I’ve noticed the growing trend of trashing films which are big budget and have huge stars in them. Unless it’s French with subtitles film critics usually gleefully take apart such Hollywood projects.
I still recall watching the much acclaimed ‘Amelié’ with my husband, and honestly? WTF? That had to be the most boring film I’ve ever watched.
It strikes me that if a film doesn’t have sub-titles, and is not made in some obscure French principality, critics will pan it as “lacklustre”, or “lacking soul”, or some other bullshit way of saying it’s crap.
The fact is, I rarely agree with professional film critics, I feel they have too much of an agenda for me to take them seriously.
I watched Troy, after hearing all the bad reviews it had, knowing full well that in all honesty, I would probably love it, and yep, you guessed it, I did love it. There were some glaring innacuracies, and Helen pissed me off, but overall it was a film worth watching.
I have listed a bunch of critically acclaimed films that I have watched at one time or another, and thought was utter bollocks at the time:
A Room with a view (what an absolutely wank film)
The Aviator (Paul and I gave in and watched it, there are no words for how rubbish this film was)
Monster (WTF?)
The English Patient (Jesus!)
Amadeus (Oh. My. God)
Out of Africa (What was that dodgy South African Accent about?)
The Bridge on The River Kwai (the original version)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (great fighting scenes and very little else)
Scarface
Braveheart (I did like the kilt wearing Gibson, but not much else)
Raging Bull (seriously, rose tinted spectacles)
The Piano
Lost In Translation (what was the fuss about?)
A Beautiful Mind (yeah, yeah, another tortured eccentric genius, and so what?)
Master and Commander
Gosford Park (what an absolute waste of money)
I’m sure there will be people out there who think that I’m some kind of heathen for not enjoying these films, but quite frankly, I go to the pictures purely for enjoyment purposes, and none of the above films, float my boat.
So what about you?
Scott
June 29
10:16 am
I do agree with you Karen. Though some of the films you listed I actually liked, or even loved. But most of them are overhyped. And it’s not that they are bad films. They just don’t live up to the expectations.
As you know I just saw “Troy” as well, and thought it was better then the critics said it was. And just last night I watched “The Life Aquatic”, which was trashed by the critics. I actually enjoyed it.
Karen Scott
June 29
10:33 am
I realise that not everyone is going to agree with me on this (shocker huh) but I truly feel that if a film has actors like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (commercially successful) in it, it becomes like feeding time at the zoo, and reviewers feel that it is their duty to tear strips off them.
It makes me crazy that films like Memento, The Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption etc are continuously ignored by the industry professionals when it comes to major film awards. Most people will acknowledge that these are great films, so why not give them the accolades they deserve?
I know it’s all about the money spent on promoting films, but it still sucks.
Paz
June 29
4:17 pm
Like books, I don’t choose a movie based on the words of a critic or reviewer. I’m my own critic/reviewer. *big grin*
And I prefer foreign films (i.e., Brazilian, African films) over Hollywood movies.
Too funny about your list of less-than-impressive movies. From that list, here are some of the movies that I LOVED. 😉
1- Amelié LOVED it! Not because it was a French movie or subtitled (LOL!) but because of its quirky and unique storyline. Saw it more than once.
2- The English Patient LOVED it! Loved it so much, went out and got the soundtrack and the book. Turned out that I hated the book, which was much different. It was one of the few books that I never finished — and that’s rare for me. As I wrote in post below, I usually have to finish a book, even if I don’t like it. I just couldn’t finish the book. 🙁
3- The Piano I really liked this storyline and the performances of Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel and Anna Paquin. I remember the uproar at Keitel’s frontal nude scene. (LOL!)
Paz
Paz
June 29
4:22 pm
Oh, and I loved Shawshank Redeemption, too. I still watch it each time they show it on T.V. — and they show it a LOT. 😉
Paz
Karen Scott
July 1
12:01 am
Paz, I couldn’t bear Amelie, it was TOO quirky for me, I think maybe if I’d watched it with low expectations, I may have been able to watch it with a more open mind, but it had been hyped so much, it couldn’t be anything but a disappointment.
As for the Piano, I felt the director had just tried too hard to make it into a moving film, I felt manipulated all the way through.
By the way, the May Angelou book that I read was called ‘Gather Together In My Name’.
It was a moving account of her as a young adult trying to bring up a child in the forties amidst hatred and prejudice. It follows her struggles around being a parent as well as some of the racist stuff she goes through.
It’s actually the sequel to ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’ but you don’t have to read the first book. It pretty much stands alone. It was excellent!