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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Movies Everyone Else Loved And I HATED [Part 1]

Hey, guys! First of all, happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans. Hurray for the USA! :) So, I decided to take a break from writing movie reviews, but only to bring you a few cool lists... a movie-related lists, of course. Today I've prepared for you a rather interesting and argument-provoking list, titled "Movies Everyone Else Loved And I HATED". I've been wanting to do it for quite a while, and now the time has finally come. I'm quite excited about it, mainly because I'm curious about your reactions to the picks I made. I respect everyone's opinion, so don't be afraid to be honest and/or not agreeing with me. I know, it's a matter of personal taste, but I reckon that some of you might be shocked by the movies I've included in this list.


Movies Everyone Else Loved
And I HATED


[Part 1]


The English Patient (1996)

Best Picture of 1996?! You've got to be kidding me! This insanely overrated piece of shit was so slow, depressing, tediously overlong and lacking in genuine emotion, I barely survived it. I would never watch this snooze-fest of a film again, unless if someone offers me a million bucks.







Scream (1996)

I've always wondered why so many people loved this cheap, supposed-to-be-clever teen slasher. It wasn't terrible, but I found its cat-and-mouse premise to be a bit tired, and not particularly innovative. Add to this a sub-par execution, poor choice of cast, 'yawn' twist ending and utter lack of scares and chills, and you get "Scream".




Titanic (1997)

Another Best Picture winner... Since when the Academy gets impressed with CHEESY stuff like "Titanic", I have no idea. Call me evil, but I laughed hard when Di Caprio turned into an 'icicle' and died. All the ladies in the theater were crying, and I was pleased and happy with this 'sad' conclusion.






Terminator 3:
Rise of the Machines (2003)

...Or otherwise known as the "The Ultimate Franchise Killer". Compared to its sensational predecessors, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" feels like an amateurish student work - unimaginative script, lame execution, unmemorable characters, bad CGIs, unspectacular action sequences. 'Nuff said.




Haute Tension a.k.a.
High Tension (2003)

Don't get me wrong, I love Alexandre Aja, but he really screwed it up this time. In fact, "Haute Tension" could have been a decent slasher flick, if it wasn't for the stupid, ridiculous, anti-climatic ending that ruined the rest of the movie. Horror geeks all over the world worship this movie, and I pretty much despise it.

41 comments:

Maynard Morrissey said...

Maynard Morrissey's provoking answers:

English Patient - One of the most boring movies I've ever seen.

Scream - one of the 90s (and Wes Craven's) best and most entertaining horror movies so far.

Titanic - the sinking-scenes were great, Kathy Bates was great as always - the rest is meh.

Terminator 3 - a brilliantly entertaining kick-ass sequel.

High Tension - one of the 10 greatest horror movies of all time.

Lesya said...

I must partially agree with you on The English Patient, I really disliked it, and don't get how it could be that successful. However, it's still a piece of cinrma and I respect those who made it.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Agree with the first two! I thought the English Patient was one of the worst films I've ever seen. Sorry, I did enjoy Titanic, and funny, I always fell like I'm the only one who liked the third Terminator movie. Where are all the people who loved it?

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

@Maynard

Nebular's provoking answer to Maynard's answer :)

English Patient - Glad you agree

Scream - mediocre at best

Titanic - nicely-shot, yet epically cheesy.

T3 - so bad, it hurt my eyes

High Tension - You must have lost your mind to call it one of the greatest horror movies of all time :) The first half was okay-to-great, the sexond - meh-to-meh. LOL. :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Lesya, very polite comment! Bravo! Even though I respect its creators, it bored me to death.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Alex, glad you agree about the first two. No need to apologize, buddy. I don't expect you to agree with me about all the picks I made.
As for T3, all the people I know loved it, as well as most of the critics.... and you, obviously :)

Maynard Morrissey said...

nope, I really love High Tension that much. After a few horror-less years, this was the movie that hugely re-awakened my interest of horror in 2005. It's also one of my most-watched movies - seen it about 12-15 times.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Wow, Maynard, I had no idea you love this film that much. I don't blame you.. I blame Aja for his terrible choice of ending. It was such a huge let down to me, that if the director was in front of me, I would punch him in the face.

Maynard Morrissey said...

I understand people who hate the ending (there are many like you) but after all the times I watched it, I not only love it, I even think that it really makes sense - weird, huh? :)

Mel Chesley said...

Never wanted to see The English Patient, never heard of High Tension, so I am not missing out, right?
Scream was okay for it's stupid, witty one liners (when they had them), Titanic was only good to watch the damn thing sink and T3... yeah, blows like the wind, my brother. XD Great list, can't wait to see more!

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Harry, I know there are many like me, and there's a reason for that - the supposed-to-be-shocking 'schizophrenia' twist in the end just doesn't work anymore.

It didn't make sense to me at all, but maybe if I watch it a dozen time, it would started to make. :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Caledonia /Oh God, I love your name/, thanks, glad you enjoyed my list. :)

Obviously we have a similar taste in film, and I agree with you about pretty much everything you're saying. ;) Watching Titanic sink was pretty spectacular, but that's about it. The lame T3 shouldn't been made at all.

And, no, you're not missing out, well, unless if you like being bored :)

venoms5 said...

I pretty much agree with everything here save for HIGH TENSION. Love that one and especially for its ending. SCREAM is horribly overrated in my opinion, and I couldn't be bothered to watch any of the sequels to it. TERMINATOR 3 was pretty much a pointless sequel that seemed nothing more than a flashier recap of part 2. I did like the downbeat ending, though.

I never bothered seeing TITANIC. The constant playing of that Celine Dion song and commercials of people saying they'd seen it dozens of times put me off to viewing it.

I had (eventually) planned on doing something similar to what you've done here, Nebular, but with single reviews and two different columns.

A really good sampling of different genres, by the way.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

venoms5, you should be really glad you've skipped "Titanic". It contained a two or three great scenes, but the romance was painful to watch.

"High Tension" is one of the most disappointing films I've seen in my life... I was thrilled throughout the whole film, and than suddenly, the so-called shocking ending killed it for me. I'm still mad at Mr. Aja. :)

I hate "Scream", but I've watched all the sequels, just to see how worse it can get. :)

Venom, than do it, mate. :) I'm already curious about it. I've decided to skip the reviews this time, and being super-brief, as I'm planning tons of lists in the next few weeks.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

Maynard Morrissey said...

I already loved High Tension right after the first watch although I thought the ending was a bit weird.

Personal rating after the first watch: 9/10
Rating after the 3rd/4th watch: 10/10

btw what do you think about Martyrs and Inside?
(too lazy at the moment to search your site for reviews :)

PS
I think there's an unread mail in your inbox :)

Stevee Taylor said...

I used to like Titanic, when I was like...11.

Now I'm 15 I only like the movie because it's a long time of Leonardo DiCaprio being hot.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Maynard, I loved "Inside" - it was so harsh and unsettling.

If you look into my right column, you'll notice that "Martyrs" is No. 5 on my list of all-time favorite horror movies. I was so shocked by the ending and the whole story, it left me speechless. In my book, "Martyrs" is the most disturbing piece of cinema I've ever seen. Dude, I love French horror :) "High Tension" is just an exception.

Oh, you've sent me an e-mail? :) Great. Off to the mailbox then :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Stevee, I was 15 when I first saw "Titanic" and hated it. :) Plus, I think Leo is much hotter now than he was back then.

Erich Kuersten said...

I agree on English Patient, but the others are awesome.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Erich, no need to agree with me, buddy. For you, those four were awesome, and for me, they were meh. :)

Michele (TheGirlWhoLovesHorror) said...

Okay, not to jump on you Nebs, cuz I love you and all, by WHY DOES EVERYBODY FUCKING HATE THE ENDING OF HIGH TENSION SO MUCH? I just don't get and it pisses me off. "Oh the movie was so great right up until that ridiculous ending!" What ridiculous ending? Plenty of other movies have done similar things where everything you've seen before is now different because you find out that you've been following an unreliable narrator. It's done in literature as well and I think it brilliantly explores the narrator's state of mind, or mental illness, and when you go back and watch the movie again, you see her reasoning for doing the things she's done. She's in love with her but she's got a split personality. It's just a interesting way of doing a horror film rather than the standard hack-n-slash. More depth. Depth is good. And the gore was fantastic throughout the movie, you can't deny that. So extreme and so beautifully done - don't let the ending take anything away from that!

Taking a breath now. Rant over.

As for the other movies:
Never saw The English Patient. Never will.

Scream is one that I admire and respect what it did for the genre and I'll always love it for that, but it is getting way dated now and I feel like moving on to better things.

As a girl, I liked Titanic to a point, but again I'm over it.

T3, eh it was sorta cool-looking, but nothing to get super excited over.

Ricky said...

High Tension was called Switchblade Romance in the Uk and I enjoyed it but the ending was a bit annoying.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

@TheGirlWhoLovesHorror
Okay, so firstly, love you too. :)
What you're saying is weird, as most people who have watched, loved it.. including the ending.

"Plenty of other movies have done similar things" - Well, that was its problem - we've seen the schizophrenia ending in "The Shining", we've seen it in "Identity" and tons of other movies, and it's just not that effective anymore, nor is shocking or unexpected. It's just hackneyed.

I got the idea, but I thought the ending wasn't executed well enough to achieve its purpose... otherwise to shock us. I remember I was like WTF? Is that it? Another sick person who suffers from schizophrenia. C'mooooon. It was ridiculous. I hated it. Period.
IMO, it could have been better if it was a straight forward slasher flick, because apart from the ending, it was actually pretty well-made. The gore was its strength. Loved it. ;)

Take a breath, calm down, and get over it. It's just an opinion, girl :)

English Patient sucked big time.

EXACTLY! It was dated back then and it's even more dated now.

Titanic wasn't horrible, it was just way too sentimental and a bit too cheesy for my taste.

I didn't think T3 looked that cool. In fact, I thought T2 looked way better, despite the fact it was made like 15 years ago. Funny.

Thanks for the detailed comment. You rock! :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Ricky, what kind of title is that?! So inappropriate. Only a bit? No, it was extremely annoying. :)

Michele (TheGirlWhoLovesHorror) said...

Sorry! I feel like I MUST defend High Tension because I love it so much. But my ranting comes from the fact that from what I have read, people who say they don't like the movie don't like it specifically because of the ending. That's really what I was getting at and I hate that line of thinking. You can't toss the whole movie aside just because you got punked at the end. I just think that overall, the movie has so much more to offer than an ending that might rub people the wrong way. Like I said, it's got amazing gore and that's really what I love most about it.

Unknown said...

I love to argue with you sweetie. :) I LOVE Titanic and I will state right now that it is a million times better than Cameron's other giant, Avatar. The story had more depth and more originality than that 3D money suck. Avatar, aside from the gorgeous f/x is badly acted and plagiarized. Watch a little animated film called Fern Gully and there is Cameron's entire story.

And shame on you for laughing at Leo's death scene. ;) Shit, I did kind of snicker myself.

I still love the movie because I am obsessed with the story of the Titanic and have seen every movie ever made good, bad and meh. Cameron's was the best as far I'm concerned.

Other than that, I agree The English Patient was boring and I could not stand T3, either. I did like Scream, though. It's a lot of fun.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

@TheGirlWhoLovesHorror
It's okay, no worries.
A movie consists of beginning, main part, and an ending... and if I hate either of these components, I just can't say I liked the movie.
Apart from the terrible ending, "High Tension" was okay, but still nothing special, story-wise. The gore was brilliant but so what? It didn't make it scarier, tenser or more compelling... it just made it more bloody.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Mel, I do too. It's so much fan :)
Well, I thought Titanic was Cameron's second-worse film, right after his crappy version of Piranha. (I still can't believe he actually directed this movie).

I disagree about Avatar as well - its story had depth and an obvious message of what a terrible heartless monsters humans are. Titanic felt like a cheesy over-sentimental romance and nothing more than that.

If Cameron's film is the best yet, than I can only imagine how bad the other Titanic movies are :)

I know you're a fan of Scream, hon, but I had no idea you have an obsession with Titanic. :)

I hop you've received my late e-mail. Hugs.

Michele (TheGirlWhoLovesHorror) said...

@Melissa: I remember seeing some of one Titanic movie with Tim Curry in it as this sleazy crew member. Was the rest of that one any good? I think I remember the effects of the sinking were a little hokey.

Unknown said...

Cameron's film is the best Titanic film as far f/x and you cannot deny the brilliance of them. :) He also included a lot of history and detailed production design. As Transformers and Avatar both prove as well as Nicholas Sparks, people love cheesy cliches for the most part. Are there problems with Titanic, sure, but for me it is far superior to Avatar. :)

I did get your email, hon and I promise to write soon. I've been extremely busy the last week and I have family coming into town next week. Hugs!

Maynard Morrissey said...

my god, I'm such a dork. I've seen your Top5-horror-list before but it seems that I forgot about it.
I'm getting old :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Maynard, no you're not! :) Maybe the problem lies in my list... it's probably too forgettable. :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Mel, the production design was outstanding, but the movie itself .. not that much. :)

"Avatar" was a bit straight forward, but not as cliched as most people claimed. The sensational box office results prove its greatness :)

It's okay, hon. Don't worry about it ;) Hugs from me, too.

Unknown said...

@Girl Who Loves Horror The movie I think you're thinking of is The Titanic Chronicles about the investigation of the sinking. Tim Curry played a nasty Officer Lightoller. It was a pretty bad movie and not too accurate.

George, you have picked yourself a great debate topic with these posts. I'm looking forward to more of them. :)

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Mel, I have and I couldn't be happier. In fact, that's what I hoped for. Writing reviews gets a bit boring after a while, so I decided to change the direction a bit. I'm glad this list provoked so many comments. Thank you ALL! :)

Ty said...

Great list! Very interesting. Saw and The Hangover are beyond overrated.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Ty, thanks. Yeah, these two are definitely overrated.

Kaijinu said...

Now, here's my view on this:
English Patient= nev'r heard of it.
Scream= you can tell, I liked it, but Part 3 and 4 is better
Titanic= watchable, but not enough to make me a fan
T3= decent sequel, but very unnecessary
High Tension= loved the twist. It ain't Mozart, but I'm more than willing to go with it.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Kaijinu,

You should be glad you haven't heard of English Patient - it's boring as hell.

Scream is okay, but so overrated. Titanic is too melodramatic, and T3 is lame compared to the first two.
High Tension's twist ending was shockingly disappointing for me.

OLIVER KUBE said...

Nice read. I agree on all of these except for HAUTE TENSION, which I think is fantastic.

I'd love to read a list of "Movies Everyone Else Hated And I LOVED". Or did I overlook something?

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Thanks, Oliver. High Tension was great APART from the ending. Sorry about that. :)

I was planning to write an article about my guilty movie pleasures, but didn't have the time back them.

I wrote another instead - movies that got more credit than they deserved. :)