Overrated Movies

[RedPiggy]

Personally, I liked Titanic when I first saw it. However, I think the radio's unhealthy obession with the theme song killed it to the point where people were HOPING they die.

Never saw Avatar, as I could smell the plot a mile away and had no real inkling to go see it.

I personally like Transformers. I think the hype is overrated, and I grew up with season 1, I don't remember if I saw the animated movie or not, but the massive love or massive hate for these movies just seems silly. I mean, over an hour of clanking metal? Really? Were you expecting Care Bears? You do understand robots made of metal are the main characters, right?

I wish I could've seen District 9, but Mom griped so much in the first five minutes because it seemed more like a documentary instead of a fanciful happy world that we had to turn it off.

The first Hulk movie. I get what the director was trying to do. Still, I can't help the fact I was a fan of the show and preferred the remake's version.

The Passion. I disagree that glorifying torture and death and villifying a group that historically had nothing to do with the ending is worth it. I'm a Christian, but South Park was right. That's all I'm goin' ta say about that.

Star Wars. Don't get me wrong. I love these movies, even the bad ones. I can even take Obi Wan's fanboying of the Jedi in the originals and the stark reality of a bunch of idiotic hypocrites in the prequels. On the other hand, these six movies should be renamed The Six Degrees of Anakin Skywalker. Still, loved the Obi Wan/Anakin fight on Mustafar. Fun stuff.

Would a rant on the Disney Princess thing as a whole belong to another thread? I mean, you get little else but white fragile victims up until Ariel, who switches out victimhood for teenage stupidity. Belle continues the Whining Princess category (and I can't stop crying at the end of this, I truly love these movies, I really do, but this rant only really shows up as the Princess line continues). Finally, we get Jasmine, who can kick your butt if you give her the opportunity. How often have you heard from her other than Kingdom Hearts after 9/11? And last, but not least, we get Tiana, who at least seems a lot more real than anyone else. I'm not counting Mulan or Alice. God dang it, they are never going to be princesses! You have to be ROYAL to be a princess! And don't get me started on the merchandise. Okay, I'll start a little ... I was in Wal-Mart and going past the kids' clothes section, and you had one shirt with Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle and another with just Tiana by herself. Make of that what you will. Also, why is Nala never counted as one? She's married to the King of the Pridelands!

It kills me to say this, but Heston's Ten Commandments. I loved this movie and I memorized it, but it really is profoundly silly and over-acted.

 

[frogboy4]

Remember though, everything on this thread is all strictly opinion of each poster.

In part, but it's shifted to what's overrated, not merely what we didn't like or our least favorite films. There's a difference. There are plenty of fine things in life that I dislike, but wouldn't label them as being overrated. It's a fine line I guess.

 

[Drtooth]

The Passion. I disagree that glorifying torture and death and villifying a group that historically had nothing to do with the ending is worth it. I'm a Christian, but South Park was right. That's all I'm goin' ta say about that.

Oh, religiously and historically speaking there is so much there that has plagued history. What people refuse to realize is that the Roman's caused so damage in history, destroying cultures and stealing their religions. Why the Jewish faith keeps getting bludgeoned with the blame of Caesar's egotistical and megalomaniac ilk is beyond me. And wasn't Jesus SUPPOSED to be sacrificed? Ugh!

Would a rant on the Disney Princess thing as a whole belong to another thread? I mean, you get little else but white fragile victims up until Ariel, who switches out victimhood for teenage stupidity. Belle continues the Whining Princess category (and I can't stop crying at the end of this, I truly love these movies, I really do, but this rant only really shows up as the Princess line continues). Finally, we get Jasmine, who can kick your butt if you give her the opportunity. How often have you heard from her other than Kingdom Hearts after 9/11? And last, but not least, we get Tiana, who at least seems a lot more real than anyone else. I'm not counting Mulan or Alice. God dang it, they are never going to be princesses! You have to be ROYAL to be a princess! And don't get me started on the merchandise. Okay, I'll start a little ... I was in Wal-Mart and going past the kids' clothes section, and you had one shirt with Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle and another with just Tiana by herself. Make of that what you will. Also, why is Nala never counted as one? She's married to the King of the Pridelands!

There is just so much there to touch upon. Wow. Great discussion right there.

I think that the Disney Princesses is an overrated brand all together. Disney Heroes never really caught on. Disney Villains is unfortunately delegated to women's wear, considering that they mainly use Cruella, The Queen of Hearts and Malficient (or whatever her name is from Sleeping Beauty), even though Jafar, Scar, and even Peg Leg Pete are featured on calendars and mugs and stuff. Pete being the most underrated, since he himself existed long before Mickey did... we're talking Disney's earliest cartoons... even managed to steal him back from Universal when he lost Oswald... but that's another story. And why they didn't create a Disney's Wacky sidekicks line is beyond me, since they're a constant in all the movies. The Princess stuff sells to little girls and it sells like hot cakes.

Of course, let's not forget, they'll try to call ANY female role a Princess for marketing reasons. Mulan was there to basically help add ethnicity to the brand (which is partly why Princess and the Frog was made also). Jasmine was the first non-white Princess there was because, let's face it... Disney used European fairy tales for the longest time. You don't get much whiter than German ancestry.

I don't understand why they'd try to put Alice (Alice in Wonderland, I presume?) in the Princess category... they use her for a much different clientele, fake American Gothic Lolitas that watched the Tim Burton movie... even with the classic Disney versions of the characters. And the only reason why Nala isn't considered a Princess is because she's not human and it would be impossible to sell fashion dolls of her... unless she was completely anthropomorphized. And that's all what the Princess brand is about.

As for the Princesses themselves... someone here once said something about Belle that I'm sure we'd all agree with. If you watch the movie carefully, she IS a snob. She probably had more of an ego than the Beast had before he was changed. of course, I stand to think it's mutual. The town doesn't like her (thinks she's too brainy... think it might be an issue of anti-feminism or something), she doesn't like the town (deep down thinks their idiot townies, maybe? Of course, I wouldn't like a town that sang nasty songs about me behind my back either)... Gaston's Simon Belmont/Link Hogthrob ego is actually a match for her....

But above all, when Animaniacs made the satirical episode Jokahauntus, they were so dead on, especially with the "Same old Heroine" song which actually ripped Disney the biggest one that WB ever gave them. Though, I really wish they kept in this exchange in the Ice Cream song, unaltered:

"Hey! There wasn't any song like this in the movie!"

"Yeah! This one is good!"

 

[ZeppoAndFriends]

Titanic

Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic Titanic

Titanic

So, what, you're thinking Titanic is overrated?

(You will receive no arguments from me, sir! )

 

[Convincing John]

There's NO quality. It's all poop and hydrant jokes. I'm sorry, but I think kids deserve something better than that.

Hmmm...why did I just think of "Kermit's Swamp Years" when I read that?

Okay, I'm going to say it: How the Grinch Stole Christmas. No, not the classic special, the movie with Jim Carrey. Remember when that came out? It was so hyped up, it had merchandise you couldn't believe! There were even some Grinch kitchen appliances for crying out loud! It was at the height of Rosie O'Donnell's popularity and I think it was because of her show that the film got an extra boost.

"Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store." Remember that from Seuss's book? With Carrey, they sure missed the mark of the Grinch's true story. Of course, with Carrey's comedy films, they're all about him mugging for the camera and making faces. Same role, different film titles, green makeup or not.

The Austin Powers films were overhyped as well. The sexual innuendo jokes and catch phrases just get old.

Gotta agree with Titanic. Yeah, I saw it on TV twice, but it just wasn't as interesting (to me) as the History Channel documentaries at the time that focused on searching for the actual ship.

I actually bought "A Bug's Life" simply because I knew Karen Prell had a hand in it as an animator. Not bad...but there's Disney flicks out there with better quality, script-wise anyway. I tried watching Ratatouille and it just didn't measure up to Toy Story.

Phantom Menace--Oh, boy. Talk about an overhyped film! I went to see it. To quote Jim, "I liked what they were trying to do"...

And about the Passion, I agree that South Park was right on the money with that episode.

Convincing John

 

[Drtooth]

Okay, I'm going to say it: How the Grinch Stole Christmas. No, not the classic special, the movie with Jim Carrey. Remember when that came out? It was so hyped up, it had merchandise you couldn't believe! There were even some Grinch kitchen appliances for crying out loud! It was at the height of Rosie O'Donnell's popularity and I think it was because of her show that the film got an extra boost.

Couple things... The Grinch movie was first and foremost a Christmas movie. If a Christmas movie is released at just the right time, no matter how horrible it is, people WILL see it. A Family Christmas movie all the more. That's why Elf and the first Chipmunks films were surprise hits. Meanwhile, Surviving Christmas (a horrendous movie and terrible Meet the Parents knockoff in its own right) was released in October, flopped massively and was on DVD by Christmas. I think that was the plan. Rosie probably had nothing to do with it.

Secondly, UGH! Anyone else hate the style guide Grinch they had that they still use to this day? As much as a crap film Cat in the Hat was, at LEAST they used the original Dr. Seuss designs. The Grinch smacked of "We couldn't get Turner/Warner Bros to lend us the rights for the Chuck Jones special likenesses, even though they let us have the music and basic overall similarities ONLY in the special, so let's make an ugly mash up of the cartoon, the actor likenesses and Dr. Seuss." And such ugly merchandise we got out of that too. I kinda dug the film though. It could have actually been good if it didn't look so ugly. And I actually liked the reason why the Grinch wanted to steal Christmas in the film. A deep hatred of the Who's hypocrisy, not just a grouchy "I don't like it."

On that subject... Horton Hears a Who. Now, I liked this movie, but it was extremely flawed, and Steve Carell carried most of the film, Carol Burnet carried a little bit of it. The film had some good moments, sure, but there's a LOT it DIDN'T need...

1. Jim Carey's voice over. You actually CAN'T tell it's him. Mugging the camera is one thing, but his voice is pretty generic sounding. They could have got Matt Frewer for half the cost. but then again, Jim Carrey stole Matt Frewer's sch-sch-schtick (no ones' gonna get that though... so... here)
2. The anime sequence where Horton was a Ninja. now, it was wonderfully animated, and I wish the film looked like that instead. But it was absolutely meaningless and served no purpose at all except killing time.
3. That character who said crazy things, puffed her cheeks, and flew away for no reason. Was that supposed to be funny? it seemed disturbing AND pasted in.
4. and it may just have been one scene, but the whole unhip dad talking rap to try to appeal to one of his unhappy kids gag. If there's an animal that needs to be desperately put down, it's the talking street not hip person joke.

 

[frogboy4]

That character who said crazy things, puffed her cheeks, and flew away for no reason. Was that supposed to be funny? it seemed disturbing AND pasted in.

Oh, I loved Katie! She was the best part of the movie. Her film would have been better.

 

[Nick22]

i honestly cant think of any overrated movies that havent been mentioned yet.

twilight is fer sure overrated. kristin stewart pretty much sucks at acting. sorry. but it's true. i've only seen the first movie, and i wanted to strangle bella with my bare hands the whole freakin time. and vampires don't freakin sparkle. THEY'RE PALE WHITE BLOOD SUCKERS! twilight just irritates me.

most movies that are all hyped up, i try to avoid. or else i get so excited for this awesome movie and then i see it and i'm like "what the heck was that?"

 

[Kiki]

An obvious one, but Titanic. I enjoyed it, but it's extremely overrated. Plus, the dialogue is pretty avarage. I also found Tarantino's Death Proof overrated, as well as Australia, which has a /massive/ hype, but after I saw it I definately felt a sense of dissatisfaction. By the way, am I the only one who thinks Tom Cruise is terrible overrated? He always plays the same role in /every/ movie...

 

[Drtooth]

Oh, I loved Katie! She was the best part of the movie. Her film would have been better.

mMMmmmmm... I found it completely out of place. In another movie, it could have worked. I certainly found her a little more enjoyable than Mort in Madagascar (and frankly, any shrimpy Gingerbreadman type character in Early Dreamworks CGI films). Maybe she should have had a little more screen time for the gag to work better... And I really wasn't a fan of Horton talking to himself most of the movie. It detracted from the character being sweet and naiive enough to actually sense the citizens of Whoville, not so much hear voices. But then again, I just find Blue Sky films to almost be really good, but something is always lacking in the scripts to make it fleshed out.

twilight is fer sure overrated. kristin stewart pretty much sucks at acting. sorry. but it's true. i've only seen the first movie, and i wanted to strangle bella with my bare hands the whole freakin time. and vampires don't freakin sparkle. THEY'RE PALE WHITE BLOOD SUCKERS! twilight just irritates me.

I have nothing but problems with that movie, but it got me to thinking about an entire series of REALLy overrated movies.

The Scary Movie series and all their spin off films, including (to tie this in with what you said) Vampires Suck. I like satire when done right. These films do it ALL wrong, and I'm gonna use Vampire Sucks as an example. Now, you have the potential to make fun of ONE film or one genre of film. And Twilight is something that demands a proper satire. They ain't gettin' it here. Instead of just making fun of the films and the fans, they have to go "HEY! It's Jersey Shore!" and "Hey! I just Killed Alice, specifically from the Tim Burton movie which wasn't even released by the time we threw the script together!"

I hate how these movies basically turn into 90 minute MadTv skits. You don't HAVE to make fun of every single movie that came out in the past year. Just make fun of a couple. Jeez. Now Mad Magazine could make a parody. Get those guys to write a movie like this. It would actually be FUNNY.