Kevin's Watch

I liked Lost in Translation. And as someone else pointed out, it's a subtle, quiet movie.

LiT pissed me off because that was a mainstream hit

and I truly hope this is not a reason to dislike something. <sheesh>
Do you honestly think this movie was made with the idea that it would be a hit? Uh-uh ... that part was a fluke, and it's slow rise was well deserved...

duchess of malfi wrote:

dlbpharmd wrote:

A Gunslinger wrote:Insert early winter released period piece here. One that comes to mind quickly:

The English Patient

Yup, definitely overrated. So are both Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Here's another: Shakespeare in Love. I actually do like this movie, but there's NO WAY IN HELL it should have won Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan.

Completely agree. I thought Shakespeare in Love was a very good movie (though I think it would have been a lot better if Paltrow had concentrated more on acting than on flashing her titties at the camera every twenty minutes).....

LMAO!

Those "titties" won Paltrow the Oscar, too!

Cail wrote:DD pissed me off because it's a cult hit, and the fanboys insist that if you don't like it, you must be too dense to get it. I get it, it's just not good.

I've had the same experience with both DD and LiT. If I don't like DD it's because I don't get it, and if I don't like LiT it's because I don't understand what it's meant to be. But as you said, I do get it, honestly, I just didn't enjoy them. Not to my taste.

As for Rocky Horror: my girlfriend is a big fan, so I've seen it several times in the last year or so, and while I don't object to it I also don't really see the appeal. It has some moments that amuse me, but that's about it; otherwise I'm indifferent.

Cail wrote: I'm one of the people that didn't think SPR was all that great. It's decent, but it doesn't make my top 10 war movies.

Damn, Cail, you're one hard nosed critic when it comes to war movies!
Tell us your top 10.

The Longest Day
A Bridge Too Far
The Big Red One
84 Charlie Mopic
All Quiet on the Western Front
Midway
Tora! Tora! Tora!
They Were Expendable
We Were Soldiers
Patton

And that's just off the top of my head.

Some damn fine movies in that list, and I have several of them on my shelf. I haven't seen "They were expendable" or "84 Charlie Mopic." I love the movie "The Longest Day" but Saving Private Ryan captures D-Day much more accurately, IMO.

You forgot Kelly's Heroes!

Yeah, Kelley's Heroes, The Dirty Dozen, Sands of Iwo Jima....There's a ton of good ones. Shoot, you could even call Braveheart a war movie.

Donnie darko is one of my favorite movies EVER. Overated? How bout Star Wars 1-3 & 6? Dreck.

A Gunslinger wrote:How bout Star Wars 1-3 & 6? Dreck.

Oddly, Star Wars Eps 1-3 are among the films I consider both overrated and underrated. Some love them, but I think they're badly flawed. Some hate them, but I think they're reasonably enjoyable. Basically, these films tend to generate an extreme love or hate response, while I just think they're alright-ish.

I definitely consider the original SW trilogy overrated though. Maybe it's because I wasn't there at the time, but that really shouldn't be an issue. Being 'of its time' is a flaw, and shouldn't be used as an excuse. As with Eps 1-3, I enjoy 4-6 but don't find them that fantastic. For the record, though, they are vastly superior to the prequels.

I must say, the best Star Wars experience I've had is Knights of the Old Republic. That's probably some form of heresy, but the fact is I find KOTOR's focus on history, mythology and character development far more engaging than the films.

Cail wrote:Rocky Horror, to me, was all about the theater experience. I saw it in NYC my first time, so I may be a bit biased. It's a horrible movie, but the experience was great.

Exactly. Rocky Horror is all about being in a packed theater with everyone dancing and shouting the lines and singing and squirting each other with squirt guns and throwing toast and all of the rest of the general goofiness. I will see it quite gladly any evening in a theater with such a crowd, but cannot watch it at home by myself. It is a rather bad movie when you try to watch it by yourself. The goofy crowd makes that film.

Saving Private Ryan, from what I understand, comes very close to capturing combat on film. When it was released it gave so many combat vets flashbacks that the VA set up a 1-800 nationwide hotline for them to call to be able to talk to a counselor. In my 19+ years at being with the VA, this is the only film that caused such problems.

I'll grant that the first 20 minutes of SPR are fantastic. I think the rest of the film falls flat.

Cail wrote:I'll grant that the first 20 minutes of SPR are fantastic. I think the rest of the film falls flat.

oh yeah. agree wholeheartedly. i was actually VERY P*SSED when i came out of the theater after SPR...ranting and raving p*ssed. i just could not beLIEVE that i sat through that horrifyingly realistic first 20 minutes for THAT payoff in the end??? freakin matt damon in really crappy old age make up saying "tell me i was worth it, tell me i was a good man" !!!!! ????? ooh i was mad.

war movies?

Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
The Young Lions (1958)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Apocalypse Now
The Deerhunter
The Thin Red Line


one i haven't seen but want to is Enemy at the Gates
about the battle of stalingrad. anybody seen it?

Matrixman wrote:Yay Damelon!! What a relief. We must be among the very few here who like Lost In Translation.

yo. count me in. i LOVED it.

Enemy At the Gates is fantastic. Ed Harris is phenomenal in it.

Lucimay wrote:

Cail wrote:I'll grant that the first 20 minutes of SPR are fantastic. I think the rest of the film falls flat.

oh yeah. agree wholeheartedly. i was actually VERY P*SSED when i came out of the theater after SPR...ranting and raving p*ssed. i just could not beLIEVE that i sat through that horrifyingly realistic first 20 minutes for THAT payoff in the end??? freakin matt damon in really crappy old age make up saying "tell me i was worth it, tell me i was a good man" !!!!! ????? ooh i was mad.

war movies?

Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
The Young Lions (1958)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Apocalypse Now
The Deerhunter
The Thin Red Line

one i haven't seen but want to is Enemy at the Gates
about the battle of stalingrad. anybody seen it?

Matrixman wrote:Yay Damelon!! What a relief. We must be among the very few here who like Lost In Translation.

yo. count me in. i LOVED it.

That wasn't Matt Damon in really crappy make up, that was another actor entirely.

I do like Apocalypse Now but I could absolutely say it's overrated.

I HATED The Thin Red Line.

Enemy at the Gates is fantastic, and IMO Jude Law at his best.

Apocalypse Now is a good film, but completely overrated.

That wasn't Matt Damon in really crappy make up, that was another actor entirely.

whoever it was it sucked. perhaps i was so angry by that time that i just thought it was him.


i will see Enemy at the Gates.


i saw Apocalypse Now when it first came out (i was 21), in a theater full of 'Nam vets. it was more an "experience" than just going to see a movie. before the movie guys were laughing and talking and hollering at this old army buddy across the auditorium or that old friend. it was great. every body was all in a good mood and it was really cool to be in the room with all those guys. i felt honored and privilaged to be in the room with them.
at the end, it was dead quiet. no body stirred. nobody moved.
no body even got up to leave when the credits were finished and the lights came up. we were all just kinda sittin there, awed.
so...

i liked the film but didn't ever want to see it again.
of course i DID see it again, after Hearts of Darkness came out. that's the film Coppola's wife made, the documentary of the making of AN. and i came to appreciate the film more for knowing what had gone into it.

and then, last semester i read Heart of Darkness for the first time and fell in love with the book. and all the time i was reading it, i could hear Marlow's narrative in Martin Sheen's voice. and i immediately understood why Coppola had fought so hard to make the film the way he made it.

Cail wrote:Enemy At the Gates is fantastic. Ed Harris is phenomenal in it.

Uhh, I'm not so much a fan of this one. Sure it was ok, but it just felt like a flick riding on Private Ryan's coattails.

One of my favourite War films is Bridge on the River Kwai.

Warmark wrote:One of my favourite War films is Bridge on the River Kwai.

Aye. Agreed. Though I'm not a war movie buff, let alone a movie buff, so most of the titles you guys are tossing around I dunno about, but I'll keep this topic bookmarked as a good list of suggestions.

I never even saw SPR

EDIT-I did see Apocalypse, because it's well known in the public schools and often shown during US history, but I thought Dr. Strangelove was better.