When a film becomes the whole package: Oscar-winner! Box office smash! Critical acclaim! It usually means that the film is guaranteed to be good, right?..... Wrong! With these 10 films, it is not always the case. Here is my list of what are, in my personal opinion, some of the most overrated movies I have seen. Please note, I don't think all of these movie are bad, just not as phenomenal as they are made out to be. Although, some of these are just god-awful. Here we go:
10. The Dark Knight: I may have this movie on my DVD rack and I certainly see why their was plenty of gasps when this wasn't nominated for Best Picture. Plus, Heath Ledger more than deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar. But I would say it is a little overrated for these reasons: (1) I still wasn't as blown away by it as most people were, (2) The Dark Knight Rises was much better, and (3) it is not without its flaws. There are two that still bug me: Christian Bale's raspy "Batman" voice which he thankfully improved in the sequel and the casting of Maggie Gyllenhaal as the "babe" of the film. She's not a horrible actress, but seriously, what were they thinking?
9. Avatar: At first, I was really taken away with the film like almost everyone else was. However, after a few more viewings, I realize that even though the effects were outstanding, the film could still be titled Dances With Smurfs. It is something we have seen before and even though it more than deserved its technical Oscars, it should come as no surprise it didn't get a screenplay nod.
8. Slumdog Millionaire: The first Best Picture winner on this list, Slumdog Millionaire is quite an overrated film that for some odd reason swept the entire awards season when it was released. I thought the ending was too Hollywood, the film was inconsistent with its own themes, and it was marketed as such a feel-good film when honestly, it was anything but feel good. It's funny because I don't ever recall seeing a feel-good film that deals with forced marriage, a kid falling into a sea of excrement, or torture.
7. Shakespeare in Love: Another Best Picture winner on this list, and quite an upsetting Best Picture winner. I don't necessarily think Shakespeare in Love is a bad movie, but I think its biggest flaw is not necessarily that it won Best Picture, but the fact that it won over Saving Private Ryan. While I do give the writers points for trying to come up with something different, I did have some problems. Look at my review of the film, I've explained them there.
6. Life is Beautiful: The only foreign film on this list that won pretty big at the Oscars the same year as Shakespeare, this is one that I have SUCH conflicted feelings about. Not only did I not laugh and cry, like most who saw the film did, but I was just left going "A comedy set in the Holocaust? Huh?". I get that the main character was trying to hide the horrors of the Holocaust from his son, but their were other ways to do that so that he wouldn't have to say to his son "We're all going to die". Thankfully, I watched Schindler's List after this to get the bad taste of this movie out of my mouth. If you want to see an emotionally-gripping movie about the Holocaust, just watch that and skip this.
5. Pulp Fiction: I have a feeling that with the inclusion of The Dark Knight and this one on this list, I won't be making a lot of friends. But, wow, is this movie overrated. Yes, this film was a complete game changer for independent cinema and I still quote Samuel L. Jackson's dialogue from the film. But, this film is just TOO. DAMN. LONG. and it really didn't need to be. I can imagine if I saw this in the theater, I would probably have been like "When is this going to end?". This had quite the opposite effect that Django Unchained had on me.
4. The Twilight series: I know these films may not have won any Oscars, nor did they score critical acclaim, but they were box office smashes and won plenty of other awards, so they fit the criteria. Where the hell do I even begin with these films? For starters, what these films did to vampires and werewolves is just mind-boggling. Plus, the film's main love triangle only consists of the three leads staring at each other and pressing against each other's faces. Oh, and the main character basically degrades her gender by being unable to exist without a man. I could go on, but I'm not going too.
3. The English Patient: Not only does this film winning Best Picture upset me, but the fact that it won Best Picture and is a god-awful movie. Seriously, you could've taken out the epicness of the film: WWII setting, epic score, numerous aerial shots of sand, etc. you just have a simple love story. When Elaine from Seinfeld saw this film, she pretty much spoke on behalf of bored and irritated moviegoers who had to sit through this epic piece of sh*t. Rather than put up a poster, I'm just going to show you a clip from Seinfeld:
2. Paranormal Activity: Hype can work like a delicious-looking food item being advertised on TV, that looks appetizing, but once you eat it, you realize there isn't much taste. This film certainly proves how hype can be just that. I went into this film with sky-high expectations, but after seeing it, I now wonder whether the people in the movie theater shown in the commercials were paid to act so scared by this movie. Seriously, what is so scary about this film? Some of its scare tactics include slowly moving bed sheets and opening doors. The fact that this movie was a colossal success while more original films like Sinister are only modestly successful, shows just how low we've sunk when it comes to horror.
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey: Before anybody cries foul, I'll just say that Stanley Kubrick is a directorial genius and he does direct this brilliantly. However, the movie is just shots of space and stuff floating with only one minor interesting story involving the famous villain HAL-9000. Seriously, I was bored out of my mind watching this and I don't see why people are praising it to be the classic that it is. I don't mean this as disrespect to the late, great Stanley Kubrick, but good god, is this movie overrated!
Here are some honorable mentions that, fortunately for them, didn't make the list:
Amour (2012)
The Help (2011)
The King's Speech (2010)
Lincoln (2012)
Monster's Ball (2001)
Barton Fink (1991)
Cold Mountain (2003)
So, that was my list of what are, in my opinion, some of the most overrated movies I have seen. If you would like to add your own picks for films that you feel are overrated, please feel free to write in the comments section. But, if you disagree with any of my picks, please be kind. Thanks for reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment