What movie do you think is really underrated?
3mon 4d ago by lemmy.world/u/slut in asklemmy
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)
A horror movie all about a big misunderstanding leading to absolute chaos.
And it's got Alan Tudyk in it. You just know you're gonna have a good time when he's involved.
It's quite highly rated.
I showed it to my mother, and learned we had a family member that died in a chipper shredder accident. That was awkward. She wasn't a fan.
I especially like that it goes beyond the “Wait, I can explain!” meme; they have genuine chances to unravel the problem, but the victims just don’t buy into it.
alan tudyk has been so abused, and wasted by many passed around networks hes a good actor just to promote another actor or movie or genre. resident alien was cancelled recently too.
This is a movie that forces you to examine your biases.
I should have known if a guy like me talked to a girl like you, somebody would end up dead.
One of my favorites. I think about it all the time
Baby driver I know it’s decently well known, but honestly not even close to enough.
Spacey ruined so much...
now everytime hes in an old movie , hes only this good because his inspiration comes from SA young men/underage males.
Gran Torino
The old one you never heard of.
"Report To The Commissioner" 1970s Time Square movie about a police involved shooting leading to a hostage situation. Has one of the most hair raising chase scenes ever filmed.
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" I get that everyone was sick of Brangelina by the time the movie came out, but it's got enough comedy for a comedy movie, enough action for a thriller, and enough romance for a dozen rom-coms.
"Honey, please don't undermine me in front of the hostage."
Mr and Mrs Smith is one of my favorites.
Come on, let's talk about this! You don't want to go to bed angry!
Great soundtrack, too.
Always a fun watch when I need a dose of action-comedy
Hundreds of Beavers
I feel in the minority on this. It felt like watching someone else play a video game as a plot.
The ideas were OK, but the slapstick seemed crazy childish to me. I just did not get into it at any point.
Like I didn't think it was just ok, I was pretty actively turned away by it.
Could be just not in my style, but it was the first time I've watched something and completely misunderstood the hype. I can listen to music or watch movies & tv shows and not be that into it but understand it. Succession was that way. Wasn't for me, but could see the appeal.
Hundreds of Beavers was just awful for me personally.
The Man From UNCLE (2015)
Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer chewing up the scenes, nice fast paced plot, fun and engaging. A real shame it's a Guy Richie film, but since I don't pay him when I watch it I really don't mind 🏴☠️
Mea culpa edit: I confused Guy Richie and Russell Brand. I'm dumb and Guy didn't deserve that. Sorry for the confusion and also go watch The Man From UNCLE. While your at it, go find Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, where (funny era) Steve Martin does a film noir mashup movie flawlessly
If you don't mind me asking, what's wrong with Guy Ritchie?
Wondering the same...I love his films so hopefully nothing too crazy
Eta: I would've thought armie hammer would've been the problem person in this movie
See my op edit and also my reply above
tl;dr: I'm a big dumb dumb that can't remember names no good
No worries, that actually makes feel better
Oh crap, I'm so glad you asked, because I went back to Wikipedia to see why he's such a bastard.
Turns out I was thinking of Russell Brand. My memory for names/faces is…less than ideal. I'll edit my original post with a clarification and apology
Phew, well shit happens. Luckily I don't have to add Ritchie to the blacklist this time.
Best spy movie since pre-Craig Bonds for sure. Nobody likes funny spy movies anymore :(
i can definitely recommend the new OSS 117 movies if you want more of that.
They're both great, but I'm not sure how fun they are with only subtitles though.
very. dujardin is an incredibly expressive guy.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Ford
That movie is a legitimate work of art in which every performance is understated and every frame could be hung on the wall of any gallery. But because it's quite long, and because nothing gets blown up, no one really paid any attention to it.
I genuinely only know about three people IRL who have seen it, and I'm one of them.
I happened to catch it on tv late one night, it was really good.
Waterworld and Postman
Waterworld slaps, considering checking out Postman on your recommendation but kinda biased against book adaptations
Those are the same movie, but one has no land and the other has no water.
Waterworld is amazing. I ordered the Arrow blu-ray release the day it came out. Having an HD, official release of the Ulysses Cut is pretty cool.
Waterworld is awful - definitely not underrated.
Pontypool, great concept and execution for a low budget horror, Canadian zombies with a twist
The Man from Earth low budget sci-fi about a guy who's been alive for thousands of years, mostly just character development and story telling through actually story telling.
Deep Blue Sea 3, 1 was great b movie shark horror, 2 was garbage, but 3 knew it was on the back foot and just goes all in, not a great movie but after 2 definitely underrated.
genuinely shocked the movie i was gunna comment already here at the top. i am so tired of zombies, and pontypool is the movie i point to whenever i tell people they don't always all have to be the same
If you like your zombies different, you might like Pluribus.
The Man from Earth low budget sci-fi about a guy who's been alive for thousands of years, mostly just character development and story telling through actually story telling.
Seconded. It's also an indie film that they want people to see, so it's probably somewhere for free. The sequel was a torrent on their site iirc.
The Man From Earth is at least on YouTube as a 720p movie. For free. Recommended. (The sequel wasn't as good but I enjoyed it somewhat as well.)
I often think about John/J'aan. Is he the embodiment of humanity, or the complete rejection of it, given all that happened throughout his life.
Also, do his skills decay if he does not use them for a period? e.g. did he learn to juggle and then forget
Are his memories just a general vague flattened blur of too familiar human patterns, and all he experiences is the present?
Great concept
Are his memories just a general vague flattened blur of too familiar human patterns, and all he experiences is the present?
I mean if you're over the age of 20, you can probably imagine this.
You can't really remember all the things you did. Especially not for the first years when you were shitting yourself and sucking tits. But that's more for psychological protection I feel like. My point being that from like 3-5 you start having some memories. The more vivid the connection, the better it stays. I can't remember most of my childhood, but I can definitely remember parts of it. And especially if someone reminds me of a thing. Or a smell or something else familiar. But like yeah, the limits of memory on someone that old would be interesting. I just think it's a sort of prioritised order for him as well. Might not remember lots of specifics but does remember lots of vague ideas.
I think skills stay longer than non-vivid memories.. I'm not sure if he could just juggle, but doing so would prolly come back fast from muscle memory. Idk
This whole comment is me just guessing. But that's what the movie makes you do, and it's what I love about it.
Even I remember (now we've been over this a bit) on how he was asked if he ever got seriously ill. And John remembered getting like pneumonia in the stone age or smth. Would prolly remember who cared for him more vividly than someone they met at a grocery store a few weeks before telling the story.
Human minds and memories are fascinating.
Cowboys and Aliens is far more entertaining than it has any right to be.
Street Fighter has survived to become a cult classic.
Street Fighter is terrible, but Raul Julia's performance is actually great.
Raul was so sick during filming, but gave it his all because his children would be happy
I don't think cowboys and aliens is terrible, but i quite often think about how much potential the idea had, and how little they used it.
I saw Cowboys and Aliens in theaters and I loved it. It was such a unique movie at the time and it is very entertaining.
It's up there with Abraham Lincolm: Vampire Hunter with me.
Silly concept. Flawless grounded execution.
I haven’t watched that but I should. Sometimes those weird unique movies hit just right.
Sneakers message still resonates strongly today
Better Off Dead outside the band of most 80s teenager comedy movies
Paycheck I thought it was a fun sci-fi that most people missed
The Great Escape not underrated back in the day, but not very well known now
Seconding Paycheck. One of the few Affleck movies I like.
I'll third it. The premise alone is awesome; they invent a time machine, but you don't travel in time, it's more like a telescope that lets you observe the future.
Based on a story by Phillip K. Dick. But sadly, having read the story first, the movie became a huge disappointment (for me).
Sneakers is a lot of fun, but there’s one scene that just irks me. In the beginning of the film, the main character is picking up a check from a bank teller after their “white hat” elite team stole (then returned) untold millions from the same bank. The teller cuts him a check and asks what he does. He gives a short explanation and he says “it’s a living”. She looks at the check and back at him saying “not a very good one”. It’s clear that she’s a low level employee and there were 4 or 5 people on the crew, and she’d have no idea how much work went into the job. Even at minimum wage, it would have been a pretty nice paycheck and she would have had no idea whether it was a good amount, nor whether it was just one guy getting paid the amount on the check. The comment makes no sense.
The Net (1995)
I love The Net, it's a decent thriller even if janky by todays standards. I saw it as a kid some years after release, and the tech side of it was absurd even then. But the core plot is basically Hitchcock like, and Sandra Bullock is good in it. If you can let the silly tech side of things go (it was made when the Internet was a new concept even to users, so it does get things wrong), it's actually a decent enough plot.
Ok why
It's from a time the new era started to take off while most ordinary people (and filmmakers) had no idea what was really coming. Nor did they really understand any of it. Like Hackers this makes The Net extremely interesting to watch, it's not good, but it just keeps on giving!
Good movie, good acting, and even though the tech was absolutely silly the core concept is still as valid today as it was 30 years ago.
Troll Hunter
Pandorum
Troll Hunter is brilliant!
I really liked Pandorum. It was weird.
Not sure if it's underrated or just not well known, but "The unbearable weight of massive talent" was so insanely good!
Walk Hard - The Dewey Cox Story
Great biopic parody that just keeps on giving. For me, Tim Meadows will always remain Sam, saying "not once." It helps that his other roles are also goofy, like the ARGUS dude in Peacemaker.
This movie was such a perfect parody that it killed the music biopic genre for a while.
"Wrong kid died."
I liked him in every role he played. He's so funny, even if he seems to play the same character over and over
Repo! The Genetic Opera
The music is incredible. The Gothic setting is great. The father/daughter storyline is complex. I wish it was more popular.
Plus you get to see Anthony Stewart Head sing while mutilating people.
Ok that convinces me. That man sings so well
Repo! The Genetic Opera is one of my favorite musicals. The music is great, the story is great and the dancing is great!
The Fall, unless we draw a distinction between underrated and under-noticed
Incredible movie, and the 4k version just became available in the past year. One of my top 5 favorite movies.
I heard about that. Can't wait to watch it in better resolution
Had a chance to watch The Fall in a theater recently and it was so good. It’s too bad more people haven’t seen it
From 2006? I'm looking it up and finding various movies of the same name
uwe boll's postal.
don't get me wrong, it's one of the worst, most disgusting films ever made. it's like if john waters was a conservative. but there's a certain... something to it. there are little details that didn't need to be there that shows some enthusiasm and care for its making.
like there's this one scene where the protagonist goes over to his uncle's sex cult compound and finds him asleep in just an open bathrobe with like seven naked chicks, right? and the dude wakes him up and he has to push them off of him. and as he crawls out from under the blonde sleeping on his crotch, they've added a little *plop* sound effect as her head moves away from his dick. like, that's funny! and totally unnecessary.
Me and my friends used to hate watch uwe boll movies, and postal was certainly the best of his bad movie repertoire. One day we accidentally had the audio commentary on, and that was a game changer. Holy shit, uwe boll talking about his movies is so unhinged and funny. Not because he is actually funny, but because of the things he says and how often he talks with or about his dogs in the room. Like he says things like: we found this fat chick for this role and i liked her, but then we found another fat chick from my name earl, and she was 10kg's fatter. He kept saying: mein name Earl, and we were never able to say it correctly ever again
There's some interview quote where Uwe Boll says Leatherheads is a "completely unnecessary movie" and while he's no Hitchcock I get exactly what he means and that will live in my head forever
If anyone likes postal they should check out Troma stuff like nukem high and toxic avenger, real cheap gross out movies but they make such weird choices sometimes it's hard to forget
i think if anyone likes postal they should probably keep it to themselves
Thankskilling (2008). Low budget horror movie about a talking turkey (a puppet) who murders college students. It's one of the most ridiculous and hilarious movies I've seen.
Sounds like that sloth slasher movie.
It's like that and the movie where a pair of jeans comes to life and murders everyone (Slaxx) 👖
Adding Rubber to the list 😂. Excellent thread.
Crosspost on B movie bonanza
Ronin. I don't know exactly why, the mood just feels right for a neo noir ish thing.
great movie, best magiffin ever
Matrix Reloaded. People generally dislike it. I find it deepens the Matrix universe in many ways
The matrix sequels definitely muddle the pacing and characters, and they struggle to fill the void left by the central mystery of the first film, but the philosophising and action are both as good or better than the first film.
Speed racer has already been critically reevaluated so I guess my wachowski hot take is that Jupiter Ascending is due. It's idiotic but it's a sweaty blast of pure cinema.
action are both as good or better than the first film
action becomes mindless and boring when its in service of a non-nonsensical plot the viewer no longer cares about.
Well, yea, I agree. Nothing can beat discovering the Matrix. The first film has a myth mike quality to it that is mostly lost in the sequels
Aha, Jupiter Ascending ! didn't really stick to this one, but I think a rewatch is in order becayse I think it's been a decade and I'd like to try watching it while blazed beyond belief. I want to see if I mesh better with it in that state
How is it idiotic though ?
The metaphysics in the whole series is honestly mind blowing. I even found the 4th movie to be oddly disturbing because it made it click in my mind that choosing a different reality than you were born into is akin to suicide. That blue pill kills your old self. It didn't quite click for me in the first movie because I feel they were doing a lot of world building and it was easy to miss it in the fast pace.
The 4th movie they kinda lingered on that concept and it just screamed "this is talking about suicide" to me. And then I got kinda anxious. Because the blue pill seemed like the obvious choice until then. I know Cypher kinda makes a point about preferring the matrix, but it felt more like preference than suicide.
But he did say "if you told us the truth we'd have told you to shove that blue pill up your ass!"
ahhh.... never saw it that way. Food for thought. I remember reading Lana (?) saying it was a trans allegory, and it made so much sense to me.
I didn't like the 4th at all but I fully expect to read more into it a decade from now or so
Yeah, maybe try watching it from the suicide perspective. If you end up seeing it like that, suddenly that blue pill you swallowed is a death sentence. Perspective can essentially invert reality. Switch The real with the fake. The wrong for the right. The male to the female. The Good to the Evil.
Life to Death.
Light to Dark
Obi-Wan was right! It really does depend on a certain point of view!
Predestination. Ethan hawk mind fuck.
Probably bc the Heinlein story it's based on is crazy
While I've always liked the first two Terminator movies due to their Tech Noir aesthetics, I find that this one adds some important background to the world building in general. The story is for the most part interesting, and Christian Bale plays the role well.
Terminator III and any movies after Salvation can fuck right off, tho.
Yeah I liked Salvation. T3 though, not a huge fan but I did like that it bridged the gap of how skynet became the way it did and the crude tech. I kind of view it as the film that was needed (from a story line point of view) but nobody wanted.
I have to reluctantly agree with you - It was interesting to actually see events only alluded to in the others
Mom And Dad Save The World (1992)
Stars Terri Garr and Jeffrey Jones as the Nelsons, an ordinary set of suburban boomer parents who routinely go on vacations/car trips. On such a trip, they are abducted station wagon and all by Emporer Todd (played by Jon Lovitz) of planet Spengo, a desert planet inhabited by a species of dog headed if male, fish headed if female creatures, and humanoid idiots. Ridiculousness ensues.
It bombed at the box office and is poorly reviewed but I had fun with it.
Pick me up
Diabolical, isn't it?
Jeffrey Jones' making the news afterwards probably kept this one from becoming a cult classic.
By that logic we're going to have to burn down Beetlejuice and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
But he wasn't the focal LEAD in those movies
I had this film etched into my mind as a kid, but could not put the name to the scene. It was decades later when I found this film again
This is one I make people watch. It's so goofy and fun in all the right ways. The costumes, aliens, and sets are fantastic. I don't know why it's not considered cult classic.
I think I can answer that: movies that form a cult tend to land with a demographic, often one it wasn't originally sold to. Clue, for example. Didn't really land with its intended audience of baby boomers in the mid-80's in large part due to the "one of three endings" theater gimmick. The movie found its audience with young millennials on Comedy Central, especially in its repaired "all three endings" format which increased the runtime and kept the frenetic farcical energy in the last act up longer.
What demographic was going to form a cult around Mom And Dad Save The World? It's a movie by and about boomers, targeting the Gen X stupidity fad. Clue was ahead of its time, MADSTW is precisely OF its time. It's not what the secret cabal of gay theater kids always wanted like Rocky Horror Picture Show. And MADSTW is unfortunately competent, so the "so bad it's good" MST3K/Red Letter Media crowd won't touch it. That and Jeffrey Jones has been canceled so there's a bunch of people who won't watch it out of principle now. So there's no group this movie will land with.
Joe Versus the Volcano
I know he can get the job, but can he do the job.
Mother!
I found it really enjoyable trying to trace all of the symbolism and allegory. For whatever reason, audiences didn't like it so much.
Tusk 2014 (at 45/36 on RT, 5.4 imdb). Funny concept, funny effects, some of the dialogue a bit shit but overall very enjoyable
"Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer"
Despite the anime ass long title it's a Steve Buscemi starring film nobody watched. I thought it was fucking hilarious. You will too if you like dark comedy.
Tremors II: Aftershocks is a perfect comedic action horror film and a perfect sequel.
Mad God is extremely disturbing and dark, probably impossible to watch for most people. I think it's a stop motion master piece.
Love Tremors 2!
Exit to Eden. Terrible rotten tomatoes score, but it's awesome and loved by the bdsm community. It's a 1990s film adaptation of the Anne Rice novella of the same name, which is more or less just classic her style erotica, this one of a man going to a femdom island retreat and falling in love with and impressing the head lady there. Cliche whatever, but pretty good representation of kink despite the outlandish setting. But some executives or someone involved in the movie had a brilliant idea: buddy cop b plot with Rosie O'Donnell. This takes it from a bold and interesting decision that would probably be well regarded by a small group of people, to a movie that's just kinda fucking nuts in a fun way. The b plot keeps the movie silly and light.
So yeah, if this sounds up your alley I highly recommend it.
UHF - so many quotable lines.
Supplies!
Idiocracy- 2006 Just shows where we are going…as a society. 😜
Idiocracy would be an improvement at this point...
Going??? WE'VE ARRIVED
I know a few NYC EMS EMTs. The opening, where the EMT calls the cops out for planting the gun, is always popular.
Sorry, I'm not aware of the meaning of those acronyms. Can you expand?
Sorry.
NYC = New York City. The City police are NYPD. The guys planting the gun
EMS = Emergency Medical Service. When the movie was made, EMS was a semi-independent agency. It didn't pay as much as the Police or Fire [still doesn't]
EMT = Emergency Medical Technician. Basically, "ambulance driver" but don't call an EMT an ambulance driver unless you want to insult them. It's a job title like 'nurse,' but in this case refers specifically to people working for the City EMS.
So, when actual City employees see fictional versions of themselves telling the Police to fuck off, it's very popular.
Sorry about the jargon.
The green planet! https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0115650/
Also the first Equalizer movie with Denzel Washington: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0455944/Denzel is just really good in this
And the Bagdad Cafe and Diva are also great!
Directed by John Landis and starring Geoff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffeffieferer, and a cast including Dan Aykroyd, David Cronenberg, Jim Henson, and David Bowie as a hitman called Colin Morris.
Kung Fu Hustle
Not underrated, that movie was huge and rated highly. It's just old.
What'd you call me? I'm only... checks notes... well, shit.
IDC how overdone and cheesy it is, I love 47 Ronin.
The immaculate conception of little dizzle
Foshizzle
The Matador (2005)
It's a rather cheesy movie about a nobody meeting an assasin. What makes it great that Brosnan plays a direct inverse of James Bond.
Bond is the suave womanizer that kills for noble causes and always gets the girl. Julian Noble (his character in TM) is a very troubled killer for hire who has no social life, is an depraved camp alcoholic. You know, kinda what James Bond is without everything suave.
The everyday man (Greg Kinnear) (and later his wife) gets intrigued by this killer as his lifestyle is fascinating to them and kind of yearn to be him, like some folk pretend to be James Bond sometimes. But this assasin is terrified of being brought down by his peddler, as he cannot bring himself to kill anymore. He calls on his only friend, the nobody to help him finish the last job.
It's very camp, not the greatest film of all times but a solid buddy movie in which Brosnan burns down his Bond straightjacket and brings an awesome role to the table.
I watch it every now and then, but it's the one movie I love that I've never seen anyone recommend ever.
- It's the funniest movie ever made.
Came out in 1979, Spielberg directed, Zemeckis wrote it, John Williams did the score, it has John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Christopher Lee, Toshirô Mifune, among others.
It was way way ahead of its time. There are more jokes and setups & payoffs than entire decades of more recent movies (I'm not even exaggerating much). The practical effects are awesome and they blow up tons of stuff for real. It's refreshingly anti-war. It has absolutely bonkers set pieces. You might recognize things they try that you see in Spielberg's and Zemeckis' later movies. Can't reccomend it enough.
Make sure to watch the extended cut because it just includes all the missing scenes from the theatrical, which just has gaps and loose ends.
Wait wtf is this
I tried to put 1941 with a period at the end. Did the period do some weird syntax thing? Oh looking again looks like it's just cut off weird on voyager. Anyone else see this?
I got it too
Sorry, people. The masterpiece is Atlas with Jlo, a true Netflix gem.
I read the book before watching the film and, as usual, the book was better.
Yet the book is based on the movie! Just goes to show how much the mind helps when reading.
-
Sorcerer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorcerer_(film) This film has an uninformative title and came out JUST before the original Star Wars so it didn't have a chance. But it's a decent thriller.
-
Southern Comfort: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Comfort_(1981_film) https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9ttua8https://fawesome.tv/movies/10343295/southern-comfort Has decent ratings on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, but didn't make much money and is generally overlooked by critics. On fullmoviesonyoutube@piefed.social I said: "The obvious comparisons are to “Deliverance,” but thematically closer to “Aguirre, the Wrath of God.” You could write a great college or high school paper talking about justice, discipline, social structures, power, subcultures, etc. If you’re into film technique, the way this movie uses sounds, silences, and setting is masterful. An action/thriller that also makes you think."
Sorcerer is one I learned about late last year and ended up finding on disc.
The bridge scene alone is worth price of entry but the rest of the film just drips atmosphere.
If I were to have ever lived in South America I’d probably say this was the most accurate representation of that time and place I’ve ever seen committed to film.
The beginning, while important to the story, was a bit too long for me.
Yeah the beginning could be edited a bit better. And it could use a better title. Anyway, you can usually find it on youtube or somewhere like that. i.e. here it is (tho missing subtitles?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d71gug__SqE
What would you choose for a better title?
I’m thinking something simple but more directly alluding to the film. Maybe something like Jungle.
huy.... brainstorming....
- Death Cargo
- Death Truck: Sorcerer
- Village of Lost Souls
- Delivery of the Damned
- Fuera! Fuera! Peligro!
- Not One False Move
I like the second one or the last 2, I guess.
The Hunt
I've watched it 10+ times and absolutely love it, also cry at the gas station scene almost every time.
La huitieme jour. It is a French movie about Down Syndrome and life. It gives you such a different perspective on it all. Also it ends remarkably sad but beautiful. Very French.
Payback with Mel Gibson (pre-rant) was one of my favorite movies. Lots of dark humor, a solid revenge story, and quippy dialog
I love Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise films. Shitty, shitty people. Good director and actor.
As much as Tom Cruise is problematic, he also likes to sign on to do really good standalone Sci-Fi.
yes he does
I loved this film so much in the early 2000's. A few years ago I said to my wife we have to watch this after discovering she's never seen it. Oh but wait, it's not the version I watched. It's not even the same bad guy. That's not the version I wanted.
I had the same experience and realized that Director’s Cuts can ruin movies.
Agreed. However, this is important: Stay the hell away from the Director’s Cut. It changes and ruins the movie in every conceivable way.
Fandango.
I can never hear "dance with me" without thinking about that movie. Fucking Gardner Barnes.
Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Rickey Bobby.
Best NASCAR documentary ever.
"If you don't chew Big Red then fuck you"
"This sticker is dangerous and inconvenient, but I do love Fig Newtons"
Ebony & Ivory (2024) may not be for everybody, but I think it deserves better than its IMDB rating. If only for the number of quotable lines that have been adopted by ny friends group. It’s unapologetically absurd, awkward, and odd.
Gentlemen Broncos.
Absolute. Cinema. Sam Rockwell is too good for this world.
Babylon
I really enjoyed the storyline and character arcs. It's witty and raucous. I like the start with debauchery and descent into depravity. Reminds me of Casino with the rise and fall of magnates. Characters were well researched and written from historical basis pulling from multiple important figures in early cinema. And as usual, Margot Robbie is spectacularly precise.
I recently discovered Johnny Guitar (1954), starring Sterling Hayden, Joan Crawford, and Mercedes McCambridge, and directed by Nicholas Ray. Cinephiles know it and love it, but the general public has never heard of it.
It features a vicious, deadly rivalry between two Wild West female entrepreneurs, who are in a land dispute. Besides featuring two strong female leads, it is beautifully shot. We often froze the video, just to admire the framing, or the way the ensemble was posed, like a baroque painting.
An American Pickle! The one with Seth Rogan playing two roles. Everyone I've talked to who's seen it thought it was awful but I really enjoyed the premise and the ideas that it presented. What if i had to show the present day world to a long gone relative at the same age?
Almost heroes
Violent cop.
The Chumscrubber.
malayalam movies. yup all of them.
The Rise of Skywalker - it's a big dumb action movie, with some silly plot holes, but I've never understood the degree to which people hate it (or profess to).
I thought it was great fun, and such a return to form after Last Jedi. Yes, some of the lines make your eyes roll ("somehow Palpatine returned," in particular) but for me it recaptured the high energy, almost innocent, tone of the OT and TFA. No horribly out of place modern cynicism, no lightsaber tossing, no "can you hear me now" jokes.
And I thought the scene with Kylo Ren and Han was genuinely excellent, a really satisfying emotional payoff.
Now that's an unpopular opinion for sure
Apparently so!
TRoS is the most disappointing thing since my son.
Jokes aside, for me it has 0 rewatch appeal. It's big and loud and dumb, but it's not dumb in a fun way. Not even for casual SW fans. There are so many plot holes, and aborted character arcs, that my suspension of disbelief was arrested repeatedly.
I'm an old fan. Not "Ewoks are bad" old, more "Ewoks were included for my demographic" old. I've read, and watched, some really dumb Star Wars media. I loved it all. Even the MOD Squad in Book of Boba Fett, as tone deaf as they were, were also fun. It was like a dad joke in the middle of an action movie. Or Leia getting all horned up by Prince Xizor in Shadows of the Empire. (Okay, admittedly, 17 year old me had no problem reading that). It's always been big and dumb, with plot holes that have to be explained by comics, books, and cartoons later. I was in my twenties for the prequels, and I never jumped on the hate bandwagon. My only real issue was Anakin spewing horny word vomit at Padme while she wore BDSM gear and told him she couldn't lay pipe because she's a senator. I still skip the Naboo scenes on rewatch.
I think, for those of us that loath Rise of Skywalker, it comes down to payoff. Return of the Jedi had teddy bears that could capture the best infiltration team the Rebellion had, yes. But it had major payoff too. Han and Leia, Darth Vader's redemption, the defeat of the Emperor. Revenge of the Sith likewise had big payoff. How Luke and Leia were adopted, Darth Vader becoming more machine than man, Order 66, a 45 minute lightsaber fight over god-damned lava. The story-telling in the movies has degraded with each trilogy, mostly in the exposition department. The OT was best at "show, don't tell". All of that aside, TRoS didn't payoff in a way equal to it's failings. So the suspension of disbelief has no justifiable reward and is lost. Once that happens, instead of making excuses for plot holes, the movie is watched with a critical eye. And under a critical eye, it's not a good story. I already have the MCU and all of the Boomer action movies if I want big and dumb. With Star Wars, I also want emotional payoff. I didn't get it. Not enough to justify the Dumb
I don't hate Rise of Skywalker. I don't waste energy hating. It's just dead to me. Disney stopped making SW trilogies, leaving a massive cliffhanger with Episode 8. Episode 9 doesn't exist. Just like M. Night's Avatar
That's fair enough. Everyone likes different things I guess. All I can say is that when I came out of the cinema having seen TLJ, I was utterly disappointed. When I came out of seeing TRoS, I was bouncing like a kid on Christmas, it made me happy.
For some reason I just really enjoy it, whereas I hated TLJ and all the prequels. Others disagree, that's cool too :-)