What movies did you think were going to be really stupid and ended up liking very much?

In reply to Cone_Junkie:

I'll tell you when it happens.

MadScientistMatt wrote:

jmthunderbirdturbo wrote: Idiocracy flat out scares the E36 M3 out of me. i honestly have moments in life where i regret bringing children into this world, and the parallels in that movie bring each and every one of those moments closer to light. we are doomed.

If you're actually worried about it, have a look at G.K. Chesterton's Eugenics and Other Evils. You can download it free from Project Gutenberg, as it's old enough that it's in the public domain. That one pokes a lot of holes in the premise, as well as the agenda behind promoting that view. The premise isn't very different from various anti-immigrant polemics of about a hundred years ago. It's just Mike Judge put in different ethnic groups as the "inferior" examples. It can be a fun movie when it's just "ha-ha, world full of stupid people," but doesn't really stand up to being taken seriously. A lot of it seems to be confusing social status with intelligence. I'm not sure if it was intended to be taken seriously or not.

i can't find the words to dis-agree with you hard enough. and this is hardly the place.

-J0N

"Tremors", the Kevin Bacon horror-parody. The male banter between the two leads and Reba Mcentire shooting up stuff was funny, yet it's still almost-barely believable as a serious and slightly scary movie.

On a whim I got a movie called "Butter" I'd never heard of from Netflix. It's a parody (do you see a trend?) about participants in a butter carving competition. Sort of a cross between "Raising Arizona" and "Best In Show". It's so absurd it's funny, and it's got Olivia Wilde as a foul prostitute. Trust me, that last one makes the film.

I also tend to like offbeat romances. "Tattoo: A Love Story" is a peculiar little independent film that was far better than the trailer I watched, and for once had an ending that was thoughtful and realistic. "Before Sunrise" is a 'talking' film about two young strangers who meet on a train, and walk around Paris discussing their lives and falling in love before they are forced to part (with one incredible scene where the actors deliver their lines while riding around an entire block in a streetcar with no cut). By the end, you're so invested in them it nearly kills you to know if they stay together or not.

"Kissing Jessica Stein" is a weird one. I wound up really liking it, but the subject matter (a straight woman who allows herself to consider dating a female) is well acted and beautifully written. It's funny at times but mostly serious. Reminded me of "Chasing Amy" (which I love) but without the explicit dialogue of Kevin Smith.

Garden State

Zach Braff & Natalie Portman. Great soundtrack. Dark/funny. Odd. I like it a lot.

We watched "Red" the other night with very low expectations. Holy crap was a great movie. It is no Citizen Cane, but it was awesome.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245526/

We will be watching the sequel soon.

MadScientistMatt wrote:

jmthunderbirdturbo wrote: Idiocracy flat out scares the E36 M3 out of me. i honestly have moments in life where i regret bringing children into this world, and the parallels in that movie bring each and every one of those moments closer to light. we are doomed.

If you're actually worried about it, have a look at G.K. Chesterton's Eugenics and Other Evils. You can download it free from Project Gutenberg, as it's old enough that it's in the public domain. That one pokes a lot of holes in the premise, as well as the agenda behind promoting that view. The premise isn't very different from various anti-immigrant polemics of about a hundred years ago. It's just Mike Judge put in different ethnic groups as the "inferior" examples. It can be a fun movie when it's just "ha-ha, world full of stupid people," but doesn't really stand up to being taken seriously. A lot of it seems to be confusing social status with intelligence. I'm not sure if it was intended to be taken seriously or not.

Couple things here. First, it's very hard to confirm whether society is actually getting dumber because we have no definitive before and after numbers. "Society is getting dumber" sounds like the truth, but that's just anecdotal observation. Technology like Facebook and Youtube make it a lot easier to see the stupid we couldn't see in the past, but that doesn't mean there's any more of it.

Also, I don't think Judge put any ethnic group as an inferior example. Everyone in Idiocracy is dumb as hell.

I think the real point to take away from the movie is that being okay with ignorance and the view of intelligence as something to disdain is absolutely a problem we should worry about, whether it's more common now or not. And if the fear of the premise being true is enough to motivate us to do something about that problem, then that's a good thing.

16vCorey wrote: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. I went in thinking it was going to be mediocre, but ended up pretty much laughing hysterically the whole time.

Haha. Yes, this.

The new Robocop. Because they were going to ruin a childhood favorite.

Jack Reacher. Because they cast Tom Cruise as Reacher.

DuctTape&Bondo wrote: Jack Reacher. Because they cast Tom Cruise as Reacher.

That was actually pretty good to be honest.

yamaha wrote:

DuctTape&Bondo wrote: Jack Reacher. Because they cast Tom Cruise as Reacher.

That was actually pretty good to be honest.

I'll never know. I actually don't mind Cruise in many movies. He's a capable action hero. But Jack Reacher, he ain't. Unless they used the same SFX magic that makes the hobbits look small, except in reverse.

"A Long Kiss Goodnight" with Geena Davis. I thought it was going to be a chick flick. It wasn't. Probably my favorite Samuel Jackson movie besides Pulp Fiction.

I liked "Despicable Me" and "Groundhog Day" and "Faimly Man"