Unpopular Movie Opinions: Part III

[Darthvaderrocks]

Originally Posted by Rodney-2187

I find ratings and box office numbers and such to be fascinating, but they aren’t a measurable indication of quality, just the opinions of others.

Trying to factually prove one movie is better than another is like trying to prove the color green is better than the color blue. No poll is going to prove that, even if more people pick green or more professional painters prefer blue.

That's a fair take. I am split. My heart says yeah that's true.

My brain says no, because if that would be true then someone could claim BvS > The Godfather.

It is pretentious to say "if you enjoy this, then you know nothing about films" or, something is more "cerebral" or "intellectual" than another? I think so.

[dvining]

Originally Posted by HipsterTrash

Forest Gump is fine film. Just a tad overrated in discussion and whatnot. But a popcorn drama that leaves you smiling, which is fine.
To me though, Zemeckis has done his most interesting and compelling work since using heavy CGI, or completely CGI, since Polar Express.

I'm fine with Forrest Gump, but I've just never gotten the effusive praise it receives. It strikes me as nostalgia more than anything else that gives it that emotional kick for many people.

Zemeckis had an interesting idea with his mocap movies, but I find Polar Express kind of interminable. It meanders from one extended sequence to another with nary any connective tissue in between. It feels much more like a 4D ride at Universal Studios than anything else. Both A Christmas Carol and Beowulf, though, are deeply underappreciated.

Beowulf, in particular, is a twist on the epic poem with some interesting questions on its mind about power. It makes the most of its spectacle by tying it all directly to Beowulf himself (extrapolating in a wild direction on some long held literary theories about the dragon in the original poem). It deserves a real reappraisal.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Rodney-2187

Don’t care for most war movies either

Same here.

[dvining]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

"I'm not a smart man."

To be fair, I'm classified as a meat popsicle.

[Darthvaderrocks]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

Same here.

Besides your Nolan hate. I find you "reasonable" compared to the usual suspects.

So i might ask; what you don't like about war films and westerns?

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Darthvaderrocks

My brain says no, because if that would be true then someone could claim BvS > The Godfather.

They could, and it wouldn't be right or wrong.

[Darthvaderrocks]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

They could, and it wouldn't be right or wrong.

It's pretty self explanatory that Coppola is a far superior filmmaker overall, and The Godfather is better acted, written, directed and far more compelling especially in the character writing and arcs.

Dunno how someone could think the opposite. But at the same time, I Like Batman Forever more than Lord Of The Rings.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Darthvaderrocks

Besides your Nolan hate. I find you "reasonable" compared to the usual suspects.

So i might ask; what you don't like about war films and westerns?

I don't have a problem with westerns. War films? I don't know, I guess they just kind of blend together.

I like a few:

Apocalypse Now
Full Metal Jacket
Platoon
The Dirty Dozen

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by Darthvaderrocks

I Like Batman Forever more than Lord Of The Rings.

[CyberpunkCentral]

Originally Posted by Rodney-2187

Goodfellas is pretty good.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Darthvaderrocks

Dunno how someone could think the opposite. But at the same time, I Like Batman Forever more than Lord Of The Rings.

There's your answer. We like what we like.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by dvining

To be fair, I'm classified as a meat popsicle.

[ZLee]

Tropic Thunder is the greatest war movie ever made.

[HipsterTrash]

Originally Posted by dvining

I'm fine with Forrest Gump, but I've just never gotten the effusive praise it receives. It strikes me as nostalgia more than anything else that gives it that emotional kick for many people.

Zemeckis had an interesting idea with his mocap movies, but I find Polar Express kind of interminable. It meanders from one extended sequence to another with nary any connective tissue in between. It feels much more like a 4D ride at Universal Studios than anything else. Both A Christmas Carol and Beowulf, though, are deeply underappreciated.

Beowulf, in particular, is a twist on the epic poem with some interesting questions on its mind about power. It makes the most of its spectacle by tying it all directly to Beowulf himself (extrapolating in a wild direction on some long held literary theories about the dragon in the original poem). It deserves a real reappraisal.

Forrest Gump the movie is like the man himself: simple and it brings a smile to your face. I wasn't around during the 50s-70s so I can't speak to the nostalgia. And I was only around 5 or so when the film came out. But it's a simple popcorn pleaser. Nothing more.

Polar Express was the start of him grasping the whole CGI. It was Beowulf and A Christmas Carol where he excelled at it. Love those two.

I also meant that he's pushing himself in smaller different ways with the films after that pause into CGI. Flight, the Walk, Allied, and Welcome to Marwen all have something akin to another but it's also him telling the stories in the ways he wants to see and I appreciate that he does something along those lines. I don't think anyone would attempt a film like Marwen the way he did.

Now that he's with the Mouse House, I'm interested to see what they'll force him to do with Pinocchio.

[CyberpunkCentral]

Logan > Infinity War/Endgame

[mwynn]

Menace 2 Society > Boyz in the Hood

[CyberpunkCentral]

Originally Posted by mwynn

Menace 2 Society > Boyz in the Hood

Blood In, Blood Out > Both

[DR Herbert West]

Sorcerer > The Exorcist

[CyberpunkCentral]

Not a fan of The Exorcist. Can't get into it. It's not even scary either.

[dvining]

Originally Posted by HipsterTrash

[B]I also meant that he's pushing himself in smaller different ways with the films after that pause into CGI. Flight, the Walk, Allied, and Welcome to Marwen all have something akin to another but it's also him telling the stories in the ways he wants to see and I appreciate that he does something along those lines. I don't think anyone would attempt a film like Marwen the way he did.

Now that he's with the Mouse House, I'm interested to see what they'll force him to do with Pinocchio.

I really like that period of his work, too, though I find Welcome to Marwen specifically to be incredibly trite in its treatment of mental illness.

Allied, I think, got really mishandled by the marketing. It's a mature spy movie in the tradition of the 40s studio output, and the marketing completely ruined the twist (which is a major question throughout the second half of the film but the very fact that marketing brought it up kind of answers the question for potential audiences) while selling it as an action spectacle (which it decidedly is not). I think it's wildly underappreciated, and the steady downfall of Zemeckis' later career feels so unearned.

He hasn't forgotten how to make a movie. He's evolved as a filmmaker from the guy who made Used Cars to the guy who can make serious drama like Cast Away and Flight, and no one seems to care anymore.

It pains me that he's making children's movies now because it doesn't feel like it's coming from his heart. It seems like getting funding for something like The Witches (which I liked) and Pinocchio (which I'm sure will be fine) is impossible unless he's appealing to an easy audience since no one wants him to fund him making movies for adults.