Most overrated movie?- Page 3

[robbiej]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 4:53pm

'Robbiej, you TOTALLY missed the message of the movie. Too bad'

Somehow, I'm simply going to have to find a way to move on from the fact that someone named EverythingisRENT hates my movie taste.

Perhaps Margo and I can go catch up on some old Pauline Kael reviews.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 4:55pm

The Fifth Element

*shudders*

[NYadgal]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 4:56pm

I never cared for the Lord of the Rings movies... though I loved the books.

Don't hate me...

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 4:59pm

Robbie, what does my username have to do with anything? I don't know anything about what movies you enjoy, I was just making a comment. It's no big deal, it's just that Forrest Gump has a very special place in my heart and I can't fathom how people don't "get" how brilliant that movie is.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 5:05pm

I only tolerated the Lord of the Rings books.

I don't see what the fuss was about.

And I'm a huge fan of books about history and fantasy. And LOTR's combines both...

[robbiej]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 5:06pm

It was, admittedly, a cheap shot.

But underneath the feel-good gloss of FORREST GUMP is an insidious message that comes to the fore. Perhaps one must be of a certain age (though I have no idea how old you are) or from a certain group (African-American or gay) to see it. But it's there and it's palpable.

As a fan of RENT, I'm surprised you don't see the difference between presenting characters affected by HIV with compassion (as in RENT) and presenting them as having brought it upon themselves through bad behavior (Robin Wright Penn's character in FG).

[zippyjen]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 5:10pm

i have to say napolean dynamite or dr strangelove. I tried to get through the second last night and i just couldn't. It is a shame since i tend to like Kubrik's movies.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 5:13pm

I can see robbiej and Margo's point about Gump, but I don't agree completely. I'm not convinced the movie was quite that evil and it's views on race and women were quite reflective of the film's period and setting. I also read the novel which was pretty much as simplistic as the film. I'm not convinced there was a political "agenda", but then, I'm also accused of being a tad naive.

I did LOVE Mulholland Drive, however. My roommate and I talked about the film for about an hour immediately after watching it. Unlike other Lynch films, it was one I "got". Not all of his imagery is meant to be understood, but this particular film was more about the story than the imagery. Lost Highway, on the other hand, had me utterly baffled.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 5:21pm

So it's "brilliant" to construct an uber-right-wing allegory which clearly states that as long as one didn't grasp, care about and/or participate in any way with major social movements of the latter half of the 20th Century (the film openly mocks every character who is part of the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, and the feminist movement), that as long as one never questions authority and/or the wrongheaded policies of the government in any way, and make no sacrifices for the disenfranchised or the greater good, that one will be rewarded in the end (Forrest ends up a multimillionaire, though he did nothing whatsoever to earn it). It's also probably fine with you that the only black character in the film is an offensive shuffling Stepin Fetchit stereotype -- a throwback to the racist Al Jolson films of the 30's, not to mention the careers of Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers, Snowflake, Mantan Moreland et al.

However, the film says, if one is to break any of these latter day "commandments" and has the nerve to challenge authority and work to end injustice in the world, or dares to experiment with sex or drugs of any kind, then one will be condemned and suffer the fatal consequences.


You really think it was "just a coincidence" the way the author chose to depict the fates of the two main characters? If so, you've been duped and need to do a little research into what a reactionary right wing kook Winstom Groom (the author of the novel) is.

And if you STILL don't get it, given your user name (yes, that again), I'm sure that you also have no problem at all with utterly appalling and offensive ending to "Rent" with Mimi coming back from the dead. That's an insult and a slap in the face to everyone who has lived with and died from AIDS and their loved ones and the very real suffering that people endure. But, I guess that's "BRILLIANT" to you too.

Updated On: 4/26/05 at 05:21 PM

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 5:25pm

Well, for what it's worth I'm a lanky white straight guy and I thought 'Gump' was condescending and right wing too.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 5:26pm

Kids

People were supposed to believe that this was a documentary.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 5:33pm

Titanic
Napoleon Dynamite- IF I HEAR ONE MORE LINE FROM THAT MOVIE... I'LL SCREAM!

[Marquise]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 5:42pm

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Evita
Million Dollar Baby

[EverythingIsRENT]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 6:10pm

wow, Forrest Gump obviously stikes a nerve with some people.

Margo, you seem way to bitter. the ending of RENT is in no way an insult. The ending of the play doesn't say that Mimi doesn't die 5 minutres later. The point is, she has that ONE moment more, and the point is to make each moment count. It's fine if you don't like RENT's ending, but that does not mean it is a bad one.

Should we start another Forrest Gump thread? I don't even know where to begin. I guess it's all perspective because I happen to have right-leaning views and do not see the movie as "mocking" anyone. Jenny is not shown as an evil or a "bad" person. If she was, Forrest wouldn't totally be in love with her. She's given sympathy (she was sexually abused as a child) but she did make some dumb choices, and she got sick. (AIDS is never specifically mentioned). I don't see that as the film maker finger-wagging and telling the audience, "see?? THAT'S what happens to those darned hippies!" If you DO see it that way, then I guess we just see things differently. I see the movie as celebrating INNOCENCE, and how "what goes around comes around" because Forrest is just such a nice guy, and good things happen to him, because he doesn't have the "intelligence" the other characters have. To me, this movie makes the point that there are different kinds of intelligence. There were characters who were much smarter than Forrest, but then these people were very cruel to him. Forrest is just the ultimate Good Guy, and I think it shows that everyone effects history, without even knowing it sometimes. Plus this is such a patriotic movie, it really is an excellent view of American History in general.

Okway wow i'm rambling now..Sorry, I just love this movie so much. Hopefully i've made some sense. Otherwise, we can aggree to dissagree

Updated On: 4/26/05 at 06:10 PM

[MyDreamsRecurring]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 6:14pm

"The Lord of the Rings flicks.

I'd say all three equally but even die hards that I know admit that 'The Two Towers' sucked."

*glares at you*
geez! the lotr movies are the most quality in years, the two towers is one of my favorite movies of all time. plus, forrest gump is a good movie!

Titanic is the most overrated for me

Updated On: 4/26/05 at 06:14 PM

[Plum]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 6:20pm

Gotta love LOTR, with its oh-so-thrilling plot of walk-walk-walk-BATTLE-walk-walk-walk-BATTLE-walk-walk-walk-zzzzz...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 6:20pm

In the case of Forrest, we have George Bush as living proof.

In the case of Jenny, well, nearly every gay film/play has a character with HIV/AIDS. While I know it is meant to raise awareness, it could also be argued as support for the right-wing conservative view of "we told you so". Many drug users and sexually promiscuous people died of AIDS in the 80s, both male and female, gay and straight. But I don't think the film was trying to push the agenda that she died because she was wrong or bad. She just made different decisions.

I really don't think that was the intent of the story any more than I believe "if you're a Southern girl and move to the North and have an affair, you'll get cancer" is the intent of Terms of Endearment. I think the author's intent was to view the turbulent social/political climate of the 60s-80s through characterization. And the character of Forrest represents the naive idealism of "The American Dream".

Anyway, that's just my opinion.

Updated On: 4/26/05 at 06:20 PM

[Plum]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 6:23pm

I think I was too young when Forrest Gump came out to judge its politics very well, but from what I remember, its depiction of the Vietman War wasn't exactly that of a right-wing kook film. That said, I thought the movie had some nice moments but wasn't anything that amazing.

[MyDreamsRecurring]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 6:24pm

"Gotta love LOTR, with its oh-so-thrilling plot of walk-walk-walk-BATTLE-walk-walk-walk-BATTLE-walk-walk-walk-zzzzz..."

posts like that make me cringe. LotR is an absolutely beautiful story. actually, many beautiful stories. I suggest to read the books or watch the movies again if you're that ignorant

Updated On: 4/26/05 at 06:24 PM

[Plum]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 6:37pm

I'll read the books again next time I need a nap.

Look, by all rights I should have loved those books- some of my favorite books are fantasy epics written by Englishmen, like Narnia and His Dark Materials. I read The Hobbit first, and found it to be okay, with some good moments, so I wasn't expecting LOTR to put me to sleep.

But between the horrible, horrible "songs," the interminable journeying, and the incessant references to bits of made-up history and culture you'd have to read the entire appendix to understand, I could barely get through the first book of the trilogy. When I found out they all journied to the big meeting, only to decide that they were all going to journey some more, I actually screamed in frustration. As a writer, Tolkien simply couldn't hold my interest for three books of this stuff. I skipped around in the second 2 books, trying to find a good section, but gave up in despair after about half an hour.

You're talking to the girl who actually read the 40-page Socialist manifesto at the end of The Jungle. Who read the entirety of The Fountainhead in middle school. Who used to read nutritional labels for fun. You'd think I could make it through a classic work of fantasy, but Tolkien overmatched me. I salute him for somehow making a fantasy story that's so incredibly pompous and dull I couldn't finish it, and I nominate that painful trilogy for Most Overrated Books of All Time.
Updated On: 4/26/05 at 06:37 PM

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 4/26/05 at 6:43pm

'Lord of the Rings is proof that Hollywood just takes unreadable books and turns them into unwatchable movies.'