films: Over-rated "Classics"

[Carl Landrover]

I disagree, having spent quite a bit of time in Sicily whilst in the Navy, you can understand how first and second generation Sicilians in America acted this way. Puzo was right on. Especially considering the time frame for the film as well.

Psycho, while a great film is certainly overrated. Some of Hitchcock's films were far better and led much more credibility to the antagonists and protagonists. North By Northwest and Rear Window are but two examples.

I thought Rear Window was decent, then the ending ruined it for me. I mean a camera, really? No one could think of anything better?

 

[Banquo]

At the risk of being unpopular, I believe that Annie Hall is supremely overrated.

It's funny and clever, but in no way belongs in the Top Movies of All Time category.

 

[egor]

^ why do you feel 'apocalypse now' is over-rated?

i generally have a problem with terms like 'overrated' when talking about art. perhaps they're not overrated, perhaps you underrate them?

alasdair

I have seen it many times, and many of my friends love it, but I could never get into the whole vietnam war movie thing. It is touted as a masterpiece, but I just cant see where that is coming from

 

[L2R]

^it's more a "heart of darkness" adaptation than about vietnam.

 

[-Guido-]

I agree that The Godfather is over-rated. My beef with the Godfather is that it's way too romanticized. Too a ridiculous extent. Sophisticated dudes, in nice suits, waxing poetic with each other. It's all "honor this", and "loyalty that" and "you tried to kill me but you're still my brother and I love you".
Whatever. Organized crime was, is, and always will be run by thugs. From the foot soldiors all the way up to the bosses.
Goodfellas is waaaaaay better than The Godfather in my opinion.

A agree that Goodfellas is better than The Godfather. I don't think its overrated though. How can you say the Godfather is way too romanticized though? In the glory days of the Italian American gangsters thats how organized crime was. I take offense to you saying that the mafia is nothing but a bunch of thugs, granted some of them are but there were a lot of good characters in the families.

 

[mariacallas]

Two:

Clerks. While I do like this movie and its many quotable lines, it's neither Kevin Smith's best work, nor the Gen-X masterpiece some have colored it as.

I actually found it to be quite the bore.

 

[DarthMom]

star wars is also overrated >.>

you're on ignore now buddy


for me, it has to be casablanca. snoozefest.

 

[DarthMom]

I agree that The Godfather is over-rated. My beef with the Godfather is that it's way too romanticized. Too a ridiculous extent. Sophisticated dudes, in nice suits, waxing poetic with each other. It's all "honor this", and "loyalty that" and "you tried to kill me but you're still my brother and I love you".
Whatever. Organized crime was, is, and always will be run by thugs. From the foot soldiors all the way up to the bosses.
Goodfellas is waaaaaay better than The Godfather in my opinion.

i agree. i too love a good gangster film, my fave genre are the new gangster films (lock stock, boondocks, snatch, layer cake) i am a sucker for mindless action films.

but i don't like how it is romanticized. you see it coming through in reality like those pieces of shit of a family the Gotti's that have a television show and are actually admired. that disgusts me.

 

[tribal girl]

I actually found it to be quite the bore.

OMG! you knows it! :D

I'd never seen this until a few years back when I just decided to go ahead and buy the DVD. I figured it had to be worth buying since everyone kept going on about it so much. WRONG. It had some of the worst acting I've ever seen and I just wasn't feeling it at all. Now it just sits at the bottom of my shelf collecting dust.

Oh, and the guy in the cap's voice pisses me right off! :

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=n6lzEhoXads

 

[AmorRoark]

L.A. Confidential

Now, I'm not saying this isn't a good film, but, IMO, it definitely shouldn't be in anyone's top 100. The storyline was fantastic. Good cinematography, decent direction. But Spacey's acting couldn't make up for what the rest of the cast lacked. I guess I'm just not very into the whole typical 1950s drama way of acting. It's pretty cliche'd and overdone. I don't get a nostalgic feeling from it. Nor do I find it very difficult to impersonate. I think this is why I hated King Kong (remake) so much too.

 

[alasdairm]

...I could never get into the whole vietnam war movie thing
...
I just cant see where that is coming from...

(my emphasis)

these comments says as much, if not more about you, than they do about the movie's 'overratedness'.

i don't believe it's possible that a movie can have some kind of objective value but some of you imply it is. if a movie is good but somebody just can't see it, does that make the movie overrated or the person in question simply blind to its value. is it possible we all know it's the latter but we use the former as an excuse?

alasdair

 

[supertrav77]

i don't believe it's possible that a movie can have some kind of objective value but some of you imply it is. if a movie is good but somebody just can't see it, does that make the movie overrated or the person in question simply blind to its value. is it possible we all know it's the latter but we use the former as an excuse?

I think some movies are products of their times, speak specificly to that generation, and represent what is fashionable to that time period.
For example. Many Gen X-ers see the original Star Wars trilogy as sacred and on par with Shakespeare in part because it's a part of our youth.
On the other hand, a lot of Gen Y kids who watch the trilogy and judge it sole on its merits are baffled by reverence it gets and don't see how it is any better than Harry Potter or Lord Of The Rings series.

 

[Hops]

you're on ignore now buddy .

hahaha

damn you seemed like such a nice person too
ooh well

I like star wars and all but its just... not that great

 

[ego_loss]

L.A. Confidential

Now, I'm not saying this isn't a good film, but, IMO, it definitely shouldn't be in anyone's top 100. The storyline was fantastic. Good cinematography, decent direction. But Spacey's acting couldn't make up for what the rest of the cast lacked. I guess I'm just not very into the whole typical 1950s drama way of acting. It's pretty cliche'd and overdone. I don't get a nostalgic feeling from it. Nor do I find it very difficult to impersonate. I think this is why I hated King Kong (remake) so much too.

Surely you can't be serious. Russel Crowe wasn't really anything to write home about, but Guy Pearce and Kim Bassinger... even James Cromwell and David Strathairn pulled out great performances. The character arc for Pearce's Ed Exley was great, and Kevin Spacey freaking NAILED Vincennes. I think you need to watch that movie again. If it weren't for Titanic, I think LA Confidential would have swept the oscars that year.

Speaking of which, I think Titanic is one of the single most over rated films ever made. You wanna talk about cliches, that's all that movie is... wrapped in some fancy special effects.

 

[McLaren]

Clerks. While I do like this movie and its many quotable lines, it's neither Kevin Smith's best work, nor the Gen-X masterpiece some have colored it as.

God that movie sucked. I disliked everything about it, no matter how many times I watch it.

 

[Belisarius]

<<Speaking of which, I think Titanic is one of the single most over rated films ever made. You wanna talk about cliches, that's all that movie is... wrapped in some fancy special effects.>>

QFT.

This was another movie I liked, but such schmaltz should have never swept the Oscars like it did that year. If the same plot and actors had been set on a Liberty Ship in a World War II convoy, it would have been the biggest bomb ever.

 

[wanderlust]

i love this thread.
i agree with citizan kane and shawshank.
both good and notable movies. both in the top movies to see, but number one kane is not.
i also possibly agree with star wars, but not with clerks.

 

[DarthMom]

(my emphasis)

these comments says as much, if not more about you, than they do about the movie's 'overratedness'.

i don't believe it's possible that a movie can have some kind of objective value but some of you imply it is. if a movie is good but somebody just can't see it, does that make the movie overrated or the person in question simply blind to its value. is it possible we all know it's the latter but we use the former as an excuse?

alasdair

well no shit alasdair, we all know that the attraction to any movie is subjective, we are just having fun here. stop being so "you"

 

[alasdairm]

^ so why do we say 'the movie is overrated' rather than 'i underrate it'

pardon me for trying to provoke a discussion...

alasdair

 

[tambourine-man]

Perhaps we need to rename the thread?

+1 on Godfather.