seen this movie, I don’t know, sixty times? I cannot get enough. It is cheesy and formulaic and I LOVE IT!

  24. red says:

    Sha-vahn. That’s not quite right – but that’s pretty close. It’s more of a “Shuh” in the first syllable.

    She does folk-rock stuff.

    If you go to her website and click around, you can listen to some clips of her stuff.

  25. Cullen says:

    An. Sheila, I absolutely love The Life Aquatic. HUGE Wes Anderson fan.

  26. Michael Doherty says:

    1. Evil Roy Slade – John Astin stars as the meanest man in the history of the world. He is born in a covered wagon, but his parents don’t want him, so they leave him on the side of the road. Indians find him, but they don’t want him either, and they abandon him. He is next found and abandoned by a pack of wolves. Finally, he’s adopted and raised by a pair of buzzards. He grows up to be a train robber, but his heart is felled by a beautiful woman. He follows her back east to Boston, where she tries to rehabilitate him. This movie is extremely silly, but it contains all of my favorite comedic actors: Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn (whom I adored in “It’s a Mad, Mad Mad Mad World” and “The Producers”), Henry Gibson, Dom Deluise and Penny Marshall. My favorite line (when the Boston townsfolk are trying to rehabilitate him into high society): “Now, if you had six apples, and your neighbor took three of them away, what would you have left?” “Six apples and one dead neighbor!”
    2. Valley Girl – Really pathetic script, and a horrible acting job by Nicholas Cage. But the music rocked!

  27. Independent George says:

    Come on, isn’t anybody going to pick Battlefield Earth?

    I’m going to have to vote for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Yeah, I know – it was self-referential schtick, and it wasn’t as good as Clerks. But you know what? I don’t care. It had an orangoutang.

    It’s funny that you picked Punch Drunk Love, because I actually wasn’t impressed when I first saw it, then it grew on me each successive time.

  28. red says:

    Valley Girl!! I loved that movie!! I haven’t seen it in years, though – but I remember just loving it.

  29. Emily says:

    I had a good friend called Siobhan. Just think of the name as “shove off,” except you’re shoving on. Does that make sense?

    One movie that everybody seems to love that I absolutely friggin’ hate is The Royal Tennenbaums. And I’ve really tried. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film with so many actors that I just loved that I detested so much.

  30. Independent George says:

    Dearest Emily – I love you.

    Tenenbaums felt like Wes Anderson read all the positive reviews for Rushmore, and decided to just make the entire movie out of the things that were mentioned. So you went from little character quirks which fleshed out the characters to characters defined entirely by their quirks. The beautifully framed scenes which made you feel like an unseen character in the movie became Wes Anderson shouting with the camera, “Hey, look what I can do! I’m the director! Isn’t this cool?”

    I hate Tenenbaums so much precisely because Rushmore goes in my Top 10 – and it basically stomped on everything I loved about it.

  31. red says:

    A movie I hated that everyone else seemed to love: American Beauty. Not only did I find it NOT as great as everyone said, but I found it hostile, unimaginative, condescending, and not well acted (except for Allison Janney – who was amazing – and the hottie-boy drug-dealer boy who lived next door). Haaaaaaaaaaaaated that movie.

    Also – except for the first half-hour, I hated Saving Private Ryan. Opening sequence – one of the most harrowing things i’ve ever seen. Rest of film? Schlock. Yawn. Barry Pepper was great. But Tom Hanks? Please. Didn’t buy him AT ALL.) And I love Tom Hanks. If I want a didactic lecture I’d … actually, no – I NEVER want a didactic lecture. So spare me. That last scene with the family hovering over the gravestone was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

    People have actually started yelling at me because I DARE to admit that I didn’t like Private Ryan. They act as though by saying, “I didn’t like the movie” what I am really saying is: “I do not appreciate the sacrifices made by that generation.” Uhm, no. Get over yourself. There are plenty of WWII films that I think are far superior. Didn’t like the film. Get over it.

    I despised Breaking the Waves. That film made me aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaangry. I kind of can’t even talk about it.

  32. brendan says:

    ok, here goes. movies i don’t love that everybody loves…and i know this one is going to stick right in your craw, sheil.

    l.a. confidential. i’m sorry, but i just fell asleep between l.a. and confidential. the key syllable in noir is NO. never understood they hype and i think in 20 years it will be a russell crowe footnote. guy pearce? and to continue a thruline using kevin spacey’s “i’m kevin spacey as a hard-boiled whatever” character to jump over to his i-stammer-and-huff-and-puff-and-read-the-logo-of-chazz-palminteiri’s-pinky-ring-and-turn-it-into-the-name-of-a-boat-and-describe-things-to-him-that-never-could-have-…anyone else as bored as i am right now with the usual suspects?

    now, two movies i love that others don’t seem to care for. i’m going to open myself up to some serious criticism here, but i’ve never laughed harder at a movie IN MY LIFE than i did at jackass. if this was a documentary about some undiscovered tribe it would win an oscar. i watched this in the basement of the bar where melody was working and she thought i was being murdered i was laughing like such a crazy person.

    transylvania 6-5000. i don’t know why, but ed begley’s body in that movie makes me laugh. every move he makes is a comic masterpiece. and also contains the only truly funny performance other than kramer that michael richards has ever given. and jon byner? don’t get me started.

    ok, that’s all!

  33. Shi-vonne says:

    exactly, emily! i remember my first day of english class in junior year in high school and everyone had to tell mr. alper their name and also their nickname,or what they liked to be called. i said my name was siobhan. and realized most people had said “my name is jennifer, but call me jenny”, etc. so i was like, “my name is siobhan but you can call me…[pause] Shove.” we all had a good laugh about it.

  34. brendan says:

    hated breaking the waves. turned it off. and haven’t been able to watch whatserface since. ooh, the camera’s shaking, this must be searing emotionally. the whole thing was like an afterschool special that is trying to get the attention of its famous divorced oscar winning parents.

  35. red says:

    I was never wacky about Usual Suspects – even though I thought Benicio del torro was great – I’m not a Kevin Spacey fan and I think he is hugely overpraised. The praise he got for American Beauty was … I just couldn’t believe it. I had to just throw up my hands and go: “Okay! No idea what everybody else sees but I don’t see it!”

    I should see that Transylvania movie – it does look hysterical, actually!!

  36. siobhan says:

    i’m really sorry for even admitting this but i really really enjoyed “jersey girl”. i CRIED numerous times throughout it. i love liv tyler.
    [siobhan quickly scurries back into a hole, in shame]

  37. red says:

    siobhan – hahahahaha There will be NO shame on this thread. I don’t care WHAT people admit to liking!!!

  38. Independent George says:

    Just thought of another one I loved that everyone else hated: Frankenstein. The Kenneth Branagh one. I thought it was fantastic.

  39. red says:

    //the whole thing was like an afterschool special that is trying to get the attention of its famous divorced oscar winning parents.//

    That is genius.

  40. Cullen says:

    Glad to have the explanation all around. Emily, it did help and make sense. Siobhan, Marine Corps servers don’t like your website for some reason. I’ll have to check it out at home. I do want to hear some of your stuff.

    Sheila, I also hated American Beauty.

  41. red says:

    cullen – Yay! That makes 2 of us!

  42. Cullen says:

    Also, I absolutely hate Ben Affleck, but absolutely adored Jersey Girl, Siobhan. Maybe it has to do with being the father of two girls, but I love it. I’m a big Kevin Smith fan too, so that helps.

  43. Independent George says:

    I don’t know if I would say I hated American Beauty… but I did find it pretentious and condescending. Well-written, well-acted, beautifully shot… but the whole movie felt like a 2-hour sneer.

  44. Independent George says:

    Then again, I did hate American Beauty right after it somehow won all those Oscars in the same movie year as Being John Malkovich, Magnolia, and Almost Famous.

  45. Emily says:

    Oh god. American Beauty.

    I used to think it was useful to write these long essays on badly developed characters as a sort of study source for writing my own. Okay, so actually, I was probably bored and stoned and hyped up on coffee, but still…I think I wrote more about the awful characters in that movie than anything else. What’s up with the near-gothic chick as a cheerleader? Hello. As if a girl like that would even *want* to be a cheerleader, let alone make the squad and then get away with delivering frowny assed, unenthusiatic performances every week and get to stay on the squad. And why in the hell would she even be friends with the phony blonde “I’m a model” chick anyway? Now, I’ve known phoney people, but Annette Benning? Have you *ever* met a person that acted like that? And the gay neighbors? What? Who talks to each other like that? The whole movie was condescending nonsense, like you said, Sheila. Everybody that lives in the suburbs is phoney, mean, stupid, unhappy, or bored. Their only saviors are weird teen-agers. Uh-huh. That’s life in a nutshell. Not.

  46. Emily says:

    And Siobhan – “Call me ‘Shove.'” Best laugh I’ll have all day!

  47. Lisa says:

    Two movies (Among MILLIONS, including everything Woody Allen’s ever done EVER — I hate him with the heat of a 1000 suns. Seriously. HATE.) I hate that everyone loves:

    Armageddon: Never IN MY LIFE have I wanted more people in a movie to JUST FRIGGIN’ DIE ALREADY GOD.

    Something About Mary: This movie is NOT. FUNNY. Semen in the hair? Not funny. Penis in the zipper? Not funny. And Cameron Diaz? Not pretty.

    (I’m still thinking about movies I love no one else does that weren’t directed by Richard Curtis and aren’t St. Elmo’s Fire, and the only one I can think of is Michael Collins. I love it and watch it at least once a month.)

  48. siobhan says:

    lisa, please do not get me started (remember molly shannon doing the bad stand-up on SNL…”don’t get me started”…so funny) on cameron diaz. sheila has renee zellwegger, i have cameron. i feel like i should write an Expert Essay on Why Cameron Diaz is A Total Fraud. Get ready!!

  49. red says:

    siobhan – hahahaha Alex feels the same way, if I recall correctly – she just doesn’t get HOW this woman became a success!!

  50. Emily says:

    I think Cameron Diaz is pretty, but if I have to endure one more single minute of her shaking her ass in front of a camera in a “aren’t I so cute?” shot, I’m going to HURT HER.

  51. Ron says:

    Okay, I can’t resist.

    Well, I loved Hitchiker’s Guide but I don’t think that many people really hated it.

    While I can’t say I loved it, I admit that I did enjoy Kevin Costner’s The Postman.

    Also, I absolutely love Oscar with Sylvester Stallone. That man definitely has untapped comic acting ability.

  52. red says:

    Emily and Siobhan –

    I love the rumor that Anna Faris (who played the ditzy obnoxious movie actress in Lost in Translation) based her entire performance on Cameron Diaz. Nobody has confirmed it … but I’ve heard the rumor around, and I just LOVE that. Cant you just see Cameron Diaz behaving that way?

  53. Ron says:

    Oh, and for a movie that everyone loved that just did nothing for me whatsoever:Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I just don’t get what the big deal about that movie is.

  54. red says:

    Ron – I totally agree with you about Stallone. Have you happened to see Copland? He was great in that.

  55. brendan says:

    TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH ALL YOU CAMERON DIAZ HATERS…

    i went to see “the mask” when it came out and i predicted to whoever i went to see it with that “the blonde chick” was going to be a massive star. he thought she was just eye candy.

    anyone care to recall a little movie called “being john malkovich” for which she ought to have won an oscar?

    i admit the whole ass shaking thing is a bit much, but it sure beats charlize theron eating grace kelly’s bones in order to be taken seriously. see, cameron got ugly from the INSIDE out for being john malkovich. no pads, no fake teeth, and no steroids. which charlize was obviously on.

    i love cameron diaz. i think she’ll win an oscar before she’s done.

  56. Emily says:

    Ron,
    You perhaps may not want to dive into the depths of Douglas Adams geekery that I have, but trust me, there are people that lost their minds over their hatred for that film. To channel Mr. Adams himself, I won’t mention any names of note, but I will say that one stared with “M” and ended in “J Simpson.”

  57. red says:

    I am hoping we can all express ourselves here without being berated. So far, no jagoff has told me I’m an asshole for not liking Saving Private Ryan, and I’m really really thankful for that.

    I am neutral on Cameron Diaz – I liked Being John Malkovich – but I can get why people hate her. After all, some people despise Julia Roberts. I’ve always loved her. Why shout at each other about it?

  58. beth says:

    WHO didn’t like punch drunk love or eternal sunshine? WHO?!?!?

  59. red says:

    Emily – So their complaints were that it wasn’t as good as the book? Like – what was their problem with the film? Adaptation? Casting?

    Please feel free to dive into the geekery.

  60. brendan says:

    so sorry. i’ve just had WAY too much coffee. i too can understand why people would feel that way about cameron. my enthusiasm may have seemed aggressive. my boss isn’t in the office today and i’m having so much fun posting that i want to shout everything.

    i also saw cameron and justin at a radiohead concert just walking through the crowd and they looked so happy together.

    i hope they make it. i’m going to cry now.

  61. red says:

    hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

  62. Emily says:

    Sheila,
    In the case of the particular person I mentioned, he was just a pompous ass that was pissed off that everything wasn’t done EXACTLY the way he thought it should. His “epic” (his words!!) review was over 10,000 words long and had, if memory serves, an entire paragraph devoted to complaining about Zaphod’s second head alone.

    I think a lot of people just expected them to make the TV show with more money and were disappointed when they didn’t. Duh, like I’ve seen the TV show a bazillion times. I WANTED something different.

  63. red says:

    Sometimes I think people like that just shouldn’t even bother seeing the movie – because it would NEVER make them happy anyway. I’ve read a couple of Lord of the Rings reviews that were like that as well.

  64. Cullen says:

    There are just many fans who thought the movie should have been done a certain way or that certain actors should have/shouldn’t have been cast … there were really strong emotions attached to Hitchhiker’s all around. So, when it failed to meet preconceived notions, there was a lot of hatred.

    Of course, for the majority of fans who know an adaptation is, at best, a glimps of the work, it was a fun ride. Could have been better, could have been worse.

  65. timmac says:

    “alien vs predator” on the sci-fi channel!!

  66. Cullen says:

    What the hell is a glimps? More example of the fast fingers of fury. Thinking of fast and fury, where the heck is Mr. Nunez today? Sheila … think he got roundhouse kicked?

  67. red says:

    I think as long as the adaptation has the same SPIRIT as the film – it’s fine. I mean, it still should be a good movie – but as long as they appear to be trying to capture the spirit of the original material, I am much more apt to be a fan of it. That’s why I loved the Hitchhikers film – it had the same spirit as the book.

    And that’s why I hated The Shipping News. It suddenly had a cuddly sentimental spirit when … what? If you read that book?? WHAT? No. They changed the spirit of the book to make it palatable to a wide audience and THAT pissed me off. People actually LOVED the book The Shipping News … and those of us who loved that book are passionate about it. The filmmakers fucked up with that film – because the film didn’t do well anyway. They alienated fans of the book, and the regular populace didn’t care for it either.

    I thought in Hitchhikers they really captured Adams’ zany and intelligent spirit – and I recognized it. That was fun.

  68. Emily says:

    I especially resented the criticisms of Hitchhiker’s that it was “too American” or whatever. Uh, I didn’t see any film companies in Britain offering to kick down the extra 30 million to make it the blockbuster Adams wanted. He didn’t move his family to another part of London to be closer to the money, he came to California. I’m sick of that attitude. You can’t expect Americans to pay millions and millions of dollars to produce a film and then demand that they not attempt to pander to a US audience to make their money back.

  69. Cullen says:

    And as much as they complain about crap like that, whose movies do they spend more money seeing, ours or theirs?

  70. Emily says:

    In fairness, that could be because we just make more. My big issue is when people like JK Rowling make a huge fuss about a movie being all-British. Fine. If you’re going to have that attitude, the same goes for the signature on the check (or “cheque” if you must) that pays for it.

  71. Cullen says:

    True, I, like you, just hate it when they get all pissy about it.

  72. red says:

    beth –

    Punch Drunk Love was critically well received but it barely lasted a month in the movie theatre – I was lucky I got to see it on the big screen. I heard many people say they just despised it. Or it was too weird, or he was too unpleasant – you know. I was like: but … but … but … that was the POINT!!!

    hahahaha I just loved it. The piano showing up … and how it brings about all these changes … amazing film.

  73. Nightfly says:

    I confess that I resisted the Lord of the Rings movie because I couldn’t see how movies could do the books justice. Pleased to see that I was wrong, though I wish Peter Jackson hadn’t cut Faramir’s b***s off. He was such a key character and they turned him into a footnote. Great films, though, and far more good choices than bad on adaptation.

    My favorite nobody-else-cares-for-them films:

    UHF. Best seen in large groups. Supposedly, Michael Richards will bawl out anyone who says, “Hey, loved you in UHF!” but he shouldn’t. He makes the film, and the “Beverly Hillbillies (Money For Nothing)” tune in the middle is fantastic. Kevin McCarthy and Anthony Geary are good too. High-quality 80’s cheese right down to Weird Al’s mustache.

    Big Trouble in Little China. You know what ol’ Jack Burton says at a time like this?

    Who?

    Jack Burton. ME! Ol’ Jack Burton says, “Eh, what the hell…”

    Then again, I fell asleep during Buckaroo Bonzai, which seems much more famous for its quotes instead of the actual movie.

    And dittoes to whoever was on about Cameron Diaz – she tops my personal list of “Hot Chicks I Totally Do NOT Get.” That’s the widest mouth outside of Carly Simon that I’ve ever seen.

  74. red says:

    Big Trouble in LIttle China – hahahaha I love that movie too!!

    I just love everybody’s specific references coming out here – it’s awesome.

    I was also kind of shocked at what they did to Faramir – There were many posts written pro and con that I read voraciously, trying to figure out what I felt about it – The character is so much more memorable in the book.

  75. Nightfly says:

    I think his whole point was that he had Boromir’s boldness, and Denethor’s insight – but without the pride of either, so he was able to put all of those gifts to the service of his city. In Faramir’s mind, nothing changed when Aragorn returned – his job was to be Steward of Gondor, and to return the scepter in the end meant that the Stewards had succeeded in keeping the realm intact for the King’s return.

    But to turn him into the precise opposite, planning on bringing back the ring instead of helping Frodo and Sam? Bad. In fact, a worse move than all of the others put together.

  76. Doug Sundseth says:

    Swashbuckler

    Robert Shaw at his best: “I’m not a gentleman; I’m an Irishman!”. Anjelica Huston, Peter Boyle, James Earl Jones. And yes, even Geneviève Bujold and Beau Bridges.

    I love that movie.

  77. drlivipr says:

    Two that I love that the rest of the world ignored/hated/whatever:

    Ladyhawke – Gripe about the soundtrack, whatever. Grabs the romantic just below the jawline and never lets go.

    Into the Night – Gripe about THIS soundtrack, and you need your head examined.New York has the rep, Chicago has the desire, but this story is LA at its…ummm…yeah.

  78. mitchell says:

    love Cameron Diaz..cant help it…loved the In Her Shoes movie with Shirley and Toni…
    and Siobhan..i recently wept at Jersey Girl myself…it got me.

  79. Ken says:

    Liked Cameron Diaz in A Life Less Ordinary, anyway.

    Next: not so much “films I loved or at least liked that everyone else hated” as “guilty pleasures” (they’re different, says I), or possibly “flops that I liked a lot”: I give you…

    Ice Pirates

    Armageddon

    Caveman (come on, you know you love Ringo, how can you not?)

    Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid!

    ffolkes (Roger Moore’s first post-Bond role, a greatly underrated film, also titled Assault Force in some markets)

  80. Ken says:

    PS–Agree and a half on All That Jazz. I must have seen it a million times on cable when we first got it, circa 1981.

  81. Just1Beth says:

    Loved, loved, loved LadyHawke. Love Sylvester Stallone in Copland and Rocky (especially RockyI) in a way that makes me a teeny bit uncomfortable. I am actually excited about his new pic that he is writing/directing/starring/producing/ creating the sets/sewing the wardrobe “Rocky Balboa”.
    Movie I hated so much that I couldn’t even watch it all the way through is Pulp Fiction. Just despised it. (Runs and ducks…)

  82. dorkafork says:

    Top Secret. I was watching it with the director’s commentary on just last night and they were rather, uh… self deprecating.

    And I liked Pennies From Heaven, if only for the tour-de-force Christopher Walken tap dance routine.

  83. red says:

    dorkafork – that is such a great scene with Christopher Walken!! So classic!!!

  84. red says:

    Beth –

    //in a way that makes me a teeny bit uncomfortable. //

    hahahahahahahaha

    also laughing at: writing/directing/starring/producing/ creating the sets/sewing the wardrobe

    Yes! I’m psyched about it too!

  85. red says:

    Ladyhawke was a wonderful movie. I loved it too.

  86. Dave W says:

    Movie that I like more than most everyone: A Little Romance. I was mildly obsessed by this film in my teens and saw it a bunch of times. Does anyone remember it?

    It’s much easier for me to find films on the other side. Here are a couple that I didn’t like at all but that most of you probably did like:

    Alien. Jeez, what a crowd of idiots. I was rooting for the alien by the halfway point in the film. On another level, though, I really don’t like films that “cheat” to make us nervous. Like when all the camera shots are from the point-of-view of the person in trouble, but that person (a) has no peripheral vision, so things can jump out at you from off-camera and (b) can’t hear, of course. I just hate hate hate this. Hate it. Frustrates the hell out of me.

    Seven. I just thought it was an average film with a gimmick. I really don’t understand why so many people were so impressed.

  87. red says:

    Dave W – I never really saw what the big deal abot Seven was either. Although I thought the opening credits – and how they did them – were mind-blowing. GREAT opening to a film – just technically. But I didn’t get the brou-haha over the film as a whole, either.

  88. Ken says:

    Dave W–I remember A Little Romance! I remember Olivier lamenting, “All we had to do was get out of town!” A sweet little movie.

  89. Ken says:

    Sorry to keep doing consecutive posts, but I just thought of another one that qualifies (I like, most didn’t): 1941.

  90. Cullen says:

    Big Se7en fan. I think David Fincher really knows how to set a mood and play it out with style. Otherwise, it’s a typical drama with a twist, like you said — but his moods, his eye for the bizarre, fantastic.

    Admittedly, this isn’t as good as Fight Club, but I love it.

    That’s me and my 2 cent, though.

  91. siobhan says:

    bren, i know you feel that way about cameron. but understand that i…in all circumstances…do not. (hahaha)at all. i think being john malkovich was a great movie…but i still think her performance was a JOKE and praised b/c ooh cameron “made herself uglY”…and nothing about what she actually did. just typing about it is getting me rageful. i think she is priased and totlaly unworthy of any of it. she is fake fake fake fake. okay sorry. venting done.

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