Films that are rated and when you eventually

[simoncc]

Rating in the press and magazines are usually made by people generally interested in the type of thing being reviewed. What such people think is good is not any indication of any real worth. The best eaxmple of this phenomenon is TV reviews. Even the most formulaic rubbish can get a good review from a TV goggling reviewer who generally thinks that most TV is of reasonable quality.

 

[Niall Estick]

I couldn't work out what everyone seemed to think was so brilliant about it. It was pretty obvious what was going on from the start and what the 'twist' would be... and it took a long and not particularly interesting time getting there. Mind you, I didn't see The Sixth Sense's twist coming at all - and everyone told me that was obvious. And I cried. So it just depends really...

Usual Suspects - so not obvious. On repeat viewing I still think Keaton is Kaizer Soze.

6th Sense - obvious.

 

[Kirstie]

Agreed - but I thought you'd become quite the film buff recently?

Well I've been doing better than normal for some of this year but have since lapsed into my old 'attention span of a flea' viewing habits.

Forrest Gump was utter sh1te. Lord Jesus shoot me now...

 

[Niall Estick]

Forrest Gump.

Reactionary bollocks

 

[Bodhbh]

Withnail and I
Lord of The Rings

Really liked the film when I was 18, but does look like aload of student bollox 15 odd years down the line and Withnail is overdone and not funny. Similar thing with Lord of The Rings when it was on TV recently, can't understand how peeps watch the whole thing thu multiple times or worst multiple times in 1 sitting.

 

[marinyork]

LOTR does has a place in films as the films were a more efficient representation than the books for those not wanting to read the 1000 pages of the books. That said if someone wanted the gist of it they could just watch The Return of the King.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Usual Suspects - so not obvious. On repeat viewing I still think Keaton is Kaizer Soze.

You really don't get it then! And BTW, it's 'Keyser Söze'... who is quite clearly Kevin Spacey's character, Kint - who is also the unreliable story-teller who spins the whole thing (including the suggesstion that Keaton is Söze) to the investigators using cues from their own office notice-board and other props. That last bit is clever (the way he does it) but it seemed obvious to me from the start that Kint was the 'evil mastermind'... actually describing it now makes it seem much better than I said. Maybe I should watch it again.

I wouldn't bother with The Sixth Sense again - it's one of those films that only works if you go into it with no expectations. Sometimes this is a good thing.

 

[Niall Estick]

What I was trying to point out was that the film cleverly leads you up the garden path towards thinking it was Keaton. Even on repeated viewings, when you know who KS is, the film pushes you towards Keaton.


Can I add another?

Kill Bill. I mean, WTF?

'Dogs' was notable in its portrayal of violence and the 'twist'. Pulp Fiction had a great script and interweaving plot. What was Kill Bill?

 

[Flying_Monkey]

What I was trying to point out was that the film cleverly leads you up the garden path towards thinking it was Keaton. Even on repeated viewings, when you know who KS is, the film pushes you towards Keaton

Oh I see. I guess I didn't feel that was particularly subtle and therefore not persuasive. This has at least made me want to watch it again though...

Kill Bill was just a massive bucket of cliches - and so long for so little. I'd prefer to watch the Japanese and Hong Kong films is draws from (copies off) any day.

 

[marinyork]

I think Kill Bill was good but I'm not sure I'd call it a film. More along the lines of showcase stuff that gets filmed thesedays occasionally.

 

[yello]

6th Sense - obvious.

Agreed. I guessed what was happening very quickly and scene after scene just confirmed it. I didn't think it was crap though, just ordinary.

I've really got to be angered by a film to think it crap. Film's that pretend to be something they painfully aren't, or think they're offering something profound or thought provoking and not just fail but go the other way. Personally, I find most films avoid that but, that said, I also find most films really rather lifeless.

I watched The Life of Others last night, for the 2nd time. It's a good film, but by no means a great one. It reeks of 'student project' but I don't mean that as a criticism - merely something that makes it seem a tad clunky in places. Plus it's got a cheesy last line that I let it get away with!

 

[Noodley]

Brokeback Mountain - pile of horseshit.

 

[swee'pea99]

Kill Bill certainly meets the OP's point for me - ie, loads of hype, turns out to be crap. Saw Star Wars recently for the first time ever. It was...ok I guess. Have to say I enjoyed The Green Mile and Good Will Hunting - and I quite liked Forrest Gump too.

'course you get it t'other way round sometimes - come to something with low or no preconceptions and get blown away. Found myself on a flight once and of the movies on offer, the only one I could see that I didn't know I'd loath was one I'd never even heard of called Slingblade. Wonder on a 4" screen. Mmm hmmm...

 

[Arch]

I liked Kill Bill more than other Taratino's I've seem, but some of that was that it was watching that film when I realised I have nicer looking feet than Uma Thurman...

Shallow? Moi?

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Not sure if anyone's mentioned this yet (I'm in the middle of cooking dinner and I haven't got time to read the whole thread), but I was told by more people than I can count (five or six) that I should see Blade Runner and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Neither of them did anything at all for me.