Controversial opinions about other movies

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  • I saw Clockwork Orange once, and once was enough. It’s very well-made but it’s also quite an unpleasant watch in places. Ditto Full Metal Jacket. I can see why people like it, but it’s too much of a stress trip for me.

    Eyes Wide Shut, Barry Lyndon and 2001 are all magnificent works. EWS and 2001 are in my personal top ten of all films.

    To get back on topic, I don’t think it’s controversial at all these days for people to say they don’t like 2001. IMDB’s old forums were jammed full of people dissing it, and hardly anyone I know socially likes it at all.

    It’s probably more controversial these days for someone to say they actually like 2001.

    And it’s very controversial to say 2001 is one of the best films ever made.

    Which it is.
  • Posts: 7,507
    I saw Clockwork Orange once, and once was enough. It’s very well-made but it’s also quite an unpleasant watch in places. Ditto Full Metal Jacket. I can see why people like it, but it’s too much of a stress trip for me.

    Eyes Wide Shut, Barry Lyndon and 2001 are all magnificent works. EWS and 2001 are in my personal top ten of all films.

    To get back on topic, I don’t think it’s controversial at all these days for people to say they don’t like 2001. IMDB’s old forums were jammed full of people dissing it, and hardly anyone I know socially likes it at all.

    It’s probably more controversial these days for someone to say they actually like 2001.

    And it’s very controversial to say 2001 is one of the best films ever made.

    Which it is.

    That totaly depends who you ask I guess. Among film makers, reviewers and film aficionados, the common sensus is that 2001 is a masterpiece and one of the best films ever made. Then again, by comparison with normal entertainment films it s obviously extremely slow paced with not much happening and a confusing and, some might argue, pretentious ending. Personally I admire the film a lot, but it is not a film I go to for pure entertainment only.
  • RoadphillRoadphill United Kingdom
    Posts: 984
    I think King himself called out one of the issues with The Shining. It's meant to be about a slow descent into madness, but Jack Nicholson looks crazy in his first scene. Undercuts the rest, somewhat.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,108
    I saw Clockwork Orange once, and once was enough. It’s very well-made but it’s also quite an unpleasant watch in places. Ditto Full Metal Jacket. I can see why people like it, but it’s too much of a stress trip for me.

    Eyes Wide Shut, Barry Lyndon and 2001 are all magnificent works. EWS and 2001 are in my personal top ten of all films.

    To get back on topic, I don’t think it’s controversial at all these days for people to say they don’t like 2001. IMDB’s old forums were jammed full of people dissing it, and hardly anyone I know socially likes it at all.

    It’s probably more controversial these days for someone to say they actually like 2001.

    And it’s very controversial to say 2001 is one of the best films ever made.

    Which it is.

    I've never seen Full Metal Jacket, but I fully agree on your other assessments.

    I, for one, consider both The Shining and 2001 as personal favourites.
    Barry Lyndon and EWS are great too.

    Never been the biggest fan of A Clockwork Orange. As you said, it's well-made but I find it a very uncomfortable watch in places.
  • edited September 2020 Posts: 7,507
    Roadphill wrote: »
    I think King himself called out one of the issues with The Shining. It's meant to be about a slow descent into madness, but Jack Nicholson looks crazy in his first scene. Undercuts the rest, somewhat.

    The main thing I miss is a sense of mysteri. Right from the first scene where the hotel owner tells the story about the previous caretaker, the viewer thinks "aha, he will go insane and kill his family". The rest is basically a two hour wait to see it happen. The best scenes and parts of the film come around the middle section where some unexpected, unexplained things happen and you start to wonder hm, maybe there will be more layers to this story than I expected. But in the end there aren't...
  • RoadphillRoadphill United Kingdom
    Posts: 984
    jobo wrote: »
    Roadphill wrote: »
    I think King himself called out one of the issues with The Shining. It's meant to be about a slow descent into madness, but Jack Nicholson looks crazy in his first scene. Undercuts the rest, somewhat.

    The main thing I miss is a sense of mysteri. Right from the first scene where the hotel owner tells the story about the previous caretaker, the viewer thinks "aha, he will go insane and kill his family". The rest is basically a two hour wait to see it happen. The best scenes and parts of the film come around the middle section where some unexpected, unexplained things happen and you start to wonder hm, maybe there will be more layers to this story than I expected. But in the end there aren't...

    With you on this..
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    edited September 2020 Posts: 7,020
    Roadphill wrote: »
    I think King himself called out one of the issues with The Shining. It's meant to be about a slow descent into madness, but Jack Nicholson looks crazy in his first scene. Undercuts the rest, somewhat.
    jobo wrote: »
    The main thing I miss is a sense of mysteri. Right from the first scene where the hotel owner tells the story about the previous caretaker, the viewer thinks "aha, he will go insane and kill his family". The rest is basically a two hour wait to see it happen. The best scenes and parts of the film come around the middle section where some unexpected, unexplained things happen and you start to wonder hm, maybe there will be more layers to this story than I expected. But in the end there aren't...
    I hadn't thought about this. I agree!
  • Posts: 1,916
    Something I've noticed is both Full Metal Jacket and A Clockwork Orange have knockout first halves and get less interesting in the second, as in after the boot camp sequence in FMJ and after Alex is arrested in ACO. Not that they are a slog, but Kubrick sets up such gripping beginnings that it's hard to continue that momentum for the balance.

    FMJ is a hard film to sit through, especially that opening sequence, but also adds the humor of the late R. Lee Ermey as Sgt. Hartman, but it's uncomfortable but you can't quit watching. I also think Platoon having been released before it really harmed its status at the time, becoming another Vietnam film in its wake. Wonder what FMJ's reception would've been had it been released first.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 3,996
    BT3366 wrote: »
    Something I've noticed is both Full Metal Jacket and A Clockwork Orange have knockout first halves and get less interesting in the second, as in after the boot camp sequence in FMJ and after Alex is arrested in ACO. Not that they are a slog, but Kubrick sets up such gripping beginnings that it's hard to continue that momentum for the balance.

    FMJ is a hard film to sit through, especially that opening sequence, but also adds the humor of the late R. Lee Ermey as Sgt. Hartman, but it's uncomfortable but you can't quit watching. I also think Platoon having been released before it really harmed its status at the time, becoming another Vietnam film in its wake. Wonder what FMJ's reception would've been had it been released first.

    I think Kubrick was a bit late to the Vietnam table with Full Metal Jacket. With Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter and Platoon coming before it and being far superior fare. FMJ doesn't add anything new from what those films covered.

    I think it's one of his weaker films. And to be honest i'm not even sure what the film is trying to say. I think the sequence with the sniper is the best thing in it. Beautifully shot and edited.
  • Posts: 15,103
    JWPepper wrote: »
    There’s still a number of Kubrick films I have yet to check out, I’ve only seen Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. I loved them all, but favorite oscillates between Strangelove and 2001. I’m leaning towards the latter, my first Kubrick experience, fricking blew my mind when I was young and it still does. A milestone in the art of filmmaking, for sure.

    Check out Barry Lyndon, it’s awesome

    Barry Lyndon, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut are my favourite Kubrick movies.

    Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut are criminally underrated.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,205
    I think there are a lot of people out there who appreciate 2001: A Space Odyssey than actually like it.
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 814
    I love 2001: A Space Odyssey. There simply isn't any other film that takes me on a trip quite like this. I find something new that I like about it pretty much every time I've seen it. I also find it a refreshing diversion from most other sci-fi films. Contemplative instead of whiz-bang.
    I like that the film offers no answers to the mysterious web it weaves, it prefers to let the audience fill in the blanks. I find it stunningly beautiful and inspiring. I always saw Bowman's journey as really mankind's journey back to being humbled and in awe of the vastness of the universe, accepting that not everything can be known or understood no matter how technologically advanced we become. I don't know, this film makes me ramble, I'm just glad Kubrick and Clarke left it open for interpretation. Such a masterpiece. My god, it's full of stars.
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,205
    I like it a lot, too. I remember my first time seeing it at 18 years of age at 9am on a Wednesday morning in a college lecture hall. Slightly hungover, but certainly very tired, it shouldn't have been the ideal scenario to experience it for the first time. But alas, it stayed with me.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    I love 2001: A Space Odyssey. There simply isn't any other film that takes me on a trip quite like this. I find something new that I like about it pretty much every time I've seen it. I also find it a refreshing diversion from most other sci-fi films. Contemplative instead of whiz-bang.
    I like that the film offers no answers to the mysterious web it weaves, it prefers to let the audience fill in the blanks. I find it stunningly beautiful and inspiring. I always saw Bowman's journey as really mankind's journey back to being humbled and in awe of the vastness of the universe, accepting that not everything can be known or understood no matter how technologically advanced we become. I don't know, this film makes me ramble, I'm just glad Kubrick and Clarke left it open for interpretation. Such a masterpiece. My god, it's full of stars.

    Kubrick left it much more open to interpretation in the film than Clarke did in the book. Much is explained there.
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 814
    I love 2001: A Space Odyssey. There simply isn't any other film that takes me on a trip quite like this. I find something new that I like about it pretty much every time I've seen it. I also find it a refreshing diversion from most other sci-fi films. Contemplative instead of whiz-bang.
    I like that the film offers no answers to the mysterious web it weaves, it prefers to let the audience fill in the blanks. I find it stunningly beautiful and inspiring. I always saw Bowman's journey as really mankind's journey back to being humbled and in awe of the vastness of the universe, accepting that not everything can be known or understood no matter how technologically advanced we become. I don't know, this film makes me ramble, I'm just glad Kubrick and Clarke left it open for interpretation. Such a masterpiece. My god, it's full of stars.

    Kubrick left it much more open to interpretation in the film than Clarke did in the book. Much is explained there.

    Right, i haven't read The Sentinel nor the full novel version, but Clarke did work on the screenplay for 2001 with Kubrick.
  • The novel is very much this-happened-then-this-happened-and-here-is-the-reason-why, that sort of thing. I think it’s a bit disappointing, I prefer the ambiguity of the film.

    Kubrick liked making things more ambiguous. Essentially he took Clarke’s plot and stripped the explanation out.

    The original short story, The Sentinel, is excellent however.
  • Posts: 15,103
    Count me in the camp of the 2001 lover.
  • Posts: 7,507
    I am in the "2001 lover camp" too. Although I would never watch it unless I'm in the right mood.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,600
    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/francis-ford-coppola-recutting-godfather-part-iii-for-30th-anniversary

    I don’t know how Coppola can make it any better. Having such a limited time to write, film and edit the first time can’t fix a film 30 years later. That being said, I still greatly appreciate and enjoy the movie. Still miss Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen though, as Coppola has openly agreed.
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 814
    Yeah, I get annoyed with people who call The Godfather Part III a bad movie. I think it’s really damn great. Yes, the first two are superior... FAR superior, but then, those two are better than most films period (particularly for me, Part II, one of my top ten favorite films of all time). The ending on the opera steps still guts me.
  • Posts: 7,507
    Yeah, I get annoyed with people who call The Godfather Part III a bad movie. I think it’s really damn great. Yes, the first two are superior... FAR superior, but then, those two are better than most films period (particularly for me, Part II, one of my top ten favorite films of all time). The ending on the opera steps still guts me.

    The Intermezzo from Cavaleria Rusticana is just devestatingly beautiful in that scene.
  • Posts: 1,916
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/francis-ford-coppola-recutting-godfather-part-iii-for-30th-anniversary

    I don’t know how Coppola can make it any better. Having such a limited time to write, film and edit the first time can’t fix a film 30 years later. That being said, I still greatly appreciate and enjoy the movie. Still miss Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen though, as Coppola has openly agreed.
    They could always film new scenes with Duvall and de-age him the way Scorsese did with De Niro and other actors in The Irishman. Worse things have been done in older f

  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,600
    Clerks was Kevin Smith’s career peak. He never got that high (movie making wise, at least), again. He made some decent and enjoyable movies, sure, but never as should be seen, as Clerks.
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    Posts: 814
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Clerks was Kevin Smith’s career peak. He never got that high (movie making wise, at least), again. He made some decent and enjoyable movies, sure, but never as should be seen, as Clerks.

    That’s hardly a controversial opinion according to most, I suspect. For me, Chasing Amy is his best, followed quickly by Clerks. I really like Clerks II and Dogma as well.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,600
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    Clerks was Kevin Smith’s career peak. He never got that high (movie making wise, at least), again. He made some decent and enjoyable movies, sure, but never as should be seen, as Clerks.

    That’s hardly a controversial opinion according to most, I suspect. For me, Chasing Amy is his best, followed quickly by Clerks. I really like Clerks II and Dogma as well.

    I agree with your ranking. I did enjoy Mallrats and Zack and Mimi as well. I’ve yet to see Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.
  • Posts: 1,707
    Jurassic World was okay , its not like JP2 & 3 were great imo
  • ThunderballThunderball playing Chemin de Fer in a casino, downing Vespers
    edited September 2020 Posts: 814
    I wish Jurassic Park never became a film franchise. The original is outstanding. Every single one after that gradually diminishes in quality (I haven't even seen Fallen Kingdom. I remember seeing the first trailer and saying, nope. Shut up and DON'T take my money)
    I remember really liking The Lost World way back when I saw it in theaters, but not as much anymore, though I suppose there are a few (very few) things here and there I kinda still like. III was awful and World was...ehh.
    I think each successive entry has only diluted the greatness of the original, and it's like, how many times must people be taught the same lesson about these things? Ugh. I always thought the concept of 'head canon' as childish, but for one time only I might make an exception for Jurassic Park sequels. [-(
  • Posts: 15,103
    I wish Jurassic Park never became a film franchise. The original is outstanding. Every single one after that gradually diminishes in quality (I haven't even seen Fallen Kingdom. I remember seeing the first trailer and saying, nope. Shut up and DON'T take my money)
    I remember really liking The Lost World way back when I saw it in theaters, but not as much anymore, though I suppose there are a few (very few) things here and there I kinda still like. III was awful and World was...ehh.
    I think each successive entry has only diluted the greatness of the original, and it's like, how many times must people be thought the same lesson about these things? Ugh. I always thought the concept of 'head canon' as childish, but for one time only I might make an exception for Jurassic Park sequels. [-(
    I agree, Jurassic Park should have been a one off, like E.T. or Close Encounter of the Third Kind. Same with Jaws, come to think of it.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,108
    Ludovico wrote: »
    I wish Jurassic Park never became a film franchise. The original is outstanding. Every single one after that gradually diminishes in quality (I haven't even seen Fallen Kingdom. I remember seeing the first trailer and saying, nope. Shut up and DON'T take my money)
    I remember really liking The Lost World way back when I saw it in theaters, but not as much anymore, though I suppose there are a few (very few) things here and there I kinda still like. III was awful and World was...ehh.
    I think each successive entry has only diluted the greatness of the original, and it's like, how many times must people be thought the same lesson about these things? Ugh. I always thought the concept of 'head canon' as childish, but for one time only I might make an exception for Jurassic Park sequels. [-(
    I agree, Jurassic Park should have been a one off, like E.T. or Close Encounter of the Third Kind. Same with Jaws, come to think of it.

    I was just about to mention Jaws as well.
  • Posts: 15,103
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    I wish Jurassic Park never became a film franchise. The original is outstanding. Every single one after that gradually diminishes in quality (I haven't even seen Fallen Kingdom. I remember seeing the first trailer and saying, nope. Shut up and DON'T take my money)
    I remember really liking The Lost World way back when I saw it in theaters, but not as much anymore, though I suppose there are a few (very few) things here and there I kinda still like. III was awful and World was...ehh.
    I think each successive entry has only diluted the greatness of the original, and it's like, how many times must people be thought the same lesson about these things? Ugh. I always thought the concept of 'head canon' as childish, but for one time only I might make an exception for Jurassic Park sequels. [-(
    I agree, Jurassic Park should have been a one off, like E.T. or Close Encounter of the Third Kind. Same with Jaws, come to think of it.

    I was just about to mention Jaws as well.

    Except with Jaws it's hardly controversial.
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