What's the fuzz about...?

[azdw]

I personally tend to like most generally popular movies, both by critics and public alike. Most old classics I either like/love or at least understand why they are praised/liked even if I don't.

However, once in a while I watch a movie that I simply can't fathom why people love so much.
Which classic/acclaimed movie popularity baffles you the most?

These are mine;

La Dolce Vita (1960)
The Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Audition (1999)
Excalibur (1981)
Rachel Getting Married (2008)
Cries & Whispers (1972)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Blue Velvet (1986)

Going to give Audition a second chance, but all the other ones have been seen within the last 2 years and I will never put myself through watching them again.

[surfdude12]

i thought bicycle thieves was great because

[Show spoiler] it simply showed how the gap between thief and victim is not always as black and white as we think. more importantly, the thief's story isn't necessarily less sympathetic than the victims. the viewer is free to have no sympathy for the thief in the end, but that viewer is in the minority. what does that say about thievery?

.

i loved eyes wide shut because it explored

[Show spoiler] revenge for imagined, not real, harm done, not to mention karma for that revenge (kidman had a dream she was at cruise's party). throw in all the other illuminati symbology and this is a masterpiece IMO

. i don't know any other film that goes into those themes

[toef]

The African Queen.

Years ago I decided to watch all the movies on the AFI Top 100 (this was back in 2004-2005, before they did the revised list in 2006 or 2007 or whenever).

Some of the movies were great, some were ok. But African Queen was unbearable for me.

[roshamboh]

Gone with the wind. I tried watching it because of the hype it gets as a great movie, and I hated it so bad I couldn't finish it.

[chad_1138]

2001.

[Grand Bob]

Originally Posted by azdw

[Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Have to agree with you on that one. No one is a bigger Kubrick fan than me, but when it was over I was thinking "what the ...". If there is a date movie that makes your girlfriend NOT want to have sex, that's probably it.

[surfdude12]

Fight Club: still dont get how the film doesn't counter its own message. Need to watch it again.

[Grand Bob]

Oh yeah, and the big one - I must be missing something because it won Best Picture, has Streep in it, and pretty photography - but I still can't see what all the hoopla is about "Out of Africa".

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by chad_1138

2001.

+100 Got Em!!

[Gaius Marius]

Originally Posted by chad_1138

2001.

One of my favorites I like how the movie takes it's time to unfold (which is why most people are turned off from it). Plus, the ideas behind it are fascinating.

On topic: Sin City. I don't understand why people love this movie. It is just a mediocre action film with over the top violence.

[dmb70]

Just off the top of my head.
Old Boy
Seven Samuri
The Third Man
Vertigo
Titanic
Mash
The Dark Knight

Other than Mash & Titanic I thought all on this list were good, but they just didn't blow my mind.

[assydingo]

Originally Posted by chad_1138

2001.

Literally just watched it.

I don't mind images to classical music. However a lot of the scenes instead have abrasive sound effects, often being repeated, or music that is supposed to set a mood but is only grating.

Also it's one thing to have slow pacing. It's another to drag things on for as long as possible as many scenes feel.

I can respect certain aspects of the movie but it's just not an enjoyable experience.

[SquidPuppet]

I consider myself someone who enjoys odd movies. Hell, I like almost everything David Lynch has done. Weird is good.

That said, Last Year at Marienbad frustrated the hell out of me.

Art? Whatever man.

[CZAR]

Originally Posted by assydingo

Literally just watched it.

I don't mind images to classical music. However a lot of the scenes instead have abrasive sound effects, often being repeated, or music that is supposed to set a mood but is only grating.

Also it's one thing to have slow pacing. It's another to drag things on for as long as possible as many scenes feel.

I can respect certain aspects of the movie but it's just not an enjoyable experience.

Well said! Got Em!!

[dcowboy7]

fuzz ?

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

That said, Last Year at Marienbad frustrated the hell out of me.
Art? Whatever man.

Roger Ebert suggests that while LYAM may be Lynch-like in style, it may actually be Resnais' cruel practical joke on fans trying to make sense out of it.

(And while "Excalibur" may be Boorman-overdirected, anyone who can't fathom it needs a second viewing:
It may be "weird", but blame the medieval guy who wrote it...It's The Lit Classics, Stupid.)

Originally Posted by dcowboy7

fuzz ?

I believe he was trying to portmanteau "buzz" with "WTF?"

(As for "what the buzz" was, he just wanted us to tell him what was a-happening... )

[Batman1980]

Dark Knight
Star Trek
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
District 9
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
300
Rachel Getting Married
Those are just ones off the top of my head.

[SpotOn]

Originally Posted by Wolverine1980

Dark Knight
Star Trek
Curious Case of Benjamin Button
District 9
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
300
Rachel Getting Married
Those are just ones off the top of my head.

Totally agree about The Dark Knight. I like that movie less each time I see it.

[Batman1980]

I just mean that I think it's very over-rated. Don't get me wrong it's an excellent movie but so are 3 other Batman films. It definitely doesn't deserve all of the best movie of all-time talk it's getting.

[azdw]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

I consider myself someone who enjoys odd movies. Hell, I like almost everything David Lynch has done. Weird is good.

That said, Last Year at Marienbad frustrated the hell out of me.

Art? Whatever man.

I enjoy odd/art movies as well, but only if they are made primarily to entertain. I love Bergman's The Seventh Seal, but hate his Cries & Whispers. I love Lynch's Mulholland Dr and like Lost Highway, but hate Inland Empire and Blue Velvet. Odd/art movies can only entertain if you can get attached to the story in some way, otherwise you'll be too bored to appreciate the finer details.

I absolutely loved 2001: A Space Odyssey btw.