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Lawrence of Arabia
Ben Hur
Gone with the Wind
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Max Max series
Lethal Weapon series
Commando
Predator series
Conan the Barbarian series
Con Air
True Lies
Chinatown
Shining
French Connection
Network
Bullitt
Ronin
For a Few Dollars More
One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest
Back to the Future trilogy
Stand by Me
Where Eagles Dare
pre-2009 Star Trek films
Clockwork Orange
Full Metal Jacket
* The Godfather (1, 2 & 3)
* The 5th Element (My girlfriend would kill me if she knew)
-Dr. Zhivago
-Gone with the Wind
-Casablanca
-Star Trek movies #4 onwards (I have them all on Blu but have not got round to watching them)
They would say :"What, you haven't seen this or that...?" in utter amazement.
So, I've made an effort to see some of those such as:
Star Trek: The motion Picture
Casablanca
The good, the bad and the ugly
Casino
All of the Godfather's
The Passion of the Christ
One of the Star Wars, don't remember which one it was sssooooo boring
etc etc etc...
I found NONE of them to be to my liking, they were all a waste of my time.
I always feel in my gut, before I see a movie, if I'll like it or not. I was wrong as I remember only 2 times. I tought I would hate "The Lord of the Rings" before I went with my wife and some friends on release night. I LOVED IT. I encouraged, and convinced with hard work, my wife to come with me see the last version of Godzilla. 45 minutes into the movie you would not believe how ashamed I was.
Bottom line, I as a rule will never spend a dime for a movie in which I don't feel beforehand that I will like. I'll give you an example. I had a hard time to convince my wife to see Cowboys and Aliens. Don't know why, maybe because Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford were in it, I just knew I would love it, and I did. My wife still hate it.
But I *DID* see Touch Of Evil (studio cut only I'm afraid), and thought it was great.
I need to get the re-assembled version!
:))
Some classics I haven't seen: Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove.
:-O
BATMAN RETURNS is better than any of Nolan's efforts. Also watch CHINATOWN asap. One of the best films ever made. Probably the best screeplay of all time.
Me neither.
Why watch something just because it seems everyone else does? Why watch something just because it's deemed "a classic"? Why watch something because it won awards? I understand people watching movies because they're interested in seeing them - because of genre, story, director, writer, actors, or something is of special interest to them. Or if someone who they've realized often likes similar stuff recommends it to them. But not because it made a hell of a lot of money, or won "best picture", or is on some list of "movies everyone should see". Then again, maybe somebody specifically wants to watch movies that have won awards, or are big at the box office, and that's fine, if that's what they're interested in. But I still don't see any reason to be embarrassed about not seeing some film.
If one really feels they need to see something, then go bloody see it (theatre, tv, dvd, whatever), much better surely than being embarrassed about not having seen it...
And if it's something you can't manage to see despite efforts to do so (something rare that you can't find anywhere, for instance) then I understand frustration, but not embarrassment.
And if you're not actually interested in seeing it, then there's no reason to be embarrassed, is there?
This was really interesting. Different points of views are fascinating.
For me your list has some fantastic movies, one I have seen but don't remember, one I didn't much care for either, and a couple I haven't seen and have no interest in seeing.
Personally I very rarely feel a movie to be a waste of my time even if I don't like it. If I'm watching at home I can always stop watching if it feels like waste of my time.
I also sometimes watch movies because I want to see them for some other reason than necessarily liking them. In the last couple of months, I have watched at least 3 movies I was certain I would hate before watching them (two I had seen before, long ago, didn't remember them, but remembered I had hated them then, and one that... well, I just knew...), and at least one where I didn't know beforehand, but it became clear very quickly that it was bad, and in "normal" circumstances I wouldn't have finished it, but... This is explainable by the fact that there are actors, directors, etc. that whatever they've done, I'm interested in seeing anyway, and therefore it's not waste of time for me even when I don't enjoy the experience.
The same with "classics" - I'm often curious about them so I make an effort, and more often than not I like them, sometimes I really don't. Gone With The Wind is an example of a hugely popular film and a classic, which... Well, the first time I tried to watch it I gave up after an hour or so. Years later I made another effort, and just decided I would watch it all the way through this time, and I did. Didn't like it at all, and was totally puzzled why it was so popular, but got my curiosity about the movie satisfied. There's plenty of others I don't even have that curiosity about.
It's the same really when I go to the movies. If I'm interested in seeing something, then I won't usually feel it was waste of time even if I didn't like it in the end. If I hadn't seen it, I'd still feel I should see it.
Sometimes I'm pretty sure in advance I will enjoy a movie - but never know how much. I also like taking risks with what I watch, and generally I like not knowing much (or not at all, but that's rarely even possible) what the movie is about.
I used to pay far more attention to what critics say, or what people I know say, or whatever. So went to see some movies where I should have trusted my own instincts and not bothered (Men In Black comes to mind), or didn't go see something, and then later, watching on tv, regretted not having seen them on big screen (The Fight Club, sigh...) Nowadays I still notice what is said, but never let it stop me from watching something. So-called "mixed reviews" sounds very promising to me - so everyone didn't love it, that's cool. Something may get high praise from critics or regular moviegoers, or awards galore - or all three... and I may still dislike it if I decide to be interested in seeing it. People respond so differently to movies anyway. And even the same person may respond differently to the same movie at different times. So...
But I still love hearing and reading and discussing different opinions. :) It would be boring as hell if we all just agreed about everything, right?
Oh my... Speaking of movies... Just got a couple of Amazon parcels delivered... I'm off to open them and drool...
I myself, am willing to see almost anything. Love going to the cinema and have on occasion gone to see films that I thought my then partner would like, but I wasn't sure of. Two that spring to mind are Man of Steel and The Time Traveler's Wife, she liked them, I hated them, but at least I saw them and have my own opinion of each film.
Plus - even if you dont like a movie, learning about how it influenced other movies , to me, is great fun. Last year , I went to a presentation by Joel Schumacker. He talked about the opening sequence of "Falling Down" (a classic IMHO) as a tribute to a sequence in a Fellini movie. I had no idea and it made me want to explore Fellini's work.
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/explore-filmmaking/
I am in week four of this course which I hope will make me appreciate movies all the more.
A year ago I went to see a movie directed by a guy I had never heard of, starring a guy I wasn't convinced was all that good (not that I had seen much of his work, but nothing I had really liked, and I just had a negative impression, you know...) and another guy I wasn't sure I knew at all though the name was vaguely familiar, and the story sounded like something I normally wouldn't go watch at the movies and might find depressing and whatnot. But I went to see it, and it was so not what I thought it would be, at all, and the direct and indirect consequences were incredible. (I could write tons about that, but I wouldn't believe it myself.)
Taking a risk of maybe not liking something, but trying... can lead to amazing discoveries that lead to further discoveries. I seem to find, all the time, more and more actors, directors, singers, musicians, composers, writers, etc. whose other work I want to explore. Somebody said that the more you love music, the more music you love. That applies to movies and other arts as well. The more movies I watch, the more I find there is I need to watch. You watch a movie, and maybe you like it... oh that actor, what else has he done, what else has the director done, what's this music I want it, the story is based on this, I want to find out more about it... It's fun, but also kinda hopeless... :P
I try to watch a lot of different kinds of movies, read different kinds of books, and listen to different kinds of music, and find all that very rewarding and fascinating.
However, I don't feel I should watch a movie I have no interest in. Or read books I don't want to. Etc. The amount of time one has is limited, and there are endless amounts of movies, music, books etc. to explore. Yes, I also know what Mona Lisa looks like, but wouldn't bother try and see the actual original painting. I made the effort to watch Gone With The Wind, because I was curious to see it, even though it wasn't to my taste (I knew that from my first attempt) - but I wasn't embarrassed about not having seen it before I had watched it, and I see no reason why I should have been.
I'm endlessly curious about what's out there, and indeed "what other people like" - or don't. Or why they do or don't. But being embarrassed about not having time or interest for everything... just no, that's not me.
Voluntary exploration and happy accidents are likely to lead to enjoyable and even surprising discoveries. The feeling one should watch something, should appreciate something, because... well, because one just should... doesn't sound so much fun, or particularly promising anymore - it becomes a chore, a checklist to go through by obligation, and the chances of genuinely loving something you come by that way are less. That's how I feel about it, anyway.
Citizen Kane
Gone with the Wind
Schindler's List
Titanic
On the Waterfront
all Lord of the Rings films
all Harry Potter films
all Pirates of the Caribbean films
all Star Trek films
I wouldn't be embarrassed about this kind of thing around casual filmgoers, as they aren't the obsessive types, but when you hang around with a friend or two that loves movies just as much as you do, having never seen certain films legendary and critical to the innovation or propagation of films in a landmark way can be embarrassing.
I'm with you on that. The big, epic movies in the vein of Ben-Hur or Gone with the Wind are very intimidating watches because they require so much of your time, and need your full attention.
The only reason I even watched Hur was because I was studying it for a music in film class. Otherwise, I probably never would've seen it. The next time I watch Hur, or any epic-length film for that matter, I will split it into two days of viewing, with a distinct stopping point for part 1 and part 2. That takes a lot of that stress of, and you let the narrative breathe instead of trying to shove it into one sitting, which takes all the fun out of the experience. I know Hur has an actual intermission planted directly into the film, but I don't think Gone with the Wind has anything like that; nor do I feel the desire to find out.
Raging Bull
The Shawshank Redemption
Bridge on the River Kwai
The Dark Knight
The Apartment
Then there's some Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini films I've been dying to see for ages. Also a few classic film noirs.
Those of you admitting you haven't seen Hitchcock's Rope or The Man Who Knew Too Much; don't be ashamed. If you want to get into Hitchcock then those two should be on the bottom of the list. Well, in my opinion at least. (:
...Now, go ahead, make my day. :))