"Classic" Movies that you feel are overrated
Pretty much everything by Stanley Kubrick, barring Dr. Strangelove. He’s one of those director’s I tried to like for about 10 years, then gave up on. For some reason, I simply don’t enjoy any of his work, and it’s strange because there’s nothing I can put my finger on in particular and say “This is why I don’t like Kubrick”. I simply reach the end of his films with an overwhelming feeling of “Meh”.
Wait a sec…since when Forrest Gump, Chocolat, American Beauty, Requiem for a Dream, Beautiful Mind and Shawshank Redemption become…“classic”?
Vertigo, Terrence Fisher-
Exhibit #562 on why the term “overrated” needs to be banned from film criticism – Hani has just indicated that his/her favorite film is overrated.
Citizen Fucking Kane. Do I win?
Oh no, not the word “overrated” again…
Can’t you just say you didn’t like it and leave it at that? That’s all this is really about anyway, isn’t it?
It’s like I’m really in the Rotten Tomatoes forum!
People lobbing bottles at a stage:
It’s like I’m really in the Rotten Tomatoes forum!
Completely agree.
real talk though using words like “overrated” is so pretentious
That picture is fantastic, Odi!
Lol — found it out in internet land. Wondering if those bottles were full… (ouch)
How is using the word “overrated” pretentious? I can see how it might be hackneyed or banal, but I don’t see how usage of the word could be considered pretentious in itself – surely that is a question of context.
It’s the white background that makes it so cool, visually.
^ Yeah you can see those bottles so clearly! :)
dear imdben i think this video may help you understand my point
Ok, because your point was so eloquently made.
An American in Paris
forced to agree with this ^ the band wagon is much better
ok what else can we trash?? kidding :P
TOTALLY DISAGREE ABOUT NETWORK. It is one of the true American Masterpieces of my generation. It was brilliant when it opened in 1976 and remains brilliant.
^ See? This discussion is all about opinion. (maybe everyone already knows that)
I saw a vintage trailer for AAIP the other night on TCM and Leslie Caron’s overbite and hairdo bugged me. For some weird reason I sort of like Invitation to the Dance though, must be the Technicolor
There’s something about her though:
I liked her in Le Divorce.
Second picture is great, kind of like Anna Karina.
Yes, that bob with the bangs is awesome. She’s like a kitten.
@Hani
“hitchcock’s, Bergman’s, Kurasawa’s, Keislowski’s, Tarkovski’s,…”
You’ve definitely done a fine job of trashing some of cinema’s greatest auteurs! I understand there’s subjectivity to the whole matter of aesthetics and which film can be interpreted as quality and which as being poor, et cetera; but labeling the directors above as overrated is really just insulting the cinematic medium. Those directors have contributed a lot to this medium, and where would cinema be without them, ask yourself that question.
Dear Arian,
First, Taking my words about overrating some films into personal insults for its directors needs an explanation.
Second, Cinema is the summation of all the artistic experiments made, being made, and will be made, on sound putting sound and image together for a certain amount of time. Bergman, Kurasawa, Kieslowski, Tarkovsky, Hitchcock, and any other “important” figures are just people who tried something. I love some of their films but without establishing them as holy figures who cinema would have never developed without them.
Yes, but in what sense are those directors overrated, knowing that they are such important figures in cinema. It wouldn’t serve right for us to just reduced their value and influence just because of our whims. Also I hadn’t stated that cinema would not have developed without them but rather that without their artistic experiments the medium would not stand as strong as it does today with regards to each of the respective genres the above directors centered their films upon. For example would psychological thrillers and, in a broad sense, films with suspenseful elements stand where they are today without the work of Hitch.? Probably not with the same maturity and overall quality (opinions may differ here).
All I want is some sort of brief explanation of why you feel the directors to be overrated, to justify your opinion, and I’m not just addressing this solely to you, but to anyone who wants to argue a case to label a director as being overrated.
Hani
Gone with the wind
Casablanca
It’s a wonderful life
Fargo
Schindler’s List
Shawshank Redemption
Forrest Gump
Requiem for a dream
Network
Chocolate
American Beauty
Beautiful mind
Pulp Fiction
Taxi Driver
hitchcock’s, Bergman’s, Kurasawa’s, Keislowski’s, Tarkovski’s,
I haven’t seen Tree of Life yet, but I have a feeling that it can be on the top of this list. Because people who overrate it are the same people who underrate Badlands.
Note: This list does not mean that these films are bad. Some of them are my favorite films. I don’t like all the good films nor hate all the bad ones. No offense, either. for example: I hate to see the poster of my favorite film, Taxi Driver, commercialized everywhere.