MC Wednesday Inventory #5: Five Populist Movies You Should Hate, But Don't

[Watashi]

Hello Match Cut.

Dreamdead is out of town for this week so he passed the torch to me to come up with this week's inventory. I will hold the reigns high and won't let him down.

This week is kinda tricky, and somewhat hard. Name 5 movies that are very popular (whether that be with award circles or with the masses, you can decide) that you should hate, but dammit... you can't help but enjoy him.

Note: These are not guilty pleasures.

Here's my list to get you started:

5. Avatar - When this first came out, everyone was awed by it. Now it's become a punching bag and it's not cool to like it anymore. Everyone makes fun of it, but I still admit that I still enjoy it despite its thin plot and characters.
4. The Breakfast Club - The quintessential 80's teen angst movie may seem dated and irrelevant now, but I saw this expecting to hate it, but really enjoyed it and dare I say... related to it?
3. Love Actually - Damn Richard Curtis. I can never hate this man. This is no guilty pleasure. I love all the fuzzy warmness that this film provides.
2. Big Fish - Tim Burton doing an Oscar-bait remake of Forrest Gump? This has all the signs for a disaster, yet this emotional father-son story worked for me.
1. Forrest Gump - I just can't hate this movie. It's saccharine, feel-goody bullshit, but man... it gets to me. I have a feeling this movie would have been torn apart if it was released today.

[D_Davis]

1. Titanic
2. Scary Movie
3. Fiddler on the Roof (can't stand musicals)
4. As Good as it Gets - sentimental BS, but I remember liking it.
5. My Big Fat Greek Wedding - same

[MarcusBrody]

This is a hard one for me. I'm generally pretty willing to give populist movies a chance, so i need to figure out which ones I should hate, but yet aren't guilty pleasures. Hmmm...

[Pop Trash]

Titanic was the first one that came to mind. There was a time when I wouldn't even say I really liked it for fear of my taste in films being questioned, but fuck it, I really like it.

[Boner M]

I don't think there's anything I should hate, but here's 3 that sounded awful on paper that I ended up liking:

Love, Actually
Martyrs
Silver Linings Playbook

[Spinal]

I liked the question, but then I found it hard to really answer. I don't know. Something like this, I guess ...

Inception
The Hangover
Happy Feet
Shakespeare in Love
Slumdog Millionaire

[Ezee E]

Is there someone out there that doesn't like Love Actually besides guys trying to be macho (and most likely haven't seen it?)

With that... Wait, I should hate these movies?

What's to hate about Forrest Gump? It's not discussed much on Match Cut, but I've never really seen it hated on. Just not a movie that people are willing to put in their top 10's...

-Fight Club (hated for its "bro"-mentality now, this was actually one of the movies that got me interested into film. I still admire it for just about everything)

-Dawn of the Dead (2004) - Snyder is not liked in the film community. It all started here with what may be the most visceral zombie movie out there. And dare I say, possibly my favorite.

-Million Dollar Baby - haters say that there's forced drama. I watched this recently and just absolutely love how it progresses like a book. There's so much more going on then it just being about a female boxer.

-Ghost - Patrick Swayze. Whoopi Goldberg making fart jokes. Late 80's/early 90's nostalgia. I'll have to watch it again, but I always will whenever it's on cable television.

-Home Alone - Possibly pure nostalgia, but I can't really find a reason to dislike this at all.

[Pop Trash]

Some other Oscar baity films that get to me:

Dead Poets Society
Glory
Field of Dreams
The Cider House Rules

[Watashi]

I've seen/read a lot of negativity on Forrest Gump recently.

[Pop Trash]

Shakespeare in Love


Oh yeah, that too.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I hate Love, Actually, and it has nothing to do with trying to be macho. I think it's a trite, sentimental slog of a film that's neither funny nor moving.

[Spinal]

Forrest Gump is totally hated on. In fact, I think I have grown to hate it.

[Pop Trash]

What's to hate about Forrest Gump? It's not discussed much on Match Cut, but I've never really seen it hated on. Just not a movie that people are willing to put in their top 10's...


Oh there's been A LOT written about the conservative slant in FG. Almost to the point where I can't watch it anymore without thinking of it. I would file FG in with Braveheart as "films I used to love in high school, but not so much anymore."

[Watashi]

Braveheart is another one.

I should really hate that movie, but I just can't.

[Spinal]

It's so easy to hate Braveheart. All you need is a soul.

[Irish]

"Gump" is filled with simplistic, treacly, saccharine bullshit usually reserved for Hallmark greeting cards. Similar to rancid stuff like "Pay It Forward" and "K-Pax," it just tried way too hard to be moving and profound.

"Braveheart" is a good pick, but I feel it's easier to hate on after seeing countless articles about its wild historical inaccuracies and, ya know, Gibson turning into a complete whack job.

Not sure how hating "Love Actually" is macho, especially as every single plot line that movie, save one, is a really obvious, trite male fantasy (hot secretary crushing on middle aged guy, hot young assistant crushing on middle aged married guy, hot foreign housekeeper crushing on middle aged guy, hot best friend's girl, etc). I didn't notice this when I saw it, was bummed when somebody pointed it out, but I still re-watch it every Christmas. *shrug*

[Boner M]

Martyrs
Oops, didn't see 'populist' in the thread title.

[Pop Trash]

Dances with Wolves
American Beauty
Big

[Skitch]

This will be a tough one for me. I'll start with saying Catch And Release.

[Kurosawa Fan]

The "Should Hate" part is really throwing me. Here's what I came up with:

The English Patient
American Beauty
The Usual Suspects
Rudy
Sliding Doors

[Ezee E]

Always been of the opinion that the people who don't like English Patient haven't seen it.

[Gizmo]

I'm on board with Titanic. Also,
The Phantom Menace (shit on my childhood, but still, it's Star Wars)
The Avengers(I really don't care for any of these superheroes in their own film, enjoyed the Avengers)
All the Saw movies(though not sure they are populist enough. I don't really enjoy gore films, but find these fun and suspenseful)
Legally Blonde(I don't like it, but can't say I hate it)

[Rowland]

Always been of the opinion that the people who don't like English Patient haven't seen it.I'm sure there are people who have seen the film and dislike it for reasons they are able to reasonably articulate. They may find your dismissal of their perspectives as asinine as the movie itself. [/hasn't seen it]

[MadMan]

Everyone took my answers, although I really I like so many populist movies that everyone hates that I should be able to come up with something....

[Lucky]

Ok, I'll be the first (and maybe only). Crash. Those scenes worked on me in the theater. One of the tensest movie experiences I've had.

Donnie Darko
Juno
Argo
And I'll echo Gump

[transmogrifier]

Love Actually is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I know I've harped on this before, but you guys insist on bringing it up all the time in a context that doesn't involve burning every single copy of it that exists and then creating a computer virus to take care of the digital versions.

Whenever I start to think you guys are the perfect group of messageboard buddies, your insane appreciation of this abysmal piece of shit keeps me grounded.

[Sycophant]

I hate Love, Actually, and it has nothing to do with trying to be macho. I think it's a trite, sentimental slog of a film that's neither funny nor moving.

As someone who enjoys quite a few romantic comedies (and wears this incredibly butch avatar), allow me to agree with this thoroughly.

[ledfloyd]

I thought the IMDB top 250 would help me with this. I haven't looked at that in years. What a terrifying list.

Good Will Hunting is the only one I'm coming up with at the moment.

[Sycophant]

I'm having the damnedest time coming up with this. I don't feel obligated to hate anything. Though I like Titanic (which I wouldn't have admitted in 1998).

[MarcusBrody]

Movies on other people's lists that might have been one mine.
Love, Actually (take that, transmogrifier!), Like it a lot, but can see how I should hate it.
Titanic: Ditto, though I like it a bit less
Fight Club: Can see hating it for its fans

My own contributions: (I'm going to try to go for movies that I really should hate on their merits, not just because they're overly popular, etc.)

1. Green Street Hooligans - Saw this. Spent a good bit of time wanting to punch the person who thought this was a final draft of a script in the face. Still, I love football and I got swept up enough to say that I didn't hate it.

2. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life - I was pretty excited for Tomb Raider. The Indiana Jones franchise is one of my all time favorites and I was in love with Angelina Jolie at the time, so I figured that it couldn't miss. I was wrong and I was bitter. When the second movie came out, I went in with lower expectations, but expecting to hate it again, but enjoyed it more than the first.

3. Out Cold: Sophomoric, formulaic humor and beloved by my little brother, yet somehow I don't hate it. I think it could be due to my love of skiing so I'm sympathetic to the vibe. That seems to be a recurring trend here. This might fall more under the guilty pleasure category.

4. Ulysses Gaze - basically a synonym for overblown pretentiousness. I often like experimental or artsy films, but I don't necessarily like films that seem to be silent and ponderous simply so they can take themselves as seriously as possible. But yet, I enjoyed this behemoth. I saw it in a pretty comfortable screening room, so maybe that helped. OK, this one isn't populist, but I'm having trouble here...

[Rowland]

I may be a macho man, as my avatar so definitively illustrates, but I'm confident that Love Actually objectively stinks.

[Lurch]

The Mummy
Batman Returns
I Am Legend
Real Steel
Titanic

[Ezee E]

I'm sure there are people who have seen the film and dislike it for reasons they are able to reasonably articulate. They may find your dismissal of their perspectives as asinine as the movie itself. [/hasn't seen it]

I may have been wrong on Forrest Gump and Love Actually, but so far, no haters on English Patient from Match Cut yet.

BTW, Watch it. It's great. Far better then Mummy movies.

[MadMan]

The English Patient is one of those movies that I know I should probably watch, but I probably never will.

[Irish]

I may have been wrong on Forrest Gump and Love Actually, but so far, no haters on English Patient from Match Cut yet.

There could be, theoretically, people on Match Cut who think "The English Patient" is an abysmal movie, one so bad it's not even worth discussing.

Theoretically.

*cough*

[Watashi]

I'm pretty sure The English Patient is one of those movies that exist.

[Spinal]

Love The English Patient. Fantastic film.

[Irish]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5qalNX5G94

[megladon8]

Not in any order...

300 - saw this at the theatre with a few stoned friends and we had a blast with it. To this day I still think it's a lot of big, dumb fun.

The Replacements - that football movie with Keanu Reeves. It was one of the first DVDs we ever owned, and at the time when I was recovering from my spinal surgery I watched it more than a dozen times. I still think it has a few effective laughs, and I've always liked Keanu.

Alien 3 - probably the "best" movie on my list, it is very often seen as the weakest of the main 4 (I guess now 5) film series, but I actually think it's second only to the first. Weaver gives a great performance, the setting is used effectively, and bringing it back down to one alien stalking and killing the characters made the series scary again.

Batman Returns - at one point I would have placed this in my all-time top 10. While Burton's first film is a stylistically inspired mess ruined by terrible editing and poor action direction, Returns fixes a few of those problems (clunky action remains, but editing is cleaned up and the visual style tuned) and is a grand, operatic gothic costume play on film. I dig the hell out of it.

Killer Klowns From Outer Space - not sure if this quite fits the bill because it is actually held in fairly high esteem among horror crowds, but I kind of love this movie, and by its title alone most assume it's utter trash. It's got some brilliant ideas (the barking balloon search dogs, pop corns cannons, the puppet show, etc.) and had the smarts to play it all tongue-in-cheek. The Dickies' theme song is very memorable, too.

[B-side]

4. Ulysses Gaze - basically a synonym for overblown pretentiousness. I often like experimental or artsy films, but I don't necessarily like films that seem to be silent and ponderous simply so they can take themselves as seriously as possible.

Rage meter rising...

Also, this is in no way populist, so it's not even close to the premise of the thread.

[B-side]

1. 300 (Zack Snyder, 2006)
2. [B]War Horse (Steven Spielberg, 2011) [Premise reeking of saccharine shit, but the execution is classical-efficent and the photography gorgeous]
3. You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Dennis Dugan, 2008) [Hated the previews; Sandler's recent stuff has all looked really bad; This is actually pretty damn funny, and a keenly observed critique of the Israel/Palestine conflict]
4. Step Up Revolution (Scott Speer, 2012) [Used to mock these films until I got word the last two were actually good; confirmed as decent zeitgeist entertainment with nice 3D dance choreography]
5. Mirror Mirror (Tarsem Singh, 2012) [Kinda subversive, gorgeous artifice and grand spectacle art design]

[wigwam]

I won't argue with anyone hating these or - like my wife - mocking my guiltless love for them

1. The Notebook
2. The Girl Next Door
3. Definitely Maybe
4. My Name is Fame
5. My Sassy Girl (original)

[Irish]

Also, this is in no way populist, so it's not even close to the premise of the thread.

Glass houses? It was popular not populist. Difference. You named "Zohan" and "Mirror, Mirror," FFS!


I won't argue with anyone hating these or - like my wife - mocking my guiltless love for them

Tell you wife you need to be mocked more heavily for "The Notebook." :P

[B-side]

Glass houses? It was popular not populist. Difference. You named "Zohan" and "Mirror, Mirror," FFS!


Ulysses' Gaze was neither popular, nor did it have populist appeal. It grossed a whopping $42,000 here in the US.

Zohan and Mirror Mirror both were big budget productions with broad appeal. Pretty sure that is the very definition of populist. A 3 hour Greek movie about an aging filmmaker searching for lost films in war-torn Greece made on a minimal budget does not have populist appeal. If you knew anything about Angelopoulos, you might know that, but I suspect you don't since you're trying to defend its placement in this thread.

[Irish]

Zohan and Mirror Mirror both were big budget productions with broad appeal. Pretty sure that is the very definition of populist.

Nobody said anything about 'populist.' Only you. Aside from that small gaffe, you're interpreting 'populist' as 'mainstream,' which is a rough bastarization of its definition. You're right that "Zohan" and "Mirror" were mainstream movies. But that wasn't, strictly speaking, the direction of the thread that Watashi laid out.

If you mean to say that they were popular, they weren't. "Zohan," for example, has a 37% rating on the Tomatometer, a 5.5/10 rating in IMBb (with more than 100,000 votes) and lost money in the domestic US market.

So. Glass houses.

[Sycophant]

Populist is kinda mentioned in the thread title.

[Irish]

Populist is kinda mentioned in the thread title.

Ha! Fair point. Serves me right for only paying attention to the truncated title that appears in the URL.

But, look at Watashi's description in the first post:


Name 5 movies that are very popular (whether that be with award circles or with the masses, you can decide) that you should hate, but dammit... you can't help but enjoy

"Ulysses Gaze" won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 1995 and was named to Time Magazine's Top 100 Films of All Time. I think it qualifies.

More than that, though, what purpose does it serve to bust Brody's balls about the choice, rather than discuss the merits of the movie itself?

[Skitch]

The English Patient is one of those movies that I know I should probably watch, but I probably never will.
Same here. I hate hate hated Cold Mountain, so its hard for me to try to see English Patient when I have so many films ahead of it that I really want to see.

[transmogrifier]

I like the idea of just arguing about the semantics of the thread title. We should do this more often.

[Ezee E]

Same here. I hate hate hated Cold Mountain, so its hard for me to try to see English Patient when I have so many films ahead of it that I really want to see.

At least see Talented Mr. Ripley.

[Kurosawa Fan]

2. The Girl Next Door


This one could have made my list. Forgot all about it.

[D_Davis]

I like the idea of just arguing about the semantics of the thread title. We should do this more often.

7/10

or maybe ***

[Derek]

7/10

or maybe ***

61.

Or on the Madman scale, 99.

[Skitch]

At least see Talented Mr. Ripley.

I did. It was okay, but I didn't see what the big hub-bub was all about.

[Skitch]

This one could have made my list. Forgot all about it.

Are we talking about the one where the porn star from 24 moves in next door? If so, yeah, I kind of liked it as well.

[Fezzik]

Oh boy...

1. Serendipity - pure dreck, but I can't hate it. I loved Jeremy Niven in this, and am a sucker for Kate Beckinsale
2. Notting Hill - I actually quite love this one. Its my favorite Hugh Grant RomCom
3. Titanic - Yep. I'm with most of you. Looking back at it now, I just can't help but admire it.
4. National Treasure - I can't help it. I really liked this one. Its a lot of fun, despite all its silliness. Plus, Sean Bean doesn't die.
5. Independence Day - Stupid, overwrought, silly, plot holes...don't care. Love watching this one, even now.

[B-side]

If you mean to say that they were popular, they weren't. "Zohan," for example, has a 37% rating on the Tomatometer, a 5.5/10 rating in IMBb (with more than 100,000 votes) and lost money in the domestic US market.

So. Glass houses.

You've already been called out on completely overlooking the actual title of the thread, so I won't hammer that home any further. Yes, they were popular. Zohan made $200 million worldwide, and it stars Adam Sandler, making it both popular and populist. Mirror Mirror made $166 million worldwide, and stars Julia Roberts and Armie Hammer (who was a rising star at the time) and is a retelling of one of the most famous fairy tales of all-time. So, again, popular and populist. Why I'm arguing with you about something so goddamned obvious speaks not only to my lack of discipline for entertaining this silliness but to your childish desire to wanna fight with me constantly. Populist doesn't speak to award circle praise in this case at all. In the case of something like Titanic or a Clint Eastwood movie, yes, but here it doesn't, and again, you'd know this if you knew anything about Angelopoulos. I could argue against the mind-numbingly stupid critique of "... a synonym for overblown pretentiousness. I often like experimental or artsy films, but I don't necessarily like films that seem to be silent and ponderous simply so they can take themselves as seriously as possible", but anyone with an interest in film as anything more than passing entertainment should be able to acknowledge that as inane bullshit.

[MadMan]

61.

Or on the Madman scale, 99.Heh. *** out of **** would equal between a 77/78 and an 89 on my scale. Which is why I don't use star ratings because they are narrow, and I would end up with way too many ** 1/2 and *** rated movies. And these days most of my ratings are just random numbers I throw up there so I can try and compile best of lists at the end of the year, or for my on going attempt to finally make a Top 100 list :)

[eternity]

I just went down this list (http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm?page=2&p=.htm) and picked five movies I liked more than other people seemed to.

1. Iron Man 3
-I'm not sure if I shouldn't like it, but one could argue that it is quite stupid. Regardless, it's relentlessly entertaining.
2. Home Alone
-For reasons others have stated.
3. The Hangover Part II
-It's a retread of the first film (which I didn't like), but it's significantly darker and proportionally funnier.
4. National Treasure
-Absurd Indiana Jones knockoff, but it's hard for me not to enjoy how dorky it is.
5. Superman Returns
-People act like this movie is a disgrace. It's easily better than the rest of DC's output recently except for Watchmen.

[Skitch]

3. The Hangover Part II
-It's a retread of the first film (which I didn't like)

It felt odd to me too, but part of me thought it was incredibly ballsy to just say "screw it, lets do exactly the same thing, beat for beat."


but it's significantly darker and proportionally funnier

I agree. I actually like it better than the first because it went to the dark places I expected the first to, but didn't.


5. Superman Returns
-People act like this movie is a disgrace..

If nothing else, its beautifully shot, and the ending isn't nearly as dumb as Superman 1. God I hate that ending.

[amberlita]

Some other Oscar baity films that get to me:


Glory


"Give 'em hell, 54!"

:sad:

It is not wrong to love this film.

[slqrick]

Sorry to be that guy, but I loved Crash when it came out. Paul Haggis and all. Haven't seen it in many years though.

[EyesWideOpen]

There are lot's of movies that I really like/love that aren't cool like Garden State and Crash but I don't feel that I "should hate" them. The only movies I can think of that I should hate but don't are the Fast and the Furious series and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

[wigwam]

There are lot's of movies that I really like/love that aren't cool like Garden State and Crash but I don't feel that I "should hate" them. The only movies I can think of that I should hate but don't are the Fast and the Furious series and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

I don't think those should be hated for the same reasons though, as they embrace their escapist entertainment intentions (and either accomplish them for you or don't), whereas the other kinds of movies operate on a pretense of Making a Statement About Something/Society so it's not just that they aren't cool on a level of That Intention is Lame (which might not be a fair level, but you're talking about "cool" here) but also on levels of Your Solution/Sincerity/Earnestness is Also Lame and then just basic These Aren't Good Performances/Scenes/Filmmaking which applies to all types of movies, the 4 you mention in particular

[EyesWideOpen]

Well I think the "five movies you should hate" is different for each poster. I generally abhor macho bullshit, car culture, and stuff getting blown up so that's why it's surprising for me I like those movies I listed not because they are escapist entertainment.

Star Trek and Iron Man 3 are escapist entertainment but they fit more in with established big budget movies I enjoy.

[MarcusBrody]

More than that, though, what purpose does it serve to bust Brody's balls about the choice, rather than discuss the merits of the movie itself?

Particularly when I concede that it isn't "populist" in the part of my initial post that he edited out, but said I couldn't think of any other movies that I felt I should have hated but didn't.

[B-side]

Particularly when I concede that it isn't "populist" in the part of my initial post that he edited out, but said I couldn't think of any other movies that I felt I should have hated but didn't.

It isn't just that you chose that movie, which so clearly doesn't fit the criteria, but rather the alarmingly anti-intellectual sentiment you followed that choice with.

[Derek]

It isn't just that you chose that movie, which so clearly doesn't fit the criteria, but rather the alarmingly anti-intellectual sentiment you followed that choice with.

Just a thought, but maybe someone who considers Top Gun, Jackass and 50 First Dates to be 3 of the 5 movies ever made that most inspire him to be a better person isn't the soundest judge of what does and doesn't fit the criteria of these lists.

[B-side]

Just a thought, but maybe someone who considers Top Gun, Jackass and 50 First Dates to be 3 of the 5 movies ever made that most inspire him to be a better person isn't the soundest judge of what does and doesn't fit the criteria of these lists.

What the hell does that have to do with this? I get that you don't like those films, so I'm automatically stupid for appreciating them, but seriously. My list for that thread was no different than anybody else's.

[transmogrifier]

What the hell does that have to do with this? I get that you don't like those films, so I'm automatically stupid for appreciating them, but seriously. My list for that thread was no different than anybody else's.

I think it is more you are taking dead seriously a light-hearted list thread. Especially seeing as there was nothing "alarmingly anti-intellectual" at all in the post.

[B-side]

I think it is more you are taking dead seriously a light-hearted list thread. Especially seeing as there was nothing "alarmingly anti-intellectual" at all in the post.

I'm taking it about as seriously as anyone else would given it's a regressive and silly misrepresentation of much of the art I appreciate. I happen to love the film, and dozens of others that he'd likely dismiss with similarly inane remarks.

[transmogrifier]

I'm taking it about as seriously as anyone else would given it's a regressive and silly misrepresentation of much of the art I appreciate. I happen to love the film, and dozens of others that he'd likely dismiss with similarly inane remarks.

What, you appreciate "films that seem to be silent and ponderous simply so they can take themselves as seriously as possible?"

Because that would be weird.

[B-side]

I appreciate silent and ponderous films that don't have an overt sense of humor, yes. And I don't see how being silent and ponderous means a film is taking itself anymore seriously than any other film, or is self-aware silliness the only proper artistic pursuit?

[transmogrifier]

I appreciate silent and ponderous films that don't have an overt sense of humor, yes. And I don't see how being silent and ponderous means a film is taking itself anymore seriously than any other film, or is self-aware silliness the only proper artistic pursuit?

Well, where I'm from, ponderous is a criticism, so I don't know what to tell you. The weird thing is he likes the film that you are getting bent out of shape about.

[B-side]

Well, where I'm from, ponderous is a criticism, so I don't know what to tell you. The weird thing is he likes the film that you are getting bent out of shape about.

It's an empty criticism lobbed at films that don't have dramatic upswings and generally hold their moods in the softer, more intellectual spectrum.

[transmogrifier]

It's an empty criticism lobbed at films that don't have dramatic upswings and generally hold their moods in the softer, more intellectual spectrum.

So, lets recap:


Things that Movies Simply Cannot Be Ever, Ever, Ever
1. ponderous


Got any more?

[B-side]

Christ, you're an obnoxious twat. You see and read what you want to.

[transmogrifier]

Christ, you're an obnoxious twat. You see and read what you want to.

Thing Trans Most Definitely Is
1. obnoxious
2. a twat

No fair. You started a different list.

[MarcusBrody]

I'm taking it about as seriously as anyone else would given it's a regressive and silly misrepresentation of much of the art I appreciate. I happen to love the film, and dozens of others that he'd likely dismiss with similarly inane remarks.

I have no problem at all with slow moving and quiet films, nor with films that demand to be taken seriously. I'm less of a fan of films whose reason to exist is to show how seriously the film/filmmaker should be taken as an end in itself. When I saw it, I thought that Ulysses Gaze had some of the stylistic hallmarks of that type of film.

But I liked Ulysses Gaze! I got caught up in it and enjoyed it. It had some hallmarks of a film I should hate, but I didn't at all. Which is why I added it to my list after I ran out of populist movies that I liked though I thought I should hate. I thought it would make what I considered a movie that "I should hate" more clear by explaining that I wasn't using popular expectations of hate, but rather film elements that I tend not to like.

Not necessarily related to UG, but when I say ponderous I generally mean a film that either 1. Has problems with pacing so that things are excessively drawn out breaking the natural narrative flow. or 2. A film that has problems with emotional pacing and does not sufficiently modulate the intended emotional impact of the scenes so as to give the viewer enough emotional variation to maximize the impact of key scenes. If a film's intended emotion is (by scene) heavy-heavy-heavy-Heavy-heavy, I adjust as a viewer and rather than really maximize the emotional impact of the film, it ends up numbing me. Now, sometimes this is the intention of the film, but when it isn't, I consider it a problem with emotional pacing and it would be something that would lead me to call a film "ponderous".

[MadMan]

B-Side must have forgotten my previous angry interactions with trans, a poster who's grumpy and heavy sarcasm I have grown to love. Never change trans.

[MadMan]

PS: I didn't expect eternity to like Superman Returns. I like that movie but it feels so damn long for a blockbuster....

[transmogrifier]

B-Side must have forgotten my previous angry interactions with trans, a poster who's grumpy and heavy sarcasm I have grown to love. Never change trans.

I grow on people. Like athlete's foot, or that weird rash on the side of your neck.

[ledfloyd]

I thought of another one. Vanilla Sky.

[MadMan]

I grow on people. Like athlete's foot, or that weird rash on the side of your neck.http://static.tumblr.com/52lk0tu/G5pls7sx1/yep.gif