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Critics Love 'em, I don't!

I consider these some of the most overrated movies ever made! Don't worry, you won't have to watch them to find out you've wasted your time. I've listed other movies you can watch that should prove a better use of your time!


1) Gone with the Wind (1939)
Directed by: Victor Fleming
Starring:Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh

YES. That Gone With The Wind ! At 238 minutes it comes in about 148 minute too long! Frankly, Clark Gable wasn't the only one who didn't give a damn!. To make matters worse, they burned down the Jungle village from King Kong to replicate the burning of Atlanta or which ever city that burned in the movie. Maybe if I had seen it in 1939 it would have been more meaningful. This is the difference between Gone With The Wind and Wizard of Oz. When a person today sees Wizard of Oz for the first time, they are impressed. When they see Gone With The Wind, well it is just another war romance/chick flick, but overacted!

Rated 8.1 out of 10 at IMDB

I'd rather watch:

Glory (1989)
Directed by: Edward Zwick

They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
Directed by: Raoul Walsh

The Sea Hawk (1940)
Directed by: Michael Curtiz

The first because its a damn good civil war movie, the second two because they have a real leading man who actually knows what suave is! Errol Flynn. Plus, you get Olivia de Havilland in They Died with Their Boots On!


2) Annie Hall (1977)
Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton

Neurotic is funny for just so long. Woody Allen isn't funny. They claim it started out as a murder mystery with a romantic subplot, but when Allen edited it, he decided the only good part was the subplot and edited out the murder stuff. I still don't get it. He creeps me out.

Rated 8.3 out of 10 at IMDB

I'd rather watch:

Anything! But I guess I should recommend actual titles

When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Directed by: Rob Reiner

The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Directed by
George Cukor


3) Platoon (1986)
Directed by: Oliver Stone
Starring:Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe , Charlie Sheen, Johnny Depp, at the list goes on...

One sided, simplistic, and somewhat predictable. You know who is going to kill who. I didn't see it as great expose on the war in Vietnam. It was just a couple of punks who were put in a situation where if they could kill someone they hated and get away with it, they would. They did. Considering Stone's politics, it made sense that it was all the Army's fault. I was hoping for too much when all the critics claimed it was the best movie on Vietnam ever made.

Rated 8.1 out of 10 at IMDB

I'd rather watch:

Go Tell the Spartans (1978)
Directed by: Ted Post

We Were Soldiers (2002)
Directed by: Randall Wallace

Apocalypse Now (1979)
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola


4) Citizen Kane (1941)
Directed by: Orson Welles
Starring:Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead

I went into this movie knowing Rosebud was his sled. Frankly after the first few minutes I really didn't care who or what Rosebud was. The first time I saw it, was on a Cable movie channel. I had waited for almost a week for the play date, set up the VCR so I could record it and within thrity minutes became disappointed. It developed to slowly for my taste and just didn't keep my interest. Welles was too interested in choreographing great film than getting some emotion.

To be fair, the movie has been over hyped for so long, it can't help but be disappointing.

Rated 8.7 out of 10 at IMDB

I'd rather watch:

The Lost Weekend (1945)
Directed by: Billy Wilder

Casablanca (1942)
Directed by: Michael Curtiz


5) Dances with Wolves (1991)
Directed by Kevin Costner
Starring: Kevin Costner

I am baffled beyond understanding why this movie is an Oscar winner but The Postman isn't! If you're one of those people who say the Postman sucked then I counter that Dances with Wolves sucked three minutes longer. I liked the Postman. As post apocalyptic epics goes, its pretty decent, almost a guilty pleasure. I know if it is on TV, I'm willing ot watch the Postman as a time waster. I'd rather go to the dentist than watch Dances with Wolves)

The movie would have been better if it started with Costner entering the army at the beginning of the Civil War and ended with him dying as they cut his leg off. The best thing about Dances with Wolves is Kevin Costner. He is an underrated Hollywood director and a pretty damn good actor.

Rated 7.7 out of 10 at IMDB

I'd rather watch:

Fort Apache (1948)
Directed by: John Ford

The Searchers (1956)
Directed by: John Ford

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
Directed by: John Ford

Were all of those movies directed by John Ford? Did all those movies star John Wayne? Must mean something about WESTERNS!


6) Gladiator (2000)
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring:Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix

The best thing about this movie is the way Liz Taylor announced the Oscar for its Best Picture Win. Obviously she wasn't the only one high on something when this movie was nominated.

Maybe its Russell Crowe. Maybe it was the over use of CGI. I don't know the movie just kind of sucked. Couldn't get into at all.

Rated 8.0 out of 10 at IMDB

I'd rather watch:

Ben-Hur (1925, silent)
Directed by: Fred Niblo

Ben-Hur (1959)
Directed by: William Wyler

Spartacus (1960)
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Aahh.. Kirk Douglas! Now there's a gladiator for ya!



7) Titanic (1997)
Directed by: James Cameron
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet

So whats with the jewel at the end? Is this like a Rosebud was his sled moment? And how come she isn't like a billion years old when they meet again on the Titanic. You have to wonder if there are still a bunch of housewives who are still watching this movie every week-end. I guess it was an alright movie, but I just kept watning the damn ship to hit the iceberg already. I can't believe it won so many Oscars, and important ones at that.

 

Rated 6.9 out of 10 at IMDB --IMDB has it about right. It isn't so much that it is a bad movie, it is just overhyped, overrated, and not my cup of tea.

I'd rather watch:

The African Queen (1951)
Directed by: John Huston

Hey it's a love story, it has a boat in that sinks. Of course Katharine Hepburn doesn't pose nude for Bogey, but she can act, something Kate Winslet is just learing to do.


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The critics were mixed, but people went anyway!

**)Pearl Harbor (2001)
Directed by: Michael Bay
Starring: Ben Affleck , Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale

Hammer down!?! Hammer down??? Waht the hell is that, Ben! Utterly stupid.

It's hard to believe this was actually written by Randall Wallace. What the heck was he thinking! War movies should not be chick flicks. Didn't anyone learn anything from the English Patient! I so wanted to put it among the critics chocice but about half of them agree with me. Still, it won a non-important Oscar. Staging a good battle scene doesn't make a good war movie. I can only assume that those who've seen it, regret it, and those who haven't seen it were warned and have no plan to see it in the future. If you see it in the bargain bin or at a used-dvd sale, just sit back and snicker at the poor schmuck who actually buys it!

Rated 5.4 out of 10 at IMDB

I'd rather watch:

What else, the movie they were trying to copy:

From Here to Eternity (1953)
Directed by: Fred Zinnemann


 

 

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