re: Fassbinder – I tried to watch Veronika Voss and felt the same way, couldn’t finish it. Then I saw The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant and was converted!
I didn’t finish Ivan’s Childhood, I was falling asleep so I stopped at about 50 minutes.(This doesn’t mean I think that what I saw was bad or boring.)
Faces
Gomorrah
8 1/2
None of them were bad, I just was too tired and ended up never finishing them.
yeah, 8 1/2
The Last Emperor
Persona
i started watching the original Wickerman while i was couchsurfing for the summer last year at a friend’s place, and since it was not my tv, they wanted to watch something else. (they put on aronofsky’s Pi garbage. what a waste of time that was)
that same summer i started watching La Dolce Vita, but i was tired and fell asleep. i did not get around to finshing it till a couple months ago this year, i’m glad i did – one of the best movies i’ve ever seen.
the other notable movie i didn’t finish watching was Blade Runner. maybe it was because i was hung over at the time, but i could not get into it. i found it to be highly overrated – more style than substance. i need more than just visual beauty for a movie to be worth my time (and i don’t think that’s too much to ask for)
A Clockwork Orange
Hotel Monterey
Dr. Stangelove
Barton Fink (don’t know if it counts. :D)
..And don’t know if this one counts either, but have tried to watch Sideways atleast 5 times and can never finish it! Last time I was half an hour from finishing, but my patience just ran out.
Oh and There Will Be Blood. Three times now… In the words of my flatmate: ‘more like there will be boredom..’
No no no no….Pierrot le Fou is amazing because it was made for naps. That’s its job! Also for general eye-rolling if you are into that.
Its strange to me how people can sit through La Dolce Vita or The Mirror, but not Dr. Strangelove. Just speaks about the difference in taste I guess, and of coarse the circumstances play a role…Being tired or hungover or what have you… If I have a headache I simply can’t watch a movie cause I’ll hate it no matter what.
8 1/2. Don’t know what it is about that movie…
I didn’t finish watching 8 1/2 too. tried twice, actually
Dr. Stangelove and Casablanca
@electrickery, haha. forgot about casablanca. Have tried to give it another chance for the past four christmases,after I first tried to watch it with my mom when I was a teenager, but for some reason i have always had trouble watching it. Don’t know if I should still watch give it a try. Again on tv in a couple of days..
David Cronenberg’s EXISTENZ. I sat down one Saturday night to watch it on cable and I decided to tape it as well. About 75 min. into it. I turned off the VCR and rewound the tape to use for something else and I stopped watching. I have no intention of ever going back to it. It was that bad.
The excruciating SYNECHDOCHE NEW YORK — if Kaufman’s hyper-intellectualized gimmicky bullshit wasn’t bad enough, I just couldn’t stand the sight of Philip Seymour Hoffman doing his usual pathetic scumbag act.
There Will Be Blood.
Seven Samurai
any film that can’t keep my 12 second attention span satiated
Raging Bull. Sorry but I don’t understand what the fuss is all about.
Sanshiro Sugata Part II
Lawrence of Arabia. My friend and I are due to watch the second half next week. In my defense it’s just abou the longest movie ever.
@Santropez: FINISH THAT MOVIE. You won’t be sorry.
Inception .
I couldn’t bear it more than 20 minutes .
127 Hours. Was watching it today then had to leave right before he was gonna start hacking away. I’ll finish tomorrow probably since it’s still at the theatre I work at.
Repo Men, Satan’s Little Helper – both atrociously, mindblowingly awful
zentropa. I didn’t like the “B&W-to-color-in-one-frame” gimmick
Femme Fatale
I tried five or six times but how it succeeds to do that i haven’t seen the 30rd minute yet.
“Deconstructing Harry” by Woody Allen: The film burned up in the projector about way half way through. The usher gave everyone in the audience free tickets to another showing. I never used my ticket. I thought the movie was silly in its nihilism, and yet it took itself seriously. Perhaps the last half of it was redeeming. I’ll never know! I think I outdid Woody by cynically refusing to watch the end of his cynical film.
Shoah and Satantango. I watched the first 3 or 4 hours of both and they were both fantastic, but I was busy then just never got around to finishing them.
mr white
‘man bites dog’……..just could not continue watching it.it had a strange effect on me….not in a good way.