@The_Moose@LN78 Goldfinger was so bad it felt like a parody of itself. Never understood the appeal, especially since Connery's Bond had a really good initial run of films until that one.
As for The Godfather, it's... probably a good film, but good lord was it boring. Second film I've actually fallen asleep during, the first being Peter Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring, which took me four separate tries to actually watch all the way through.
On my end, I actually do think 2001: A Space Odyssey is the one Kubrick film that actually lives up to the hype, so to speak. One of the most forward-thinking and intelligent films I've ever seen.
Goldfinger is the best Bond film starring the best Bond. It set and perfected the formula which all Bond films stuck too for the most part. Quantum of Solace didn't and is the worst Bond movie.
From Russia With Love is overrated in my opinion. I find it quite a slow burn, not a bad film but not one of the greats.
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. – Seneca
Goldfinger has some of the cringiest one-liners in the entire series. Bond acts like a buffoon the entire time. It's also one of the most rapey films in the series, and any scene with Pussy Galore in it is almost unwatchable.
Is it iconic? Unfortunately, yes, and I think it's a huge reason why many people don't think highly of Connery's run, despite his run probably being the best in terms of the average quality of the films (no love from me for the eternity that Roger Moore was in the role).
The best thing about it is that it inspired a lot of the gags from the first Austin Powers, which IS a film I actually like.
As for From Russia With Love, it's a classic spy film and a top three Bond movie alongside Casino Royale and OHMSS.
And yes, QoS is worse than Goldfinger, I'll grant that.
@LN78 Die Another Day is so under appreciated. Diamonds is rubbish yeah, after Quantum I'd say Moonraker, that's atrocious. After watching so many of the pre-Craig era Bond's I've actually become more critical of the Craig era and NTTD is the final nail in the coffin how it's completed.
I'm very much a traditionalist when it comes to my Bond though and I hate the modern interpretation of him.
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. – Seneca
@LN78 Thunderball has one of the most boring sections of any movie I’ve seen. There’s a solid 20 minutes of faffing about underwater. Apparently it was groundbreaking but it doesn’t make for good viewing!
@LN78 Yes, but Goldfinger requires more 'product of its time' framing than most of the other Connery Bond films. Of the first four films, Goldfinger is the only one I find actively embarrassing to watch with some people.
@LN78 I’d probably say quite a few! A Clockwork Orange didn’t do much for me, along with well, anything Nolan’s ever had his grubby hands on post-Memento. I didn’t like To Catch A Thief either which I’ve seen critics rave about but then I’m not a huge Hitchcock fan. I think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a pretty divisive movie as it is but I probably stand on the ‘nah’ side too. Of course, I’m discounting horror movies as that’s more just a personal preference and there’s loads of classics in that genre that I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch!
I’d probably say quite a few! A Clockwork Orange didn’t do much for me, along with well, anything Nolan’s ever had his grubby hands on post-Memento. I didn’t like To Catch A Thief either which I’ve seen critics rave about but then I’m not a huge Hitchcock fan. I think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a pretty divisive movie as it is but I probably stand on the ‘nah’ side too. Of course, I’m discounting horror movies as that’s more just a personal preference and there’s loads of classics in that genre that I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch!
As for A Clockwork Orange, it's an example of a film I find entertaining, but also sort of... meaningless? I don't think it has anything intelligent to say about the subjects it ostensibly tackles. It's a shock film dressed up in a fancy suit.
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So, I saw Violent Night yesterday, and it's absolutely bonkers. Wonderful experience. Somehow it manages to simultaneously be an incredibly brutal and gory action vehicle AND a very traditional sort of saccharine Christmas film. It's the deft mixture of these two elements that helps it stand out. David Harbour's turn as a grumpy, disillusioned Santa Clause is also quite memorable.
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@LN78 I always forget about the Prestige to be honest, I saw it years ago and I think I did enjoy it at the time. One of those movies that you’ll never appreciate the same way once you know the twist though.
@Ralizah That was my takeaway from A Clockwork Orange as well. I’m still slightly unsure about what the message actually is but that could be on me.
@nessisonett I don't know if you're familiar with Roger Ebert's infamously scathing review of the film, but he sums it up pretty well in the first paragraph:
"Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" is an ideological mess, a paranoid right-wing fantasy masquerading as an Orwellian warning. It pretends to oppose the police state and forced mind control, but all it really does is celebrate the nastiness of its hero, Alex."
About as concise a summation of the film as I can imagine.
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Roger Ebert's reviews are my favourite ever. He really could boil a movie down to a couple of sentences like few others.
I watch Everything Everywhere All At Once last night because everyone was wamping on about how amazing it was and it was alright. I also watched Inception which I'd seen years ago but not recently, and I really liked it. This is my movie report.
In a bit of a surprise turn we rewatched Avatar: the Way of Water again at the theatre over the weekend. My brother wanted to see it again (it's his favorite film series) & he said he'd pay if I went with him so I figured why not. Still managed to absolutely engross me the second time around. The underwater scenes are nothing short of magical in 3D.
Also got to see the first Mario movie trailer in 3D (the one with the penguins) this time around as well, which was a nice perk.
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Hmmm…. Classic well regarded movies that I actively dislike… 🤔
I have to agree that my first viewing of 2001: A Space Odyssey was underwhelming and boring. But a rewatch as an adult helped me appreciate it. It’s still a slow burn, but the soundtrack does a lot of heavy lifting to make the experience enjoyable.
I’m not as well-exposed to the classics and a lot of the top films I’ve never seen, especially the older ones. But here’s some of the well-regarded “greatest films” which I don’t particularly think are all that great:
Forrest Gump - Never understood this one. I just couldn’t get along with this and it was just a strange premise. It was worth watching, but hardly what I’d consider being one of the greatest movies of all time
Titanic - ditto to above, minus the strange premise
Rocky - I’m surprised I didn’t like this because I was a fan of Rocky 2-4. But the original movie was markedly slower and more boring. I understand it’s a character study rather than a feel-good Karate Kid style fight movie. But it was hard to get through for me.
Gone with the Wind - tried to watch this a while back, on account of its lofty position in cinema history, but just too dull.
Dances with Wolves - another boring self-indulgent outing for Costner. (Edit: see also Field of Dreams and Robin Hood. Oh and Waterworld 😂)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl - I like this alright, but it’s just too chaotic and disjointed to be considered one of the greats. It’s okay. And now knowing Depp’s background a little more, his portrayal of a dim-witted pirate who’s half drunk all time doesn’t seem like such a stretch of a performance.
Men. One of the strangest films I've seen in a long long while. And I'm not sure what to make of it all. Especially the last part, when it goes completely bonkers. Some of the special effects looked a bit fake at times, but i think that is just the sign of the low budget it was made for. Brilliant performances by the small cast, especially from Rory Kinnear.
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Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@LN78 Yep I loved Alex Garlands previous films too. Ex Machina is probably one of my favourite films ever. Also the same year that Nightcrawler came out which is another one of my top films. Men is worth a watch, if only to hear back what you think of it.
As for classics I've never got on with, there are probably a skip full of them. The ones that come to mind are the two Bladrunner films. I did like the first one when I first saw it, but each time I've seen it has been a different version and I've liked it less each time. Bladrunner 2049 bored me to sleep, which hardly ever happens.
Top Gun I was never a fan of and always found it watchable at best.
Most of Pixar's earlier films have never appealed to me, so none of the Toy Story films (only seen the first two mind), Finding Nemo annoyed the hell out of me. The first one I actually liked was probably The Incredibles.
I tend to avoid films which I know aren't film for me though. I've still not seen stuff Titanic and Romeo + Juliet. And have no intention to either.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@LN78 Really liked Annihilation. So much that I bought it on 4K Blu Ray even though it is on Netflix. It does makes more sense the more I've seen it. Oh I didn't know that about Dredd. So much better than that awful Stallone version!
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
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