(no subject)

[apocalypsos]

Okay, boosting this from ashlle1, 'cause I like it lots.

Am feeling vaguely ADD at the moment, so let's play a game. Simple games. Two movies you love, two movies you hate, and why for all of them. And then chitchat in response to other people.

Me first, and I'm going to use other movies than the ones I picked over there.

HATE:

The last two Matrix movies: Wait, I'm sorry. What am I saying? There were no other Matrix movies. There was just that really good movie with neat special effects and an ending with great potential. And then nothing else. Okay, maybe a video game or two, but that's it.

Moulin Rouge!: I'm not sure I should admit that in public, but, oh, did I hate Moulin Rouge! with a passion. I mean, I loved the visuals and I loved the soundtrack, but together ... my GOD, did they grate on my nerves. Plus, Nicole Kidman -- blech.

LOVE:

Sneakers: Look, it's on USA Network right now! And it's got Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Dan Ackroyd, James Earl Jones and River Phoenix. And look, they're all snarky and mysterious. Wheeeee.

Citizen X: Pretty much one of the best made-for-TV movies I've ever seen HBO put out. I really need to watch that again.

Okay, your turn. :)

EDIT: Dear internal organs, behave or I'm selling you all on the black market.

Comments

[catystorm.livejournal.com]

Hrm, two I hate (These are movies I've seen recently because ... hell. They're all I can remember after a couple of smirnoffs.)

Donnie Darko: I mean, wtf. I get the movie now, but ugh. I just. Didn't. Like It.

Ring 2: What the hell was this piece of poorly made shit? "Jump" moments don't count for scary movies!

Two I Like:

Last Samurai: God, it's a horrible movie historically speaking. It's long, and parts are boring. But I have a soft spot for well-choreographed samurai flicks and WOW, did that one deliver.

Kill Bill: Words. Cannot describe. The awesomeness.

Honorable Mention: American Beauty. Saw it for the first time today. WOW.

Okay, bed now.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

On the Last Samurai bandwagon, I can't help but admit that I loved it simply because it was damned pretty.

As for Kill Bill, I think it says something about me that every time that I get pissy and want to calm down, I whistle Elle's song as she walks through the hospital. Hee. :)

[silverhill.livejournal.com]

HATE:
Dumb and Dumber -- Any movie with diarrhea as "humor" is not for me.

Magnolia -- I found it pretentious, falsely artsy, long and pretty boring.


LOVE:
Waiting for Guffman -- I can't count the number of times I've seen this movie, and it *still* makes me laugh (throughout) EVERY TIME.

Monsters Inc. -- It's so visually fantastic, so creative and with a clever plot and fun characters. And Boo is too cute for words.

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

Hated
Alexander - Well, I was more heavily disappointed in this than filled with hate afterwards. Most movies I hate because the gay characters are too gay; this movie I disliked because the gay characters were not gay enough.

Titan AE - this would have made a good TV show, actually. Maybe on Adult Swim or something. As it is, they tried to put too much in too little time, and it collapsed and fell over before it was able to get anywhere. Bonus points for John Leguziamo, but that goes without saying.

Loved
Big - This is one of those movies that is in that weird sector of movie reality where there is just a touch of magic in the world, but it is hidden away unless you know where to look. The real world should be like that. The real world should also have more adults that are able to genuinely appreciate the world they live in, and this said that without cramming it in the audience's throats.

A Clockwork Orange - ultraviolence, rape, and Beethoven. Also, the importance of free will and the joy it can bring, and a very good extrapolation of modern trends. Just a touch of sci-fi, too; not very much, but just enough to remove it from normal reality.

[ashlle1.livejournal.com]

And Boo is too cute for words.

Every time she uttered "Kitty!" I wanted to cuddle her tightly and never ever let her go into the real world and grow up. SO CUTE.

[catystorm.livejournal.com]

Hee. I wrote a paper for my Cinema History course recommending "Kill Bill" to be added to the syllabus for next semester. (Had to choose a film made after the year 2000.)

The film is incredible. The cinematography, the score, the music choices, the lighting, the fight scenes. Good-freaking-God.

I feel kind of guilty for loving Last Samurai as much as I do, considering the mass of inaccuracies and general not-so-goodness hanging about the film. But, oh the PRETTY. And it turned a row of us into giggling, squeeing fangirls because live-action Hollywood movie taking place during the Restoration? ZOMG love. <3

[catystorm.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed Titan AE. I don't know why. The soundtrack to that movie was rather decent.

I need to get around to seeing A Clockwork Orange. It was on our syllabus for Cinema History but I so totally missed that day. :P

[catystorm.livejournal.com]

I was eleven when Dumb and Dumber came out, and I remember seeing it then and thinking it was juvenile.

That says something.

[kimera.livejournal.com]

Man, it was really hard to come up with movies I hate, because when I dislike something I tend to just forget about it.

Hate:

Waterboy: I'm sorry, I just don't get why Adam Sandler is funny. I really don't.

Lost in Translation: Maybe the fact that it's completely incomprehensible is supposed to be some sort of statement, but whatever. It did nothing for me.

Love:

Men With Brooms: I adore this movie. Paul Gross, Molly Parker, Leslie Neilson, curling, random beavers... what more could you *want*?

Hard Core Logo: Excellent cast, excellent use of documentary convention. Dark, angsty and depressing- in other words, your quintessential Canadian film. It's where this icon is from.

[velocityboy.livejournal.com]

HATE:

Saw : quite possibly the most trite & unengaging "thriller" ever made.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen : messing with canon works of fiction is one thing, but skull-fucking brilliant works of fiction is quite another. Also, it speaks volumes that only Mina Harker was tolerable in a film about...gentlemen.


LOVE:

The Dreamers : okay, it's rated NC-17, behaves like porn sometimes, and shows Michael Pitt fully naked instead of Jake Gyllenhaal... but it feels honest. And the French twins are HOT.

Le Trois Colours trilogy: Blue, White, Red gorgeous French/Polish films by the late, great Krystof Kieslowski, starring Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy, and Irene Jacob.

[misachan.livejournal.com]

Hate:

The Crow: City of Angels: I loved The Crow. Loved it. I went into the sequel hoping it would be like the comics, or the books, or, you know, good. Instead it was a pathetic retread, only with a much less compelling villain, no love story, and so much overacting from the male lead several silent film actors rose from the grave to say, "Bitch, please." And I refuse to believe my kickass, skateboarding, spunky Sarah grew into that. Nuh uh.

Dinosaurs: This was a CGI animated film put out by Disney, I believe. Very pretty animation. Horrible writing. I've never despised a main character as much as in this movie. I spent the whole time desperately hoping he'd fall into a gorge.

Loved:

Unbreakable: I liked the Sixth Sense and all, but this will always be my favorite M. Night movie. THE comic book movie, because if superheroes really existed, this is what they'd be like.

Tombstone: The scene were Doc and Wyatt talk about going after Johnny Ringo, and Wyatt asks what makes a man like Ringo tick, and Doc explains it but is obviously talking about himself kills me everytime I watch it. It's the look on Wyatt's face. Such a great love story that I've been ruined for all other versions of the OK Corral. Also, friendship, family, great gun fights, and Powers Boothe playing yet another Incredible Bastard.

[velocityboy.livejournal.com]

I adored Unbreakable. I think it one of the few movies smart enough to truly use the brilliant, untapped skill of Samuel L. Jackson, and it had the best story of all of Shaymalan's films.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Saturday Night Fever. Yes, it was the movie that made John Travolta a huge star when I was a teenager. Damned if I know why, because he showed less than zero talent. Moreover, I did not like a boy asking a girl he had just fucked in the back seat of his car, "So...uh, what's your name?" This was supposed to be funny. I did not find it so.

Highlander 2. Completely hated that movie. I spent the time watching it totting up scientific errors. And I started doing this five minutes after the movie started. You should read Roger Ebert's review (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19911101/REVIEWS/111010305/1023) of it. The only criticism I would make is that he doesn't slam the movie hard enough.

Movies I Love:

The Return of the King. I went to see this one four times in a month. No movie has ever made me cry so much or root so completely for the characters. (Though I am still at a loss as to why Legolas is considered even remotely cool when he is sharing screen time with Sam, Eowyn, Theoden and Faramir.)

The Rock. Yes, the science is just as ridiculous as in Highlander 2; yes, I know that nerve gas doesn't work like this. But it's a great buddy movie, a fantastic action thriller that races against terrorists (the home-grown variety) and time, daring escapes, flashes of wry humour, and Sean Connery (who is gorgeous with a capital GUH).

[nuptse.livejournal.com]

Tombstone: "I got two guns, one for each o'ya." Some of the best. lines. ever. And angsty and rife with the quiet man-love, and yes. YES!

[tenebris.livejournal.com]

I'll second the love for Unbreakable. M. Night's movies aside from this are all about the twist, but this movie surpasses its twist. I really need to see it again. (Plus, purple pimp cane!)

[onefishjyuufish.livejournal.com]

Oh crap-- I'm so bad at picking movies that I hate because... Well, I'm easy to please. And love is just as bad because it's way more of a "what movie do I love at the moment" thing.

Hate:

Gangs of New York. Daniel Day Lewis was the only good thing about that movie. And for some reason, the CGI elephant really made me want to laugh like a mad thing in the middle of the theater.

Brotherhood of the Wolf. AUGH. This movie was... incomprehensible. And red. Augh. I liked the Indian! I fell asleep while watching it, but woke up to see Monica. I can't even think of anything else to say about it.

Love:

...I can't. It's too much. So I'm just going to say Boondock Saints and Fight Club because I like to slash and I desperately need more fic for both these fandoms. Also Ocean's 11. I suck at this meme.

[liamere.livejournal.com]

HATED:

The English Patient - because not only was it initially comprehensible, it still sucked as a movie once I got it. The story wasn't hot either.

The Grudge - Not. Scary. At. All. In fact, so illogical I wonder at anyone making such rubbish.

LOVED:

Lost in Translation - Wonderfully wistful story that's love.

Casablanca - Makes you consider the importance of choices etc.

[ladysorka]

Men With Brooms is quite possibly the best movie ever. Curling!

[ladysorka]

HATE:

Titanic - Cliche, but true. It's all people complaining and having whirlwind romances and dying and... gag me. Please. At the end, when everyone else in the theatre was sobbing, I was cheering and going "Yes! Die! Die, you whiny little annoying person! DIE!" and laughing. All internally of course, as I was not suicidal.

Starsky and Hutch - I seriously almost walked out of this movie. First movie ever to make me do that. Not really a fault of the film itself, but of the whole "American Comedy" genre. If I'm really supposed to find that sort of thing funny, no wonder I think the rest of America is completely whacked.

LOVE:

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - Okay, yes, so they're all walking cliches. But, you know what? I just don't care. I'm sorry, but I don't. It's hilariously funny, but it doesn't turn away from giving these three characters real personalities that you actually care for. To Wong Foo can't even hold a candle to it. Plus, watching it followed immediately by The Matrix or Lord of the Rings is fun and surreal. Agent Smith in a strange lizard costume! Elrond singing Abba!

Strange Days - Look. I know it can't decide what genre it is. I know it's not actually a good movie. I do, really. But I can't help loving it anyway. Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett get me every time, and by the end of the movie I desperately want this complete loser and this amazingly cool chick to grow old together and have babies, even though I know it'd never work. Which makes me insanely sad, but there you have it. And I love the soundtrack, and the colour of this film. It's so vivid. And... and... it's that movie I dearly love, for completely irrational reasons. I show it to everyone, and then everyone thinks I'm crazy.

[ruuger]

I haven't seen Starsky and Hutch, but I agree on the other three. I adore Strange Days, and Angela Basset and Ralph Fiennes's characters really are the cutest (and saddest) couple around. I love Priscilla, too, and it has left me unable to listen to ABBA or "I Will Survive" without immediately thinking about Hugo Weaving in a dress.

As for Titanic, back in 1997 I was accused of trying to be cool by not liking Titanic, and no-one wanted to believe I didn't like it because
a) it's far too long,
b) I couldn't care less about what happens to Jack and Rose,
c) Billy Zane is in a wrong movie, and
d) it's a bad movie.
Which is quite sad because James Cameron is actually one of my favourite directors.

What I just posted in my journal

[trishalynn.livejournal.com]

Hate

12 Monkeys: Okay, I think I'm copping out on this one because I think "12 Monkeys" is a fabulous movie and that Pitt and Willis were excellent in it. I just hate that because of what happens in it, and especially near the end, I cannot watch that movie ever again. I don't like coming out of a movie watching experience totally depressed and wanting to slit my wrists.

Pink Cadillac: I hated watching this movie at the discount theater with my parents so much that I walked out of the movie maybe 15 minutes into it and kicked around the lobby for about 15 minutes before forcing myself to go back inside. And I think I was 11. So it wasn't like I could walk out, get in my car and go home. No, I had to stay there and see the rest of it (which got better, but only because Robin Williams showed up).

Love

Fight Club: Yeah, yeah, everyone likes "Fight Club". Everyone's got their own reasons why, too. I like it because of who I watched it with the first time I ever saw it, and the fact that the movie really makes you think hard about it once the reveal comes. Plus, the slash potential is overwhelming.

His Girl Friday: This movie kicks the proverbial asses of all romantic comedy movies, all "women in the workplace" movies, all buddy movies, all snappy banter movies and all fantastic hat movies. Plus it has Cary Grant at his Cary Grant best.

[silly-dan.livejournal.com]

Hate: Batman and Robin -- bad acting, bad direction, and an incoherent plot, which they tried to cover up with explosions and bad one-liners. The only thing that stopped me from demanding my money back was that I saw it on a friend's guest pass.

Highlander -- I apologize in advance to those who liked the TV series, but the original movie was just not that good. It had an interesting premise, granted, which is why the TV series managed to entertain, but the movie had a highland clansman going around with a French accent. Which would be OK, but they then cast one of the most Scottish actors ever alongside him.

Love: The Phantom Menace -- OK, I lie, I only pretended to love this as a reaction to the absurd heights of the anti-Jar Jar backlash. Now that everyone's calmed down, I can safely say that although it's easily the weakest Star Wars movie, it has its moments. (It's also part of a series which I like better, on average, than the Highlander or Batman movies, which boosts its score for me, anyway.)

Miracle Mile -- the best movie about nuclear war starring Anthony Edwards ever.

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

Might as well just copy it from my blog:

Just off the top of my head:

LOVE:

Rushmore. Good God, what an endlessly quotable, brilliantly written, beautifully shot, gorgeously scored, fabulously acted (especially Bill Murray) film. I'm overdue to watch it again. Right up there in my top five.

Raiders of the Lost Ark. My sentimental all-time favorite. Spielberg when he was still Spielberg, Ford when he was still capable of fun, Karen Allen when she was acting instead of quilting. The desert truck chase scene is John Williams at the top of his game. And how can you not dig Alfred Molina in his first film?

HATE:

So many to choose from, but I'll try to go with two that a lot of people like, just to be contrary:

Moulin Rouge. trollprincess also cited this one, but I can't resist. Baz Luhrmann can't direct traffic, and God knows he tries in this annoyingly busy film. LOOK, SOMETHING SHINY! LOOK, SOMETHING PRETTY! LOOK! LOOK! LOOK! It's all LOOK LOOK LOOK for two hours, with the lamest use of popular songs since Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. (The movie, not the album.)

Heat. How can Michael Mann direct Pacino and De Niro and come back with such a pointless, endless, formless mess? I'm sorry, a movie about a cop chasing a robber does not need to be three hours long, with ten fwillion subplots to pad the ungainly thing out. This could've been done as a 90-minute TV movie. As a matter of fact, it was.

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

'Loved: Big and A Clockwork Orange'

The possibilities for a Josh/Alex slashfic are endless. (And wrong.) :)

I love those too, but in entirely opposite ends of my brain. Which is what's fun about movie geekdom. :)

[akamarykate.livejournal.com]

(reposted to fix my silly coding error)

Hate:

Home Alone. The only movie I've ever got up and walked out on. I get that it's fantasy and all that, but all the people in the theater laughing at other people, even 'bad guys' getting hurt squicked me badly, maybe because of the streak of vigialantism going around in that community at that point in time.

You've Got Mail. Um, yeah, I hate to say it, because Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are definitely cute together, but it's one of those stories that gets drawn out because of miscommunication that could easily be solved and end the movie 60 minutes in, and worse, she lost her independent bookstore. I can't bring myself to cheer for the triumph of ubercorporate America, but I felt like the movie was trying to manipulate me into doing exactly that.

Love:

The Princess Bride. I mean, seriously. What's not to love? Plus, the one time I didn't find Mandy Patinkin completely annoying was in this film.

Waiting for Guffman. It's hard to pick one Christopher Guest movie, but this just squeaks past the others because I know those community theater people.