Popular Movies that you Don't Get.

Rade K · Jul 21, 2009

Did you ever decide to go see a movie because it was very well reviewed and looked like a lot of fun, but then walked out of the theatre extremely disappointed?

The most recent example of this, for me, would have to be The Hangover. Extremely well reviewed. Great word of mouth. An underdog film, successful at the box office. Usually, all of these combined can mean a great movie, but it can also be something terrible like Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Unfortunately, The Hangover was the latter. It was unfunny, boring and offensive (in all the wrong ways). The cast was unlikeable as well. It felt like it was being targeted at a very white, very middle class, suburban american audience that I don't think I quite fit into (I almost do).

payment_due · Jul 21, 2009

I haven't seen the Hangover, but Big Fat Greek Wedding is great. If you can't relate to that movie in some way you're not human.

kernow · Jul 21, 2009

Fight club, yes I understood the premise, but .. ^_^

I watched S.Darko recently and I haven't even seen the first, had no fucking idea what was going on but I wasn't paying 100% attention because it was SHIT :mad:

Rade K · Jul 21, 2009

kernow said:
Fight club, yes I understood the premise, but .. ^_^

I watched S.Darko recently and I haven't even seen the first, had no fucking idea what was going on but I wasn't paying 100% attention because it was SHIT

I don't think the straight to video S. Darko counts as popular.

Rade K · Jul 21, 2009

payment_due said:
I haven't seen the Hangover, but Big Fat Greek Wedding is great. If you can't relate to that movie in some way you're not human.

Being of Serbian Orthodox descent (which has very similar traditions to Greek Orthodox culture), I appreciated and identified with many of the things in the film, but those things were very superfluous elements. At the end of the day, MBFGW is very predictable, cliche, bland, etc.

aria · Jul 21, 2009

I was initially writing about Requiem for a Dream, then I remembered Darren Aronofsky also did the Wrestler and both fall into the same category with me:

I saw both movies when they came out, and while they great performances (and a good director brings those out) and ideas, both stories were just too over-dramatized for my tastes (sort of like darker after-school specials). He seems to want to work with realism, but then adds unneeded, overdone drama that undercuts his style.

I don't know if I would go so far as to call him overrated, mostly because he hasn't won any giant award yet, but he still hasn't quite reached the peak --which is frustrating because he's talented. He needs to direct material that's closer to his tone.

jro · Jul 21, 2009

Rade said:
I don't think the straight to video S. Darko counts as popular.

It was slaughtered in reviews. One of those sequels with no reason whatsoever for existing.

Let's go Lost Highway for me. Watched it three times, still went huh, what the fuck was that (still liked it plenty, of course), then read some thoughts about it, and went holy fuck, it all makes sense, that shit is brilliant.

So yeah, I cheated, but I think that's basically okay when it comes to insane Lynch stuff.

Magician · Jul 21, 2009

Primer

...well reviewed, but I had to stop watching about halfway through due to the fact that I couldn't follow the plot. Seriously, I got lost.

BigTinz · Jul 21, 2009

Knocked up.

That movie was bullshit

evil wasabi · Jul 21, 2009

Rade, you didn't get it because you saw the movie with your girlfriend.

No man should watch the hangover with a chick.

Rade K · Jul 21, 2009

Magician said:
Primer

...well reviewed, but I had to stop watching about halfway through due to the fact that I couldn't follow the plot. Seriously, I got lost.

Primer came highly recommended, but I stopped it 3/4 of the way through as well. I had to have the wiki page open while watching it. I don't think I would have been able to fully understand the film without it. Poor execution. Very poor.

Great idea, though. And you really have to hand it to the filmmakers for doing something really cool on a tight budget, but they probably could have worked a little harder and made it just a tad more comprehendible for the plebs like me.

Comrade Porn King Mikhail · Jul 21, 2009

Whoa, I can't believe you didn't like the Hangover. I enjoyed it immensely because it was unlike the three main comedy subsections that seem to dominate the current landscape (romantic comedies, parodies, Judd Apatow strains). I think what worked for it most was abandoning the typical boob/fart/vomit phenomenon that permeates most other guy comedies. Having unconventional and unproven leads that did not lead to association with prior acting roles helped as well. Some of the best laughs I've had all year!

Sincerely,

Mikhail

Rade K · Jul 21, 2009

wasabi said:
Rade, you didn't get it because you saw the movie with your girlfriend.

No man should watch the hangover with a chick.

Nah. It felt like a inferior version of Old School. Only Vince Vaughn can be Vince Vaughn.

I went home and immediately played Pineapple Express to wash the shitty taste of Ed Helms from my eyes.

Rade K · Jul 21, 2009

Kiselgof said:
Whoa, I can't believe you didn't like the Hangover. I enjoyed it immensely because it was unlike the three main comedy subsections that seem to dominate the current landscape (romantic comedies, parodies, Judd Apatow strains). I think what worked for it most was abandoning the typical boob/fart/vomit phenomenon that permeates most other guy comedies. Having unconventional and unproven leads that did not lead to association with prior acting roles helped as well. Some of the best laughs I've had all year!

Sincerely,

Mikhail

Did you miss the Boobs and Vomit in The Hangover? There were no farts, but the audience I was with only seemed to laugh the hardest when that autistic guy's bare ass was on the screen.

In the last year, Pineapple Express has been the best comedy I've seen. It's fucking brilliant and took me totally by surprise. Sure, it's got the association with Judd Apatow, but it's still totally worth checking out.

evil wasabi · Jul 21, 2009

Rade said:
Nah. It felt like a inferior version of Old School. Only Vince Vaughn can be Vince Vaughn.

I went home and immediately played Pineapple Express to wash the shitty taste of Ed Helms from my eyes.

You shouldn't go into any movie with such high expectations. The Hangover was a hilarious movie, but obviously you can't laugh when you're with a girl.

I watched The Hangover with my brother, then went home and broke up with my girlfriend at the time. I have since lived the most invincible summer.

rarehero · Jul 21, 2009

Bobak said:
I was initially writing about Requiem for a Dream, then I remembered Darren Aronofsky also did the Wrestler and both fall into the same category with me:

requiem of a dream was a traumatic visual experience for me.
it was like hyper realism and left me emotionally empty,
which was the point,
but how people enjoy that movie is beyond me.

also, didn't really like memento that much.
wraps up okay,
but I actually watched the machinist before I ever watched that and
liked the story and thought christian bale was great in it.
great movie, heavily rec' it.

norton9478 · Jul 21, 2009

Hangover was a decent movie... But there wasn't one new concept in the whole movie... Just a rehash of older movies. Everything from Fear and Loathing to Weeding Crashers to Dude! Where's my Car?

Domino-chan · Jul 21, 2009

The Hangover let me do what we in Vegas do best: laugh at idiot tourists.

DangerousK · Jul 21, 2009

Almost all comedy movies.

lithy · Jul 21, 2009

Magician said:
Primer

...well reviewed, but I had to stop watching about halfway through due to the fact that I couldn't follow the plot. Seriously, I got lost.

Rade said:
Primer came highly recommended, but I stopped it 3/4 of the way through as well. I had to have the wiki page open while watching it. I don't think I would have been able to fully understand the film without it. Poor execution. Very poor.

Great idea, though. And you really have to hand it to the filmmakers for doing something really cool on a tight budget, but they probably could have worked a little harder and made it just a tad more comprehendible for the plebs like me.

Watch it 9 or 10 times and you'll start to have a grasp of it. There are still parts of the timeline that I don't fully understand. The Wiki page is really confusing.

Great movie though.

Deuce · Jul 21, 2009

Meet the Parents. I heard that was supposed to be good, but there wasn't a single funny moment in the movie. The closest I got was cracking a smile at painting the cat's tail. I did not, and do not, see how anyone with half a brain can find that movie entertaining.

As for Requiem for a Dream, I thought it was brilliant. The best movie I've ever thoroughly not enjoyed watching.

Rade K · Jul 21, 2009

Deuce said:
As for Requiem for a Dream, I thought it was brilliant. The best movie I've ever thoroughly not enjoyed watching.

Good way to put it. I was transfixed while watching Requiem. It was brutal, but I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

evil wasabi · Jul 21, 2009

Deuce said:
Meet the Parents. I heard that was supposed to be good, but there wasn't a single funny moment in the movie. The closest I got was cracking a smile at painting the cat's tail. I did not, and do not, see how anyone with half a brain can find that movie entertaining.

Guess they didn't teach you humor in the CIA.

Deuce · Jul 21, 2009

wasabi said:
Guess they didn't teach you humor in the CIA.

I like good comedy. That wasn't good comedy.

Jim Gaffigan is funny. Ben Stiller, by and large, is not.

rarehero · Jul 21, 2009

semi related here,
since requiem of a dream was brought up.
I just randomly saw this.
http://www.popcrunch.com/the-10-most-disturbing-books-of-all-time/

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