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Gladiator. Over-sentimental, ridiculous baddy, un-intelligent and dull to boot.
Perhaps not a classic, but still.
Perhaps not a classic, but still.
Posted: 23:57 Apr 19 2002
Most Disliked 'Classic'
What, if any, films do you HATED 
Grrrr........ which are considered by critics to be wonderful classics or very good films?
Personally my three most hated 'classics' are :-
1)Schindler's List, one of the most boring, un-interesting movies of all time
2)The Godfather, why Marlan Brando won an oscar for sounding lisk a choking pig, I'll never know
3)From Dusk Till Dawn, not just a poor man's Buffy: the Movie, a begger, one second away from death while being hacked to pieces by strips of paper poor, Buffy: the Movie.
Grrrr........ which are considered by critics to be wonderful classics or very good films? Personally my three most hated 'classics' are :-
1)Schindler's List, one of the most boring, un-interesting movies of all time
2)The Godfather, why Marlan Brando won an oscar for sounding lisk a choking pig, I'll never know
3)From Dusk Till Dawn, not just a poor man's Buffy: the Movie, a begger, one second away from death while being hacked to pieces by strips of paper poor, Buffy: the Movie.
Posted: 23:57 Apr 19 2002 Sorry but thats my all time favorite film but hey if we all liked the same we would be pretty boring
by KieranFrost
Personally my three most hated 'classics' are :-
1)Schindler's List, one of the most boring, un-interesting movies of all time
.
Posted: 07:48 Apr 20 2002 A classic?!?!?!?!?!?
by KieranFrost
3)From Dusk Till Dawn, not just a poor man's Buffy: the Movie, a begger, one second away from death while being hacked to pieces by strips of paper poor, Buffy: the Movie.
Posted: 13:31 Apr 20 2002
Citizen Kane - I've only seen it once, but was distinctly underwhelmed by a film often said to be the best ever...
Oh, and Demona's right (as usual), Gladiator is very poor. Definitely not a classic, but it does keep coming in the top 10 of those '100 Greatest Movies Ever' polls.
Oh, and Demona's right (as usual
), Gladiator is very poor. Definitely not a classic, but it does keep coming in the top 10 of those '100 Greatest Movies Ever' polls.
Posted: 14:06 Apr 23 2002
Films tend to get ascribed 'classic' status because generation after generation finds something relevant or impressive in them.
Modern classic is something of an oxymoron.
I can't think of a 'recognised classic' I hate but then I can't think of many things I hate, life's too short.
Even if I may not enjoy watching some of these movies (Citizen Kane is hardly a riotous action romp), I can usually understand what has earnt them that status (in Kane's case - deep focus, long takes, clever editing and what was at the time an unconventional approach to narrative and to shot composition).
So if I was going to choose anything, it would be 'The Empire Strikes Back'. It is an entertaining blockbuster but as a piece of cinematic history it does nothing exceptional in terms of direction, narrative, acting, dialogue or editing.
Modern classic is something of an oxymoron.
I can't think of a 'recognised classic' I hate but then I can't think of many things I hate, life's too short.
Even if I may not enjoy watching some of these movies (Citizen Kane is hardly a riotous action romp), I can usually understand what has earnt them that status (in Kane's case - deep focus, long takes, clever editing and what was at the time an unconventional approach to narrative and to shot composition).
So if I was going to choose anything, it would be 'The Empire Strikes Back'. It is an entertaining blockbuster but as a piece of cinematic history it does nothing exceptional in terms of direction, narrative, acting, dialogue or editing.
Posted: 14:40 Apr 23 2002 I do understand, but I have trouble appreciating the more technical aspects of a film if I'm not actually enjoying it all that much.. Besides which, although it may have been the first to do these things, for me the mark of a true classic is that it can have the same impact long after it was created. Still, I would like to see the film again, just to be sure.
by Incandenza
Even if I may not enjoy watching some of these movies (Citizen Kane is hardly a riotous action romp), I can usually understand what has earnt them that status (in Kane's case - deep focus, long takes, clever editing and what was at the time an unconventional approach to narrative and to shot composition).
Oh, and thought of another one for my list - 'Easy Rider', what's that all about?
Posted: 15:01 Apr 23 2002 Drugs
by In a State of Dan
Oh, and thought of another one for my list - 'Easy Rider', what's that all about?
There is a great chapter in 'Easy Riders Raging Bulls' about that film.
Posted: 15:16 Apr 23 2002
I don't know if I actually dislike any "classic" film and like Inc, even if I'm not enthralled by those nominal 2 hours I can usually begin to grasp the reasons they have gained the status they have.
Often I think they're aspects of film for filmmakers, editing or cinematography or other technical terms but who better to comment on these things than filmmakers? Jury of their peers and all that.
The only thing I can possibly think of that "Empire" did as a first/best were the effects in particular the bluescreen to white mapping in the battle on Hoth. Even that was re-done to increase the partial opaqueness of the T-47's cockpits when Lucas did his slight reworking of the original trilogy.
Oh and I'm sure that most of us had never seen a 600ft slug before either
Often I think they're aspects of film for filmmakers, editing or cinematography or other technical terms
but who better to comment on these things than filmmakers? Jury of their peers and all that.The only thing I can possibly think of that "Empire" did as a first/best were the effects in particular the bluescreen to white mapping in the battle on Hoth. Even that was re-done to increase the partial opaqueness of the T-47's cockpits when Lucas did his slight reworking of the original trilogy.
Oh and I'm sure that most of us had never seen a 600ft slug before either
Posted: 18:57 Apr 23 2002 
The whole book is great... must nick it off my bro again some time. Made me think i need to see lots of films, including 'Easy Rider'. I have started watching it, but really couldn't get into it. Must try again sometime.
by Incandenza
(quotes)
Drugs
There is a great chapter in 'Easy Riders Raging Bulls' about that film.
Posted: 20:10 Apr 23 2002
Definitely didn't like From Dusk Till Dawn - found it all rather gratuitous and pointless with a load of mostly thoroughly unlikable characters.
Not overly impressed by Gladiator, mainly because it relies on Maximus, who has previously been shown as an extremely smart, cunning leader, being a complete and utter moron, just for a moment...
Not overly impressed by Gladiator, mainly because it relies on Maximus, who has previously been shown as an extremely smart, cunning leader, being a complete and utter moron, just for a moment...
Posted: 22:11 Apr 23 2002
Pretty much anything they made me watch and analyse in History of Cinema, American Film (well, only the Westerns here - i actually like the Film Noir stuff)and Introduction to British Cinema (except for Powells stuff)
these are all uni modules btw. I had to do The Searchers and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari three times (naughty girl here had to repeat some stuff coz she missed the exam)
I have to say that analysing a film in depth (whether by narrative or technical terms) can really ruin a film. I always liked A Wonderful Life until we were made to look at it as a film with an unhappy ending where the crooks get away with everything. (Darn Susan Smith) and on a more modern note - i can't watch films now without analysing them to some extent and as a result I guessed the ending of The Sixth Sense 10 mins into the film which did kinda spoil the watch then watch again to see what you missed experience.
Having said that there are very few film that i hate - i think they all have merit if you take them in the spirit they're intended. Except Analyse This - That Sucked!!!!!
these are all uni modules btw. I had to do The Searchers and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari three times (naughty girl here had to repeat some stuff coz she missed the exam)
I have to say that analysing a film in depth (whether by narrative or technical terms) can really ruin a film. I always liked A Wonderful Life until we were made to look at it as a film with an unhappy ending where the crooks get away with everything. (Darn Susan Smith) and on a more modern note - i can't watch films now without analysing them to some extent and as a result I guessed the ending of The Sixth Sense 10 mins into the film which did kinda spoil the watch then watch again to see what you missed experience.
Having said that there are very few film that i hate - i think they all have merit if you take them in the spirit they're intended. Except Analyse This - That Sucked!!!!!
Posted: 13:46 Apr 24 2002 
Titanic for sure, ok not a classic, but well loved and successful as they get. Dodgy dialogue, terrible casting, worst kind of sentimental garbage, and enough money and tine take for Cameron to make 2 decent action films.
Cameron is surely going the way of Spielberg here... oh well, good while it lasted.
Cameron is surely going the way of Spielberg here... oh well, good while it lasted.
Posted: 23:54 Apr 24 2002 You never noticed that until it was pointed out to you? I've only seen it once, and I came away with big problems at the message it was sending. Easily the worst Jimmy Stewart film I've seen. But kind of enjoyable all the same..
by Sydney
I always liked A Wonderful Life until we were made to look at it as a film with an unhappy ending where the crooks get away with everything.
Posted: 00:36 Apr 25 2002 You hardly need to have been a film student to see that one coming.
by Sydney
and on a more modern note - i can't watch films now without analysing them to some extent and as a result I guessed the ending of The Sixth Sense 10 mins into the film which did kinda spoil the watch then watch again to see what you missed experience.
People hurl the same accusation at english literature for ruining books. Never understood it myself, anything worth watching/reading stands up to close analysis. More casual analysis, such as seeing plot twists coming, is surely just the result of paying attention?
Posted: 09:15 Apr 25 2002 Maybe not, but it was an applauded twist ending that caught out most of the critics and the film going public. Paying attention isn't really enough - its paying attention to the right stuff!
by Demona
(quotes)
You hardly need to have been a film student to see that one coming.
Of course i noticed it, but it isn't the over-riding message of the film and certainly not the message that Ford Coppella wanted taken away by the audience. I got marked down for saying that
by In a State of Dan
You never noticed that until it was pointed out to you?
but surely if thousands of people say its their favourite feel good movie I can't be that wrong in my interpretation?!?(Bitter at having to retake module, much!)
Posted: 12:47 Apr 25 2002 I agree on that one - and so did nearly everybody when it was released! Was only really a classic in terms of technique.
by In a State of Dan
Citizen Kane - I've only seen it once, but was distinctly underwhelmed by a film often said to be the best ever...
Infact, I don't think I know anybody who likes it. Respects it maybe but not actually likes.
Posted: 12:52 Apr 25 2002 Well, I think you mean Frank Capra, so not all that surprising.
by Sydney
certainly not the message that Ford Coppella wanted taken away by the audience.
<snip>
(Bitter at having to retake module, much!)
It probably wasn't the intended message, but then, apart from the rather trite 'no man is a failure who has friends', what is the films message? There's all sorts of ways of reading it which were probably opposite to what was intended, which personally I see as poor writing/film-making.
Posted: 14:00 Apr 25 2002 Ooops my bad! I get easily confused with names and stuff. But you know what I meant. And you can read anything in any number of ways depending on what you bring to the viewing. So even the most perfectly written film ever will be interpreted in different ways by different people (Hall and Moreley . Nationwide study and audience models, both written around about the mid eighties but i can't remember at the mo)
by In a State of Dan
(quotes)
Well, I think you mean Frank Capra, so not all that surprising.
Posted: 14:12 Apr 25 2002 
well i agree witht eh whole learning film studies can ruin films a bit, as i do tend to over analysis stuff when im watching it. i totaly agree as well about the "feel goo factor" of 'IAWL'. as for 'classics' erm well we watched 'catpeople' this week and it was bloody auwful how anyone thinks its good is beyond me.
and for all the film people out there dont you think some ppl over analysis films a bit too much! like we had a piece on king kong and he he supposedly 'representes black man because of his blackness' but hes a giant gorrila! of course he's gonna b black thats what colour they are!?! it realy does bug me how far ppl 'read;' into films
and for all the film people out there dont you think some ppl over analysis films a bit too much! like we had a piece on king kong and he he supposedly 'representes black man because of his blackness' but hes a giant gorrila! of course he's gonna b black thats what colour they are!?! it realy does bug me how far ppl 'read;' into films
Posted: 14:15 Apr 25 2002