Not as extreme as the case in the OP, but I’m often surprised how “meh” a reaction Don’t Look Up got. Maybe people think it was heavy handed? Too on the nose? I don’t know but most folks seem to think it was at best merely “okay”.
For me, I place it next to Idiocracy as one of the most prescient films about what is in store for us. I think after this last election day, it seems even more prescient. On top of that, it is legitimately funny with really good performances, especially from Jennifer Lawrence.
I really liked that movie. Great example for me, too.
Yeah, I’d call it heavy handed. It felt like it was a message first. Not as bad as the Daily Wire stuff, but going down that road. Even if I agree with the message, it felt contrived.
Just my two cents though.
It suffers from the “Reality is Unrealistic” trope. Seems so on the nose and heavy handed, yet is literally exactly how it would happen (and is arguably already happening).
It’s one of the least forgettable movie I’ve seen in a while (it’s a good thing) and the concept is just so good because it’s idiotic but at the same time completely true
This is your regular reminder that a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes means that 20% of reviewers liked the movie. The RT score represents chance that a reviewer liked it, not overall weighted score or how much they enjoyed it.
Batman and Robin. I KNOW it’s cheesy as hell but I was a kid and I loved it. I loved the aesthetic of Gotham but found the previous Batman villains too scary (Penguin, Two Face) but Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy weren’t scary at all. It was a romp!
It want’s to be cheesy and not serious like the newer Batman movies. It’s like the series with Adam West. People not liking it are expecting something other.
Going to give an old example and a new example.
I remember liking the Aeon Flux movie. Don’t remember too much about it, but I remember enjoying it, and favorably comparing it to Ultraviolet which came out around the same time. Recently I heard someone bring it up in a podcast as a terrible movie and it turns out it’s pretty universally panned lol.
A more recent example is The Watchers. I thought it was pretty good and kept my interest the whole time, but seems pretty middling from reviews. A lot of people especially didn’t like the ending, which I guess was kind of sudden, but still alright imo. Not noteworthy in being especially bad or anything.
Not as bad as watching a movie with friends when everyone else loved it and you were the only one who hated it lol. It feels so much more visceral.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
I saw it the day it came out and thought it was a brilliant departure from the macguffin-based plots that had come before, and it showed so many different things that had never been in a Star Wars movie before.
Turns out all Star Wars fans want is more of the exact same that had been in the previous 7 movies.
If you remove the whole space casino bit, I would agree with you.
I thought Speed Racer was visually fantastic, and did a good job capturing some of the feel of the original show while putting a more modern spin on it. John Goodman feels like he can do no wrong. I just had a good time with it the whole time through.
It seems most people didn’t feel the same way I did
I watched the Last Airbender movie before seeing the cartoon.
It’s not a bad kung fu movie, except for the casting. Not great, but it was a fun watch. Now that I’ve seen the cartoon, I understand why the folx who grew up with it refuse to acknowledge it’s existence.
I have a friend who recommends literally every single thing he watches. He’ll watch the stupidest movie in the world and be like “wow, that was awesome!”. I envy how much enjoyment he can receive from terrible movies and TV shows.
I thought Battlefield Earth had a cool concept when I was like 13. I watched it again a few years ago and it’s hilariously bad. 90% of the movie is Dutch angles
I loved Equilibrium and was surprised it wasn’t rated as good.
I cried harder at that dog scene in that movie than any other movie ever. Even right now I’m tearing up thinking about it. It may have been in part because I watched it alone so I didn’t feel the need to filter myself at all and there wasn’t anyone to comfort me. Fuck, man. Fuck.
But yeah, apart from that, I liked it too. It’s a bit cheesy, sure, but I really enjoyed a lot of it. I thought the gun stuff was cool. I forget the name they have it. Gun Kata or something? Like when they’d slide into a pitch black room and just shoot all around them. That was cool. It’s such a cheesy thing but so cool lol.
I’ve never met a person who I know has seen it but doesn’t like Equilibrium.
…And it’s at a 7.3 on IMDb. That’s a pretty good rating.
Huh that’s interesting. I kinda remember it not being that well received at the time. It did get a cult following over the years so maybe the IMDb rating has gone up since then?
It was widely compared to the matrix which I did, but watching later it is a great movie in its own right
It flopped at the box and was regarded as a ripoff of the matrix’s aesthetics by critics. But it was well received by home audiences. I remember it fondly as a quick to syndication movie. It definitely has some lows in quality at points and the plot could’ve been stronger. But its highs were very solid.
I nearly literally started a friendship based on showing the other person this movie. It’s a fantastic movie and apparently why Christian Bale was chosen as Batman.
Fuck ‘em.
A good movie is a movie you enjoyed watching. Full stop.
This is why I’ve adopted the ACG-style rating for reviewing stuff. So, for movies it’ll be basically: must watch asap; wait till available to stream/BD/pirate; watch if you got nothing else to watch; skip.
This is actually why I like rotten tomatoes, breaks apart the critics and the fans.
I recall going to a movie with friends, walking out and saying “that was terrible” and my friend saying “what, that was good”. Debate ensued in the group.
Honestly nothing gets me more interested in a movie than when the reviews are greatly divisive—it’s usually a sign that the director/writer is doing something bold or at least interesting. I know that for the most part that if I go see a movie like that even if I don’t love it I’ll at least be glad I watched it.
For me this is the matrix sequels and Indiana Jones 4. All of them are absolutely fantastic.
Oh my God you guys you need to watch The Naked Man
I’m telling you it’s fucking hilarious. I swear. Look:
Estranged pharmacist’s son who is a savant at chiropractor by day/underground pro-wrestler by night goes on a murderous rampage to avenge his father’s murder at the hands of a quadriplegic pharmacutical ceo and his elvis impersonator bodyguard.
He uses his knowledge of wrestling and the human skeleton to commit devastating chiropractic attacks on his enemies.
He’s chased by a detective who’s a genius but also clinically depressed and…You must watch this movie. I’m not crazy! It’s amazing!
Please!
Er, uh… wow.
The writer must’ve been on some serious hallucinogens! Haha
(off to find a copy…)