Ratio of hype to my enjoyment:

FWIW any movie that shows any of the delectable Kristin Scott Thomas' naughty bits cannot be in the running for worst film

I have been following this thread all along, and came to the realization that I haven't seen any one of these movies. Maybe it is because I probably watch nothing but old movies. Anyway, I feel blessed that I never had enough time on my hands to go to movies I suspected would be bad. I still watch many movies on TV, but there I always have my trusty remote, so I can switch channels on a stinker.

To OaktownBear:
One of my favorite movies is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Don't forget about Cameron trying to take the mileage off the odometer of his father's car by putting the car in reverse. That didn't work either.

A stinker with a scene showing Cody's Bookstore.

OaktownBear said:

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Magnolia. I have never walked out of a movie. I've never even thought of walking out of a movie except this one. After about half an hour I spent the entire time considering walking out and then regretted that I didn't. 3 hours of my life gone and then it rained frogs. Deep man.

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Ouch. That stung. My favorite movie is the Godfather (shocking). My second favorite is Magnolia. I've watched it at least 20 times. Each time I get more out of it.The opening half hour is ablaze in it's editing and precise story-telling, rapid fire character development. I am in awe just watching it unfold. I could go on about all the internal poetry and the allusions, use of visual metaphor, and skillful interconnection of themes. My daughter (a film student in college is doing her final paper on it). The directing and acting is unbelievable, and yeah it actually is deep, but it obviously missed with you. That's okay, you're right about most of the other things you post here.

If we are allowed to write off whole franchises like Star Wars, I am going to admit to pretty much disliking all the Marvel movies. They are basically idiotic POS. Just the most plastic, simplistic plots and over-reliance on noise and explosions and not much real drama or story. I LOVED the comics and was bored to death by the movies. Kept giving them a chance and each sucked worse than the last. Only two held my interest at all: the first Iron Man and surprisingly Ant Man. Just pure formula marketing vehicles in all the worst ways.

Okay boo me.

Hated Marvel, but love Magnolia and Uncut Gems and a bunch of the "art" films that have been listed as boring above.

Since no one on BI seems to have my taste in film, at least let me have the satisfaction of making you all sick with my approximate Top Ten Favorite (not greatest) Films:

1. Godfather I
2. Godfather II
3. Magnolia
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. Birdman
6. Pan's Labyrinth
7. Jacob's Ladder
8. Spinal Tap
9. Call Me by Your Name
10. Once

Now you know what to avoid and never watch.

Mulholland Drive and Southland Tales, complete waste of time.

South Park The Movie...just awful. Actually left the theater in the middle!

The other movie I walked out on was Trapped In Paradise. Probably the worst movie I've ever seen!

When I was in basic training at Ford Ord in 1971, they bussed us out on one of the last weekends to a soft-porn theater in Monterey to see "Behind the Green Door". Still have to laugh at the absurd plot of that one 50 years later.

The only movie I ever walked out of (asked for and got a refund, too!) was The Matrix Reloaded. I liked the first movie a lot and was really disappointed. Later, I watched it all the way through on TV and liked it a bit better but not a whole lot better. However, it does remain as the only movie I ever walked out of.

The following are movies that many other people like that I don't, which is not the same as the worst ever. It's too easy to just list a bunch stinkers like Howard the Duck or Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2. It is more interesting to comment on more acclaimed movies. 2001 and Saturday Night Fever are two really good movies, especially 2001 which may be one of the best movies ever! What's wrong with you people?

No particular order - this is just stream of consciousness:

1. Forrest Gump. I liked it well enough the first time but my hatred grows with every subsequent viewing. A lot of people like it so I have been forced to watch it many times to the point where I loathe it. It's stupid, the character is insulting, and a lot of the praise was based on its special effects which are aging and don't advance the plot. It might be the movie I hate the most.

2. Magnolia. It would not even be in my sphere of awareness had other people not mentioned it. I am only including it because of that. Slow-moving, long and boring. Tom Cruise's character is annoying. I am sorry I rented it. I had to watch it over several days to get through it and then was sorry I did.

3. Shakespeare in Love. I wanted to like it. It had all the elements, but this turd won Best Picture? It admittedly faced weak competition although it beat out Saving Private Ryan - which is another overrated movie, but FAR better than this stinker.

4. The Martian. Ridiculous movie. Castaway astronaut starts outer space potato farm. Even worse than Gravity, which also sucked but at least I watched Gravity all the way through. Sandra Bullock gave a nice performance. I had to rewatch The Martian from the beginning after turning it off partway through the first attempt. I made it through, but it was a grind. Note: I have not seen Interstellar. I love 2001, 2010, Apollo 13, and The Right Stuff so it is not just a genre thing. Red Planet is even worse but I don't think anyone likes that.

5. Last Tango in Paris. This was just a very nasty and uncomfortable movie to watch. Not sexy. No plot. Would be a footnote in history if not for the involvement of Bertolucci and Brando. They should be ashamed for how they treated that poor actress.

6. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Weird movie with an All-Star cast. I wanted to like it, but just didn't.

7. Robert Altman's The Player. I saw this with my sister at the theater. I can't believe I sat through it all. I wish I hadn't. It was a bunch of cameos strung together into a movie. Now that I have some insight into film production from a girlfriend in the industry I get more of the inside jokes and references, but I'd still never watch it again.


8. Everything by Quentin Tarantino. His movies are unnecessarily violent and vulgar. I can deal with some grit if it is an excellent story but Tarantino is no Scorcese, Coppolla, Stone, or Kubrick. My girlfriend was in Jackie Brown and I spent some time on the set. Quentin is a talented guy with a good eye. I just don't like the kind of movies he wants to make. I put him in the same category as Wes Craven or John Waters - talented but too disturbing for me to enjoy as casual entertainment. I guess they fill a niche.

9. I agree that all the superhero movies are horrible. I liked the first X-Men movie, but that was it. I stopped watching them long ago even though I had all the comics as a kid. I even have Stan Lee's autograph. One of the worst (that I saw) was Watchmen. Ugh. Giant blue you-know-what. The Transformers movies are much worse, but they aren't as acclaimed.

10. The Three Colours trilogy (Blue/White/Red). Really interesting effort to combine elements of three separate films together even though they can be watched standalone. Their biggest failing is that they are not really entertaining to watch despite the presence of Juliette Binoche and Julie Delpy. They are excellent films that I don't want to rewatch.

11. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I liked (but didn't LOVE) the first movie and the third one was amusing with Sean Connery but the second movie was dark and out of character. I imagine the Crystal Skull also sucked but I did not see it.

12. Cold Mountain. Why was this movie so lauded again? Excellent cast in this epic but it reminded me of the equally crappy Nicole Kidman epic Far and Away - and not in a good way. A sprawling, meticuloulsly crafted melodrama I certainly don't want to watch again.

13. Chariots of Fire. I have seen this movie a dozen times and halfway through the movie I STILL can't figure out which character is which nor what exactly is going on. Vangelis really saved this slow-moving and confusing movie.

14. Anything with Will Smith. That is pretty much a guarantee I won't like it. I don't even have anything against him. I bought and liked "He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper" back in the day but the only movie he did which I liked was Pursuit of Happyness. Maybe I can tolerate I, Robot as well but most of his movies are horrible. I hate MIB and Independence Day both.

15. Mama Mia! As a child of a Northern European parents I grew up on (and still like) ABBA but watching Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan sing their hits was painful. Very. I had it on in the background and it evoked some actual wincing.

On The English Patient:

I didn't hate The English Patient (I don't love it either), but this slog beat out both Fargo and Jerry Maguire for Best Picture?! Insane. It could have been a much better movie if the pacing had been better. It was 162 minutes and felt longer. I watch the other two whenever I happen to catch them in progress. I would pass on The English Patient.

In another vein, two movies I hated on first viewing but really like now:

1. Napoleon Dynamite. I thought it was one of the dumbest movies I ever saw on first viewing. It was amusing, but it has almost no plot. However, I enjoy it now for what it is. Uncle Rico is a riot.

2. Dumb and Dumber. I had the same sort of reaction and filed it with Adam Sandler movies as adolescent dreck but I really appreciate the movie more now mostly because of Jeff Daniels. He is excellent opposite Carrey and elevates both of their performances.

P.S. Love both Moonstruck and Blade Runner

" Robert Altman's The Player...."

This brought to mind one of his movies that was the second movie of every double feature I saw in Berkeley in 1970. I must have seen the damn thing 5 or 6 times. Cal grad Stacy Keach had a small roll. F'ing weird (most of the MASH cast):



Stacy:*




* "He earned two BA degrees at the University of California, Berkeley (1963): one in English, the other in Dramatic Art. He earned a Master of Fine Arts at the Yale School of Drama in 1966 and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art." Wikipedia

Shrek. Actually walked out of that one. I've never been so angry at a movie. Who was the audience? It was a kids movie filled with adult bathroom humor. I guess I'm still mad.

bearister said:

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" Robert Altman's The Player...."

This brought to mind one of his movies that was the second movie of every double feature I saw in Berkeley in 1970. I must have seen the damn thing 5 or 6 times. Cal grad Stacy Keach had a small roll. F'ing weird (most of the MASH cast):



Stacy:*




* "He earned two BA degrees at the University of California, Berkeley (1963): one in English, the other in Dramatic Art. He earned a Master of Fine Arts at the Yale School of Drama in 1966 and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art." Wikipedia

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I remember Stacy Keach. Fine actor. Never got enough good roles. He was outstanding as a boxer in "Fat City", as well as Mickey's Spillane's Mike Hammer in the TV Series. I dated his ex-wife, Katy, a couple of times in New York. Nice gal, but not happy. Keach had recently thrown her over for Judy Collins.

annarborbear said:

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When I was in basic training at Ford Ord in 1971, they bussed us out on one of the last weekends to a soft-porn theater in Monterey to see "Behind the Green Door". Still have to laugh at the absurd plot of that one 50 years later.

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My x wife and I waited in a line in San Franciso to see this free. Not sure why we did that.

When I was at Cal in the '60s, French New Wave films were all the rage. Some were very hard to watch, and I walked out of a couple. After most of these films, I came out wondering what the hell I just saw? What was it all about? Antonioni's "Blow Up" and "Red Desert". Many Godard Films. One I liked, "Alphaville". Alain Resnais, made "Hiroshima Mon Amour", and "Night and Fog", the latter being a sort of documentary of the Holocaust, consisting of bulldozers shoveling bodies into mass graves. That one was really hard to watch. Francois Truffaut, whose films I normally liked a lot, made one called "400 Blows" about an abused child (presumably auto biographical) which was awful. Naturally, at the time most of the films by these film makers won awards. Yuk.

oskidunker said:

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annarborbear said:

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When I was in basic training at Ford Ord in 1971, they bussed us out on one of the last weekends to a soft-porn theater in Monterey to see "Behind the Green Door". Still have to laugh at the absurd plot of that one 50 years later.

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My x wife and I waited in a line in San Franciso to see this free. Not sure why we did that.

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From Ben Davidson's fully clothed cameo:

blungld said:

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If we are allowed to write off whole franchises like Star Wars, I am going to admit to pretty much disliking all the Marvel movies. They are basically idiotic POS. Just the most plastic, simplistic plots and over-reliance on noise and explosions and not much real drama or story. I LOVED the comics and was bored to death by the movies. Kept giving them a chance and each sucked worse than the last. Only two held my interest at all: the first Iron Man and surprisingly Ant Man. Just pure formula marketing vehicles in all the worst ways.

Okay boo me.

Hated Marvel, but love Magnolia and Uncut Gems and a bunch of the "art" films that have been listed as boring above.

Since no one on BI seems to have my taste in film, at least let me have the satisfaction of making you all sick with my approximate Top Ten Favorite (not greatest) Films:

1. Godfather I
2. Godfather II
3. Magnolia
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. Birdman
6. Pan's Labyrinth
7. Jacob's Ladder
8. Spinal Tap
9. Call Me by Your Name
10. Once

Now you know what to avoid and never watch.

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I like a lot of artsy movies also. Eternal Sunshine probably my favorite artsy one from your list. I like Spinal Tap, but have to go with Princess Bride over that. Just can't do Magnolia.

Regarding Marvel, I would say this. My kids love the movies and I've seen all of them and I have more fondness towards those movies because of that (Heck, I found a way to have fondness toward High School Musical). I guess my dispute with your is that other than one or two Batman movies, superhero movies have sucked. I think Marvel slaughters X-men and DC and almost anything made before 2000. Admittedly a low bar. The Marvel movies are also very different from each other, so it really depends on which one you are talking about. The Hulk was terrible. The second Thor movie was terrible and the first one not much better. I agree with you on Ant Man. Actually other than the team ups, the Ant Man movies are my kids' favorites. First Iron Man is good too. I think Black Panther was overrated, but I did appreciate that they brought an African American perspective to a superhero movie.

But I'm going to strongly disagree with you on one. End Game was a great movie. (Spoilers to follow).

I'm not saying ground breaking. I'm not saying great plot. But nothing has managed fan service like that movie. If you watched all the other Marvel movies, the call backs were nearly perfect and it basically ruined the last Star Wars movie for me because its attempts at call backs were absolutely cringe worthy in comparison. The repeat of Captain America in the elevator. "I am Iron Man". And I think one series of the movie was just perfect how it was paced and how it set up the crescendo. From the point Hulk snaps and Hawkeye gets the phone call, you know everybody is back, but they do not let that settle into your brain. From that moment until "On your left" (maybe the best call back) you are not wondering where everybody is and "On your left" comes at the exact right time. I do not have a huge emotional investment in Marvel, but everything from "On your left" to "Avengers assemble" is the most emotionally manipulated I think I have ever been by a movie maker. Is it chewing gum? Absolutely. But that is Willy Wonka turn me into a blueberry level chewing gum.

Since I'm blowing any reputation I have for having any taste and on the subject of superhero movies, I'll add this. I hate raunchy humor. I hate violence and gore. I hate violent humor. But Deadpool is the Mozart of all of those.

And yes, I had much better taste before I had kids.

GoOskie said:

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Ratio of hype to my enjoyment:

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margot robbie did live up to expectations.

wifeisafurd said:

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GoOskie said:

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Ratio of hype to my enjoyment:

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margot robbie did live up to expectations.

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Absolutely.