Deleted

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Topic Author
letsgobobby
Posts: 12073
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 1:10 am

Deleted

Post by letsgobobby »

Deleted
Last edited by letsgobobby on Sun Dec 15, 2019 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
rmelvey
Posts: 826
Joined: Sat Sep 18, 2010 5:17 pm
Contact:

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by rmelvey »

I thought Crash was very terrible as well. The worst part is that I was telling my sociology professor how bad the acting and premise was.. turns out she loved it! :|
User avatar
bengal22
Posts: 2146
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2011 5:20 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by bengal22 »

I thought Crash was a very good movie.

On the other hand I thought Hangover 1 and 2, Something about Mary, and the last 5 years worth of Will Farrell were terrible movies.

El Cid and Spartucus and Space Odyssey were spectacular movies.
"Earn All You Can; Give All You Can; Save All You Can." .... John Wesley
User avatar
Cautious Optimist
Posts: 69
Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2013 4:32 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by Cautious Optimist »

Which movie "Crash" are you referring to..?? The one in 2004 set in LA with the all-star cast (which I liked) or the film noir from 1996 with James Spader, which I recall not liking at all..??
User avatar
VictoriaF
Posts: 20122
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:27 am
Location: Black Swan Lake

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by VictoriaF »

letsgobobby wrote:For no particular reason tonight I was reminiscing about one of the most amazing movies I've ever seen: Man On Wire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3gWz8pLqY0

The artistry; the daring; the bravado; the grandiosity; the painful trail of damaged relationships; the magic of another, more innocent time - when the Twin Towers served as a prop for majesty, rather than tragedy.

This movie was widely praised and widely seen, so I'm not alone in my appreciation for this incredible work of art. If you missed this movie, it is available on youtube in 5 parts and is utterly compelling.
I liked Man On Wire, too. I think I saw it at a Banff Mountain Film Festival.
letsgobobby wrote:Any other best/worst to add to this incipient list?
I don't have a TV and avoid Hollywood made films. I cannot recall what was the last film that I would qualify as the "worst." I intensely disliked The Black Swan not only because its title encroached on my favorite book but also because its purported psychology was pretentious and the Russian mentality was distorted.

The two in the "best" category that immediately come to my mind are The Decline of the American Empire (Canada) and La Dolce Vita (Italy).

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
eucalyptus
Posts: 746
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:24 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by eucalyptus »

"It has to be the stupidest, most pretentious, self-unaware movie I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through"


Try American Beauty for another example of this genre.

Once you can stream movies from all over the world, you watch fewer and fewer Hollywood flicks.
User avatar
bottlecap
Posts: 6906
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:21 pm
Location: Tennessee

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by bottlecap »

Thought Crash was horrible myself. Haven't seen Man on Wire, but I will now.

JT
SPG8
Posts: 357
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:27 am

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by SPG8 »

This is a great post. I'll fill in the disclaimers, then my selections...
letsgobobby wrote:Oscar
I'm OK with the Oscars for what they are, they just have little value for me in terms of evaluating films.

Crash - bad
Man On Wire - good
Will Ferrell - extremely funny (I'm in a good spot here, because I'm the only one who still thinks that, and that's good company)
James Spader - Secretary - good
American Beauty - good

Spectacular Movie = The Chaser (2008) - kind of a throw away selection because I'll take any chance to push people towards modern Korean cinema, valid though.

Terrible Movie =

This takes thought, because you don't want to just pick a bad movie, you want to pick a terrible movie that many (most) think is good, and I have many choices for purely awful;

The Tree of Life
The Departed
Gone Baby Gone

but the winner has to be...Eyes Wide Shut

Now Stanley Kubrick is a genius, so it's a conundrum that I've solved. The task at hand was to take two of the biggest actors of that time, Cruise and Kidman, and make them look utterly ridiculous in a terrible picture, but have it open to critical acclaim. It's a crowning achievement to a brilliant career.
User avatar
nisiprius
Advisory Board
Posts: 52212
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:33 am
Location: The terrestrial, globular, planetary hunk of matter, flattened at the poles, is my abode.--O. Henry

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by nisiprius »

(Shrug) I liked "Crash." Contrived and unbelievable as it was, the subplot revolving around the cop's giving his little kid an invisible magic armor cape so that she would feel secure, made me cry. Just like the Kathryn Forbes story, "Mama's Bank Account."

One of the big unresolved mysteries to me is the whether we believe movies, fiction, etc. to the point of being dangerous... for example, action-movie physics, in which anyone falling through space, off a building perhaps, is OK provided they can reach and grab something along the way. You know, hiding the ground is going to decelerate them enough to kill them, but grabbing onto a rope or flagpole while falling at the same speed isn't... In one of the Superman movies, a kid is playing on the railing in the park overlooking Niagara Falls, and falls in. What's funny about the scene is that you can see in the background that it takes less than a count of four for the water in Niagara Falls itself to fall from top to bottom. Yet when the kid starts falling, I forget the exact count, but it is something over 15 seconds before Superman arrives to catch the kid safely, a few feet above the water. And the kid suffer no ill effects from decelerating from 80 mph to 0 over a distance of maybe twenty feet. Because he's in contact with Superman's arms.

Needless to say, even "documentaries" can be misleading... even nature films, which are selective in what they show.

Do we believe enough of what movies show us about the experiences of fighting, war, seduction, etc. to be a danger to us?
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
WendyW
Posts: 345
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2012 3:01 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by WendyW »

eucalyptus wrote:"It has to be the stupidest, most pretentious, self-unaware movie I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through"

Try American Beauty for another example of this genre.
Agreed. The antidote to this film, surprisingly, is 2002's "The Good Girl" with Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal.
bengal22 wrote:On the other hand I thought... Something about Mary... terrible movies.
Disagree. I saw Something about Mary in the theatre and have never heard an audience laugh so hard.
User avatar
House Blend
Posts: 4878
Joined: Fri May 04, 2007 1:02 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by House Blend »

LGB,

I'm with you on "Crash". It had me hooked initially with the curveball opening, but it rapidly went downhill from there. What really baffled me was the critical acclaim for its supposed insight into race relations. To my eyes there was about as much insight as you would expect had the script been written by a 14 year old. Full of cliches.

As far as "Man on Wire", it has come up before here on BH. Here is my review:
http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... 27#p491227
Saw it a few weeks ago, but couldn't stay awake through it.

On the House Blend scale of 1 to 5, this was a 2.

I would separate the event, which I found to be a fascinating combination of art and engineering, from the movie, which drained nearly all of the joy out of it for me. I spent most of the time I was awake thinking about (a) what a pr**k Petit is/was, and (b) the unmentioned elephant in the room--how the subsequent collapse of the WTC forever changed how people will view the event.

Felt like a bad episode of the old TV show "Thrillseekers".

If you want to see a much better documentary about a man living on the edge, look for Herzog's Grizzly Man. It lingered with me for days afterward. An amazing, disturbing film, 4.5 stars on the HB scale.
gerrym51
Posts: 1679
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:44 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by gerrym51 »

great Tinker,Tailor,Soldier,Spy.


terrible Sharknado
User avatar
HomerJ
Posts: 21281
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:50 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by HomerJ »

I saw "Fearless" with Jeff Bridges not too long ago... about a man who survives a plane crash.

I really really liked it.

But it would be hard for me to explain why.

A couple of absolutely terrible movies I saw recently was "Drive" and "Death Sentence". They both had a lot of potential, but the main character does really stupid things and yet somehow survives...

Let me ask you something... A gang leader tells you he is going to come by your house that night and kill you... Let's assume you can't call the police (which is stupid assumption all by itself, but hey)

Do you:
(a) Send the wife and kid away, get a couple of guns (and maybe some friends with guns) and lie in wait for the bad guys.
(b) Don't tell the wife and kid anything, let them sleep in the house, and wait downstairs for 10 armed gang members... with.. wait for it.... a baseball bat.


Oh, another very good (but gory) movie that I didn't expect to be so good was "Seven Psychopaths"... About a Hollywood writer writing a movie called "Seven Psychopaths"... Heh, it actually works... Pretty funny, and with some good twists.
User avatar
Mark13
Posts: 38
Joined: Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:38 am
Location: Northern VA

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by Mark13 »

Great movie: The Lives of Others. It stuck with me for days after seeing it.
Bad movie: Pan's Labyrinth. I know people who rave about how great this is, but I just thought it was kinda lame. Sorry, just my opinion.
Also, +1 on Grizzly Man being a better documentary than Man on Wire (which was still pretty good).
SPG8
Posts: 357
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:27 am

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by SPG8 »

HomerJ wrote:Fearless
The opening scene is really well done and not from the book.
jlawrence01
Posts: 1908
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2013 12:34 am
Location: Southern AZ

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by jlawrence01 »

I spent last night watching two Godzilla movies ... at my nephew's request.

It was extremely enjoyable. The movies were SO BAD that they were good. Hint to producers - don't dub a 30 year old's voice on an 8 year old character.
Randomize
Posts: 212
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 3:08 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by Randomize »

The only thing more terrible than Crash was that it stole "Best Picture," from Brokeback Mountain. Regardless of your politics, that was a solid movie.
eucalyptus wrote:"It has to be the stupidest, most pretentious, self-unaware movie I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through"

Try American Beauty for another example of this genre.
No way - American Beauty is great. Perhaps blackmailing the efficiency expert and blowing the cash on a '70 Firebird and high-end dope doesn't appeal to everyone? :D
chaz
Posts: 13604
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:44 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by chaz »

DW and I liked "The Lone Ranger".
Chaz | | “Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." Woody Allen | | http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Topic Author
letsgobobby
Posts: 12073
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 1:10 am

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by letsgobobby »

Deleted
Last edited by letsgobobby on Sun Dec 15, 2019 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wade Garrett
Posts: 235
Joined: Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:41 pm
Location: Jasper, MO/Double Deuce

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by Wade Garrett »

Agreed.... Crash was terrible. The fact that it won Best Picture says everything about what the Academy Awards have become.

I thought Man On Wire was good, but it didn't blow me away.

Agree with gerrym51 that Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a great flick and agree with Mark13 that The Lives Of Others is a great flick.

In my opinion, There Will Be Blood is the best movie of the last 10 or so years. It's intense and has some dark themes, so it's not for everyone. And it probably needs to be watched 2 or 3 times to be fully appreciated. But the acting, directing, writing, cinematography, music score, etc. are all top notch.

The Insider with Al Pacino and Russell Crowe is a really good movie that a lot of people haven't seen for whatever reason.

I also thought Silver Linings Playbook was good. There's a lot of drama and dysfunction in it, so it's another movie that probably won't appeal to everyone, but there's also a lot of humor in it. And the football and dance contest subplots were great.
"I'm not an inventor. I'm an improver. I see things that are wrong, and I improve them." - Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
User avatar
greenspam
Posts: 608
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 11:36 am
Location: east coast

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by greenspam »

spectacular: the other night "whatever happened to baby jane" was on pbs, and i must say, bette davis is scarier (looking and acting) than just about any other movie monster or ghost or witch or demon or villain... horrific.
here is one probably no one has heard of; "the old dark house" from 1932, with boris karloff, melvyn douglas, charles laughton, gloria stuart... catch it if you can.
a patch of blue, 12 angry men, to kill a mockingbird, easy rider...
pulp fiction, apocalypse now,

terrible: all the recent "summer blockbusters". what a bunch of crap....
i particularly hate movies where you already know the ending, eg, titanic, passion of the christ...
(although the titanic movie with barb stanwyck is much better than the one with leonardo decrappio)
as always, | peace, | greenie.
User avatar
Chan_va
Posts: 869
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:15 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by Chan_va »

This thread is quickly going to turn into a "who can name the most obscure" movie contest. Extra points if it was in black &white, silent or international.

All of you who think blockbusters are awful, and your taste/intellect/refinement/sophistication is better than the average moviegoer, I wonder how you justify investing in index funds.
Last edited by Chan_va on Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Topic Author
letsgobobby
Posts: 12073
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 1:10 am

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by letsgobobby »

Deleted
Last edited by letsgobobby on Sun Dec 15, 2019 11:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
greenspam
Posts: 608
Joined: Mon Feb 26, 2007 11:36 am
Location: east coast

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by greenspam »

Chan_va wrote:This thread is quickly going to turn into a "who can name the most obscure" movie contest. Extra points if it was in black &white, silent or international.

All of you who think blockbusters are awful, and your taste/intellect/refinement/sophistication is better than the average moviegoer, I wonder how you justify investing in index funds.

quite simple; in both cases, you want the most bang for your buck...
as always, | peace, | greenie.
chaz
Posts: 13604
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:44 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by chaz »

Chan_va wrote:This thread is quickly going to turn into a "who can name the most obscure" movie contest. Extra points if it was in black &white, silent or international.

All of you who think blockbusters are awful, and your taste/intellect/refinement/sophistication is better than the average moviegoer, I wonder how you justify investing in index funds.
For enjoyment, each BH has his/her own opinion.
Chaz | | “Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." Woody Allen | | http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
floydtime
Posts: 413
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 9:09 pm
Location: A book

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by floydtime »

Great: Snatch
Terrible: Almost anything by Kevin Smith...also Highlander 2
"Do not value money for any more nor any less than its worth; it is a good servant but a bad master" - Alexandre Dumas
trustbutverify
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2011 10:10 am

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by trustbutverify »

There was a book written several years ago "Let The Great World Spin" that uses the tightrope walk between the twin towers as a point of reference for several of the main characters. I enjoyed the book.
SPG8
Posts: 357
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:27 am

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by SPG8 »

floydtime wrote:Almost anything by Kevin Smith
How about...everything besides Clerks?
SPG8
Posts: 357
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:27 am

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by SPG8 »

Chan_va wrote:This thread is quickly going to turn into a "who can name the most obscure" movie contest. Extra points if it was in black &white, silent or international.

All of you who think blockbusters are awful, and your taste/intellect/refinement/sophistication is better than the average moviegoer, I wonder how you justify investing in index funds.
You forgot your picks. What are your picks?
User avatar
Chan_va
Posts: 869
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2012 6:15 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by Chan_va »

SPG8 wrote:
Chan_va wrote:This thread is quickly going to turn into a "who can name the most obscure" movie contest. Extra points if it was in black &white, silent or international.

All of you who think blockbusters are awful, and your taste/intellect/refinement/sophistication is better than the average moviegoer, I wonder how you justify investing in index funds.
You forgot your picks. What are your picks?
I outsource my picks. When I am able to watch a movie (tough with young kids), I watch the biggest blockbuster currently on show.
SPG8
Posts: 357
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 10:27 am

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by SPG8 »

Chan_va wrote:I outsource my picks
First post...1) a spectaculkar movie 2) a terrible movie

Two movies, lets heve 'em.
User avatar
Tycoon
Posts: 1630
Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2012 7:06 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by Tycoon »

I'm a huge "B-Movie" fan. The dumber the plot, the more terrible the cinematography, the better. My kids and I recently watched The Brain That Wouldn't Die and laughed more watching it than I can remember. I haven't seen what I would call a "spectacular movie" in years.
Emotionless, prognostication free investing. Ignoring the noise and economists since 1979. Getting rich off of "smart people's" behavioral mistakes.
floydtime
Posts: 413
Joined: Sat Feb 26, 2011 9:09 pm
Location: A book

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by floydtime »

Tycoon wrote:I'm a huge "B-Movie" fan. The dumber the plot, the more terrible the cinematography, the better. My kids and I recently watched The Brain That Wouldn't Die and laughed more watching it than I can remember. I haven't seen what I would call a "spectacular movie" in years.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 for you!
"Do not value money for any more nor any less than its worth; it is a good servant but a bad master" - Alexandre Dumas
gerrym51
Posts: 1679
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2013 1:44 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by gerrym51 »

spectacular-Sharknado

terrible-
sharknado
User avatar
Tycoon
Posts: 1630
Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2012 7:06 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by Tycoon »

Outstanding! '

Flying sharks, tornadoes, and "And when the high-speed winds form tornadoes in the desert, nature’s deadliest killer rules water, land, and air."

All that's missing is aliens.
Emotionless, prognostication free investing. Ignoring the noise and economists since 1979. Getting rich off of "smart people's" behavioral mistakes.
User avatar
VictoriaF
Posts: 20122
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:27 am
Location: Black Swan Lake

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by VictoriaF »

Chan_va wrote:This thread is quickly going to turn into a "who can name the most obscure" movie contest. Extra points if it was in black &white, silent or international.

All of you who think blockbusters are awful, and your taste/intellect/refinement/sophistication is better than the average moviegoer, I wonder how you justify investing in index funds.
Those who don't give in to the media hype and don't follow the herd invest in index fund and avoid blockbusters.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
chaz
Posts: 13604
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:44 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by chaz »

VictoriaF wrote:
Chan_va wrote:This thread is quickly going to turn into a "who can name the most obscure" movie contest. Extra points if it was in black &white, silent or international.

All of you who think blockbusters are awful, and your taste/intellect/refinement/sophistication is better than the average moviegoer, I wonder how you justify investing in index funds.
Those who don't give in to the media hype and don't follow the herd invest in index fund and avoid blockbusters.

Victoria
But I have index funds and yet I went to see "The Lone Ranger".
Chaz | | “Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." Woody Allen | | http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Fallible
Posts: 8798
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 3:44 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by Fallible »

letsgobobby wrote:For no particular reason tonight I was reminiscing about one of the most amazing movies I've ever seen: Man On Wire.

The artistry; the daring; the bravado; the grandiosity; the painful trail of damaged relationships; the magic of another, more innocent time - when the Twin Towers served as a prop for majesty, rather than tragedy.

This movie was widely praised and widely seen, so I'm not alone in my appreciation for this incredible work of art. ...
Man on Wire is a work of art, a near perfect documentary with the perfect ingredients. Yet when I saw it a few years ago, I was as much in awe of workers building the towers as Petit’s performance between them. I ended up comparing the workers’ bravery, if that’s all you would call it, to Petit’s, if that’s all you would call it. Movie over, I checked for the number of workers killed during construction: 60. I don’t know how each died, but I was looking for those who might have fallen from the upper floors, the way Petit might have fallen. If even only one worker died in a long fall, how would that compare to a fall by Petit?
"Yes, investing is simple. But it is not easy, for it requires discipline, patience, steadfastness, and that most uncommon of all gifts, common sense." ~Jack Bogle
User avatar
Imperabo
Posts: 1109
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 1:00 am

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by Imperabo »

nisiprius wrote:
One of the big unresolved mysteries to me is the whether we believe movies, fiction, etc. to the point of being dangerous... for example, action-movie physics

There's no doubt in my mind that lives have been lost because of how movies portray cars exploding. Some people are afraid to approach a car wreck to help the occupants for fear that it will explode like a bomb. I recall a story a few years ago where a car crashed into a house and people died inside from a fire, including children, that could have been saved by the people in the house but as they said later they were afraid of the car exploding. They didn't know it at the time, but the occupants turned out to be family members of the people in the house.

Cars don't explode.
User avatar
telemark
Posts: 3389
Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2012 6:35 am

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by telemark »

Tycoon wrote:Outstanding! '

Flying sharks, tornadoes, and "And when the high-speed winds form tornadoes in the desert, natures deadliest killer rules water, land, and air."

All that's missing is aliens.
Tune in next week for "The Ghost and the Deepness", the story of two man-killing lions stalking the bottom of the Marianas Trench...
User avatar
ryuns
Posts: 3511
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:07 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by ryuns »

I never imagined I'd watch as many documentaries as I've seen on Netflix. I saw a few good ones over time and decided to simply trust their ratings, and now, I could basically never get bored watching doc's on Netflix. I've seen some that I thought sounded very unappealing, but got 4.5+ stars, and which I ultimately enjoyed.

Recent examples: Kumare (about a man who pretends to be an Eastern Indian guru, quite convincingly). Also, How to Die in Oregon (who doesn't like a nice uplifting film about physician assisted suicide? Powerful movie but it was so sad to watch that I'm not sure I would recommend it. Dear Zachary is another documentary along those lines).
An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered. -- GK Chesterton
User avatar
ryuns
Posts: 3511
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:07 pm
Location: Sacramento, CA

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by ryuns »

VictoriaF wrote: I don't have a TV and avoid Hollywood made films. I cannot recall what was the last film that I would qualify as the "worst." I intensely disliked The Black Swan not only because its title encroached on my favorite book but also because its purported psychology was pretentious and the Russian mentality was distorted.

Victoria
As a fan of Taleb, I thought you'd be more forgiving of pretentiousness. :happy
An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered. -- GK Chesterton
User avatar
VictoriaF
Posts: 20122
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 6:27 am
Location: Black Swan Lake

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by VictoriaF »

ryuns wrote:
VictoriaF wrote: I don't have a TV and avoid Hollywood made films. I cannot recall what was the last film that I would qualify as the "worst." I intensely disliked The Black Swan not only because its title encroached on my favorite book but also because its purported psychology was pretentious and the Russian mentality was distorted.

Victoria
As a fan of Taleb, I thought you'd be more forgiving of pretentiousness. :happy
As a fan of Taleb, I am forgiving of Taleb. Everyone else is a fair game.

Victoria
Inventor of the Bogleheads Secret Handshake | Winner of the 2015 Boglehead Contest. | Every joke has a bit of a joke. ... The rest is the truth. (Marat F)
eucalyptus
Posts: 746
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:24 pm

Re: A spectacular movie, and a terrible movie

Post by eucalyptus »

Ryuns, watch The Flat, great documentary IMO.

I also hated the new Gatsby.

Netflix lets me watch the gory gangster movies of many cultures! Never heard of Oldboy until recently.
User avatar
LadyGeek
Site Admin
Posts: 95691
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:34 pm
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

Re: [Can you recommend]A spectacular movie, and a terrible m

Post by LadyGeek »

letsgobobby wrote:Any other best/worst to add to this incipient list? Especially something that others may not have seen, or may have forgotten? Bogleheads turned me on to Stephen King's The Stand, which I finally worked my way through - a tip or two on an overlooked movie would be great.
To keep this thread on-topic, I retitled the thread. The guidelines are set by the site owner, Alex Frakt here: Re: Consumer Forum Reopened

Update: The intent is that you should have specific recommendations.

Bear in mind that we also have available: Movie night in recommendations

letsgobobby - Let me know if you want me to combine this thread into the above.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
Topic Author
letsgobobby
Posts: 12073
Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2009 1:10 am

Re: [Can you recommend]A spectacular movie, and a terrible m

Post by letsgobobby »

Deleted
Last edited by letsgobobby on Sun Dec 15, 2019 11:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
blurryvision
Posts: 132
Joined: Tue May 14, 2013 9:45 pm

Re: [Can you recommend]A spectacular movie, and a terrible m

Post by blurryvision »

Spectacular movie: Gattaca

Terrible movie: Wrath of the Titans
Big Worm
Posts: 230
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:20 am

Re: [Can you recommend]A spectacular movie, and a terrible m

Post by Big Worm »

I like Sniper. "One shot, one kill"
User avatar
market timer
Posts: 6535
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:42 am

Re: [Can you recommend]A spectacular movie, and a terrible m

Post by market timer »

Anyone who hates Crash and likes Man on Wire is someone whose opinion in movies I'd trust. The twist in MOW caught me by surprise, and is something anyone who has left friends behind in pursuit of a dream has had to encounter. That turned an interesting documentary into something really remarkable.

For another movie that didn't receive much attention that I found hilarious, check out the Informant. A psychiatrist may especially appreciate the internal monologues. Several other good suggestions above, like There Will Be Blood (one of my favorite movies of the last decade) and Lives of Others.
User avatar
Ged
Posts: 3945
Joined: Mon May 13, 2013 1:48 pm
Location: Roke

Re: [Can you recommend]A spectacular movie, and a terrible m

Post by Ged »

I liked Man On Wire, and I thought Crash was interesting, certainly not terrible.

But for spectacular movies I have the following list:
Lawrence of Arabia
Ghandi
Spirited Away
Gone With The Wind
Sophie's Choice

and for terrible movies: (actually what I consider the most overrated films)
Argo
Ordinary People
How Green Was My Valley
Post Reply