Films You Love, but critics hate

[synergy777]

Bulletproof Monk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bulletproof Monk is a 2003 martial arts comedy fantasy film starring Chow Yun-Fat, Seann William Scott, Jaime King, directed by Paul Hunter. It is loosely based on the comic book by Michael Avon Oeming.

Plot
The film opens in Tibet in the 1943 with two Tibetan monks fighting, the Monk and his master, while a small boy with a monkey looks on. The Monk wins and his master says that he has passed. First he completed the three prophecies, fought an army of enemies while a flock of cranes circled overhead, fought for love at the palace of Jade and saved his brothers who he did not know. He has one final sacrifice which is to give up his name; the Monk says he already has. They go into a temple and the master is going to pass the job of protecting the Scroll of the Ultimate. The small boy who was watching them enters the temple behind them secretly. The Monk kneels in front of the master while holding the Scroll whilst the master puts his hand on his head. The wind blows a little harder and there is something transferring from the master to the Monk, we are then shown that a couple of Nazis are watching this through binoculars. The process is complete and the Monk is the new protector, he then looks up and sees an aged, old master. He says now for the next 60 years it is his - the Monk's - job to protect the Scroll. They come out of the temple, while the master says that now he can do what he hasn't done in 60 years, take a vacation. At that moment he is shot multiple times. He's dragged into the temple by the Monk where he dies. The Monk sees the boy and tells him to run for safety while locking the doors. Outside the other Tibetan monks stand together in front of the door to stop the Nazis, but they shoot through them and the captain sends two Nazis into the temple, however shots are heard and the two Nazis are thrown out, their guns are thrown after them in pieces. The Nazi captain goes into the temple, while the Monk fights the other Nazis, but he doesn't find the Scroll since the Monk has already taken it. He comes out to see the Monk has beaten all of his soldiers. He shoots at the Monk who easily dodges bullets before stopping at a cliffs edge, where he is shot in the heart and jumps off. The captain follows him but is shocked to see no sign of the Monk. He calls out to the Monk before shouting Monk.

The scene is then forward to 60 years later, where a young pickpocket, Kar (Seann William Scott), is pickpocketing people in the subway, and then he picks a plainclothes police man who handcuffs him, but the pickpocket is able to free himself and handcuff the police officer to a railing. The pickpocket runs away from other policemen, while above in the street we are show the Monk reading a newspaper when he notices several men in suits watching him, and he makes a run for it, into the subway. The pickpocket is too fast for the police and the Monk is faster than the men chasing him, however both the pickpocket and the Monk are running on the platform in opposite sides and bump into each other, causing a young girl to fall onto the train's path. The Monk jumps to help the girl whose foot is stuck, the men following him run off when they see the police and the pickpocket jumps after the Monk to help him. The Monk lifts the rail without touching it while the pickpocket pulls the girl's foot, they save the girl and jump out of the way when the train comes, allowing them to escape but the pickpockets bag of stolen goods is left behind.

The Monk and the pickpocket introduce themselves, while the pickpocket Kar steals the Scroll from the Monk and runs away. Then wherever Kar goes he is chased by the Monk who thinks that Kar could be the next protector of the Scroll. When fighting in the street against a small time crime-lord called Mister Funktastic (Marcus Jean Pirae), he meets Jade, with whom he falls in love. The Monk then follows Kar home, and watches him at home practicing kung fu, by watching Chinese martial arts movies. He leaves in the morning, but Kar runs into him again on the street where Kar is pickpocketing. And the Monk pickpockets Kar and returns the wallet Kar stole. They are talking when Jade walks up to them asking for her necklace which Kar apparently stole so he could later return it and be in her good graces. However, the mercenaries chasing the Monk find him causing him to run, with Kar tagging along.

The Monk and Kar lose the men when they enter an Asian laundry and go underground, where there are other Tibetan monks who are ready to become the next protector. The master there is the nephew of the young boy at the beginning of the film. The Monk then goes to a building where he teaches Kar how to fight like he does. They are attacked and the Scroll is taken, however they upon reading the Scroll Strucker finds that it is a recipe for noodle soup, and the Monk later shows the scroll tattooed into his body. The Monk and Kar return home, to find that Mr. Kojima has been murdered by Nina, who is Strucker's grand-daughter. The pair run away from the men in suits who find them at the Golden Palace cinema (Kar's workplace and home) and they run to the same Asian laundry but are found by Nina, as they were betrayed by a Monk who wants the power of the Scroll and is willing to share it with Strucker. The monk is however taken to Strucker's headquarters and tortured.

The Monk and Kar go to Jade's house and find out that Jade is the daughter of a Russian crime lord, who is currently in jail. Nina and her guards appear and take the Monk away by tranquillising him, while beating Jade and Kar. Jade and Kar go to Strucker's headquarters, where Strocker has read the text of the Scroll except the last line which is memorized by the Monk and he won't give it up. Strucker uses a device which extracts information from a person's brain, but before he can extract the last line Jade and Kar arrive freeing the Monk. A fight ensues, where Strucker fights both the Monk and Kar before threatning to throw Kar off the roof of the building if the Monk does not give him the last line. However, Kar, is able to beat Strucker who is thrown off the building onto electrical cables below. Jade saves all the other Tibetan monks, they meet and the Monk makes Kar the protector, however Strucker who has absorbed most of the Scroll's power comes back and shoots Kar but Jade jumps in front of him, and Kar finishes off Strucker while a statue falls on him finally killing him. Kar then goes to Jade's side and lifts her shirt to see her wound but there are some inscriptions on her stomach, and Jade is fine. The Monk then tells them that they both passed the three prophecies and passed the final test. The next day the Monk meets Kar and Jade and whispers the last line to each of them; half of it to Kar and half to Jade who he says are now inseparable as opposites attract, he then leaves. It is assumed he is going to take a vacation.


Quotes

Monk: It's not about anger - it's about peace. It's not about power - it's about grace. It's not about knowing your enemy - it's about knowing yourself.

Monk: Air is as real as you and me. You have to step on it as if it were a stone, swim through it as if it were the sea. All you have to do is truly believe.
Kar: Believe what, that the laws of gravity don't exist?

[tejas]

heh, i loved this film as well.

And the chick in it was fit.

[synergy777]

she kicked arse and was into human rights aswell, perfecto.

[adimon]

Everyone I know loves 'Lock, Stock' and 'Snatch' but when I ask people if they've seen 'Revolver' they say "I heard it was shit" - nearly every time.

The critics panned this film, presumably because they didn't understand the incredible subtleties of the plot.

Even for people that don't particularly enjoy the London gangsterness of the first two, I'd recommend this one because Guy Ritchie has emerged as a serious moviemaker, whilst retaining his Cockney cheekiness and ludicrously cool characters.

Being set in America gives it the edge, but the plot, script, acting and photography make this for me the film that show Ritchie can do what Tarantino always dreamed of doing.

N.B. - Be careful of researching this film online prior to purchase, as many reviews and websites contain spoilers for the plot. You REALLY won't want to have it spoiled for you. It's a cracker! Ritchie even leaves a few minutes of blank screen and classical musc for those still puzzling it over.

[damagedbrainn]

Natural Born Killers

Wolf Creek

Mom and Dad Save the World

...eh, all I can think of with such little effort.

[chris]

Cable Guy - Very underated and dark but needs to be watched more than once.

[auron]

They live. :cool:

[chris]

All Jeal Claude Van Damme movies are savaged by the critiques but they don't watch them as spoofs, given their propper genre, they become artwork that leaves all others in the dust.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4o0GLg0kYDU

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3cuLcCPVYLc

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aOIJtS4gbaY

[punjabibeard]

posted this before in the old movie thread so i guess it deserves a reposting
ZARDOZ
In the distant future Earth is divided into two camps, the barely civilized group and the overly civilized one with mental powers. A plague is attacking the second group after which it's members cease to have any interest in life and become nearly catatonic. When Sean Connery one of the barbarians, crosses over, the tenuous balance in their world is threatened.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070948/
AGENCY
A mysterious millionaire buys an ad agency and begins to replace its employees with his own people, who don't appear to be advertising types at all. A copywriter begins to suspect that the man isn't interested in selling products as much as he is in inserting his own sinister political beliefs into the commercials the agency runs on TV in order to subliminally brainwash an unsuspecting public into supporting the causes and candidates he wants them to. When the copywriter confides his suspicions to a friend and soon afterwards is mysteriously killed, his friend begins his own investigation.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081989/
EUREKA
Arctic prospector Jack McCann, after fifteen years of solitary searching, becomes one of the world's wealthiest men when he literally falls into a mountain of gold in 1925. Years later, in 1945, he lives in luxury on a Caribbean island that he owns. But his wealth brings him no peace of mind as he copes with Helen, his bored, alcoholic wife; Tracy, his dear, but headstrong, daughter who has married a dissolute, philandering social-climber; and Miami mobsters who want his island to build a casino. His life is entangled with the obsessions of those around him with greed, power, and debauchery against a background of occult symbolism.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083906/
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN
A Christlike figure wanders through bizarre, grotesque scenarios filled with religious and sacrilegious imagery. He meets a mystical guide who introduces him to seven wealthy and powerful individuals, each representing a planet in the solar system. These seven, along with the protagonist, the guide and the guide's assistant, divest themselves of their worldly goods and form a group of nine who will seek out the Holy Mountain, in order to displace the gods who live there and become immortal.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071615/
MEMORY RUN
The year is 2015, and big brother is everywhere. The search for immortality is over. Science has finally achieved the impossible, undermining the most basic aspect of life: that Mind, Body, and Soul must be one, Those who benefit from this new technology will wake up to a new and youthful beginning - the rest of humankind must live a bad dream and wake up to a living nightmare that goes beyond life, beyond death, and beyond redemption.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117017/
loads of bad classics in the old movie thread that i posted and lots more to come :cool:

[tiswas]

Peter Sellars films.

[majicdragon]

FUBAR... I loved it. And the critic in me hated it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/82/Fubarmovie.jpg

[synergy777]

fryer good stuff, a real movie buff. i haven't heard of any of those films.

dark city is a sci fi classic, with healthy dose of film noir.

Dark City (1998 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dark City is a 1998 science fiction film written by Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer, and directed by Proyas. It stars Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jennifer Connelly. While not a major box office hit, it has a considerable reputation within the film industry, with film critic Roger Ebert a particularly big fan.

The story concerns a man waking in a hotel room with no memory, which soon proves to be but one of many troubles. He is sought by police, who believe him to be a serial killer, and also by a group of mysterious men with psychokinetic powers. Furthermore, something appears to be wrong with the world at large: time, memory, and identity behave in unusual ways.


Design
The film was visually inspired by German Expressionist films such as Metropolis (1927),[5] Nosferatu (1921) and M (1931).[2]


A new building sprouts through the city.The morphing of the city landscape in Dark City was an idea by Proyas taken from production of his previous film, The Crow (1993). The film had a rooftop set in which smaller-scale buildings were moved around to create different backgrounds, accomplished by workers out of sight. Proyas recalled the implementation to use in Dark City. The director also included anachronisms in the film, such as a car from the 1980s driving by in the film, set in an earlier era. The city in the film was built from human memories, so the director aimed to blend together various elements to reflect the combination.

[lottie]

Bulletproof Monk


:eek:Syncro- i watched that last night!!!:D

[lightbeing]

:eek:Syncro- i watched that last night!!!:D

Me too!;)

[thetonic]

Not sure if critics liked or not, but i certainly saw people get up and walk out 5 mins in to the film:D

http://www.lasvegassun.com/from.ed/1998/may/18/photos/P000020601.jpg

[lottie]

Not sure if critics liked or not, but i certainly saw people get up and walk out 5 mins in to the film:D

http://www.lasvegassun.com/from.ed/1998/may/18/photos/P000020601.jpg

cant beat fear and loathing....ace film!! :D

[ryanc]

Not sure if critics liked or not, but i certainly saw people get up and walk out 5 mins in to the film:D

http://www.lasvegassun.com/from.ed/1998/may/18/photos/P000020601.jpg

Actually, critics savaged "Fear And Loathing" at the time of its release, but lately it seems to have enjoyed a massive critical "re-evaluation" and is fairly well-respected. Like you, I thought it was great from the word go, so I guess that means folks like us were right all along.

the most recent film I thought I was fantastic but was drubbed critically was David Lynch's "Inland Empire," which I think is probably second only to "Mulholland Drive" in his entire oeuvre, but most critics seemed to think was utterly incomprehensible---as if that fact, in and of itself, makes it a bad film.

[synergy777]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mnemonic_(film)

Johnny Mnemonic is a 1995 cyberpunk movie, loosely based on a short story of the same name by William Gibson, in which Keanu Reeves plays the title character, a man with a cybernetic implant in his brain designed to store information. It portrays Gibson's standard dystopian view of the future with the world dominated by large corporations and with strong East Asian influences.

The film was directed by Robert Longo on location in Canada, with Toronto and Montreal filling in for Newark, New Jersey and Beijing. A number of local monuments feature prominently, such as Toronto's Union Station and Montréal's Jacques Cartier Bridge.

The film is notable for the presence of Takeshi Kitano, whose role in the Japanese version of the film was greatly expanded.[1]


Johnny is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data that is too sensitive for regular computer networks. His brain can carry nearly 80 gigabytes worth of data, or 160 gigabytes if he uses a doubler. Johnny uses this implant to act as a courier between contracting parties. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits (and will thus kill him if the data isn't removed in time), but also proves to contain information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. He has to get the data removed, and avoid being killed by assassins sent after him by the company who owns the data.

The story in the movie significantly deviates from the short story in parts, most notably turning Johnny, not girlfriend Molly, into the main action character. (In fact, the girlfriend character was transformed in the movie from Molly into "Jane", as the film rights to Molly were owned by a company not affiliated with the producers of this film.)

[synergy777]

cyberpunk films are the best genre.then sci fi, fantasy, history.

http://www.nicolas-guillard.com/cybergeography-fr/atlas/artistic.html


english version of the page

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nicolas-guillard.com%2Fcybergeography-fr%2Fatlas%2Fartistic.html&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

[punjabibeard]

LAND OF THE BLIND
if you enjoyed 1984 you may enjoy this
A soldier (Fiennes) recounts his relationship with a famous political prisoner (Sutherland) attempting to overthrow their country's totalitarian government.
Land of the Blind part 1 of 11 - YouTube
Land of the Blind part 2 of 11 - YouTube
Land of the Blind part 3 of 11 - YouTube
Land of the Blind part 4 of 11 - YouTube
Land of the Blind part 5 of 11 - YouTube
Land of the Blind part 6 of 11 - YouTube
Land of the Blind part 7 of 11 - YouTube
Land of the Blind part 8 of 11 - YouTube
Land of the Blind part 9 of 11 - YouTube
Land of the Blind part 10 of 11 - YouTube
Land of the Blind part 11 of 11 - YouTube
also
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. ;)

[lottie]

Who are the critics anyway?

Surely films and how you perceive them are personal only to you as the observer....the critic gives 'his' opinion but thats taken by the media and used to generalise the films popularity and therefore the majority of the public make their minds up based on the critics alone...

With nail and I was doomed by the critics at the time....now look at its status in the world of film, classic!

[intruder]

Cable Guy - Very underated and dark but needs to be watched more than once.

Yes, I agree...Carrey's role as "Chip" was not only darkly amusing, some of the themes hit TOO close to home for me. I wasn't the child of a single mother as he was in the film, but I do recall the TV being a substitute baby sitter as a young lad. Tragic how he could not find an identity for himself...even if he was "being" himself by desparately becoming someone else to try and win some friends. The film became a bit tedious at the end, by I enjoyed it.

[intruder]

Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula". The only detractors to this fine film are Wynona Ryder's and Keanu Reeves' contrived British accents.
Gary Oldman stole the show as a blood drinking, razor licking, shape-shifting, infant sacrificing, high priest of The Order of the Dragon. The castle scenes alone are worth the price of admission. Oldman's laugh is the archetypal demonic laugh. After the brides of Dracula have their way with Jonathon Harker, he rewards them with a fresh infant. The shock on Harker's face followed by that laugh is TOO much! Also, a fine tale of redemption through the power of love. 2 TONGUES UP!!! Watch this trailer...and here that infamous laugh at the end...it's disturbing when you realize that he's laughing at Harker's version of reality being shattered.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[chris]

Yes, I agree...Carrey's role as "Chip" was not only darkly amusing, some of the themes hit TOO close to home for me. I wasn't the child of a single mother as he was in the film, but I do recall the TV being a substitute baby sitter as a young lad. Tragic how he could not find an identity for himself...even if he was "being" himself by desparately becoming someone else to try and win some friends. The film became a bit tedious at the end, by I enjoyed it.

Yes, I think all of us has a little 'Chip' inside of us, interesting name when I think about it, chip as in; incomplete or damaged...I think that's why it got bad reviews, it was not something that people want to identify with like they do with feel good comedies.

Here's a good clip from it (just watching it now, he's wearing an ank, an egyptian symbol of immortality).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_1HLaOvRWCY

Other good films are Beatlejuice and Adams family but I don't know if they had good or bad reviews (I was too young).

[sean]

Huckabees trailer - YouTube

Great film

[chris]

Who are the critics anyway?

Critics are usually people who can't create anything themselves so they make a living by ripping on other peoples work. I don't mind critics if they are ripping on shit stuff and putting out some really good stuff at the same time but this is rare.

[adimon]

LAND OF THE BLIND
if you enjoyed 1984 you may enjoy this

Thanks very much for posting this punjabibeard! It was a great film!

[gordonfreeman]

Cutthroat Island (1995)

Super Mario Bros. (1993)

WaterWorld (1995)

[synak]

All Jeal Claude Van Damme movies are savaged by the critiques but they don't watch them as spoofs, given their propper genre, they become artwork that leaves all others in the dust.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4o0GLg0kYDU

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3cuLcCPVYLc

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aOIJtS4gbaY

Timecop was a classic hands down even though they panned it too.

http://data.animoller.com/humhum/jean_claude_got_moves.gif

[snoopsnuffleopagus]

Ladies & Gentlemen, Cordial Felicitations:

The 'Magic of Movies'

Really enjoyed: O' Lucky Man

The 'Star' of 'A Clockwork Orange' subsequent Film. MacDowell?

Circa: 1973? A Double Super-Duper Reptilian scene!

also



Che! Circa 1970? This is a Movie that has not been 'Permitted' to be Broadcast in the USA for many, many years. What finer endorsement!

Anybody familiar with that one? Punjabibeard?

Kind Regards: Snoopsnuffleopagus

And one of the greatest ever: THX 1138

[strife]

They Live. Awesome movie.

Scanner Darkly. They played in only 200 some theatres in the US, great movie.

Akira, not sure what critics thought of this (as if I cared anyhow), but I love the movie. Easily one of my all time favorites.

Night Watch. Another awesome movie. I'd imagine critics would hate it since it's originally in Russian then dubbed into English (on my end, anyhow), but it's a great movie, reading the books now and getting the Day Watch movie soon enough.

[punjabibeard]

lest not forgetting fist of the north star :o
YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[hagbard_celine]

The Avengers movie. Am I the only person in the world who likes it?:confused:

Guest House Paradiso- I'm a big Bottom fan... in a non-Dafydd Thomas way! Richie and Eddie Rock!

Johnny English

[hagbard_celine]

Who the hell are these bloody critics anyway? Why does their opinion matter more than ours? I hear this ridiculous phrase "defying the critics" as if the critics have some authority over what we like and dislike. I know people who won't even go and see a movie if it's had a bad review! That's terrible because it means the critics are doing our thinking for us! I never read a review until after I've seen the movie.

[punjabibeard]

hagbard a fellow bottom fan?!??
well i never :):cool:

[hagbard_celine]

hagbard a fellow bottom fan?!??
well i never :):cool:


Yeah, I've been to two of the live shows as well.

[now here]

Sphere, and all films by M. Night Shyamalan except for The Sixth sense and Signs :p

[motleyhoo]

Blade Runner. When it first came out the critics hated it, saying it was too dark and depressing in its prediction of the future.

[synergy777]

the x files movie, watched it again last night.

i owe alot to fox mulder, my hero.

[supertzar]

Magnolia. It is an expose of Masonic mind control of child stars, a fact seemingly lost on everyone.

[synergy777]

event horizion - hell on the edge of our universe?

mission to mars, battlefield earth.

the luzhin defence- about an aspie chess grandmaster. being an aspie myself, i can relate to the blessing/curse of being an aspie.

also aspie films such as: good will hunting, beautiful mind, rain man, Pi.

and the bourne supreamacy films, they kick arse.

[kingmonkey]

Exorcist 3.

The Night Flier

[thirdwave]

The 13th Floor

I thought it was a pretty cool film... but It kind of got brushed off.

[synergy777]

The 13th Floor

I thought it was a pretty cool film... but It kind of got brushed off.

a great film, about the nature of reality/holographic universe.

dark city was a great film aswell.

[lottie]

The 13th Floor

I thought it was a pretty cool film... but It kind of got brushed off.

Was that not a book written by the woman who claimed to have had the Matrix idea stolen from her- she said the Matrix was basically taken from her book the 13th Floor and was in a court battle with the brothers who made the matrix but i never knew how it turned out, she also said she's written the basic story of the Terminator too ... cant remember her name..:confused::)

[synergy777]

Was that not a book written by the woman who claimed to have had the Matrix idea stolen from her- she said the Matrix was basically taken from her book the 13th Floor and was in a court battle with the brothers who made the matrix but i never knew how it turned out, she also said she's written the basic story of the Terminator too ... cant remember her name..:confused::)

sophia stewart, the mother of the matrix. she said her story called " the 3rd eye" was what the films terminator and matrix came from. so she was writing about a hero who was john connor and neo all in one.

now i love the terminator films and matrix films, but a film that has both storylines in them, would be awesome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Stewart

http://sophiastewart.unn13.com/thirdeye.html

[thirdwave]

a great film, about the nature of reality/holographic universe.

dark city was a great film aswell.

yes that was also a decent film....



Was that not a book written by the woman who claimed to have had the Matrix idea stolen from her- she said the Matrix was basically taken from her book the 13th Floor and was in a court battle with the brothers who made the matrix but i never knew how it turned out, she also said she's written the basic story of the Terminator too ... cant remember her name..:confused::)

Im not sure, I remember reading about the Matirx film kind of over shadowed this one, hence why it was not as popular... it would not shock me if it as the case though ..

[hells hero]

Cable guy. I thought it was funny

[synergy777]

i actually liked the kevin costner film, the postman, and waterworld was ok aswell.

[now here]

Magnolia. It is an expose of Masonic mind control of child stars, a fact seemingly lost on everyone.
Critics hated Magnolia? Really? :confused:

[mountain]

They Live
Akira
Final Fantasy VII Advent Children
The Thing
Half-Baked

[redman]

Cable Guy - Very underated and dark but needs to be watched more than once.

That's what I was going to add.


Very underrated film.

[now here]

I Heart Huckabees

[vladmir]

Aquamarine
The Birdcage
Dead Man on Campus
Dream Lover
Idle Hands
Innocent Blood
The Pallbearer
Practical Magic

[devanshoom]

magical mystery tour by the beatles....critics said it was shit, and even now it is considered one of their biggest failures. What most people dont understand is that it was designed to be watched on LSD. I saw it with a mate while peaking on purple oms and we thought it was the funniest thing ever.

About 2 weeks later I showed it to a another mate, who has very similar tastes to me in music and comedy. He was pretty much straight apart from a few bongs and he didnt like it at all....said it was shit in fact. .

[Ian2day]

Bullet proof monk is a great film. I'm still wating for my Monk to find me. Perhaps I am already the master Monk adn just don't know it yet. 13th floor and the cube are also good.

[size_of_light]

There's really only one criteria for determining what you consider to be a good movie: if you were flipping TV channels and it was on, would you stop and watch?

Bearing that in mind here's a very random list off the top of my head of under-appreciated, rather than just critically-panned films that I think rate a mention.

Revenge of the Nerds
Commando
License to Drive
Return of the Living Dead
The Cable Guy
Miracle Mile
Fearless
Breakdown
Starship Troopers
Tremors

I could go on indefinitely listing others, but let's face it - nobody but me cares what I think :p

[nectars]

Powder

[size_of_light]

Into The Night (Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer)

[talulah]

Nicolas Cage drinking at the wheel - YouTube

[rydeon]

The Wild Bunch - J Wayne himself panned the film saying it was too violent for a wild west movie. In reality it shows a more adult approach you might say.

Conan the barbarian - Co-written by Oliver Stone, (who wanted a lot more ancient genetic meddling to be shown).
'Star Wars by a madman' panned one critic!
Considered a masterpiece by many fans.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Bladerunner. Saw this as a kid. Was impressed by the dark, brooding qualities it had. Never seen a film quite like it where it leaves you wondering whether the hero will even survive or not!

She - utterly panned by critics, but so bad, it's good!
The outrageous storyline somehow gets away with being so 'out there'.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090009/

Hawk the Slayer - British Sword-Fantasy flick!

Beastmaster.

[size_of_light]

Pretty much any B-grade action movie featuring the inspired insanityof Gary Busey.

"Who the fuck is this?!"

"Your worst nightmare Butt-horn!"

"McBain!"

"Yeah!"

Gary Busey is BULLETPROOF! - YouTube

[onourwayto2012]

The Avengers movie. Am I the only person in the world who likes it?:confused:

Guest House Paradiso- I'm a big Bottom fan... in a non-Dafydd Thomas way! Richie and Eddie Rock!

Johnny English'

Yes .... edit:: lol.....actually never seen it cuz of all the bad rviews

[now here]

Stigmata

[hagbard_celine]

Who are these “critics”!? You keep hearing about them on any publication or TV show to do with movies. “’The Critics’ applaud this latest achievement by one of Hollywood’s top directors.”… “The reaction from ‘the critics’ has been rather lukewarm.” What does all this shit mean?:rolleyes::confused:

I never read a film review until I’ve seen the movie it’s of. This way I can watch the film without prejudice. But I know people who constantly scan the reviews and write-up’s. Some of them won’t go and see a movie if it’s had a bad review. This is terrible because it means that the Critics are making up their mind for them! There’s this absurd phrase: “Defying the Critics”. It refers to a movie that’s been panned by the Critics, but the public flock to see. Why “defying”? It suggests that the Critics have some sort of authority over what we like and do not like. “You’re not defying us are you? How could you! We decide your opinions, not your own tastes!” Sadly some people even denounce a film or Tv show with a bad review without even watching it!:(:rolleyes:

Have you ever defied the Critics? Have you ever watched a film and really loved it, only to find that the Critics have given it a terrible review. I have several times. Have you seen this film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118661/The Avengers is based on the popular 60’s TV series about secret agents and hi-tech espionage. This film was absolutely obliterated by the Critics! Here’s the review by the Radio Times:

The cult 1960s TV series gets royally shafted by Hollywood in this stunningly designed blockbuster that's stunningly awful in every other department. Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman couldn't be more miscast as John Steed and Emma Peel, here trying to stop villainous Sir August De Wynter (Sean Connery playing himself again) holding the world's weather to ransom and freezing London to an Arctic standstill. Ruthlessly edited before release and packed with arch one-liners, bad puns and vulgar double entendres, this is misguided and misbegotten to a simply staggering degree, while Jeremiah Chechik's mannered direction screeches the action to an unexciting halt at every flat turn. Terrible special effects and zero chemistry between Fiennes and Thurman make this notorious disaster a total waste of everyone's time and energy. (RT reviewer Alan Jones.)

But I loved it! I thought it was a very colourful and stylish piece of cinema; enormously entertaining. Funny and clever with its blend of futurism and anachrionistic touches. I have a mind of my own which I make up myself and I’m defying you, Alan Jones of the Radio Times! What are you going to do about it!?:p

[onourwayto2012]

Italian zombie and cannibal films

[kingmonkey]

Italian zombie and cannibal films

Fulci certainly deserves more credit than he gets. Although not zombie or cannibal films, Dario Argento is also underrated...I think this is to do with the public's ignorance and lack of patience with subtitled/foreign cinema. They both have cult followings but deserve more.

[size_of_light]

Education of the Baroness :eek:

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[kingmonkey]

Education of the Baroness :eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdxK6G2zBuw

That's exactly the reason I like this forum. I can see how underrated it is just from that clip, I'll have to watch it a few times to give it a fair rating.

[onourwayto2012]

Fulci certainly deserves more credit than he gets. Although not zombie or cannibal films, Dario Argento is also underrated...I think this is to do with the public's ignorance and lack of patience with subtitled/foreign cinema. They both have cult followings but deserve more.

oh heck yeah...Suspiria is my favorite movie.... and has the best soundtrack of all time as well. Kinda fizzled out after the mid 80's though...like Fulci...... I love all Italian horror/giallo from like 60- early 80's...but it's an acquired taste..... to me the often cheesy dubbing adds to the fun but those who don't get it think it's dumb.....on the other hand the visuals usually deliver...in spades....... my favorite genre of film.....what a sicko.....
Cannibal Holocaust and his previous film Jungle Holocaust are minor masterpieces IMHO....
ok I'll stop.....so much for enlightenment...

[kingmonkey]

oh heck yeah...Suspiria is my favorite movie.... and has the best soundtrack of all time as well. Kinda fizzled out after the mid 80's though...like Fulci...... I love all Italian horror/giallo from like 60- early 80's...but it's an acquired taste..... to me the often cheesy dubbing adds to the fun but those who don't get it think it's dumb.....on the other hand the visuals usually deliver...in spades....... my favorite genre of film.....what a sicko.....
Cannibal Holocaust and his previous film Jungle Holocaust are minor masterpieces IMHO....
ok I'll stop.....so much for enlightenment...


Agreed. Good films should set an atmosphere, as well as tell a story..That's what holy-wood fails with every time in the horror genre. it's all about story and good cast and no atmosphere. Again, it proves we live in a nuts and bolts world where the physical aspects of things are given more credence than the ethereal. The soundtrack and use of colour/photgraphy etc. in Suspiria are dazzling; the soundtrack alone with headphones on at night is more eery than most modern horror films.


Yeah, Cannibal Holocaust is a good film.

[themime]

"The Ghost And The Darkness"........Jaws with paws.

[size_of_light]

"The Ghost And The Darkness"........Jaws with paws.

Name a non-terrible Val Kilmer movie (apart from Top Secret or Heat).

I can't.

[themime]

Name a non-terrible Val Kilmer movie (apart from Top Secret or Heat).

I can't.

:D.....critic