Have you ever seen a critically acclaimed movie and could not understand why it was considered so great ?

They just trying to BIG UP something thats crap :p

Well I saw Wall-E and fell asleep. It was SO boring. I really don’t see what was so great about it. I’m seriously wondering if I walked in 5 minutes late and missed the whole point of it.

Wall-E was boring to me too.

I did not like Moulin Rouge or Chicago.

2001 a Space Odyssey. I thought him to be extremely longwinded , slow and ultimately boring. But he is an old movie, so I forgive him.

American Beauty
Terms of Endearment
The Deer Hunter
A Clockwork Orange
Out of Africa

sucks sucks sucks sucks sucks.

edit- Bad Lieutenant

Sucks

@ChocolateReigns – Wall-E was great :)

Brokeback Mountain.
A horribly boring movie about gay cowboys. Fascinating.
Was it only critically acclaimed because the topic of gay cowboys has never been done before? I guess. That movie was shit imo.

UP.

titanic

No Country for Old Men was horrible.

Casablanca, The Dark Knight, Titanic, Seven, The remake of Dawn of the Dead, and Hostel.
When I think of more, I’ll add them.

Hostel was critically acclaimed?
The first four are. Not sure about Hostel. I do agree though. How some of these movies get funded these days is beyond me.

Well the people I know could not shut up about it.

Eyes Wide Open. I absolutely wallowed in my chair at the theater waiting for the movie to be over.

@Narl I hated No Country for Old Men also.

What’s up with the Kubrick hate?
I would like to add Kill Bill volumes 1 & 2. Weak and annoying.

Kill Bill was enjoyable. Sofie Fatale made it all worth it.
Then again I love violence and I adore Tarantino’s movies.
I did however find Death Proof to be yawnable.

the Hours
2001 (but I watched it fairly recently)
Dracula (very good, but not as good as the hype implied)

pulp fiction.

Yes but some movies give wealthy people the opportunity to show us all how Politically correct they are.
They are the same Millionaire over payed actors that beg us Middle Class people to contribute to their charities. They are too busy vacationing on private Island to give their own money .

Speaking of millionaires…
Slumdog Millionaire

here is my take on highly touted movies: certain movies that get high acclaim are movies that address something from a different angle or have a wealth of creativity. to some movie-goers, they want to see things clearly and to the point. the savvy film watcher sees certain movies through the eyes of an artist. he sees what everybody else does not.

it’s an art form, no doubt.

Wow, so many great movies trashed here. First off, I’ll say I’m no fan of Titanic…great special effects yes, but plot-wise it was a predictable chick flick. Now to try to offer a bit of a word of defense/explanation for some of these films that people don’t seem to have understood.

Wall-E worked as both a kids’ movie and a commentary on our wasteful, lazy, consumption based society. It was essentially sci-fi employing a bleak prediction of our future if we continue down our current path. I’m personally guilty of all the flaws pointed out, but I got that I was being lampooned and thought it was brilliant satire.

American Beauty was a study of the disaffected lives of suburban families in modern day America. It was original, and beautiful, it employed some of the most impressive foreshadowing I’ve ever seen, and managed to blend serious drama with genuine humor, and not lose it’s humanity.

A Clockwork Orange – an amazing study of violence, peer pressure, mind control and ultimately morality unlike anything else ever seen on screen.

Brokeback Mountain – saying it’s about the novelty of gay cowboys misses the point…it’s about coming to terms with one’s inner self and trying to live up to the expectations of society when it goes fundamentally against who you are. Anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider in any way should understand this movie.

Up was a tale of shattered dreams and redemption, it was incredibly poignant and sad, but quite redemptive at the end, and the humor was dead on, the interaction between the loopy boy scout and the dippy talking dog was priceless.

The Dark Knight was one of the most dark, cynical studies of vigilantism and twisted morality, set against a positively visually stunning backdrop.

Both Kill Bills and Death Proof were profound and amazing. Kill Bill was a tale of redemption via unrelenting vengeance. Death Proof demonstrated that appearances can be deceiving, Stuntman Mike started out as a badass and ended up a snivelling cry baby, just like any other bully.

Pulp Fiction, I can’t even address how wrong it is for anyone to mention that movie on this list. That was the movie that changed how movies were made. It defined a genre. And it stands alone in its mastery of non-linear storytelling. The dialogue was whip smart…I just don’t know. You people are making me lose faith in humanity.

@dalepetrie I agree with almost everything you’ve written.
People have the right to have different tastes in movies though. Lighten up.

@dalepetrie my point exactly. many moviegoers say a movie is bad because they don’t understand the underlying message or know that one even exists at all. i can tell “pulp fiction” is addressing something, but it was one of those movies that i stayed away from just because evrybody said it was so damn good. when i saw it for myself, i was like, ok.

@dale I totally agree with what you said about A Clockwork Orange. I mean really, I cannot think of a reason to bash this film unless you don’t understand nadsat or the violence was too overwhelming for you (which is not even that bad).
But whatever, everyone has the right to maintain their opinions.

Oh yes, everyone has a right to their opinion, I agree…I was mostly being dramatic to emphasize my point.

I understand

@chyna You’re so very right about Eyes Wide Open

I thought it was pretty good :(

I still think that No Country For Old Men was the worst waste of my time. Yes, the guy was a good actor, but to what point?

I don’t need to waste two hours of my time to figure out that sociopaths exist and to figure out that I don’t want to have anything to do with them.

How this pointless exercise in relentless violence ever got funded is beyond me.

A lot of the other films mentioned upthread had merit for creative reasons even tho not everyones cup of tea.

There was another “arthouse” film from about 20 years ago or so that was equally pointless.

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.

What a mess and a total waste of time.

Little Miss Sunshine

I remember how everyone raved about “Saw”
What a stinker!

Most of them.

Pulp Fiction. Why is it a classic? I would like to know. Seriously. Please share the reason with me

@anoop66 Seriously! I don’t get it either. I fell asleep during the movie.

@chyna I wanted the flick to be good. Watched it with so much expectations. I waited till the end, maybe this one has a good ending. :(

somebody please interpret pulp fiction. i mean, one day we started talking about movies in the office and pulp fiction came up. and after listening to all the comments and special lines and scenes, i felt i was being told about an adam sandler movie like “little nicky” or something on that line.

is it a parody? is it real? is it a take on blackploitation genre? is it comedy? is it drama? is it a play on life? is it a period piece? what the hell is it?

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Pulp Fiction, but one of the reasons why it captivates people so much is because of the dialogue. That film takes it’s motherfucking time and talks about real shit. I respect.

@Vunessuh ok, i guess. i’ll try it again.

@charliecompany34 Just listen to the dialogue. Most of Tarantino’s films are like that.

@Vunessuh gotcha. i’m going back in. will report back for sure…

@charliecompany34 Sounds good. I am curious to know what you think of it the 2nd, 3rd time around.

Yes. And I’m not even going to name it, because I know everyone is going to hate me.

Oh whateva Sym, do it. DO IT.

@Vunessuh I’m gonna get killed, I swear. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I woulda said Twilight, but I haven’t seen it.

I didn’t care for Harry Potter either. Or Twilight.
Come to think of it, other films I couldn’t stand were The Da Vinci Code, Watchmen and Transformers.
When a similiar question like this got asked on AB, I named all three and got DRed. lol.

@Vunessuh Oh God. DaVinci Code. Horrible. The fanbase usually bugs me more than the film as far as that last one is concerned though, because they all seem to think it’s real.

Millions of kids worldwide are going to be a bunch of sad pandas. That’s like finding out Santa doesn’t exist

@Vunessuh I also hated The Passion of Christ. Sure it was gory. I love that. But I also like essence in my films, at least, when it’s the kinda movie that’s supposed to have essence. Please tell me what the FUCK people liked about this? Just cuz William Wallace made it? Come on!

Oh, and how could I forget Star Wars. (I have only seen the 3 originals)

@Symbeline I watched the first 15 minutes of Passion then turned it off. I agree

Third vote for No Country for Old Men.

I tried, I really did. I even solicited others for thier thoughts to see if I was missing something. I’ll give it a thumb up for the absolute freaking LUNATIC psychopath, though. He would have loved being a Hostel guest, just for the sheer fun of turning the chainsaw back on the rich dudes.

I loved No Country for Old Men. To me it’s just another slasher.

I’m actually really surprised there are so many votes for No Country.
It was one of my favorite films that year.
Another film where I thoroughly enjoyed the dialogue, the way it took it’s time, how unpredictable it was. the storyline was pretty amazing.
Reminded me of a Quentin film.
Plus, Josh Brolin turns me on. Anything with him in it is an easy watch.

Mussa been the redneck drawl and the “Git me a beer, woman.” attitude. I was not tingly in my nethers over that.

@Vunessuh The story was great, or at least, its premise, I agree, but it essentially stalled and went nowhere, that, coupled with the sad ending is probbaly what most folks didn’t like about it. I thought it was pretty stylish though.

He played it so well though. I’m attracted to good acting.

I liked the ending simply because the bad guy got away. He was EVIL as a muthuh, and he got away! I also liked it because the good guy got whacked. And in the middle, too! Right when everybody was rooting for him. Classic :)

@Symbeline I can see how some people didn’t like the ending, but I don’t think it stalled. In those moments of relief, I was able to appreciate the messages and power in the film.
I just like films that can gradually tell a story and keep it interesting by being unpredictable and having such intriguing dialogue.
Much like Inglourious Basterds.

The Godfather by a mile.

One of my odder personality traits is that I very rarely dislike a movie. Even if it possesses a terrible plot, poor acting, boring dialogue etc I can still generally find something entertaining about it. This general principle however comes with with two major exceptions, ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (I thought it would never end) and ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ (i’m generally fond of Mr. Burtons work but simply couldn’t feel entertained in any manner while watching that movie)

But the good guy was hawt…

Slumdog Millionaire was overrated as hell.

Big Lebowski was a waste of time

Ironman was dull

No Country for Old Men was ok until the last 15 minutes.

If you want a good explanation of what makes Pulp Fiction so great, read the Wikipedia article on it.

There’s nothing written about it, sweetie. Got another page?

@phillis – you have to click on the link and in the text it will say that Pulp Fiction may refer to, and it will give you 3 options, the second being Pulp Fiction (Film). Problem is, I couldn’t link directly to the main page for the film article because the link ends when it sees the first parentheses.

Oh! That’s simple enough. Thanks :)

Not a problem, I debated whether to explain that in my original post or not, in retrospect I should have. Thanks.

@Vunessuh

“I watched the first 15 minutes of Passion then turned it off.”

I envy you for that. I was at a theater with my wife so I had to sit through the whole thing.

@Narl Right, except the title is Eyes Wide Shut.

@filmfann Oops, I said the same thing, Eyes Wide Open, but you are correct.

@Brian1946 Sighs I feel for you Brian.

@dalepetrie I thought American Beauty was excellent also. My girlfriend was downright pissed off about that movie. She took it as an afront and insulting. Hollywood commenting on how awful life is for the average middle class person. I think she is crazy. I think that movie is a piece of art.

@JLeslie – sounds like she missed the point.

I thought that movie was pretty funny…

@dalepetrie I think she took it as though her life was being negatively stereotyped, and she is happy in her middle class life with kids. There is a little irony that she actually works for a major news network, and is recognized all over town, and is not really an “average” person from the outside looking in. She also has in incredible sense of humor generally. I just didn’t get why it bothered her sooo much.

Possibly, and an armchair psychologist can say any damn unfounded thing they want, but perhaps it struck a little close to home and she’s a bit defensive?

@dalepetrie Maybe. It does ring of “thou doth protest too much.”