Overrated movies

[Angie]

I believe some of Django was an homage to old spaghetti westerns, and while there was probably more blood in Django compared to those older movies, the body count probably wasn't that different. I'm sure if you look you'll find that there are tributes to other genres for IB as well. The cathartic interpretation is just what I came away with after watching it, mainly from the final scene.

Tarantino is a director that likes to tell stories while paying homage to other films and genres that have influenced him. That's just what he's decided to do and he pretty much has free reign to do what ever he wants now. I think he's an excellent story teller and a master of dialogue, and if you look past the goriness, there are some pretty great stories underneath. And I don't think it's really fair to try and say he's not producing "art". Art that you don't care for is still art.

He does have free reign, no arguments here - and I think he has some great stories and great dialogue, I just think he's turning it into a joke with the gore. I didn't say the entire movie wasn't art, but there's nothing artistic about the gore scenes. Why ruin an otherwise fantastic movie with some of these scenes?

Let me flip it for you - explain to me how Django was made better with that last scene? Did it enhance the previous dialogue between Waltz and Foxx? Did it improve the movie in any way, and (if so) how? Directors leave the crap that doesn't help the movie along on the cutting room floor - I just don't understand why, other than to provoke and shock, he wouldn't have omitted the last ten minutes of Django.

 

[dahliaclone]

Going off of critical success/awards alone here are some more I think are way overrated:

Les Miserables. Horrible on all counts.

The Blind Side. I hate Bullock.

Sideways. I never understood why that movie was so loved by critics.

Shakespeare in Love. No words on how much I hate this movie.

L.A. Confidential. Huge crime/noir fan but this never impressed me.

 

[Angie]

Sorry, wasn't done - while I think Quentin has an incredible talent, I also think he has an ego unparalleled by almost anyone. I think he sees himself as able to "better" all of the previous genres and films he's seen, and that's what he is trying to prove.

 

[Angie]

Going off of critical success/awards alone here are some more I think are way overrated:

Les Miserables. Horrible on all counts.

The Blind Side. I hate Bullock.

Sideways. I never understood why that movie was so loved by critics.

Shakespeare in Love. No words on how much I hate this movie.

L.A. Confidential. Huge crime/noir fan but this never impressed me.

Shakespeare in Love was awesome! Clever, funny (which is not the norm in a period piece), and I thought Joseph Fiennes was so expressive (and hot). Gwenyth is pretty full of herself, but I thought she did a good job being humble in that.

 

[State43]

Guarantee about this thread, hipsters take over and talk about how actual good to great movies are overrated. Enjoy your little sundance films while I enjoy movies that actually make money.

 

[dahliaclone]

Sorry, wasn't done - while I think Quentin has an incredible talent, I also think he has an ego unparalleled by almost anyone. I think he sees himself as able to "better" all of the previous genres and films he's seen, and that's what he is trying to prove.

Basically what I am hearing from you is that you are kind of annoyed with him because you think he's quite brilliant but throws away alot of his potential by having so much violence that doesn't need to be there. You kind of want to just shake him and say 'you could be the best director in the past 30 years! What are you doing!'

 

[Dino]

Donnie Darko and Boondock Saints.

 

[cowgirl836]

Gone With the Wind

Spoiled brat and a *********. Throw some war, fire, and bitchy arguments in there. Wash, rinse, repeat for 5 hours.

 

[Angie]

Basically what I am hearing from you is that you are kind of annoyed with him because you think he's quite brilliant but throws away alot of his potential by having so much violence that doesn't need to be there. You kind of want to just shake him and say 'you could be the best director in the past 30 years! What are you doing!'

YES! You nailed it. And each of his movies absolutely STILL has the capacity for it, but then he just jacks them up by the violence. True Romance and Pulp Fiction were both very violent movies, but they had legitimate amounts of violence for the topic, and were balanced by just being amazing movies. Same with RD. But I just feel like he's devolving lately into this kitschy violence thing that he's just so much better than!! ​Stop ruining your movies, Quentin! Django and IB were Oscar-worthy art films, other than the violence.

 

[Knownothing]

I know I am supposed to like Steve Carrell but I just don't think any of his movies are all that funny. They are entertaining and I watch them. However, I would not pay at the theatre for one. Jim Carey in his prime was movie theatre going time. However, he is not even close anymore.

I would also say the Hangover movies. They are pretty funny but I was actually let down do to the hype they created for them.

 

[Alswelk]

Titanic for me, mainly for stealing Best Picture from Good Will Hunting.

 

[Pitt_Clone]

He does have free reign, no arguments here - and I think he has some great stories and great dialogue, I just think he's turning it into a joke with the gore. I didn't say the entire movie wasn't art, but there's nothing artistic about the gore scenes. Why ruin an otherwise fantastic movie with some of these scenes?

Let me flip it for you - explain to me how Django was made better with that last scene? Did it enhance the previous dialogue between Waltz and Foxx? Did it improve the movie in any way, and (if so) how? Directors leave the crap that doesn't help the movie along on the cutting room floor - I just don't understand why, other than to provoke and shock, he wouldn't have omitted the last ten minutes of Django.

I'm trying to remember, but didn't he go back to the house because he wanted to avenge Waltz getting killed (plus for how they treated Broomhilda)? And maybe it was similar to the ending of IB where in this case the slave is destroying the plantation. I'll grant you that he could have made it less gory and probably could still get the point across, but I don't think the scene itself was unnecessary.

 

[Pitt_Clone]

Basically what I am hearing from you is that you are kind of annoyed with him because you think he's quite brilliant but throws away alot of his potential by having so much violence that doesn't need to be there. You kind of want to just shake him and say 'you could be the best director in the past 30 years! What are you doing!'

After I saw Django I became convinced that he is going to go down as one of the greats of our generation.

 

[Angie]

I'm trying to remember, but didn't he go back to the house because he wanted to avenge Waltz getting killed (plus for how they treated Broomhilda)? And maybe it was similar to the ending of IB where in this case the slave is destroying the plantation. I'll grant you that he could have made it less gory and probably could still get the point across, but I don't think the scene itself was unnecessary.

I would get killing the main members of the family, and Samuel L. Jackson for ratting him out, even the one farm hand - but hundreds of unrelated plantation workers who were likely only billed as "guy #174 who Django shot," because that's literally the only scene they were in? It's just not adding to the story to have it be that over-the-top.

I think you think that I hate QT, and I don't - I think he's supremely talented, and just ruining his own films with this ridiculousness.

 

[Fishhead]

The most overrated movie of all time (and it's not even close) is:

Star Wars

You're right Epsiodes 1-3 did suck, episode 4 and 5? Wow. i ond't understand how anyone can't appreciate how groundbreaking it was, especially episode4.

my answer:
Rosemary's Baby. Total snoozefest.

 

[3TrueFans]

YES! You nailed it. And each of his movies absolutely STILL has the capacity for it, but then he just jacks them up by the violence. True Romance and Pulp Fiction were both very violent movies, but they had legitimate amounts of violence for the topic, and were balanced by just being amazing movies. Same with RD. But I just feel like he's devolving lately into this kitschy violence thing that he's just so much better than!! ​Stop ruining your movies, Quentin! Django and IB were Oscar-worthy art films, other than the violence.

Seems like you're ok with the violence sometimes but not others. I think the topics of Nazi killing and a revenge movie featuring a heavy dose of slavery are topics that would allow for quite a bit of violence.

 

[Angie]

Seems like you're ok with the violence sometimes but not others. I think the topics of Nazi killing and a revenge movie featuring a heavy dose of slavery are topics that would allow for quite a bit of violence.

In The Wedding Singer, Drew Barrymore talks about "tasteful tongue, CHURCH tongue."

I think it's possible to use violence tastefully, "church violence." Schindler's List is an amazing movie about the Holocaust, and was very violent, but done in a way that revered the victims, rather than making the event ridiculous.

 

[Cyclonick182]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is all kinds of turrrrible. For that matter Natural Born Killers wasn't any better.

 

[3TrueFans]

In The Wedding Singer, Drew Barrymore talks about "tasteful tongue, CHURCH tongue."

I think it's possible to use violence tastefully, "church violence." Schindler's List is an amazing movie about the Holocaust, and was very violent, but done in a way that revered the victims, rather than making the event ridiculous.

You're just comparing different styles then, Tarantino's style has always been over the top, I don't think you could say his movies would have definitely been better had he used a more muted tone in terms of violence. I'd say in terms of money made, critical success and awards nominated his movies have been far from ruined, and I'm not even really a Tarantino fan, I saw Basterds and really enjoyed it, and have seen RD once, I'd really like to see Django too.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

Just glancing through the IMDB Top 250 for some ideas...

Inception - Delicious special effects, but a convoluted, plot hole-ridden storyline that is at once too simple and too complicated to really make much for compelling story, character, or drama

Terminator 2 - The first one is superior in all ways... the kid is annoying, it breaks so many rules of its own universe, and the anti-men themes and dialogue (for some reason completely absent in the first one with the strong, male hero of Kyle Reese to guide things) just kind of ruins it for me

The Dark Knight Rises - None of the interesting character study of the first one, none of the tightly-wound plot or drama of the second one, simply just a mess on all fronts

WALL*E - Pixar has done just so much better, the robots aren't really that compelling, and the brain-dead environmentalist themes and daft science fiction logic just took me out of the moment

The Avengers - Hilariously fun popcorn flick, but, one of the best films ever made? Really? Iron Man is way better as a pure film from the same franchise for innovation, entertainment, and character development

A Beautiful Mind - Not particularly accurate to the life of John Nash, they might as well went with the whole NXNW plot... I probably would have enjoyed that a ton more...

Star Trek Into Darkness - fun, but a mess, and I really don't see the point of "rebooting" the franchise if they're just going to liberally rip story elements from far better originals like The Wrath of Khan

Harry Potter 8 - a franchise that belonged on the page, watching Emma and Daniel and the crowd snore their way through this (they were so bored looking) in their early 20s got old

That would be my obvious list, glancing at it, of overrated Top 250 films.

Excellent description of Inception.