Movies that look stupid but turn out good.

[numbers123]

In general, I tend to think that animated movies are ones that I thought I wouldn't like because of the concepts of being a kids movie. I find that I usually am surprised about the message and how well it is portrayed.

I liked 27 dresses, when I thought that it was going to be a typical chick flick. I think we went to see something that was sold out and 27 Dresses wasn't. Fantastic Four was another one - yeah laugh at me, but I do find it fun. I had heard that Mama Mia was awful, but I totally enjoyed it.

I also find that I am generally unimpressed with movies that are supposed to be good or on the cutting edge. A billion years ago, "Clockwork Orange" was to be the cutting edge absolutely must see movie. I found it disgusting and the beginning of violent movies for the sake of violence and nothing else. Sideways, Alferd Hichcock movies, other classics - I didn't like.

[mpal2]

Sideways, Alferd Hichcock movies, other classics - I didn't like.

But Hitchcock's Rope was so twisted and sick. It was awesome! Where else would you see a movie that has 2 college students killing a friend, hiding him in a trunk and serving a buffet to his family and fiance over his dead body?

ETA: He also filmed the movie as if it was a play. It's one long continuous scene that had to be challenging for all involved in making the film.

[danceronice]

Pirates of the Caribbean - a movie based on a theme park ride? I was convinced it would be awful.

You and everyone up to and including Disney studio executives who really thought this was going to be popcorn-flick filler. And then the rushes of Johnny Depp's way-out-there take on Jack Sparrow started coming in...and then they all started thinking "We might just have something here..." (Too bad the sequels spent a LOT of wasted time on will-they-or-won't-theying the only two cardboard cutouts from the first movie. Seriously, when the LOSING romantic rival/honorable adversary is more interesting...The second and third movies wander down WAY too many plot cul-de-sacs and never, ever come out.)

[michiruwater]

But the third one had the most epically fantastic score ever It was totally ignored. I know Hans Zimmer can be irritating but I thought that score was absolutely underrated. One Day is gorgeous and he should have been nominated based on I Don't Think Now Is The Best Time alone.

[orbitz]

I liked 27 dresses, when I thought that it was going to be a typical chick flick. I think we went to see something that was sold out and 27 Dresses wasn't. Fantastic Four was another one - yeah laugh at me, but I do find it fun. I had heard that Mama Mia was awful, but I totally enjoyed it.

27 Dresses was an enjoyable enough fluff overall, but it was a typical chick flick. The scene where the Heigel character humiliated her little sis and then was immediately sorry she did it? Been There and Done That in many previous chick flicks before. The plot about Heigel being secretly in love with her boss while he's oblivous to her? Um, nothing remotely new there. The ending scene where Heigel gave her I-Luv-U speech to James Mardsen? Again, the same scene has been played out in hundres of previous romantic films. It was almost barf worthy. I will say that Heigel and Mardsen are very appealing actors and deserve much better materials.

For Mama Mia, I was more disappointed by the lousy direction in the movie. It was a big musical movie with big stars and the studio gave it to a first time film director from the stage. Hello, did they not see what was wrong with The Producers which followed the same route to the screen? The Greek islands have tremendous scenery, but we barely saw any of it in the film. The parts of the island that we did see was just sort of there. Why was that? Ugh. I just wish a more competent director was giving the helm. I've heard that Meryl Streep is in talk with the Mama Mia's director to do a biopic on Magaret Thatcher. For Streep's sake I hope she wakes up and find a more respected director for that biopic.

FF4 was my favorite comic book heroes when I was a kid. To see the so-so treatment it got on the big screen was a disappointment for me. And don't even get me started on a blond Jessi Alba as Sue Storm. She looked like a porno actress in the film. She can't act her way out of a paper bag, and any movie with her in it is bound to be bad. (The same applies to any movie with Jessica Biel in it). Chris Evans was also bland in the FF4 films, so of course he's now picked to play Captain America. Huh?

[skateycat]

Based on the fact that I loved the Jim Jarmusch movie Mystery Train, I expected also to love Coffee & Cigarettes. I liked a few of the segments, like the argument between Tom Waits and Iggy Pop, but overall I was bored and a bit sorry I'd dragged my husband to it.

[Indra486]

But the third one had the most epically fantastic score ever It was totally ignored. I know Hans Zimmer can be irritating but I thought that score was absolutely underrated. One Day is gorgeous and he should have been nominated based on I Don't Think Now Is The Best Time alone.

ITA. However, the real kick in the teeth was that there are parts of the score from what I'm pretty sure was part of I Don't Think Now is The Best Time was cut and never included on the OST release or the extended release.

I'm talking about this section of the music when Will is killed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8n21NhwKnQ

To be fair, the music from 2:00 forwards was released on the extended score. Anyway, it's a great score, I just wish they hadn't gone skimpy with the extra details.

-------

As per the title of this thread, Sherlock Holmes and Transformers. With Sherlock Holmes, I thought about Guy Ritchie and his bomb called Swept Away. I ended up loving the film to pieces. Transformers was well... pretty much Michael Bay's usual shenanigans but it had its moments.

[BigB08822]

I saw Zombieland last night. It sure looked dumb but turned out to be quite a good movie for the comedy zombie genre. Bill Murray stole the show.

[HeatherC]

The other one that was so much better than what I thought it would be was Enchanted. Absolutely charming.

I LOVE that movie! I wasn't sure what to expect when my friends and I sat down to watch it several months ago, but Amy Adams is absolutely wonderful and Patrick Dempsey was pretty great too. I thought they did a phenomenal job with the casting in this movie from the two leads to Idina Menzel and Susan Sarandan. I love the music, some parts were downright hilarious, and it was such a sweet story.

[jollibee]

Based on the fact that I loved the Jim Jarmusch movie Mystery Train, I expected also to love Coffee & Cigarettes. I liked a few of the segments, like the argument between Tom Waits and Iggy Pop, but overall I was bored and a bit sorry I'd dragged my husband to it.

Completely agree. Though theater students or young actors, should watch Cate Blanchett's 'dialogue' segment in the movie. That was entertaining and educational. But for me, only the Jack White and Meg White scene was memorable, and I admit re-watching that part twice. The rest, horrible. Blah.

[danceronice]

But the third one had the most epically fantastic score ever It was totally ignored. I know Hans Zimmer can be irritating but I thought that score was absolutely underrated. One Day is gorgeous and he should have been nominated based on I Don't Think Now Is The Best Time alone.

I think it might be because Zimmer didn't actually write a lot of it. A LOT of the scores of the second two are farmed out while he "supervised."

And he can be annoying (didn't he do the at-times ear-gougingly repetitive LOTR?) but nowhere NEAR the level of the PROFOUNDLY self-referential yet still stupidly appealing James Horner. ALL of his movie scores are essentially "Write a rougly sixteen-bar theme, repeat ad nauseum, with Keyboard Choir and Our Lady of Soundtrack Sorrow until movie ends." Yes, most of it's catchy, but it gets really repetitive. What REALLY drove me nuts was listening to Titanic's soundtrack and finally catching a riff that is ripped DIRECTLY from "Apollo 13." Seriously. It is the same chord progression and little "we're waiting nervously" melody from the reentry sequence. I actually yelled at the CD player "You're stealing from your own scores!" I dare someone to go into Titanic's score and cut out all the riffs on "My Heart Will Go On"'s meloday and see what's left. My guess would be about seven minutes of score plus Gaelic Storm and "Alexander's Ragtime Band."

I suppose Zimmer's the Poor Man's John Williams, and Horner is the Poor Man's Jerry Goldsmith (who demonstrated with scores like "Patton" he could make repetivie work for him.)

As for Galaxy Quest--that was AWESOME. It is especially good if you ARE in fact a sci-fi fan and are familiar enough with Star Trek to appreciate all the in jokes (like a crew member whose job is to repeat the computer, the actor in the alien suit who hates his job, and blatantly stupid plot points like "the chompers" that were obviously writers padding a 42-minute show). And call him what you will, Tim Allen did a sensational job aping William Shatner as Kirk without being a full-blown parody. Even how he sits in the captain's chair is a shout-out. As Wil Wheaton said, the only thing missing was casting him as an angry fan at the convention who would yell at the actor who played the kid on the starship about how he ruined the show by his mere presence. (As you might guess, Wheaton's come to terms having played possibly the single most-hated character in Star Trek history.)

[Nan]

As for Galaxy Quest--that was AWESOME. It is especially good if you ARE in fact a sci-fi fan and are familiar enough with Star Trek to appreciate all the in jokes (like a crew member whose job is to repeat the computer, the actor in the alien suit who hates his job, and blatantly stupid plot points like "the chompers" that were obviously writers padding a 42-minute show). And call him what you will, Tim Allen did a sensational job aping William Shatner as Kirk without being a full-blown parody. Even how he sits in the captain's chair is a shout-out.

"Run, before they kill Guy!"

[Satellitegirl]

"Run, before they kill Guy!"

love it.

I just realized that was a very young Sam Rockwell in the movie too, playing Guy. Such a great movie. Loved him in Moon as well...and Ironman 2.

[michiruwater]

I'm talking about this section of the music when Will is killed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8n21NhwKnQ

THANK YOU. This is simply wonderful. And now I may have to listen to the whole OST again, with this ripped of YT as well.

[Indra486]

And he can be annoying (didn't he do the at-times ear-gougingly repetitive LOTR?) but nowhere NEAR the level of the PROFOUNDLY self-referential yet still stupidly appealing James Horner.

Howard Shore did LOTR. I thought John Williams' score for Harry Potter was annoying and I knew this girl who claimed that Tchaikovsky ripped off the Harry Potter theme for Swan Lake.

THANK YOU. This is simply wonderful. And now I may have to listen to the whole OST again, with this ripped of YT as well.

Death/funeral music in films is my guilty pleasure.

[Aussie Willy]

As Wil Wheaton said, the only thing missing was casting him as an angry fan at the convention who would yell at the actor who played the kid on the starship about how he ruined the show by his mere presence. (As you might guess, Wheaton's come to terms having played possibly the single most-hated character in Star Trek history.)

I love how Wil Wheaton makes appearances as Sheldon's nemisis on Big Bang Theory.

[Mozart]

I just watched the Midnight Meat Train and it was actually pretty good, though I do love horror movies LOL. It was much better than I thought it would be!

[PDilemma]

I knew this girl who claimed that Tchaikovsky ripped off the Harry Potter theme for Swan Lake.

This reminds me of the truly born to be blond 9th grade child, way back in the middle of Leonardo DiCaprio Titanic mania, who told me I had to see the movie because "you won't believe what happens to the ship!"

[Wyliefan]

As per the title of this thread, Sherlock Holmes and Transformers. With Sherlock Holmes, I thought about Guy Ritchie and his bomb called Swept Away. I ended up loving the film to pieces. Transformers was well... pretty much Michael Bay's usual shenanigans but it had its moments.

Agree about Sherlock Holmes -- I thought it looked horrible but ended up really liking it.

As for Transformers . . . well, the less said about that, the better.

[LuckyCharm]

For me, Mean Girls, Legally Blonde, Shallow Hal , Clueless, Miss Congeniality, and anything with Gaylord Focker or Bill and Ted.

ETA: Add to that Rush Hour 1 and 2, but sadly, not 3.