Unpopular Entertainment Opinions

aka "Entertainment Argument Thread"

 

Batman Begins was the only Nolan Batman I truly enjoyed.

 

I didn't enjoy watching 2001 A Space Odyssey or Million Dollar Baby

I've never seen a Roman Polanski movie and don't plan on doing so ever

I enjoy Seinfeld but I don't love it and have a hard time connecting to the characters sometimes

 

Waterworld is a great film

 

Vertigo is endlessly boring.

 

Nearly all superhero movies are total shit

 

While I loved Louie (have a hard time with him now for various reasons), his previous show Lucky Louie is total dogshit.

 

In terms of hilarity, 30 Rock rivals the golden era of The Simpsons.

Edit: Nevermind no it doesn't, but it's the clear-cut #2 since.

 

Placed within the larger spectrum of genres of movies, "good" horror movies don't really exist anymore.

 

Lucky Louie is pretty universally disliked. It has a few moments where you can see the structure he wanted but it is a hard watch.

 

Star Wars: the Force Awakens is a bad movie. It is pleasing visually and cast with absolutely top notch performers, but in addition to playing on cheap nostalgia thrills, is a mess at the script level. Character motivations shift to create conflict, rather than have that conflict come from strong characterization. While John Boyega's performance is wonderful, Finn is a bizarre character. He has been indoctrinated since infancy to be a cog in the Empire's machine but is written primarily as comedic relief. Much of his humor is inorganic, Han Solo nods at him to tell him to look behind him, and Finn has no idea what he's trying to communicate. Has Finn, in his 21-ish years of life, never seen someone gesture with a nod before? It's especially weird coming from a soldier. Rey is a little better as a character, but so much of her conflict and arc come from material that isn't onscreen. It's supposed to be a mystery, but that does nothing for her character in this film. In fact, in a lot of ways, her story in TFA is a one of a self-sufficient, independent young woman who wasn't whole until she met important men. Much of the film is devoted to meaningless action that comes from a place completely unrelated to character, emotion, or meaning. Starkiller Base is a lazy, detached threat. Nothing in the film is devoting to really crafting a sense of intimidation or awe from it, it means nothing to any characters as a threat on a personal level (aside from Finn, who talks about how bad it was, but we never actually see him on it or caring about it). A CGI monster grabs Finn and runs around in a scene that wouldn't have been out of place with Jar Jar Binks in the Phantom Menace. Oscar Isaac disappears, presumed dead for most of the film, and is then seen returning triumphantly except no import or weight was given to his journey. He doesn't have a journey. He's just there, then gone, then back again. It's not like I have nothing nice to say about the film. I do love all the actors. I love looking at some really impressively clear and exciting action. I like Kylo Ren's character psychology, even though his confrontation with Han Solo is hollow because again, the film opts to tell, rather than show, any struggle between Han/Leia and their son. And then when he and Han finally have their moment together, they speak vaguely about what they're feeling until Kylo kills Han. It never feels like they're debating anything real, or coming from a place of genuine love and care. All that heavy lifting is left to the actors, absent in the script. It is an entertaining film in some aspects. But far from a good one.

I know I get Spoonmanian in my ranting on that movie, but it honestly comes out of a place of love for the Star Wars story and hesitation and disappointment in what I think is ultimately a bad thing for the overall quality of Star Wars films as a whole in the launch of another interconnected cinematic universe. The Marvel films mostly re-set their characters and don't allow their directors room to be daring in order to service the interconnected universe the films inhabit, and I worry that Lucasfilm, also owned by Disney, will follow that blueprint. Mostly inoffensive movies with likable casts, but a whole lot of boring movies.

As for anything else that's unpopular, I'll say I like Gone Girl. I think Fincher made a thematically interesting, trashy film that's tense and engaging and fun. I love Zodiac and the Social Network but I'm not a Fincher die-hard. I like Se7en, don't like really anything else he's done (haven't seen his Alien or Girl With the Dragon Tattoo).

Kristen Stewart is one of the best actresses working and almost always worth watching. I always liked her, Adventureland won me over in a beautiful, sweet performance of an achingly flawed but hopeful character, but Clouds of Sils Maria really wowed me. She does so much so subtly, it's one of my favorite performances.

Unpopular opinion threads make me nervous. I see a lot of people just throwing "this is bad" or "I don't get this" about things that are generally enjoyed or critically acclaimed, without much actual critique, and that rubs me the wrong way. So (with one obvious exception) I try to have nice unpopular opinions.

 

Deadpool was insanely overrated as a movie.

 

I hate the common widely accepted argument of "the first half of Full Metal Jacket is great, but the 2nd half sucks".

While the two are tonally different, and the change of tone in the middle is kind of jarring, I feel like the Battle of Hue City half of FMJ is as equally great as the first half in it's own way.

 

28 Days Later is one of the best horror movies ever made.
The Kings of Summer is one of the best coming of age movies ever.
Wes Anderson is the best working American director.
Chiwetel Ejiofor made 2012 watchable.
Tom Cruise is a boring actor. He's never terrible, but outside of Tropic Thunder his performances are interchangeable. I feel the same watching him in a Few Good Men as I do Minority Report.


Banjo-Kazooie is a better game than Super Mario 64.
I don't get Zelda, Final Fantasy, or Gears of War.
Infinite is the best Bioshock.

Jin was the best character on LOST.
Arrow is not a good show. I'd say the same about almost every fast-paced drama with 20+ episodes a season. LOST was smart to cut down their episode count.

 

You should watch Tom Cruise in Magnolia, then. That might also switch up which Anderson you think is the best American Director

 

Magnolia is the only PTA I haven't seen, so that's fair regarding Cruise and PTA. I have both Andersons at the top for what it's worth haha. I could sit down and watch their filmography on Monday and be ready to see it again by Wednesday.

 

I cry at the scene with the girl every time.

 

Full Metal Jacket just feels like a repeat of the themes that the major Vietnam films that came before it. Also, given Kubrick's previous reluctance to go back to genres and ideas he had previously explored, it pales in comparison to Paths of Glory.

 

please not here too

 

ughhhhhh

 

How so?

 

It Follows was good. It avoided almost every wrong turn a film like it could make.

 

Is this an unpopular opinion? I thought most cinephiles liked it.

 

The Final Girls was also a good horror movie. There are plenty of examples

 

I'll say this... 28 Weeks Later was better!