What do you think is the most overrated film?

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20406056,00.html

Entertainment Weekly put out a list of films that readers commented they felt were overrated. I don't know what criteria they used to compile the list, othet than about half you'll agree with and half you'll seriously question the IQ of EW readers (which, I suppose, was the point).

Among the films on the list - 2001 A Space Oddysey, The Sound of Music, Singin' In The Rain, Gone With The Wind

Most notably absent: Titanic


My five overrated (with about 5 minutes of thought):

1. Titanic
2. The Hangover
3. 2001 A Space Oddysey (I agree with the list on that one)
4. Dr. Zhivago (I agree with the list on that one)
4. (partly out of snark, and partly because I do feel this film is vastly overrated) Deep Throat

Those being "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Philadelphia Story."

My five overrated, no special order:

1. The Sound of Music
2. Saturday Night Fever
3. Gone With the Wind
4. The English Patient. Most boring movie ever.
5. The Ten Commandments

Why the "Sound of Music" hate?

:wtf:

"2001? Oh my God, Transformers totally blows it away on special effects! 2001's effects are crap!"

Fucking hell.

Once someone tosses Lawrence of Arabia into a list of bad movie, they're done. That's no longer opinion or critique, it's goddamned ignorance. Same with Citizen Kane. "Jesus, it's not even color! What a fucking boring movie!"

:eyes:

:puke:

Lawrence of Arabia belongs in the top 5 best films of all time, if not THE best. the acting is perfection, the scenery breathtaking, the plot fascinating and the music soars. Peter O'Toole is brilliant in it. I only wish I could have seen it on an old time big screen.

It does disturb me how many under-35 YOs I talk to who say they simply can't sit through anything in B & W

and usually wonderful dialogue and writing.

Lawrence of Arabia? Are they SHITTING me? That movie is brilliant! Probably in the top 3 of movies I've ever seen. How anybody could put that on a "worst" list of any kind (except perhaps Top 20 Worst Movies About Winter) just baffles me.

Then I had to go gawk at the trainwreck - the stupid is rampant in that discussion...

Needless to say, these people don't know what the fuck they're talking about.

It was always high on my list, but sometime in the past decade I have grown to appreciate it even more.

Hss a wonderful soundtrack too.

Did their mommies read the polls to them and re-copy their crayoned comments?

I would agree that Zhivago is not the best of David Lean but Lawrence of Arabia is a picture they will still be watching 100 years from now.

Some of the movies on the list I love (like Annie Hall), some I never thought of as a classic (Forrest Gump?)...everyone's entitled to their opinion about whether a movie is a "classic" or not, but the stupidity of these comments make them sound more like the shallow blatherings of dullards than what I consider to be opinions.

:grr: I'm sorry, that's just bs!

on every single movie that came after it...:wtf:

Why don't you get back on your Penny-farthing and ride to the stereopticon showing?

I insult them because they're ignorant and deserve it.

I don't mind people disagreeing with me if they can demonstrate how they arrived at their conclusions or ideas and argue it well.

I *DO* mind ignorant people spouting shit out of their mouths (or from their fingers) with nothing to back it up and no argument more technical than "so there" or "because that's how I feel".

There is nothing more technical about it other than "because that's how I feel". I watched it, and it was not entertaining. Demanding more is akin to explaining why a person likes different genres of art, food, or music.

The only ignorance I see is coming from people who want to insult people because they were not entertained by the same movies.

I do not insult simply because they do not like a movie - that's opinion, and we all have differing tastes about what moves or entertains us. I might think they are missing something, and would love to help enlighten them to see what there is to appreciate in something, but in matters of art it comes down to subjectiveness. That's fine.

Where I find objection in that article is that the writer clearly doesn't know much about movies, and isn't just compiling a list of movies he doesn't like, but a list of classic movies, well-regarded by critics and people knowledgeable about film, that he feels are overhyped and are poorly made and do not deserve the label of being 'classics' (and his list includes a few movies that aren't considered 'classics' anyway, which also shows a level of ignorance) and attempts to provide objective criteria by which to deny them their status as highly regarded works of art, but which objective criteria are completely removed from any real objective criteria by which movies are understood and rated by the experts.

By analogy, I'm not a big fan of Monet's paintings. I find them for the most part to be boring and they say practically nothing to me. Give me a Twombly over a Money any day. But I'd never accuse Monet of being a hack or over-rated: his technique, use of color, methodology, and philosophy of painting are all brilliant, creative, and amazing. He had an incredible eye for color, shadow, and light. And I'll argue with anyone who puts forth an opinion that Monet didn't know anything about painting, or that his water lily paintings are just out of focus oil-paint attacks on innocent canvas.

The article says more about the faultiness of the filmic and artistic understanding of the writer(s) than it says anything about the movies that they list.

For more analogy, read my first post with examples of the kind of objections they are raising which show how little understanding of what any of those films in the historical record, in the context in which they were made, and their lasting influence on a generation of two of film-makers.

Their critique of these films reminds me of the woman that Isaac Asimov writes about in one of his books - he was talking to her about Shakespeare. She said, "I don't like Hamlet - it's just all cliches."

Clearly no historical or artistic understanding of what she was critiquing. She's free not to like Hamlet, but not at all free to accuse it of being sloppily slapped together cliches. One might not Lawrence of Arabia - that's fine; it's a long fucking movie filled with sand, silence, and music. But to say it's a poorly made film is to show oneself to be nothing but an unclever fool.

"Singin' in the Rain" cookie cutter with nothing new in it? It's the DANCING you idiot! Atticus Finch less of a hero than Indiana Jones? I guess the most heroic thing ever is a pit of snakes.

and it is just amazing- characters and dialogue and a really great commentary on racism and the need for change. Great film, too.

"we just don't like those black and white movies"... :eyes:

that's so funny, I wrote this before I even read all of your post- :D

all time favorites. Of course, I just love classic movies, especially older ones. Eight I can't stand and can agree with them. I also cannot believe that Titanic wasn't there---that was my first choice as soon as I read the subject of this posting. Maybe they are not thinking that Titanic is a "classic".

My top 5 list with a minute of thought:
Titanic
Dr Zhivago
Love Story
Wizard of Oz
Zulu

She overacts to the point of distraction.

..to each one's own, I rekon.

Kill Bill 1, anyway. I didn't see KB 2.

but I'd add ever one that I have seen. After I realized he'd taken everything he ever made from the grindhouse masters of the seventies. These great films were either ignored or outright panned by the critics of the day (including the late great Sam Peckinpah).

Now this punk comes along and all the critics think he's the shit, when he's really just shit.

big disappointment

EW shot off both knee caps choosing Lawrence of Arabia and not Titanic. Lawrence is a feast, Titanic is a Twinkie.

Yes, some of the movies have not aged well, and I'd agree a little with a couple of points, but overall they are idiots.

Fwiw, I think the Matrix Trilogy is by far the most overrated movie (series) ever.

The first Matrix was a great film because it didn't have all the hype when it came out, it was just breathtaking........the final two took themselves waaaaaay too seriously and ruined all that was cool about the first one.

They should have stopped at one.

Loved the first movie, but the second & third almost ruined the first.

Pretty much anything by James Cameron, who I respect but has no clue about meaningful plot. You can add Peter Jackson's King Kong movie to the overblown list; also his interminable ending of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Love Story? Really?

Did "Step Up 2" not make the cut?

I agree with "The English Patient" (again not sure if it's a bona fide Classic). Moved sucked something terrible. I ask you, with the exception of a cadre of pathetic grad school coeds, has anybody every watched this movie TWICE?

I wish someone would make a new edit of The English Patient. Throw out everything except Naveen Andrew's Sikh bomb unit character and their story.

Shorter and a hell of a lot sexier than burnt patient on toast.

I'm a sucker for a painful love story.

It's not a movie, but the tv show personified suckitude.

:popcorn:

:hi:

I hope the psychic waves generated from the gathering made your whole day suck. :hi:

Aside from "The Shining" and "Full Metal Jacket" I think all his films are overrated.

Same goes for Robert Altman.

Most of those movies are legitimately good (some of them are great), even if aspects of them are "dated" by 2010 standards. My overrated list would be far more stocked with pretentious self-indulgent "indie" wankery than old black and white classics. I can't think of too many examples because I tend to not watch movies because (insert "snobby film critic" or "popular opinion" here) says I should, but because they've piqued my interest somehow.

Anyone who thinks 2001 is overrated is a complete fool IMO.

:evilfrown:

Next, you'll probably say you don't think the Heat are going to next year's NBA Finals.

Network
Bladerunner
Godfather
Harold and Maude
Indiana Jones

"The Godfather is the I Ching. The Godfather is the sum of all wisdom. The Godfather is the answer to any question. What should I take on my vacation? Leave the gun, take the cannoli. What day is it? Maunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday. The answer to your problem is Go to the mattresses..."

Joe Fox "You've Got Mail"

I don't own many DVD's but I own those 2--and loan them out to whomever tells me they haven't seen them. I bet you're gonna say you don't like "Being There" either!

To each their own, I suppose. And it's probably a generational thing.

two of those are my all time faves -Bladerunner and Harold and Maude.

The two I hate is the color purple and The cook, his wife, thief and lover or some crap like that
and the one classic with a terrible, terrible ending is Deer hunter, ruined the effing film for me.

How can you hate The Color Purple? :wow:

...most overrated movie, ever.

but, not great - Russell Crowe was better in several other movies as well.

I love Dr. Zhivago though.

Have tried to sit through it at least five times. Can't remember if I ever have made it all the way through.

The original Russian version of Solaris was much better.

:P

:thumbsup:

I also think it's odd that it's the one film for which Hanks absolutely refused to make a sequel, despite a second novel having been written.

Bad writing. Bad acting. But gee whiz it shore is purty.

This is a meaningless list. Films are a very subjective medium. There is no criteria to decide what is the best of film.

I would like to see what these people think is a better musical than Singin' in the Rain. Or does the fact that nobody likes musicals any more mean that all musicals are now over-rated?

Oh never mind, I just noticed this was an EW poll. no need to take it so seriously. These are the people who over-rated Titanic and Avatar to begin with.

There wasn't a single empathetic or likable character in that whole film. They even managed somehow to make the slaves and the little kid unsympathetic. Sherman could not get there fast enough.

2. Citizen Kane is the "Citizen Kane" of boring movies.

3. Sorry Dumbo/Bambi/Snow White/Symba, but your Mom/Dad is dead.

4. Star Wars Episode One, same film, different can

Unless I'm an "ignorant 20-year old" :eyes: because I dislike tedious, boring movies. This is coming from someone who enjoyed Eisenstein's "October"

The extraordinary effort that was made to recreate in minute detail, the ship, the REAL characters ect...Recently James Cameron, was able to actually see/broadcast on the underwater camera the room that was Rose and her mothers on the ship...The similarity to the recreated room in the movie was amazing. It also had some of the most visually stunning scenes ever made. People call it overrated cause they didn't like the love story--But the amount of attention to detail in recreating the disaster was quite an achievement. Titanic deserved every technical award it got.

Blame the teenage girl fanbase for causing the impression that it was just a hackneyed poor boy/rich girl doomed love story with cool effects.

I worked at a bookstore at the time. It was teen girls who bought any and every book about the film, because LEO was on the cover. *swoon* They were behind a *huge* chunk of the ticket revenue.

They could not have cared less about the historical/technical accuracy of the film.

I still hate the damn movie, even without the romantic sub-plot. There were worse maritime disasters. Why this one got singled out is anyone's guess.

People like me who think it was overrated UNDERSTAND it was a fantastic technical achievement, but we want more out of our films than a soulless effects blockbuster with a horribly contrived sub-plot.

women in their 20s did, too... I remember going with my ex and she was bawling her eyes out at the end of the movie, then she dragged her sister & me to another showing of it, and they were both sobbing away at the end. I think the whole theater was full of women wiping their eyes at the end, both times.

Yes, it was basically a love story that had been told 100 times before in the movies, but the two leads (DiCaprio & Winslet) also gave excellent performances and had great chemistry, and I think that helped the movie a ton as well. Put in two attractive stiffs and give them the same dialogue and it would not have worked nearly as well.

Even if you don't like the love story, you gotta give JC props for his amazing attention to detail.

..and additionally concede that it was reasonably well acted. I'm still not wild about it as a story. Too long and too contrived.

and just do two hours of floating cameras around the ship.

But Cameron wanted the technical as well as some story - and above all things, movies are 90% story, 10% other stuff. And the story (and dialogue) in Titanic is a great big pile of doggy doo.

Dr. Zhivago. And it was okay, just way too long. But the reception for Dr. Zhivago was mixed from the beginning. Only some consider it a classic. The other movies on the list, the ones I haven't seen like Forrest Gump and The English Patient, I'll take the word of the critics that it's a great movie. That doesn't mean I'm interested in seeing them, though. Great from one perspective can easily be boring from another; the whole precept is subjective from the beginning. Telling me a movie is great will only influence me to see it if I was already potentially interested. I don't want to watch a movie about a guy healing from an injury. Sounds frightfully dull, however well done. So despite all the praise, I still don't want to spend two and a half hours with The English Patient.

People don't appreciate films today the way they did in my youth. Special effects are relatively new in film; 2001 was justly praised for the quality of the special effects at the time, even if the new Transformers movie has better today. Back then, since special effects were always pretty phony-looking, one had to suspend one's disbelief in order to appreciate the film. This in turn gives tremendous power to a movie's atmosphere. The Exorcist, one of the darkest and most atmospheric movies ever made, most certainly does not suck in my opinion. Great movies should be more than a collection of terrific special effects. Great movies take you places, places like Tara or Oz or Shawshank prison. Great movies move you. Entertainment is simply entertainment until it grows into something more. Movies like Lawrence of Arabia go beyond mere entertainment. They're unforgettable.

I do kind of think The Sound of Music a bit overrated. The music and scenery are fabulous, of course, but the story isn't at all deep and as a movie it honestly doesn't hold a candle to the brilliant Cabaret, or even to other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals. It's a fine movie, three and a half stars, but not as "classic" as claimed.

"Hangover" was funny, but not as much as people made it out to be.

The people I knew who saw it acted like this was "Airplane" or "Young Frankenstein." It's amusing. The scenes with Mike Tyson are absolutely the show stealers. It's not "Caddyshack", "Christmas Vacation", or "Animal House."

...oh wait, it's crap, so it can't be over-rated.

2.Titanic
3.2001 Space Odyssey
4.Psycho
5.The Dark Knight
6.A Clockwork Orange

i agree that the trilogy is severely overrated... GF1 is brilliant, imho, but the other two movies absolutely suck. I barely made it through the 3rd film

Take films you know people love, and claim they are overrated, thinking that earns you cool points. Kind of like when we were in third grade, and there was a really hard problem to solve, the couple of kids who got their mommies to tell them the answer would yell out "That was the EASIEST problem of all!"

The only one on that list--that I've seen--that I can agree with was "Forrest Gump," but even that one wasn't horrible. Well, maybe it was, but Tom Hanks's performance was great.

Having said that, my list of overrated films, aside from teen flicks like Porkies or slasher flicks (any of them after Psycho, anyway), would have two, mostly. Ferris Buehler's Day Off, and The Return of the King. Both of those were too formulaic, and too cliche to be of any interest to me. I can see how others liked them... Sort of. Well, honestly, I can't, but I can see THAT others liked them.

Any list of overrated films must contain films highly regarded by a lot of people.

How many "cool points" did you earn for your last two lines? You just finished by doing the exact same thing you bemoaned in the beginning of your post.

I had the self-knowledge to point that out with a sense of irony BEFORE doing so. That makes me way cool. Here, you'll need these sunglasses to speak to me.

Or, in the case of a movie like "Love Story" how public perceptions and taste change over time.

Many of those movies are held in high regard by large portions of the public.

Dr. Zhivago, Citizen Kane, His Girl Friday, Singin' In the Rain, and Gone With The Wind are all held in high regard by a consensus of critics, yet (in this survey) members of the moviegoing public are asserting that the films are overrated.

Brando plays a boring slob. The sex scenes are boring, even. I almost snoozed off.

Also, La Dolce Vita. A lot of boring film types sitting around swilling whisky, a gaggle of papparazzi swarming over everything, the most boring strip tease ever.

Wolf

And I just answered a question about that movie in another thread for California Peggy.

You're right: highly overrated. I saw it on VHS about 22 years ago, and I'd never been that bored in a sex film in all my life.

Blasphemy! :mad:

:puke:

I have to admit I thought Titania was OTT until I saw it- Cameron makes some intense and realistic films and usually has some really interesting things to say. After we saw The Abyss (director's cut) and Titanic I had a whole new appreciation for water and for his skill as a film-maker...

The first I thought was good but not great, the second is unwatchable, and I got bored 15 minutes into the third.

IIRC, the film had passed into the public domain. It had largely faded from view. Then, people discovered you could re-release it dirt cheap on VHS, then Ted Turner rediscovered it, and now it's an American classic.

I'm sorry you don't like it. It's not my favorite Christmas film, but it's one I enjoy a lot.

Not hardly, but of David Leans films I prefer Bridge on the River Kwai.

If so, it makes the top of my list.

Others:

ANY John Wayne movie.
Alien
Goodfellas
All King Arthur derivatives except for "Camelot" and "MP's The Holy Grail."

I'll take issue with two Wayne movies. "The Quiet Man" and "Red River" are fantastic films.

On the King Arthur front -- did you ever see "Excalibur"? I'd still like my money back.

I'm just turned off as soon as he's on screen.

"Excalibur?" Yes. Might be the first Arthur-derivative I rejected. I only watched it when it hit the tv screen, though, so I can't demand my money back.

Matrix. Hands down.

It's little more than a barely adequate SFX movie which masqueraded itself as "deep"-- which, as targeted towards the Lowers Common Denominators, very well may have been seen that way.