Movies I’m Not Supposed to Hate

11 Responses to “Movies I’m Not Supposed to Hate”

1. Hilarity, on March 31st, 2008 Said:

   I’m glad I didn’t have to say Titanic. And Fargo? What was with that? Why did everyone love it? Was it one of those thing where the movie makers made a deliberately stupid and boring film and then sat back to take bets on how many people would praise it to the rafters?

   but Fight Club remains on my list of all time favourite films.

   I love Fight Club. Loved it.

   In fact, I think I’m going to go watch the bits where Brad and John are beating the crap out of each other in front of the bar right now.

2. Movies I’m Not Supposed to Hate « The Rule, on March 31st, 2008 Said:

   [...] 31, 2008 · No Comments Steve is Evil. I usually don’t do the whole meme thing, but since I am back to serious blogging, I [...]

3. James, on March 31st, 2008 Said:

   Forrest Gump is a keeper only because of the numerous one-liners.

   And that’s all I have to say about that.

4. Rob, on April 1st, 2008 Said:

   Loved Fight Club.

   Much of the message was bad (they don’t make anything completely good anymore), but it said something about masculinity in American culture.

   Also, it came out at a time when I was working in a physical restraint school for violent kids. Basically, I was in fistfights with deranged high-schoolers everyday. I knew exactly what they were talking about when they said that you learned something about yourself in a fight.

5. 2-on-1 tag team « Rightwing Film Geek, on April 1st, 2008 Said:

   [...] tag team I’ve been tagged by two different friends — Dale Price and Steve Skojec — for the same meme  — the “Top-Five Critically-Lauded Movies I Simply [...]

6. ben, on April 1st, 2008 Said:

   I have to say that I really liked Fargo. I have enjoyed most of the films by the Cohen brothers, but O Brother Where Art Thou? is there best.

   Fight Club was one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen. I think its an allegory for demonic possesion, and the demon wins.

7. vjmorton, on April 1st, 2008 Said:

   I think its an allegory for demonic possession, and the demon wins.

   Now, I truly detest FIGHT CLUB, but … you seem like a big-enough fan of the movie that you should remember how it ended. So in what sense does the demon win?

   As for you FARGO-haters … there has not been a major American movie in the past decade that (1) created a character so universally and easily *lovable* and such an innocent as Marge, and (2) was so old-fashioned in its morality, without being moralistic — the polarities between country-vs.-city, pleasure-sex-vs.-marital-love, evil-vs.-pragmatism-vs.-goodness, etc.

8. astorian, on April 1st, 2008 Said:

   I could easily name 5 Oscar-winning movies that I absoluely hated (”Out of Africa,” “English Patient,” “American Beauty,” “West Side Story,” and “Greatest Show on Earth”).

   I could easily name 5 film-school/critics’ all-time favorites that I hated (”Belle du Jour,” “Breathless,” “Raging Bull,” “2001,” practically anything by Robert Altman).

   But really, do any of us still get a thrill from knocking movies that critics or the Academy has liked? I mean, in this day and age, there are almost no true sacred cows. And when there are no true sacred cows, it doesn’t take much audacity on my part (or anyone else’s) to take shots at ANY movie, play, book or work of art.

   We all certainly have a right to slam any movie we hate… but absent the pleasure of transgression and the fun of feeling like an iconoclast, what’s the point?

   Nowadays, NO work of art is so universally loved by the critics OR by the public at large. So, standing on a soapbox, feeling naughty, and yelling, “Look at me- I HATE WOODY ALLEN” seems sort of silly. Woody has never had a huge fan base, just a decent sized group of ardent admirer. Am I really doing anything transgressive by mocking Woody?

   Nah.

9. vjmorton, on April 1st, 2008 Said:

   Astorian:

   So are you saying that transgression is not possible in a post-modern climate with no “center”? Because I somewhat agree with you — though with two huge caveats: (1) transgression is still possible within a subculture, even if there are no socially-unifying metanarratives, and (2) there are still some taboos, usually centering around political correctness — blackface, say.

10. astorian, on April 2nd, 2008 Said:

    Victor- all i really meant was, when people make “!0 Most Overrated Albums” or “10 Worst Films” lists, there’s usually a sense of self-congratulation involved. Apart from the MST3K crowd, people rarely name truly wretched albums by unknown bands or utterly worthless films by rank amateurs who didn’t know what they were doing. Lists like these almost always feature either

    1) Smash hit films that made hundreds of millions of, but that the list-maker didn’t like (”Titanic,” for instance).

    2) Critical favorites that the list-maker doesn’t like (”I always read how brilliant ‘Citizen Kane’ was… welI, I saw it, and it bit the big one!”)

    In each case, the list-maker is showing off a bit- either he’s posing as a maverick “(all those other dumb sheep out there like Spielberg, but I’m smart enough to see how phony and manipulative he is”) or an iconoclast (”all those snooty intellectuals worship that pompous windbag, but brave little me is going to take them down a peg”).

    I’m not above those urges myself! I admit, I’ve made such lists before, and I’ve been almost proud of myself for my supposed courage and uniqueness in trashing films (or other works of music and art) regarded as sacred cows.

    But now, I wonder what was so courageous about it. Today, there really ISN’T anything worth calling a canon in any of the arts, and there ISN’T any work or artist that’s universally adored by the public (or even by the critics). So, I’m not really much of a “rebel” if I trash any movie. And make no mistake, when people make lists like this, they WANT to feel like rebels.

11. Andy Nowicki, on April 2nd, 2008 Said:

    I have to take up for FIGHT CLUB in a couple of ways. First of all, it’s by no means universally liked by critics. In fact, it’s quite a polarizing movie. It’s got a huge cult following (and I am one of its cult members), but it’s largely hated by many cultural critics both of the Left and the Right. I don’t think it’s accurate to categorize it as a movie you’re “not supposed to hate.” That would be something more like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN or SCHINDLER’S LIST.

    I am puzzled by many conservatives’ dislike of this movie. It certainly offers a daring critique of feminized modern culture. I don’t think it recommends the actions it depicts (i.e., the activities of Project Mayhem), but it does show them coming out of a particular context: the spiritual emasculation of the American male.

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