Film fanatics: Name an overrated "masterpiece" (the older the better)

[DerekG]

I just saw Renoir's Rules of the Game, commonly cited as one of the ten greatest films ever made. Not the case. At best, it's a mildly diverting social satire devoid of technical mastery or lasting substance. Those who place this alongside Citizen Kane or Vertigo are daft.

Anyone up for slaughtering some sacred cows?

[elleng]

1. Seventh Seal

Just don't GET Bergman.

[Ineeda]

2. Metropolis bored me to tears.

[XemaSab]

33. God, me too

I made it like 2 hours in and I realized that it was hackneyed and trite.

[LoveMyCali]

42. Oh Dear God

I can't even tell you how many times I had to watch that travesty when I was in college.

[ohiosmith]

3. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Only the acid I dropped got me through it.

[solara]

16. Heh

Do tell

[Wait Wut]

4. Casablanca

I've tried watching it a million times. I fall asleep every friggin' time. Not a fan of Bogart, so that probably doesn't help. But, I do love African Queen.

[Bucky]

18. Gasp. This is the end of a beautiful friendship, Mr. Wut

I still get goose pimples whenever Victor Lazlow leads in impromptu "La Marseillaise" outsinging "Deutschland uber Sein Sorry Arsch".

[CBGLuthier]

5. La Dolce Vita

Loved 8 1/2 but could not relate to La Dolce Vita.

[Graybeard]

37. La Dolce Vita way over-rated.

Dated and ridiculous. The targets Fellini chose to skewer are too easy and obvious. I wonder if those who put it at the top of his films have seen it lately.

Yet on the other hand Fellini's true masterworks like La Strada and 8 1/2 just keep getting better and better with repeat viewings.

[lastlib]

6. Gone with the Wind....

...every time i see it on, I want to bitch-slap Scarlett. (that'll probably get me tombstoned.....)

And I SUPPORT the Violence Against Women Act.....!

[truedelphi]

8. Isn't that the point of the movie? n/t

[MicaelS]

10. A freaking 4 hour long Soap Opera....

And I truly hate Scarlett O'Hara.

[Bucky]

19. Hey, what about a "Violence Against Slaves Act" instead? She's so mean to poor Butterfly McQueen

[Archae]

22. Agreed.

Pure bullshit and hammy over-acting.

[zeemike]

29. Clearly #1

The only part of that movie I enjoyed was at the end..."Frankly my dear I don't give a damn"...that summed up how I felt about it too.

[lastlib]

7. Anything with Mel Gibson

[Bucky]

20. I dunno, the first two Mad Max films still hold up.

I didn't like the 3rd one even the first time I saw it. What a waste of Tina Turner.

[zbdent]

9. "Galloping Horse" by Eadweard Muybridge

how's that for going way back ...

[hunter]

12. But he did some great nudies...

[Gidney N Cloyd]

13. Hey, no spoilers on that. I haven't seen it yet!

[zbdent]

15. the book was better ...

[Gidney N Cloyd]

28. The book was 13/1

[Gidney N Cloyd]

11. Chariots of Fire and My Left Foot both lost me

[phylny]

24. Chariots of Fire. I'm no dummy, but I didn't get it. At all! n/t

[solara]

17. Well I am sure I am gonna get flamed for this little list

The English Patient

Titanic

Avatar

Slumdog Millionaire

Chariots of Fire

[harmonicon]

23. Aren't at least Titanic and Avatar considered to be complete crap?

I mean by critics and those who would be interested in good cinema.

The others you listed, I don't know enough about.

[solara]

27. Very possibly, but I think initially they were both considered

innovative.. and somehow 'ground breaking' ( go figure)

and they were two of the top grossing films of all time I believe. so the masses must have believed the hype.

I think eventually some critics came to the conclusion that Academy Award winner, James Cameron, who stood at the helm of both of these pictures, was really not all that, and neither were his two biggest pictures.

[harmonicon]

31. Technologically they were innovative, but shit story-wise.

I saw Avatar. I was interested in the technology behind it, and did find it interesting for that reason, but it was still just "Dances With Smurfs."

[solara]

45. Agreed

Dancing with Smurfs!!

[harmonicon]

51. I'm not clever enough to have made it up - I got it from South Park. (nt)

[Rob H.]

38. A friend of mine summed up my feelings about 'The English Patient' perfectly

She said they should have called it The Endless Patient, instead.

Another friend refers to Slumdog Millionaire as DumbSlog MillionBore. I haven't seen it myself, though.

[solara]

46. I love these.. and I think they are right on

The Endless Patient!! Dumbslog Millionbore!!! Ohhhh yes!

[JVS]

48. How can you not like Chariots of Fire?

[solara]

49. I didn't say I didn't like it, exactly

But it was a disappointment after all the hype
And I really didn't think it was as good as other people thought it was.



sorry.

[BlueIris]

21. Citizen Kane, Rear Window, Ordinary People,

Kramer vs. Kramer, Rain Man, The Hours, Chicago and...There Will Be Blood.

It kills me to post that last one.

[RZM]

25. A few years ago I made a point to watch some classics

I'd never seen. I was surprised how many underwhelmed me.

A Clockwork Orange and Midnight Cowboy were the biggest letdowns. Although I did think the cinematography of Clockwork was incredible, as a whole I didn't particularly enjoy it.

[zeemike]

30. You were not meant to enjoy A Clockwork Orange.

It was made to be disturbing.

[WiffenPoof]

35. Exactly! n/t

[Art_from_Ark]

50. I was certainly disturbed by it

[edbermac]

52. Check out this site which includes Clockwork Orange.

This guy Rob Ager does some first rate analysis and points out a ton of stuff even I've never noticed and I'm a diehard Kubrick fan. Some interesting interpretations with some videos in the chapters.

http://www.collativelearning.com/ACO%20expanded%20analysis%20.html

[pink-o]

26. Wings of Desire

In the early 90s my friends all lovd this film and I found it unwatchable. My ex husband was German and he hated it worse than I did. But we're both agnostics so maybe that had something to do with it.

[kwassa]

32. Eyes Wide Shut

I love Kubrick, but not this.

I don't know how a film full of so many beautiful naked women could be boring, unsexual, and pointless. But there it is.

[WiffenPoof]

34. Let's See

Ordinary People
Kramer vs. Kramer

to name two.

Under-rated:
Taxi Driver
Barry Lyndon
They Shoot Horses Don't They

[XemaSab]

36. Eraserhead

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Chinatown, 2001, Manchurian Candidate, Pulp Fiction... meh.

[RZM]

39. Definitely agree with 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'

I thought it was good, but I don't think I would call it 'great.'

[SoDesuKa]

40. Ben Hur

I don't think I could sit through four hours of it again, although it was considered a cinematic triumph when it came out. Chuck Heston wasn't such an asshole back then.

[Populist_Prole]

41. 'Vertigo'

I'm a fan of Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart ( my favorite being 'Rear Window' ) and it's a great movie "on paper" ( nicely shot, and Kim Novak looked great, and I love the creepy music on the opening credits ) but even by my patient standards it moved just too slowly and was pretty much a snoozer. By the time the plot twist was revealed, I found it anti-climactic and I just didn't give a shit anymore.

Another eagerly anticipated "classic" I ultimately found disappointing was 'The Maltese Falcon'. Another dull one.

[Major Nikon]

43. Anything by Woody Allen

[Doc_Technical]

44. IMHO these films aren't so good:

Grand Illusion (1937)

The World of Henry Orient (1964)

Darling (1965)

Giant (1956)

[solara]

47. Yep yep

Giant was a major disappointment to me