Acclaimed films that don't float your boat

Following on from discussions on the radio over the last couple of days, what are the films that, for all their popularity or acclaim just leave you wondering what everyone is raving about?

My first entry to the list:

Heat. Overly long and dull. Having de Niro and Pacino in isn't enough of a draw for me, especially when they hardly appear on screen together. IN fact, I've started watching it three times and never reached the end.

Napoleon Dynamite - utter tripe

The Big Blue - pretentious codswallop

The Usual Suspects - Good film, but the way everyone went on about the twist being amazing led to me being underwhelmed at the end.

Schindlers List – Obviously not a bad film but personally found it a bit sentimental for my tastes.

No Country for Old Men – Well acted, but maybe it is me being thick but if you build up to a big showdown for the best part of two hours you can at least have the decency to show the bleeding thing.

The Hurt Locker – Any chance of a storyline to go with the action?

Gladiator - Spoilt by the ending for me. Yes, a Roman Emperor would really get into an arena with a gladiator, wouldn't he. Too unrealistic to take seriously.

Rowley

I nearly included a couple of other films that fall into the 'critically acclaimed / award-winning' category that could also include The Hurt Locker (for me not a bad film as much as being a bit 'meh'). These would have been:
American Beauty
Lost in Translation.

BHB
I like Gladiator, although it was not quite what I expected. Agree though that there is a need to suspend disbelief at the behaviour of Joaquim Phoenix's character though, and not just that he would enter the gladiatorial arena with someone he knew to be a hugely successful and experienced soldier and gladiator.

Is this the thread where everyone takes a pop at some of my favourite films?  Loved Heat, the Usual Suspects and to a lesser extent No Country for Old Men, so that's 3 so far...

No doubt Galted will be on here soon complaining about all the Nolan films... 

Agree somewhat about Gladiator. I like it, but wouldn't go out of my way to watch it. It's a decent film, but not sure why it's viewed as such a masterpiece.

More recently, I would like to nominate Drive. It's meant to be this dark, bleak, atmospheric masterpiece, but to me it just came off as taking itself far too seriously without really hitting the right notes.

Saving Private Ryan - just awful. The Omaha beach scene was good but after that it just sucked balls. Hairy ones at that too.

"Lost in Translation" is one that does inprove with repeated viewing, sadly you have to be a particularly impressive specimen to go there. The fact that A/ I am and B/ I find Scarlett to be a bit of alright meant it wasn't the chore I expect you mortals will probably find it.

"A Beautiful Mind" - Didn't grab my interest and you'd have to force me to watch it again at gunpoint.

"There Will be Blood" - See Above

"Walk the Line" - Since when did they use a tombola to hand out roles in films

Mike Selig wrote:Is this the thread where everyone takes a pop at some of my favourite films? :(Loved Heat, the Usual Suspects and to a lesser extent No Country for Old Men, so that's 3 so far...

No doubt Galted will be on here soon complaining about all the Nolan films...

Agree somewhat about Gladiator. I like it, but wouldn't go out of my way to watch it. It's a decent film, but not sure why it's viewed as such a masterpiece.

More recently, I would like to nominate Drive. It's meant to be this dark, bleak, atmospheric masterpiece, but to me it just came off as taking itself far too seriously without really hitting the right notes.

 

 
I hate to disappoint so here goes: all the Nolan films apart from Following.  Agree with you that Usual Suspects and No Country For Old Men have no place on this list (as well as Schindler’s List).
 
Am quite impressed with the choices so far, quite a few discerning v2 viewers when it comes to identifying turds; Gladiator, Drive, Heat, Saving Private Ryan (apart from Omaha beach), Napoleon Dynamite.
 
Would like to add Sixth Sense, Braveheart and Matrix – all have an element of direness in their own special way (though there may be a distinction between overhyped and critically acclaimed).

Think the obvious one is Citizen Kane..best film ever made apparently......despite being tediously boring....

6th sense is an excellent shout - I watched it after my big brother had rather cruelly revealed the twist, and couldn't get the fuss; the film makes no sense whatsoever retrospectively in any case.

Does "life of Pi" pass the critically acclaimed test? If so, I would like to add it: visually it is stunning, but at the end of the day it is 2 hours of a boy and a tiger on a boat, and then some sort of pseudo-philosophical nonsense at the end.

Hope this doesn't turn into too much of a love-in, Mike, but watched Life of Pi recently and agree that it was visually stunning but a load of pretentious nonsense at the same time - I can take style over substance in doses so did enjoy it.  One thing I thought it had in it's defence was originality but apparently the novel was "inspired" by another work of fiction about a man crossing the Atlantic in a boat with a jaguar.
 
As regards Citizen Kane, get your act together, Truss.  Agree that it's not the Greatest Film Ever Made as we're supposed to pretend if we want to be taken seriously by film students but is still an amazing chapter in the history of cinema - watch other films from the era then watch CK and you'll realise.

Yes but I'm not a film student...I want entertaining...

I like Casablanca and the Maltese falcon....

  I'm not suggesting for a second that we should want to be taken seriously by film students unless it involves performing acts of violence on them.
 
Casablanca is a classic though, still haven't seen Maltese Falcon  (I believe there's another fairly recent thread dedicated to such lapses).

I like Citizen Kane. Mind you, couldn't get on with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon at time and have no interest in re-visiting it to see whether I am more receptive.

In another thread, Miller's Crossing was mentioned and this was a film I thought was pretty dire when I watched it first time. I watched it again a few years later and couldn't believe how wrong I was about that film. Absolutely superb!! Sometimes re-visiting a film can be rewarding!!

Sometimes re-visiting a film can be rewarding

Once dated a girl who made me sit through Legally Blonde 1 & 2. I'm not prepared to put your theory to the test

DAVE667 wrote:

Sometimes re-visiting a film can be rewarding

Once dated a girl who made me sit through Legally Blonde 1 & 2. I'm not prepared to put your theory to the test

I have to sit through Titanic at least ten times a year.......and he always seems to take longer to drown everytime..

I had that with Sex in the city...

TBH there are not that many films which I haven't liked which I've rewatched. The Star Wars prequels (surely they weren't that bad? oh...) spring to mind. A few of the Bond movies (but even the really really bad ones were at times enjoyable).

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Shawshank Redemption. Utter guff.

American Beauty is awful... Just awful

I love American Beauty...Maybe because I'm around the same age as the Spacey character and can relate to him.......

Also have a jolly hockeysticks wife like the one in the film and feel his sense of entrapment on occasion....Funny thing is when I watched the film with her she hated the Annette Bening character..

Also have a tendency of perving at 18-21 types whilst forgetting I'm old enough to be their father...and am permanently trying to recapture my youth..

I see a lot of me in Spacey's superb portrayal and I guess it's more of a film for people my age..

Beautifully shot, crafted and acted......wonderful film.

You may like it later on..

you may be right Truss but i just find it idiotic and slow moving without being able to relate to anything in there and find the stereotypes too sterotypical and the non stereotypes even more so.

but could be an age vibe! Normally like Kevin Spacey too, may re-visit in a few years time

American Beauty may be a tad pretentious and a real battle of style over substance but it's a very good film nevertheless.

By the way, anyone caught Spacey in "House of Cards"? I watched the peerless Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart in the BBC original oh so many years ago but I think this updated version is very good indeed and may be some of Spacey's best work for a while.

DAVE667 wrote:American Beauty may be a tad pretentious and a real battle of style over substance but it's a very good film nevertheless.

By the way, anyone caught Spacey in "House of Cards"? I watched the peerless Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart in the BBC original oh so many years ago but I think this updated version is very good indeed and may be some of Spacey's best work for a while.

You may think that, but I couldn't possibly comment  

I never quite got all the love for Shawshank either - although I don't mind it, I don't love it either.

Schindlers List – Obviously not a bad film but personally found it a bit sentimental for my tastes.

Schindler's List is really just a black and white verison of E.T. with Oscar Schindler stepping in for Elliot.

Many people have tried to tell me this DAVE but i am not convinced which i guess is the point of the thread, in the words of Peter Griffin "It insists upon itself"

rick_dagless wrote:Many people have tried to tell me this DAVE but i am not convinced which i guess is the point of the thread, in the words of Peter Griffin "It insists upon itself"

"Hmm, shallow and pedantic Lois, shallow and pedantic!"

I found Jurassic Park boring...sorry to say...

superflyweight wrote:

Schindlers List – Obviously not a bad film but personally found it a bit sentimental for my tastes.

Schindler's List is really just a black and white verison of E.T. with Oscar Schindler stepping in for Elliot.  

No, it's an updated version of the Ten Commandments with Neeson playing Moses (no flying bicycles or Drew Barrymore anywhere to to been)

Found Gladiator stupid and boring too.........

Emperor getting in the ring with a slave.....Leave it out..

bhb001 wrote:Gladiator - Spoilt by the ending for me. Yes, a Roman Emperor would really get into an arena with a gladiator, wouldn't he. Too unrealistic to take seriously.

If anything this was the only true to life part of the film. Emperor Commodus did fight in the Coliseum. Although the fights where highly stacked in his favour

Adam D wrote:Napoleon Dynamite - utter tripe

The Big Blue - pretentious codswallop

Brilliant film.

DAVE667 wrote:

superflyweight wrote:

Schindlers List – Obviously not a bad film but personally found it a bit sentimental for my tastes.

Schindler's List is really just a black and white verison of E.T. with Oscar Schindler stepping in for Elliot.  

No, it's an updated version of the Ten Commandments with Neeson playing Moses (no flying bicycles or Drew Barrymore anywhere to to been)

Nah, I'm telling you the whole Schindler riff is a metaphor for a small boy helping a funny looking alien return to its home planet.

I don't care for the Godfather... it insists upon itself.

Some of you must be hard to please if you're condemning some of these films...

I would have to say The Godfather (all of them) and Once Upon a Time in the West.

Godfather 1 and 2 dull and up itself. Lets all celebrate Italian American culture.....CRIME

Part 3 is brilliant tho.

superflyweight wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:

superflyweight wrote:

Schindlers List – Obviously not a bad film but personally found it a bit sentimental for my tastes.

Schindler's List is really just a black and white verison of E.T. with Oscar Schindler stepping in for Elliot.  

No, it's an updated version of the Ten Commandments with Neeson playing Moses (no flying bicycles or Drew Barrymore anywhere to to been)

Nah, I'm telling you the whole Schindler riff is a metaphor for a small boy helping a funny looking alien return to its home planet.  

I thought it was a remake of Jurassic Park, with the Nazis taking the part of the Dinosaurs, and the Jeff Goldblum character being the little girl who appeared in colour.

If people carry on slagging the godfather films off bans will soon follow. You have all been warned. How anyone can criticise a film with John Cazale in really is beyond me.

Adam D wrote:

superflyweight wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:

superflyweight wrote:

Schindlers List – Obviously not a bad film but personally found it a bit sentimental for my tastes.

Schindler's List is really just a black and white verison of E.T. with Oscar Schindler stepping in for Elliot.  

No, it's an updated version of the Ten Commandments with Neeson playing Moses (no flying bicycles or Drew Barrymore anywhere to to been)

Nah, I'm telling you the whole Schindler riff is a metaphor for a small boy helping a funny looking alien return to its home planet.  

I thought it was a remake of Jurassic Park, with the Nazis taking the part of the Dinosaurs, and the Jeff Goldblum character being the little girl who appeared in colour.

I don't really see that you can compare the two films as there aren't as many velociraptors in Schindler's List.

Galted wrote:

Adam D wrote:

superflyweight wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:

superflyweight wrote:

Schindlers List – Obviously not a bad film but personally found it a bit sentimental for my tastes.

Schindler's List is really just a black and white verison of E.T. with Oscar Schindler stepping in for Elliot.  

No, it's an updated version of the Ten Commandments with Neeson playing Moses (no flying bicycles or Drew Barrymore anywhere to to been)

Nah, I'm telling you the whole Schindler riff is a metaphor for a small boy helping a funny looking alien return to its home planet.  

I thought it was a remake of Jurassic Park, with the Nazis taking the part of the Dinosaurs, and the Jeff Goldblum character being the little girl who appeared in colour.

I don't really see that you can compare the two films as there aren't as many velociraptors in Schindler's List.

Not seen the dirctors cut I take it.

Rowley wrote:

Galted wrote:

Adam D wrote:

superflyweight wrote:

DAVE667 wrote:

superflyweight wrote:

Schindlers List – Obviously not a bad film but personally found it a bit sentimental for my tastes.

Schindler's List is really just a black and white verison of E.T. with Oscar Schindler stepping in for Elliot.  

No, it's an updated version of the Ten Commandments with Neeson playing Moses (no flying bicycles or Drew Barrymore anywhere to to been)

Nah, I'm telling you the whole Schindler riff is a metaphor for a small boy helping a funny looking alien return to its home planet.  

I thought it was a remake of Jurassic Park, with the Nazis taking the part of the Dinosaurs, and the Jeff Goldblum character being the little girl who appeared in colour.

I don't really see that you can compare the two films as there aren't as many velociraptors in Schindler's List.

Not seen the dirctors cut I take it.

Not sure which version I saw but, now that I think of it, one of the deleted scenes had Goeth shooting with a bow and arrow at what may have been a pair of velociraptors.

Godfather, its a very good movie but no the behemoth that many make out for me.

Nah the first Godfather movie is brilliant if you ask me - the Christening scene is one of my favourites of all time.

Godfather II personally for me was a bit uneven: some bits were fantastic but others felt plodding in a way which IMO the original never did.

I actually prefered the second Mike. Accepted the pace can be a bit glacial at times but think it has a little more of a moral compass than the first and does not romanticise the lifestyle to the same degree. Also think the performances of Cazale and Pacino in the second are nothing short of staggering.

Never seen the second, but the first is superb. Well shot and well acted.

I thought they got it bang on with 3.

1 and 2 plodded along but really made no sense at all. Thanks for part 3 that put it all together perfectly.

Joey Zaza assasination scene 1 of the best imo.

Don't get me wrong it's a great film and there are some sensational scenes/moments, and I know the consensus overall seems to be that it's superior to the original.

For me though the first is as flawless as a film can be.

Three is ruined by Sofia Coppola, talented enough director but the girl cannot act. Nepotism at its absolute worst. Also George Hamilton may have a wonderful suntan but he is no Robert Duvall.