Acclaimed movies that are crap and "crap" movies that are underrated

Lost in Translation: Crap.
Sofia Coppola sure does hire good cinematographers, but if not for that and Bill Murray, her opus would be more easily seen for the thrid-rate Jarmusch meets fourth-rate Wong Kar Wai ripoff that it is. Even the Kevin Shields song was weak.

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle: Not Crap.
An inspired take on the after-hours road genre, with a pair of Asian college stoners in place of the usual mid-life-crisis white guy. Full of amazingly sharp observations on race relations in America and mind-bogglingly surreal comedic set-pieces. In a better world, this would get an Oscar, or at least more lead work, for Kal Penn, who carries the film effortlessly.

OK, now you go.

Underrated: Glory (not ever called "crap" but not acclaimed either)

Ask a lit major. The movie is brilliant with all of its subtle themes and symbolism.

I prefer The Fisher King...It's just me. I saw American Beauty as the emperors's new clothes. Perhaps I just found the subject matter disturbing.

It's supposed to be.

but please understand that as the mother of two daughters, I prefer not to be disturbed in that manner.

It is a matter of taste, IMHO.

...about white middle class middle-aged male angst.

Afraid I'm with the naysayers on that one - couldn't see any of this symbolism you're talking about, and that's the type of thing I always look out for in a movie (I could write you an essay on the Shining that's the size of War and Peace)... I'd be genuinely interested if you wanted to post some examples. As I said on another thread, as far as I could see it was mainly about teenage girls' breasts.

I like the 'emperor's new clothes' analogy for that film... I remember coming out of the cinema thinking, "well I think that kind of sucked, but I'm told it didn't... I suppose I must be missing something." A couple of years of personal growth and a second viewing of the movie, and the answer was clear: "yes, that film did indeed suck." On the plus side this experience did help me learn to pay ABSOLUTELY NO attention to the opinions of movie reviewers, even the "good" ones, EVER, which is always a good thing.

My best underrated film - and I might be about to undercut any positive view of my critical faculties here - would be The Cell, J-Lo's last teetering moment on the precipice of talent before her inexorable plunge into the chasm of crap. The script is pretty dire, and the plot is one long cliche, but I think it has hidden depths... a lot of the scenes are visual essays on deviant psychology, male fetishism, fear of mortality and stuff like that. And I like the fact that, despite what an utter monster D'Onofrio's character is, we're reminded that there is a man lurking somewhere inside. It's unusual, I think, for a "psycho killer" movie to grieve for the killer as well as the victim. Pretty disturbing, pretty risky, and therefore sunk quickly into near-obscurity.

There is one scene in the film that sums up what is wrong with materialist society. The central couple in the film are about to get it on after a dispute. Passion erupts but before anything actually happens in a carnal context the female spills a glass of wine on the expensive (presumably) sofa and she sits bolt upright in a panic. Her priorities in life are a corollary to the belief that material matters transcend the beautiful, and non-material, event that making love can be. In an instant her passion is nullified, by the worry that the material thing she cherishes has been damaged. Here, the director was trying to show how our spiritual side is negated by our (rather sad) focus on the material. IMO that was a clever little set piece.

I love film as a medium. It can convey ideas and concepts by fusing the visual with dialogue in a way that few other media can. As for American Beauty's artistic merit? I'm gonna stick my neck out. A mixed bag that didn't hang together all that well but some good moments.

Rose petals. Gee, what could they mean?

A bag dancing and darting about aimlessly in the wind. What could that possibly represent?

It's all just too symbolic and subtle for me...

I assume you are talking about the civil war epic. Broderick does very, very well, despite his boyish appearance. You wouldn't normally look at that guy and say "he looks like a colonol."

The critiquing materialism in the 60's by the children of the generation who
lived through the Depression (The Graduate) was powerful. When watching
American Beauty I kept wondering who in the world spends $35,000.00 on a
couch. No one I know.

I did like the "dancing bag" sequence, tho.

It didn't just have to do with materialism, it had to do with happiness, "mainstream culture", acceptance, and "normalcy".

Just to make a small note, think about this: who were the only two truly happy people in the entire movie (aside from Lester Burnham at the very end, and even that is a good point)?

named Nathaniel Dorsky, from a silent film of his called "Variations".

So even this moment in this film, which so many remember, is wholly unoriginal.

Though it was mercifully bereft of Alan Alda or Steve Martin, "American Beauty" was an insufferable midlife yuppie redemption drama, dressed up as an anti-consumer screed that it palpably wasn't. No better than "Regarding Henry" or any other such offal.

Denzel got his first Oscar for that? Bland, predictable, heavy-handed, and far too cautious. The good guys were perfect, the bad guys were evil.

I didn't like it. I didn't hate it, either, though. It was just bland and unimaginative. To me, that is.

I am so glad that others share this feeling. Trying to convince the "true believers" that this movie is a creepy suckfest (in almost every conceivable way) is like trying to convince a Freeper to vote in their own best interests.

I agree about Lost in Translation. Utter crap.

Paint by numbers ennui and isolation flick, if you ask me.

Both are cult films and therefor not really over rated or underated, but for some reason they popped into my head.

and occupies an honored place in my video library.

It's SUPPOSED to be crap! It's brilliant!

From the first frame to the last. To each his own I guess.

Titanic gets my vote for crappiest overrated movie of all time.

Overrated: Moulin Rouge.

...while an earlier movie made by the same person called Strictly Ballroom was so much better. I love those quirky Australian movies. :hippie:

Skilled performances ruined by a crappy director and a crappier screenplay.

The "Friday" Trilogy: Not Crap.
High-freaking-larious.

Jamie Foxx was, of course, brilliant. No denying that.

Two words: Glass bottles. At least 20 minutes of the movie were those dumbass glass bottles. Supposed to be symbolic of something, but what exactly is a mystery. Maybe just symbolic of glass bottles.

"What's Love Got To Do With It?" set the standard. Hackford (what a perfect name) would have done better to rip that off instead of "Clockers" and "Seabiscuit."

underrated

but few people saw it. My ex-significant other walked out because he was bored. I, on the other hand, was hypnotized by the movie and hung onto each word.

:hippie:

And I have actually seen it several times. When I lived in San Francisco and it opened people would actually cheer for the point of view that they liked best ..as if it was an action movie. Too funny. My favorite moment is when Andre and Wally have just concluded that life is pretty much a meaningless travesty and the waiter appears and says " everything alright here?" . And they answer..." oh yes, fine, very good, wonderful"

Ok, maybe it is just me, but I laugh out loud every time.

but then I am weird.

Boring and depressing POS. :puke:
I went to see this with a group of friends and we all wanted to commit suicide afterwards!

In Hard Contract, James Coburn is a hired assassin who makes the decision not to kill.

In American Roulette, Andy Garcia is a poet and President-in-Exile of a Latin American nation.

They are both about the effort to break the hold of insurmountable power elites.

Talky? Yeah, sure. But taking impossible leaps sometimes needs to be discussed.

but they sound right up my alley. I may have to check those out.

Hard Contract kind of sounds like "The Killer," with Chow Yun Fat (before John Woo came over to America and ruined his movies with the likes of John Travolta and Christian Slater).

Like the other two, it deals with the possibility of real change. Being a more Hollywood production, in this one you clearly see that change occurs and is successful. The other two end on the hope.

is one of my absolute favorite movies.

The Color Purple--(never called crap but seriously underrated). Whoopi should've won Best actress.

I'm not saying it was great, just a lot more enjoyable than say, Lord of the Rings, or True Lies, or Ferris Buehler-- three very over-rated films, to me.

you beat me to it..

Tolkien wasn't named author of the century by more than a few credible institutions for no reason.

Better than Nyquil. I mean, did Peter Jackson have any idea where he was going with the script, or did he just film the scenes he liked best and string them together in the film?

I can genuinely say I liked the cartoon from the 70s better than the movie. I didn't truly hate it, I just felt like I was at an economics seminar struggling to stay alert. he captured none of the magic or majesty of the books. For me.

I watched it with my wife, and at the final scene I let out a long sigh and said "Thank God, I couldn't bear it any more!" She looked at me and she had tears running down her face, she thought it was so good. Not that she and I ever agree on anything, aside from politics.

I love the animated version of LOTR. Jackson turned something that, in Bakshi's film, was dark, mysterious and foreboding, into something schmaltzy and utterly pedestrian.

What pissed me of most about the LOTR movies was the ludicrous amount of hype that surrounded it... the way it was portrayed by pretty much everyone, even in the "thinking" media, you'd expect Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick to rise from their graves just to pay homage to the mighty Peter Jackson. Puh-f*ckin'-leeze.

In fact the level of media indoctrination surrounding these movies was almost Bush-like... I've had screaming, have-to-leave-the-room arguments with both my dad and my brother over it - and it boggles my mind because I am fighting with my nearest and dearest over a series of basic, special-effects-based, mainstream BLOCKBUSTER ACTION MOVIES. Forgive the caps but THAT IS ALL THEY ARE.

They blew it.

most films. Try reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" and then watching the movie. They blew that film, too, in comparison to the book. It was still a great film on its own, though.

just like the book of the same name - great.

and "Out of Africa"
S
ometimes because the book is different doesn't mean the movie is horrible. Obviously you people have never acted. Acting is very difficult especially when you have a great book to be unfairly compared against.

Literature and acting, though similar worlds, are different in the ways they convey human emotions and how they are poignant.

And don't even start to compare the animated film of LOTR with the recent movies, the recent ones are far more amazing a feat of cinematic art than any animation could ever be.

And no, I did not get that from the critics I got that from what I saw with my own two eyes.

P.S. An overatted movie is Finding Nemo. I mean it's cute, but it's about fishes.

I was really disappointed in the movie. My main peeve is that Kevin Costner was way too old to play the main character and that he largely ignored the theme of the book.

I didn't find out until after I'd seen it that it was supposed to be bad. ;)

But I disagree about those other movies. Ferris Buehler can't really be compared because it's so different---though I have to admit I don't love it as much as other people seem to. Lord of the Rings is definitely a much better movie (or set of movies, I guess). True Lies is probably on the same level as The Postman, although, again, they're different genres so they don't compare well.

and Moonstruck.... and o, I almost forgot, Steel Magnolias!

I never get tired of watching...

"Stranger Than Paradise"
"Night On Earth"
"Mystery Train"
"Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai"

that movie fucks my head over every time i see it, but i can't stop watching it

three out of four of these I've never seen "Stranger Than Paradise". I love the other three especially "Night On Earth". I'm glad I get IFC on cable or I probably never would've seen these movies.

I don't see why some people seem to think these movies are among the greatest movies ever made, I considered walking out of the third one. I just don't understand the appeal.

I suffered through the first, glimpsed the second on cable and would rather watch a cat dig a tape worm from it's rear than watch the third. :evilgrin:

My life since 1998 has in one way or another wrapped around these films. It just won't be "the holiday season" w/o a new LOTR film to see.

I must admit though, that the first is my favorite.

It's OK to not like them, I guess--as long as your realize that there are currently one hundred fan boys who have now been alerted and are climbing out from their parents basement rooms to hone in on your isps...they should be there in around 10 minutes wearing a variety of home-made costumes (replete with fake ears, underarm hair taped to the top of their feet) and chanting lines from Monty Python and the Holy Grail as they advance on you.

Be prepared to be pelted with obsolete X-boxes, empty Big Gulp cups, and overheated HotPockets.

(Sorry, I should have warned you at the beginning of this message.)

Your right, those that love the series are die hard fans. But, I would not condemn them, given my own weaknesses.

I am afflicted with a Star Trek passion. I went as far as to buy a 400 disk Sony DVD player and loaded it with all the episodes from Star Trek TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and all the movies, even the duplicates I managed to buy over the years. But, I am not a fanatic or anything. Damn, when is Enterprise coming out on DVD!!!!

:evilgrin:

He's the same way-- add to that a comic book craze...he's 41 going on 4 but at least we both act young.

:+

would understand, even if they weren't a fan of the story or genre, the great art of putting those movies together.

It's like listening to hipsters discuss freshman-level philosophy over shitty animation. Fucking Linklater.

Are we talking by the critics? By the people? By the awards?


There are movies on this list, like Glory, that most critics think very highly of. I know that the local rating service on my cable gives it four stars out of four.

Titanic won an Academy Award. To me, that makes it very overrated.


But realy, I have a personal belief about movies. It does not matter what film. It could be the greatest films ever made and someone somewhere will not only tell you that it isn't great, they will tell you that it is utter and complete crap.


Film, like all art, is highly subjective. I agree with some of these posts and disagree with others. But I wouldn't really waste any time debating the merits of any film. The only thing I will argue with about movies is that people actually see them. As I those who will not wath a black and white film because they do not like B%W.

Me, I think Zardoz is a damn great film. But I have a thing for semi-literate SF.

And I think Gone with the Wind is an overrated racist film that I never care to see again. But to others it is one of the greatest stories ever told.

Gone With The Wind is not racist. It is about reality. That is the way things were done then. It's a great movie.

I know "Tom Cruise" is not a "movie", but this has always had me a little perplexed.

Sure, he works well in popcorn films like "Mission: Impossible"; he worked well in that 80's "dance in your underwear to Bob Seger while the parents are away" thing (sorry, my brain doesn't retain the titles of those genre films)...

But "Eyes Wide Shut"? Oh, c'mon. Stanley Kubrick is my #1 favourite director of all time (sorry, Mr. Scorcese), and this, after a brilliant career, was his swan song. What a tragic miscalculation. Mr. Kubrick was American, but lived in the UK all his adult life. Imagine if he cast a couple of edgy British up & comer actors (and we all know, the UK currently is pumping them out in droves)...it could have been another "Clockwork Orange", because the script was certainly there.

And, NO: Nicole Kidman's "rack" was not worth the price of admission...

Tom Cruise in a samurai film? Oh, please. Tom Cruise as Dracula? Jeezus...when Ann Rice famously commented: "Tom Cruise? In MY fucking movie?" I was with her 100%.

To me, Tom Cruise is like Wal Mart: Substitute Wal Mart "greeters" with theatre ticket-takers, and you guys are simply lining up in droves, voluntarily fleecing the pockets of "TomCorp" so he can refuel the Gulfstream V and move onto the next one...

OK, folks - especially you ladies. I've got my rubber rain gear and eye protection on, and I'm ready to take the feces you're gonna hurl at me. As your monkey/prez would say: "Bring it on."

He's easy to trash because he's popular. Some people think it's cool to attack anyone who's popular. But Cruise has a lot of range, and some real skills. You quoted Ann Rice. She made that comment before the movie was made, probably fooled by popular opinions that trash the guy. After seeing the movie, she took out a full page ad apologizing for the comment and admitting he was perfect in the role.


I imagine I'll get flamed more than you for liking him, though.

Sometimes, popular actors can act.

I HATED Tom Cruise until the first Mission: Impossible. Today I can appreciate his particular brand of...whatever he does. He was very good in Magnolia, for example.

He's also getting better looking to me. :shrug:

Brad Pitt has a similar problem. But he is an extremely capable actor.

He was great in Johnny Suede, Fight Club, 7even, Ocean's 11.

When he's bad, it's not his fault at all. He really can act when he has the right role.

Condescend me, he muttered to Jame Gandolphini or however his name is spelled.

his roommate went after they all pull out their guns on him.

He's very funny in the Guy Ritchie movie as the Irish gypsy.

watch Twelve Monkeys!

Need I say more?

Brilliant in all phases of the film without a false note anywhere.

edited to add an 'e'.

I think that's a Tom Cruise most people have never seen.

As you say, he was brilliant in that movie.

Also those with Dimi Moore and/or Julia Roberts.

Don't recall if it got much fan fare, Love the scifi genre, especially futuristic themes.

OK-- now you're in trouble.

Ethan Hawke?? Ethan frikkin Hawke???

Now there's someone who upon first seeeing I had an irrational desire to punch in the face. Don't know why-- he just comes across as some pseudo-intellectual who would sleep with your significant other while he condescendingly over analyzes your poetry.

Gattica was good but for him.

For me, instant revulsion with any member of the TV series Friends, Ben Afflick, and George Cloney.

For Ethan Hawke, I liked Training Day as well. :evilgrin:

Now there is one we agree on--

My partner and I watched a Perfect Storm just to watch his character die. I know-- it's evil.

I saw him in O Brother, Where Art Thou? I actually didn't see it in the theaters even though I thought it looked good just because it starred him. But when I finally saw it, he utterly changed my mind---he's brilliant in that movie.

We were stunned that it was so awful.
What can they possibly do in Ocean's 12?

All that eye candy and nothing...
I guess it's sort of more all that cotton candy -- sweet, no substance, dissolves.

Waste of money on that, which always bothers me.
I like to feel that even if I didn't "like" the movie, I didn't waste the money.

With Ocean's 11 --- I felt the loss of cash. DARMN.

because we had to watch these educational movies that starred him when I was in elementary school. He was a little knobby-kneed eight-year-old who started every tape by saying in a squeaky little eight-year-old voice, "Hi! I'm Ben Affleck!" And then this cheesy flute music would start...I can still hum the theme...

I have Chung King Express and love it. I'm becoming a big fan of Wong Kar Wai. Waiting to get Fallen Angels.

Beautiful to look at but completely emotionally hollow. Did you see the Seinfeld episode where the poke fun at it?

what did they do?

Elaine's boyfriend drags her to see it and she hates it. He is moved emotionally. She says it "sucked".
"Sex in the bathtub. You know that doesn't work!"

Of course, everyone she knows loves it. Everyone at work keeps talking about it and when Petermen asks Elaine if she has seen it she lies and tells him no. So he drags her to see it again. She ends up walking out and he fires her.
The only way she can get back in his good graces is he sends her to the caves of Tunisa (sp?) so that she can connect to "where it was filmed".

Of course, it plays much better on the screen.

But if you liked the show (which I do/did...sigh) then you will love it.

Especially since there seems to be a whole cult of us who think that the stupid movie may be one of the most overrated films of all time.

so she goes to the caves of tunisia? :) thanks that brought a smile to my face. too funny...

I just didn't give a damn about those people.

I'm not one of those people that hates slow movies and I can appreciate subtly and all that jazz, but seriously, this movie was like pulling a tooth. So tiring it nearly made me comatose. It was like 30 minutes worth of movie dragged into 90 minutes +. I was so glad when Sissy Spacek threw that plate because I thought things were starting to get interesting, then it turned into a bore again. ZZZZ. HATED IT!

Agree with the person above that Moulin Rouge was crap and I love musicals (Singin' in the Rain being my all time favorite). Everything about MR felt so shallow and empty. I didn't give a crap about any of the characters when it was over.

NonCrap movie = Dead Alive. Stupid, excessively gory, but what fun. I still laugh my ass off at the scene where the demonic zombie baby gets kicked around the park. Good stuff!!

All it is a short story. It was a waste of film to try to do more with it. However, Marissa Tomei should be in way more movies. She's an outstanding actress.

Or hers. Whichever.

I can't sit through anything she's in, she just drives me batshit. Also, I don't think nearly as highly of her acting skills as you do. Which is a subjective thing, of course. I'll grant this: she was truly great in "My Cousin Vinny" in the same way Keanu Reeves was great in "River's Edge," Farley Granger was great in "Rope" and Courtney Love was great in "The People vs. Larry Flynt." Which is to say I didn't get the feeling she had to try very hard to nail the character.

I think they are incredibly movies.

LiT is an incredibly eloquent movie about dislocation. I think the scene at the end where Bill Murray's character whispers in Johanson's character's ear is incredibly emotional. Coppola doesn't wast time letting you know what he said because there is no dialog that wouldn't sound dumb in that situation. What matters is that you know whatever he said made her feel better.

I think if you've never felt dislocated this movie might not be very powerful. But if you've ever felt disconnected from your surrounding for just long enough -- not just a weekend or a week -- that this movie really says something moving.

As for the Virgin Suicides, that book is amazing. It's about urban decay. Anyway who has lived in an American city that got crappier since about 1972 knows what that book is all about. And then Coppola took that book and brought a very unique gender perspective (that isn't really in the book) and then obviously superimposed her own feelings about the loss of her brother on the movie.

Again, if you've felt these things in your life, the movie is powerful. If you haven't, maybe you don't care for the movie.

One of the few movies I have seen that uses 70s music so effectively. This one really came out of nowhere and caught me by surprise.

I have to say it...CRAP. The movie was just a hammed up tear jerking melodrama that overshadowed the book which had made some good points about the futility and horrors of war and instead turned the whole thing into run of the mill love story.

My brother and I tried to watch Gone With the Wind a few years ago for the first time and we ended up cringing throughout most of it. Scarlett's voice drove me crazy, and she was one of the most annoying characters I've ever seen.

The whole idea that we need a rich white debutante with political connections getting addicted to drugs and sleeping with poor black guys in order to do a story about the drug trade... Ew. There was this whole classist, racist element of putting the precious virginal rose of upper class white privilege in the ghetto and having us worry about her being groped by black gangsters. Tasteless.

The other storylines were crappy and predictable, too.

The original BBC miniseries, on which it was based, was much, much better. Another case of a Hollywood remake of a UK idea failing miserably.

In the original, the "drug" was opium/heroin from Afghanistan; the dramatic arc somehow seemed much more real and tenable for the father, A British MP.

Also in the original, the "upper class white privilege" thing was very subtle, almost unnoticeable, just a father's love for his daughter. The girl was not a "deb", just a modern London teen/student with artist/musician/street-type friends and she got caught up with the wrong crowd. She had problems with depression as well, leading her to get very, very dope sick/addicted to smack.

Most importantly, the TV series was FREE (although I bought it later on DVD...it was that good). The crass Hollywood remake/failure set me back eight bucks plus popcorn.

Should have known better.

Also:

Reds
The Package
Coming Home
The Ruling Class
Nixon
Blow
Z
Sounder
Heavens Gate (hey, it was long, but had some profound moments)
From Hell

Overrated:

Chicago
Seabiscuit
A Beautiful Mind
The Patriot
The Royal Tenenbaums
The English Patient
Shakespeare in Love
Leaving Las Vegas
Monster's Ball
About Schmidt
In The Bedroom
Out of Africa
Terms of Endearment

Underrated: last year's King Arthur flick

I hated that movie. I also thought Shakespeare in Love was really overrated.

Also Lost in Translation (whole lot of nuthin'), and an oldie: Elvira Madigan (had heard it was "beautiful, amazing" etc, etc. Saw it at a rerun theater, and kept dozing off).

Underrated (or at least not mentioned much): Children of the Revolution-Aussie film w/Judy Davis as a life-long lefty--sends up a lot of political nonsense, and sends up the genre it's spoofing, the self-important documentary.

Oh, yeah, Forrest Gump--POS. I have to stop listening when certain people recommend movies.

I kept waiting for it to get good - it never did.

Best Pic? Hardly!

Gilliam: Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, Time Bandits, The Fisher King.

6th Sense. Yes, it is creepy, but let's face reality. HE CHEATED TO GET HIS ENDING. How did Malcolm know to go to the hospital when Cole was injured? How did he gets the notes on Cole in the first place.

Unbreakable? No, Unwatchable.

Signs? Fell asleep on it!

As for underrated. The Butterfly Effect. It's not a GREAT movie, but it is certainly better than the 32% it got a rotten tomatoes and absolutely worth a watch if you want something fun and interesting.

...stupid as it was.

My main problem with him is that he insists on calling all his movies "M. Knight Shamalyan's Whatever" - a mix of deeply deluded pretentiousness and cheesy marketing device.

Supposed to be a romantic comedy. Dull people having sex and no laughs in actuality - we hated it. And The English Patient - hours and hours of dreariness. Who cares?
Anyway, as any fule kno, the greatest film of all time is "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels".

Either way it's crap.

I have tried to understand what people like about this movie but I just don't see it. Some say that it is the scariest movie they've ever seen but it's about as scary as my little toe. I saw it when it first came out in 1980 and it did nothing for me. I saw it again a year later. Nothing. A couple years ago I'm out drinking and I start talking to a couple guys about movies and one of them mentions "The Shining" and starts talking about all the symbolism in it. The blood-filled elevator, for example, represented "fear of menstruation" according to this guy. I started thinking that maybe I'd been too young when I first saw it and that maybe I'd missed something. He also said that the movie had something to do with Native American Indians and he seemed to think that it was significant that at some point Wendy (Shelly Duval) was wearing moccasins. I go out and rent the movie the next day. I watch the damned thing and it is as boring as it had been 20 years earlier. Fear of menstruation??? I don't think so, since the first person to have this vision of the bloody elevator was Danny (the kid)--and that was before he and his family even arrived at the hotel. Why would a six year old boy have a fear of menstruation? And don't even get me started on the moccasins. Jack Nicholson's character (whose name was also Jack, I think) was acting crazy before they even arrived at the hotel, Danny was kind of annoying and Shelly Duval was just horribly miscast.

The Pianist - even better that they said.

and just go with their suggestions. Almost never fails for me. If Ebert says its good, its good.

He writes at http://www.filmfreakcentral.net. I trust him and the other reviewers there, we agree about 90% of the time, which is remarkable.

"Gettysburg"
"Manhattan Murder Mystery"

Overrated Crap:

The English Patient

Overrated:

Titanic (Not crap, but not as good as it was hyped to be)


Underrated:

Ronin
Grave of the Fireflies
Underworld
Black Hawk Down
The Believer
Reservoir Dogs
Mallrats (you read that right)
The Hurricane
Daredevil (say what you will)

I found it revolting. I never understood why people liked it.
As Good as it Gets was one of the worst movies I've ever seen, and it was nominated for an Oscar.

But life IS like a box of chocolates!