Among the most over-rated films of recent years would have to be:
300 -- over-rated simply by virtue of not having been laughed off the screen by audiences. This is the SHOWGIRLS of the new millennium, but people treated it as if it was something Profound and Serious, when it is basically just Racist and Militaristic Propaganda. Dr. Goebbels would have loved it.
MILLION DOLLAR BABY -- anything Eastwood can rasp, Freeman can rasp raspier. Why does Hilary Swank have to suffer the tortures of the damned ao that Clint can eat lemon meringue pie happily ever after?
UNFORGIVEN -- useless.
AMERICAN BEAUTY -- Indpendent Cinema Lite, a tired knockoff of about a dozen better movies.
MULHOLLAND DRIVE -- David Lynch's exploration of his psyche starts to lead him up his own ass. A boring parade of narrative tricks and gimmicks, with the occasional flash of the old Lynch magic that serves to underline how atrocious everything around it really is.
CHICAGO -- I have said it before, and I will say it again, and I will continue saying it: an unspeakable cinematic abortion in every single way, although the lighting and costumes are of a highly professional level. Really excellent red gels. Basically, this is the cinematic equivalent of CORAM BOY. The tide does seem to be changing on this, as I seem to remember that Premiere Magazine did a Most Over-Rated List that included it.
And now, the alleged "classics." Here are the two most bizarrely over-rated, for me at least:
THE LADY EVE -- unwatchable drivel, with an unbelievable plot and the worst performance ever given by Henry Fonda
JULES AND JIM -- the longest 90 odd minutes in movies
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
Updated On: 6/15/07 at 09:43 AM
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