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View Full Version : Movies that just didn't live up to your expectations....


PG-rated
10-10-2005, 09:29 AM
So reading the various "Movies You Hate" threads, I've realized that I very rarely actively dislike a movie, but I do have a lot of movies that just sort of disappointed me. I would still recommend them to people if I thought their tastes would match that particular movie, but they just weren't quite what I was looking for. I thought this thread might be a good place to discuss those movies, especially since I'm interested to hear what others might think about my picks.

To repeat: this thread is NOT for movies you hated and would never recommend to anyone, that caused you to walk out of the theater, fall asleep, return without finishing, or pray to God to give you those two hours of your life back. There are already at least two threads for those movies.

Also, some of these may contain spoilers, so if you see a movie listed that you haven't seen and don't want to know the ending of, scroll past that one.

I'll start:

Signs - I loved the acting and cinematography in this, but the ending really pissed me off. First of all, why would aliens invade a planet that's covered in a substance they're allergic to? Didn't any of their "advance teams" (the ones who made the crop circles) ever visit when it was raining? Second, I found the whole idea of fate as used in the movie to be extremely simplistic and fairly insulting to people of faith. Mel Gibson's son was "supposed" to have asthma so he could survive the alien attack? His wife's death had a "purpose" because she gave him the idea to defeat the aliens? I don't think so.

Like I said, I was really enjoying this movie until the end, so I appreciate the craft that went into it. And I would recommend it to anyone for whom suspension of disbelief comes a little easier than it does for me. But I was disappointed.

kris97
10-10-2005, 09:43 AM
Eyes Wide Shut -- I love Kubrick, love(d) Cruise and Kidman, was so intrigued by the premise. Even during the movie, I continued to have hope that the strangeness would all be explained in a great, twisty ending. Nope. So disappointing.

Magnolia -- Again, love the director (Paul Thomas Anderson), love sprawling multi character drams, love the acting, expected a great ending to tie all the loose ends together .... and was totally left saying, huh? at the deluge of frogs.

The Talented Mr. Ripley -- Quite possibly my ideal cast, Matt Damon, Gwyneth, Jude Law... awesome 50s setting, Princeton connection, suspense filled plot .. and again, a crappy ending. I was really looking forward to this one too.

Regina Phalange
10-10-2005, 09:51 AM
The other thread is calling "Movies you DON'T recommend" not "Movies you Hate". I think these threads are too similar to try to start both. If a movie didn't live up to an expectation, you probably don't recommend it. I would say just add your movie, with comments, to the other list. Just a thought.

Ps: I was dissapointed with Signs as well. I love M. Night Shamalah or however you spell his name, but his movies always have HUGE loopholes he forgets to take into consideration.

Freckles
10-10-2005, 11:13 AM
The other thread is calling "Movies you DON'T recommend" not "Movies you Hate". I think these threads are too similar to try to start both. If a movie didn't live up to an expectation, you probably don't recommend it. I would say just add your movie, with comments, to the other list. Just a thought.
I think this thread is different enough from the other topic. Typically there are many movies that *I* may have been disappointed in, but that I would still reccommend to others. I'm actually weird in that if a movie is hyped/critically acclaimed and I don't see it right away, then by the time I do see it I am usually disappointed, even if it was a solid film. Examples: Ghost, Forest Gump, Office Space, and Old School. They were all decent movies for their particular genre, but I felt let down because I expected so much more after hearing/reading such rave reviews,KWIM?

I'm sure I will have more to add once I think about it for a bit.

PG-rated
10-10-2005, 11:29 AM
If a movie didn't live up to an expectation, you probably don't recommend it.
Well, I thought I made it pretty clear that I was talking about movies that weren't for me, but that I would consider recommending to others. Which makes this different from the other thread in a fairly significant way. So I'm keeping it. :p

kris97 - I'm totally with you on Eyes Wide Shut (I especially thought it needed another round of editing), but I disagree about Magnolia. I can't really explain why, either - I just sort of knew going in that there couldn't be an easy way to resolve any of the plotlines, so the deluge of frogs sort of made sense to me.

Freckles - I'm the same way about some movies. Sideways was one of mine - yeah, it had compelling writing and great acting, but based on what everyone was saying, I was expecting to be completely blown away or something. It was a very good movie, but I was just expecting...more.

karina
10-10-2005, 12:17 PM
Napoleon Dynamite - I heard it was so funny.. it sucked!