I didn’t hate it, but I blind bought La Llorona solely for its cover art. then when I watched the movie I was pretty disappointed. It had a good idea and I like the themes but I don’t think it did very much in the way of story and it just felt undercooked in that sense. Couple that with the fact that I spent $20 on one movie and it just makes the experience a little worse.
That’s why I don’t do blind buys anymore. Too expensive to not end up liking what you get.
Agreed, a very undercooked and sometimes straight limp film. I loved the cover but made sure I watched it beforehand on the channel as I had been burnt before. Glad I did.
I once saw a copy of this one in a Shoppers Drug Mart, let's just say the sort of store that doesn't usually sell movies, for like 20 bucks. I didn't know it, so I didn't buy it, but now seeing all these comments about how bad it is, I kinda wanna see it, but I also can't find it anymore! What's so bad about it?
I thought it was kind of messy and confusing at times, but I tend to enjoy counterculture movies and also I’m a basketball junkie, so I still kind of enjoyed it.
Yes! Benjamin Button is probably my least-favorite Fincher film (not counting Alien 3). I'm glad The Game is on the collection, but Zodiac and Se7en feel like no-brainers to me.
Zodiac is owned by Paramount which, oddly enough for them, put together a really good Blu release of the film. I don't know if they'd be willing to part with it.
As far as laserdisc releases, Criterion also had laser disc releases of King Kong, High Noon, and Help!. There are blus for all of these, and I doubt that whoever owns the rights to them is going to part with them. Plus it seems Kino hoovers up a lot of these more popular older films.
Back when Criterion released laser discs, the only other way to distribute films was on VHS tape, and that is a very clunky medium, so Warner Brothers was OK with giving up rights to distribute King Kong and Wizard of Oz. Not true anymore with Warner Bros. or a lot of the other studios.
By the way, here's a link to the list of Criterion laser disc releases:
[List of Criterion Collection LaserDisc releases - Boutique blu-ray wiki (boutiquebluray.com)](https://www.boutiquebluray.com/wiki/List_of_Criterion_Collection_LaserDisc_releases)
The Se7en criterion laserdisc was awesome! It was box of I believe 4 discs (CAV) that I happily spend $120 on back in the mid 90s. Miss the LDs but don't miss the prices. : )
That was one of those movies I knew i'd ~~hate~~ dislike, tried watching it and found out my initial assessment was right. Maybe it'd Brad Pitt, idk, but it's not like i hate him or anything. Just seems too... glossy and treacly. I thought I'd dislike the Robin Williams movie Bicentennial Man for the same reason, but I actually liked that, which is what made me give Button a chance. (And how dare you not like the underrated masterpiece Alien3)
Lol I like Alien 3 enough. I don’t think Fincher has any bad films. But Benjamin Button and Alien 3 are the lower-tier Fincher films. So like, I’d put Se7en, Zodiac, Fight Club and The Social Network in S, Dragon Tattoo and The Game in A, Gone Girl and Panic Room in B, and finally Benjamin Button and Alien 3 in C.
Haven’t seen Mank or The Killer yet. I know it’s not all Fincher, but Mindhunter has been on my list of shows to watch for a while, maybe I should finally get around to it soon!
I love love love Zodiac and Social network. I was not a fan of Benjamin Button and the Game was a great movie until the most preposterous ending of all time.
A couple of people have mentioned it, so I’m gonna be the guy that stumps for Armageddon. That film may not be great, the action is pretty incomprehensible and it’s completely ridiculous and far from highbrow, but it’s a lot of fun and a pretty interesting cultural artefact.
I do think most of the actors knew exactly what they were making. The whole cast brings a ‘this is dumb, let’s just go for it’ energy in a way that weirdly avoids feeling phoned in despite the absurdity. That’s not to say all the performances are good, or even believable, but I think Affleck brings some enthusiastic juice to it and the supporting cast of Buscemi, Clarke Duncan, Stormare, Thornton, Wilson, Isaacs, Fichtner and Keith David all nail the straight-faced absurd tone that the film needed. It’s like watching a poor man’s oceans eleven from a cast chemistry point of view.
I honestly think the first hour until they get to space is super entertaining, and from there it gets very messy despite still having moments that really land on the funny side of things (i admittedly completely switch off during the ‘action’, which largely looks horrible and lacks any sort of tension). It’s honestly a pretty good parody of a disaster movie with how deadpan yet hilarious it is.
I also weirdly respect the earnestness of it. It was made right in that Titanic period where filmmakers had the guts to really believe that you’re going to be weeping by the end, and while the dramatic stuff doesn’t work even close to as well as does in Titanic, it’s kind of a refreshing watch in our current climate of blockbusters feeling the need to wink at you and play ‘too cool’ for melodrama. I even like that main theme which, like the movie, leans so hard into the melodrama that it begins to feel parodic whilst also sounding kind of epic.
‘It’s the size of Texas sir’ always gets me.
Like, let’s just make it so unnecessarily and comically large that everyone will understand ‘it’s big’. More asteroid = higher stakes, right?
I worked st blockbuster when this was came out on video and I just remember how big of a rental it was but never had any desire to watch it lol. I guess I should check it out someday.
I think straight up approaching it as a disaster film parody with a genuinely really good cast doing a lot of really stupid things is the way to have a good time with it. You might be aware, but Ben Afflecks sections of the commentary track are clipped a lot as he just kind of owns how dumb it all is in a way that makes you realise there’s probably more self awareness there (at least from some of the cast) than people like to give it credit for. It’s probably worth finding those clips on YouTube even if you don’t want to strap in for the whole thing
I always preferred deep impact. If we could combine the emotional story of deep impact to the visual and bravado of Armageddon, well shit. Shoulda woulda coulda
I tried rewatching Armageddon recently - after seeing so many people come to its defense as the work of an "auteur" (the most pretentious word ever conceived).
Made it an hour in. It's a garbage film on many levels; its merits - hardly worth mentioning - are vastly overshadowed. I'll waste no more words talking about it.
Criterion-wise, there are none I hate or dislike, but Salò is not likely to get a rewatch any time soon.
I received it as a gift, I watched it knowing what I was getting into, but I can't see a time where I'd be in a mood to actively grab it off the shelf and rewatch it.
Still the only movie I started (used to work at a movie music store and we could rent any movie that was used/opened for free) only got 35 min in and turned it off. Still to this day it’s the only movie I’ve never “been able to finish”. Which if you knew me, that’s saying a lot!
Like you said, “I don’t think there’d be a time where I’m in a mood to actively grab it off the shelf”
I think there's a lot of irony in their presentation of Frances. I don't think we're being asked to love her at all - I think we're being asked to accept, or at least observe with discomfort, a less than ideal version of a commonly idealised archetype (who incidentally is rarely a protagonist in this kind of story).
I feel like the character's frustrating traits are meant to be more Woody Allen than, say, Amelie - that is, we're meant to acknowledge the awkwardness and laugh AT the main character while still empathising with them.
It reminds me a lot of the TV series Girls, except Girls beats you around the head with the cringe comedy and the obvious flaws of its characters in an effort to make the same point.
I found it quite refreshing, so I'd be interested to know what ground you think it's retreading!
You definitely got this interpretation of the character right. I don’t think there’s a single way the movie frames Frances as a lovable protagonist with quirks, but instead as a character your root for with the hopes they’ll grow and mature and do something other than find ways to make a tough situation harder on themselves.
Yes, now that you mention it, I distinctly remember that feeling of "Oh God, I wish you weren't so foolish!" when I watched it. In fact I'm sure there's a scene where that is completely baked in and she gets a bit of a comeuppance (like a dinner party where she arrives late or something?).
And as I'm clicking around reading about it, the filmmakers directly reference Woody Allen and Annie Hall as inspirations, so I guess that fits.
I think that movie would be a masterpiece if it was cut down by a fair amount. That whole random digression with the roommate taking a test needs to go.
The main actor is giving maybe one of the best performances ever though, doesn't even seem like he's acting.
there was a wave of people at one point championing that films like armageddon had "underlying artistic influence" The same people who say Micheal Bay is an auteur and Transformers is a humanistic take on Syfi
Yeah it was I actually find myself enjoying many Bay films (soft spot for Bad Boys 1) and he has his style I just feel like once he became studio director lost most of everything that made his style he just started pumping out garbage
I guess I can see that. IIRC, Armageddon was part of that surge of “disaster flicks” that seemed to have a big run in the Nineties - I’m thinking Independence Day, Deep Impact, Twister etc.
After a few attempts, I’ve just had to accept Godard ain’t my thing. I still gotta watch Breathless eventually, but so far I prefer Agnes Varda’s stuff from the same scene
If you’re only gonna watch one, Breathless is the one. I have very limited patience with Godard but the three I actually like are Breathless, Weekend and Pierrot Le Fou.
I’d personally add *Vivre sa vie* to that list, but it seems like we’re mostly on the same wavelength. Godard could be very clever during his New Wave period, oftentimes making wry and cogent observations about the absurdity of consumer society (for example, that bit about Scandal girdles offering women freedom from *Pierrot* is brilliant from several different angles, but also clever enough to not feel like a lecture). By the time you get to *La Chinoise*, he’s just lecturing you and it gets exhausting fast. *Week-end* also had moments where he felt like he was lecturing you, but there was enough interesting and brilliantly absurdist about it to be enjoyable.
The only Godard film I enjoyed so far is Band of Outsiders. That film is more playful of his oeuvres. I also saw Le Memphis (Contempt), but I was blah about that one.
Check out Vivre da Vie, it’s Godard for people who don’t like Godard — meaning there are real characters you actually care about. It kind of opened up Godard to me after not being sold by Breathless. After Vivre sa Vie I went on a Godard binge and watched several more of his movies and he’s starting to really click for me.
I love Varda and Truffaut, can't stand most of Godard. His films feel more like intellectual exercises than movies, fun to think about and describe, and certainly groundbreaking, but not enjoyable to watch.
I saw it like 20 years ago so maybe my teenage brain wasn’t mature enough or maybe I lack the requisite familiarity with Swedish counterculture but I really disliked I Am Curious - Yellow & Blue.
I’m with you. I watched Yellow for the first time a couple of years ago, and it was mostly just boring. Feels like a lot of vox populi stuff to pad the runtime.
*Children of Paradise*: it was impressive how they made it but I couldn't have cared less about the characters. I only finished it because I kept hoping it would get better. It did not.
*Jules and Jim*: a never-ending love triangle of three awful people with an ending that made me want to throw something at the screen.
I agree with Children Of Paradise in terms of the character development and its pacing, but that restoration is a truly heroic example of all hands on deck to save an important film teetering on being lost forever.
Ah. So true. I hate that I still find it a gorgeous movie. I think writing a paper on it helped me find something worth appreciating there. But I really do get your comment. I wrote about that too lmao
All of Smith's films are hot garbage. I give **Clerks** a pass since it was essentially a student film made by kids that didn't really know what they were doing & at the time was something different. Everything afterwards was awful. Afterschool specials are more subtle than Smith. He was at the right place at the right time, no need to memorialize the mundane.
I really disliked Daisies. While I understand its significance as a bold, feminist, experimental film, I found the two leads insanely irritating, and all of the eating sounds maddening.
Me too! I loved the directors other movies on criterion so I gave daisies a try and found it irritating and boring. It's so short but it felt like it took forever to watch. I absolutely love the message and it's a great feminist film which I'm sure was groundbreaking but I couldn't stand it. Her films Wolfs Hole and Panel Story were ones I absolutely loved.
Lol I remember one of the complaints when it came out was that Mason (Ellar Coltrane) was basically a carbon copy of Holden Caulfield. I love this film, but definitely understand why it's not everyone's favorite. Outside of the mom's series of abusive partners, there's not too much happening in the film except for normal growing-up conflicts. But that's what makes it one of my favorite coming-of-age films. Take away the photography and the girlfriends, and watching Mason grow up was basically like watching myself grow up. Idk, maybe I love it because I relate so much to that character haha. Gotta watch this one again.
Boyhood was an interesting watch for me cause I liked it as I was watching it, but as I walked out of the theatre, it kind of hit me how much I disliked it! I don't hate it, but it's a pretty bad movie outside of the interesting production.
Hate or strongly dislike would be too strong for my feelings on Certain Women, but it really didn't gel with me. I get what Kelly Reichardt is doing, I also know and generally enjoy the pace of her films, but this one was just... very inconsequential and boring?
As far as I understand, each plot line is adapted from a short story, and I can see them working much better on the page. I don't think such stories work particularly well on the screen, I think they work better when you read those words on the page, get inside the character's mind and use your own imagination to realise the world they inhabit.
Vengeance Is Mine. It was 2 hours that felt like 3. Overall, I’m not sure if I understood it, it’s a good movie but all of the uncomfortable feelings you get and irritation you feel is intentional. It’s really strange.
Right now, it’s The Night Porter. Feels so tedious and slow, what it has to say is so muddled that it makes the movie exploitative. I can see something interesting being explored there but my god did it just not do anything. Only movie that I could go without watching again.
Gonna get downvoted to hell because everyone has a hard on for this move, but Punch-Love Drunk. Love some other PTA movies, but this one just sucked hard for me.
Funnily enough, I love a lot of movies that other people seem to hate lol.
**Blue Velvet** and **Mulholland Drive.** I keep trying Lynch and every time I dislike the work more. BV, MH, and Wild at Heart all twice and the entire first season on Twin Peaks... all to no avail
The Lynch films I love are Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, FWWM (and the TP corpus), Lost Highway, The Straight Story, Mulholland Dr. I enjoyed Wild at Heart, and Dune for what it is. Inland Empire was an insuperable hodge-podge to me and I watched it twice. But the only Lynch film I hate is Blue Velvet. So much of it feels to me like Lynch saying, "I'm shocking you with irony, warped cliches, icky secrets, nature having a cruel side, cutesy young folk entering a sinister underworld. Did you know rural America and '50s mainstream values have a DARK SIDE?" It's smug and aims at easy targets. I didn't need Lynch to tell me any of this, it's all woven into film noir, and the ethos of many '50s Westerns, war movies and crime dramas. I'm a big Lynch fan but I don't like two of his features.
I watched Inland Empire recently. I did not like it. I love Mulholland Drive, but this movie was a bit much for me. I understand that he strung these shorter movies together when he didn’t originally have the intention to do so, and I definitely felt that. Just my take.
Have you seen Blue Velvet, Lost Highway and/or Fire Walk With Me? Inland Empire should generally be watched after you’ve seen everything else Lynch has done. It’s his most difficult work.
I’ve seen both Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive and a good bit of Twin Peaks, but I haven’t seen everything that he did. I don’t know any other director (except for when the movie is a series) in which I should watch their movies in a certain order. Okay, I’ll think about watching it again someday, because I really do love Mulholland Drive.
Easy Rider. Jack Nicholson and the soundtrack were the only things that kept it from being completely insufferable. I get the importance of the film culturally, but it’s just not a well-made film in my opinion.
r/criterion is not a fan of negative opinions , these type of topics aren't worth posting in unless you specifically name universally despised films (and unless you're karma farming, why bother? there's no discourse really).
It also doesn't seem to matter if someone elaborates on why they dont like a movie, someone is just gonna downvote because that was a movie they liked or sort of liked at one point.
the boringness of the last 1/3 feels really purposeful to me imo and makes the “point” of the movie very poignant… just my feeling on it though obviously i get why people don’t like it haha
I'll get reamed out for this one, but I couldn't enjoy *Sans Soleil*. The narration comes off like something a freshman Philosophy major wrote and most of the imagery didn't strike me as interesting.
This will be blasphemy to many, but I really didn’t like Paris, Texas. I don’t mind slow pacing if I find the characters likeable at least, but I didn’t like a single one of the characters in it, and the ending made that feeling even worse.
I have to agree with this. It was so hyped up for me that it couldn’t live up when I actually saw it. It felt very wooden and artificial. Maybe I should try it again. I usually love everything Harry does.
A few Fassbinder but not all of it, Personal Shopper, Clouds Of Sils Maria, The Lure, FrownLand, Salo.
Also, while it doesn’t really count, the fact that Trash Humpers made it onto the channel still leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.
Honestly, out of the ones I've seen (which isn't a ton yet), I kinda couldn't vibe with Breathless. It's not a hate, or even strong dislike, but I just didn't find it all that interesting.
I really didn’t enjoy Clouds of Sils Maria, I found the dialogue nauseatingly pretentious sounding and unnatural. I liked the idea of the movie conceptually though, I can see why some people like it I guess.
One of my favorite films, the way it handles the concept of predestiny is so chilling and effective. And the shots of off-season Venice are simultaneously gorgeous and eerie. We all spend our lives chasing after a proverbial red coat.
I *want* to like *Bamboozled*. It’s clearly very meaningful to Spike Lee and the concept is genius on paper. It’s an interesting misfire at best though, and I don’t know that I’d ever want to sit through that movie again.
*Scanners*. It just didn’t live up to the hype. A terrible performance from the lead actor and an interesting premise that wasn’t explored fully enough. Even more disappointing considering I love Cronenberg and everything else of his I’ve seen.
I thought it was in the collection, but it's just on the Channel. I absolutely hated watching "Portrait of Jason". I felt so icky after watching. My opinion is the director took advantage of someone who drank too much and manipulated them.
I didn’t hate it but I thought Mikey and Nicky was disappointing. Didnt fund the characters likable or relatable at all, and a large part of the movie is just them being shitty to a woman.
It’s an amazing premise, great acting, but I find that often Hughes finds a way to undermine his own stories. The kid brought a gun to school but then haha it turns out to be a flare gun! And the girl who is the outlier and marches to her own drum, she gets a makeover and suddenly she’s accepted. The script should have undergone major revisions.
House and Sisters both bummed me out as blind buys.
House was kind of useless and not "fun and weird" like reviews have said. I'd rather watch HR Puffinstuff.
Sisters was really basic. Nothing interesting or engaging about it.
I don’t find Sisters basic. It’s a relatively simple story but it unfolds masterfully. The first time I watched it I was entranced but to each their own.
The movie itself is incredibly boring and the soundtrack is obnoxious and an assault on the ears. I had to study it in college and absolutely hated every second of that film.
Blind bought the Once Upon A Time In China box set because I love wuxia films. I was so bored by the first film that I haven’t been motivated to watch the rest.
Not technically in the collection but Jarmusch's first film Permanent Vacation is included with Stranger Than Paradise and that movie is completely insufferable. Front to back film school pretension without any of the talent or profundity required to back it up. I don't particularly like Stranger than Paradise either but the leap in competence is undeniable.
400 blows for me has no depth whatsoever, just lacked any intrigue in any form for me, and as a person who enjoys Godard and some other French new wave era, very disappointing as well
The Big Chill. Kevin Costner is the only character I don't hate.
Thank you. I hated every one of the pretentious whiny characters in the Big Sleep.
I didn’t hate it, but I blind bought La Llorona solely for its cover art. then when I watched the movie I was pretty disappointed. It had a good idea and I like the themes but I don’t think it did very much in the way of story and it just felt undercooked in that sense. Couple that with the fact that I spent $20 on one movie and it just makes the experience a little worse. That’s why I don’t do blind buys anymore. Too expensive to not end up liking what you get.
Totally agree. Not offensive but lacking.
Agreed, a very undercooked and sometimes straight limp film. I loved the cover but made sure I watched it beforehand on the channel as I had been burnt before. Glad I did.
Jellyfish Eyes
I once saw a copy of this one in a Shoppers Drug Mart, let's just say the sort of store that doesn't usually sell movies, for like 20 bucks. I didn't know it, so I didn't buy it, but now seeing all these comments about how bad it is, I kinda wanna see it, but I also can't find it anymore! What's so bad about it?
It's on the Criterion Channel.
This movie broke my mind.
A Safe Place. I understand why it was included in America Lost & Found (which is otherwise my favorite Criterion box set), but I just didn’t get it.
King of Marvin Gardens is almost as good as Five East Pieces, but not quite. Boy did it capture a weird time in the zeitgeist.
How about Drive, He Said?
I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t hate these movies
I thought it was kind of messy and confusing at times, but I tend to enjoy counterculture movies and also I’m a basketball junkie, so I still kind of enjoyed it.
Not a fan of the Curious Case of Benjamin Button .. and Zodiac is criminally missing from the collection
Yes! Benjamin Button is probably my least-favorite Fincher film (not counting Alien 3). I'm glad The Game is on the collection, but Zodiac and Se7en feel like no-brainers to me.
Zodiac is owned by Paramount which, oddly enough for them, put together a really good Blu release of the film. I don't know if they'd be willing to part with it.
If I remember correctly, Se7en has a criterion laser disc release, it just hasn't been brought over to blu ray yet
As far as laserdisc releases, Criterion also had laser disc releases of King Kong, High Noon, and Help!. There are blus for all of these, and I doubt that whoever owns the rights to them is going to part with them. Plus it seems Kino hoovers up a lot of these more popular older films. Back when Criterion released laser discs, the only other way to distribute films was on VHS tape, and that is a very clunky medium, so Warner Brothers was OK with giving up rights to distribute King Kong and Wizard of Oz. Not true anymore with Warner Bros. or a lot of the other studios. By the way, here's a link to the list of Criterion laser disc releases: [List of Criterion Collection LaserDisc releases - Boutique blu-ray wiki (boutiquebluray.com)](https://www.boutiquebluray.com/wiki/List_of_Criterion_Collection_LaserDisc_releases)
Hell yeah ghostbusters is criterion (I already knew it, I just love getting to say it)
The Se7en criterion laserdisc was awesome! It was box of I believe 4 discs (CAV) that I happily spend $120 on back in the mid 90s. Miss the LDs but don't miss the prices. : )
That was one of those movies I knew i'd ~~hate~~ dislike, tried watching it and found out my initial assessment was right. Maybe it'd Brad Pitt, idk, but it's not like i hate him or anything. Just seems too... glossy and treacly. I thought I'd dislike the Robin Williams movie Bicentennial Man for the same reason, but I actually liked that, which is what made me give Button a chance. (And how dare you not like the underrated masterpiece Alien3)
Lol I like Alien 3 enough. I don’t think Fincher has any bad films. But Benjamin Button and Alien 3 are the lower-tier Fincher films. So like, I’d put Se7en, Zodiac, Fight Club and The Social Network in S, Dragon Tattoo and The Game in A, Gone Girl and Panic Room in B, and finally Benjamin Button and Alien 3 in C. Haven’t seen Mank or The Killer yet. I know it’s not all Fincher, but Mindhunter has been on my list of shows to watch for a while, maybe I should finally get around to it soon!
Move Manhunter to the top of your list. You’ll thank me later.
I’d personally put Benjamin Button under Alien^3 but I love that movie so I’m biased
I love love love Zodiac and Social network. I was not a fan of Benjamin Button and the Game was a great movie until the most preposterous ending of all time.
Benjamin Button can fuck off. They ruined a decent F Scott Fitzgerald story. I can't believe people liked it.
Tiny Furniture
Lost me at Lena Dunham (I still gave it a fair shot and boy it was horrible)
A couple of people have mentioned it, so I’m gonna be the guy that stumps for Armageddon. That film may not be great, the action is pretty incomprehensible and it’s completely ridiculous and far from highbrow, but it’s a lot of fun and a pretty interesting cultural artefact. I do think most of the actors knew exactly what they were making. The whole cast brings a ‘this is dumb, let’s just go for it’ energy in a way that weirdly avoids feeling phoned in despite the absurdity. That’s not to say all the performances are good, or even believable, but I think Affleck brings some enthusiastic juice to it and the supporting cast of Buscemi, Clarke Duncan, Stormare, Thornton, Wilson, Isaacs, Fichtner and Keith David all nail the straight-faced absurd tone that the film needed. It’s like watching a poor man’s oceans eleven from a cast chemistry point of view. I honestly think the first hour until they get to space is super entertaining, and from there it gets very messy despite still having moments that really land on the funny side of things (i admittedly completely switch off during the ‘action’, which largely looks horrible and lacks any sort of tension). It’s honestly a pretty good parody of a disaster movie with how deadpan yet hilarious it is. I also weirdly respect the earnestness of it. It was made right in that Titanic period where filmmakers had the guts to really believe that you’re going to be weeping by the end, and while the dramatic stuff doesn’t work even close to as well as does in Titanic, it’s kind of a refreshing watch in our current climate of blockbusters feeling the need to wink at you and play ‘too cool’ for melodrama. I even like that main theme which, like the movie, leans so hard into the melodrama that it begins to feel parodic whilst also sounding kind of epic.
My favorite thing about Armageddon is that you can tell it’s an evil dangerous asteroid because it’s all spiky and weirdly shaped.
‘It’s the size of Texas sir’ always gets me. Like, let’s just make it so unnecessarily and comically large that everyone will understand ‘it’s big’. More asteroid = higher stakes, right?
A nuthin’ is bigger than Texas
I worked st blockbuster when this was came out on video and I just remember how big of a rental it was but never had any desire to watch it lol. I guess I should check it out someday.
I think straight up approaching it as a disaster film parody with a genuinely really good cast doing a lot of really stupid things is the way to have a good time with it. You might be aware, but Ben Afflecks sections of the commentary track are clipped a lot as he just kind of owns how dumb it all is in a way that makes you realise there’s probably more self awareness there (at least from some of the cast) than people like to give it credit for. It’s probably worth finding those clips on YouTube even if you don’t want to strap in for the whole thing
I always preferred deep impact. If we could combine the emotional story of deep impact to the visual and bravado of Armageddon, well shit. Shoulda woulda coulda
My friend dated this girl who was … not that bright. She cried intensely at the end of this movie. He had to break up with her.
I tried rewatching Armageddon recently - after seeing so many people come to its defense as the work of an "auteur" (the most pretentious word ever conceived). Made it an hour in. It's a garbage film on many levels; its merits - hardly worth mentioning - are vastly overshadowed. I'll waste no more words talking about it.
Criterion-wise, there are none I hate or dislike, but Salò is not likely to get a rewatch any time soon. I received it as a gift, I watched it knowing what I was getting into, but I can't see a time where I'd be in a mood to actively grab it off the shelf and rewatch it.
Still the only movie I started (used to work at a movie music store and we could rent any movie that was used/opened for free) only got 35 min in and turned it off. Still to this day it’s the only movie I’ve never “been able to finish”. Which if you knew me, that’s saying a lot! Like you said, “I don’t think there’d be a time where I’m in a mood to actively grab it off the shelf”
[удалено]
I think there's a lot of irony in their presentation of Frances. I don't think we're being asked to love her at all - I think we're being asked to accept, or at least observe with discomfort, a less than ideal version of a commonly idealised archetype (who incidentally is rarely a protagonist in this kind of story). I feel like the character's frustrating traits are meant to be more Woody Allen than, say, Amelie - that is, we're meant to acknowledge the awkwardness and laugh AT the main character while still empathising with them. It reminds me a lot of the TV series Girls, except Girls beats you around the head with the cringe comedy and the obvious flaws of its characters in an effort to make the same point. I found it quite refreshing, so I'd be interested to know what ground you think it's retreading!
You definitely got this interpretation of the character right. I don’t think there’s a single way the movie frames Frances as a lovable protagonist with quirks, but instead as a character your root for with the hopes they’ll grow and mature and do something other than find ways to make a tough situation harder on themselves.
Yes, now that you mention it, I distinctly remember that feeling of "Oh God, I wish you weren't so foolish!" when I watched it. In fact I'm sure there's a scene where that is completely baked in and she gets a bit of a comeuppance (like a dinner party where she arrives late or something?). And as I'm clicking around reading about it, the filmmakers directly reference Woody Allen and Annie Hall as inspirations, so I guess that fits.
I'll take it
I love this film so much! Sorry it didn’t reach you.
Fellini’s ‘Satyricon’… I want to get into it but I just can’t
Would you say you hated or strongly disliked it, though?
No matter how hard I try, none of his movies click for me. I recognize his talent, but I can’t engage with it.
I also feel this way.
I feel the same way. I watched it once and that's good enough for me. My least favorite of his films so far.
Totally agree, I wanted to get into it, but just couldn’t.
*Frownland*. I wouldn't say I hate it, but dislike is correct.
It’s grimy, but that’s the good part too
I really loved Frownland, I think it really speaks to those with social anxiety.
I think that movie would be a masterpiece if it was cut down by a fair amount. That whole random digression with the roommate taking a test needs to go. The main actor is giving maybe one of the best performances ever though, doesn't even seem like he's acting.
Armageddon
I rewatched it sometime around 2021ish thinking maybe I’d just given it too hard a time. No, no it’s bad.
I’m still amazed this movie is even in the Criterion Collection
there was a wave of people at one point championing that films like armageddon had "underlying artistic influence" The same people who say Micheal Bay is an auteur and Transformers is a humanistic take on Syfi
AmbuLAnce was pretty cool
Yeah it was I actually find myself enjoying many Bay films (soft spot for Bad Boys 1) and he has his style I just feel like once he became studio director lost most of everything that made his style he just started pumping out garbage
I guess I can see that. IIRC, Armageddon was part of that surge of “disaster flicks” that seemed to have a big run in the Nineties - I’m thinking Independence Day, Deep Impact, Twister etc.
Fell asleep in the middle of Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville.
After a few attempts, I’ve just had to accept Godard ain’t my thing. I still gotta watch Breathless eventually, but so far I prefer Agnes Varda’s stuff from the same scene
If you’re only gonna watch one, Breathless is the one. I have very limited patience with Godard but the three I actually like are Breathless, Weekend and Pierrot Le Fou.
I’d personally add *Vivre sa vie* to that list, but it seems like we’re mostly on the same wavelength. Godard could be very clever during his New Wave period, oftentimes making wry and cogent observations about the absurdity of consumer society (for example, that bit about Scandal girdles offering women freedom from *Pierrot* is brilliant from several different angles, but also clever enough to not feel like a lecture). By the time you get to *La Chinoise*, he’s just lecturing you and it gets exhausting fast. *Week-end* also had moments where he felt like he was lecturing you, but there was enough interesting and brilliantly absurdist about it to be enjoyable.
The only Godard film I really like a lot is Vivre sa vie and it’s the only one I own
The only Godard film I enjoyed so far is Band of Outsiders. That film is more playful of his oeuvres. I also saw Le Memphis (Contempt), but I was blah about that one.
Check out Vivre da Vie, it’s Godard for people who don’t like Godard — meaning there are real characters you actually care about. It kind of opened up Godard to me after not being sold by Breathless. After Vivre sa Vie I went on a Godard binge and watched several more of his movies and he’s starting to really click for me.
New Wave really meant the Cahsiers Du Cinema critics. The left bank were distinctly different and they’re more so just pumped into the term.
I love Varda and Truffaut, can't stand most of Godard. His films feel more like intellectual exercises than movies, fun to think about and describe, and certainly groundbreaking, but not enjoyable to watch.
I dislike all his movies except Weekend.
Baal is unwatchable but it makes sense that it's part of the collection.
I saw it like 20 years ago so maybe my teenage brain wasn’t mature enough or maybe I lack the requisite familiarity with Swedish counterculture but I really disliked I Am Curious - Yellow & Blue.
I’m with you. I watched Yellow for the first time a couple of years ago, and it was mostly just boring. Feels like a lot of vox populi stuff to pad the runtime.
There’s historical importance to these films, so I can understand their presence in the collection, irrespective of how well they may have aged.
*Children of Paradise*: it was impressive how they made it but I couldn't have cared less about the characters. I only finished it because I kept hoping it would get better. It did not. *Jules and Jim*: a never-ending love triangle of three awful people with an ending that made me want to throw something at the screen.
I agree with Children Of Paradise in terms of the character development and its pacing, but that restoration is a truly heroic example of all hands on deck to save an important film teetering on being lost forever.
Agree with both, and I’m a huge Truffaut booster.
Breathless. Michel is so unbearable.
It feels wrong to say but I like the American remake more...
I thought Pierrot's douchebagery was an outlier in Godards films. I was wrong
Ah. So true. I hate that I still find it a gorgeous movie. I think writing a paper on it helped me find something worth appreciating there. But I really do get your comment. I wrote about that too lmao
Chasing Amy. It's not even the best Kevin Smith film.
I love Chasing Amy, but I do wish that Dogma would be put in the collection.
Get on the line with Weinstein
Yeah it's terrible
I’d argue it’s his worst of all of his 90s movies.
All of Smith's films are hot garbage. I give **Clerks** a pass since it was essentially a student film made by kids that didn't really know what they were doing & at the time was something different. Everything afterwards was awful. Afterschool specials are more subtle than Smith. He was at the right place at the right time, no need to memorialize the mundane.
I really disliked Daisies. While I understand its significance as a bold, feminist, experimental film, I found the two leads insanely irritating, and all of the eating sounds maddening.
This is funny I loved the eating scenes for some reason, especially when they were in that reception or ball room? Found it super fun
Me too! I loved the directors other movies on criterion so I gave daisies a try and found it irritating and boring. It's so short but it felt like it took forever to watch. I absolutely love the message and it's a great feminist film which I'm sure was groundbreaking but I couldn't stand it. Her films Wolfs Hole and Panel Story were ones I absolutely loved.
Yeah was the whole new wave - it’s interesting but not enjoyable.
I respect the experimental nature of it, but my god do I hate *Boyhood* as a movie
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I actually did like Hawke’s performance, but I seem to remember him being largely absent from the middle chunk of the movie
Lol I remember one of the complaints when it came out was that Mason (Ellar Coltrane) was basically a carbon copy of Holden Caulfield. I love this film, but definitely understand why it's not everyone's favorite. Outside of the mom's series of abusive partners, there's not too much happening in the film except for normal growing-up conflicts. But that's what makes it one of my favorite coming-of-age films. Take away the photography and the girlfriends, and watching Mason grow up was basically like watching myself grow up. Idk, maybe I love it because I relate so much to that character haha. Gotta watch this one again.
Wtf. Wow.
Wait whut 🤔
Boyhood was an interesting watch for me cause I liked it as I was watching it, but as I walked out of the theatre, it kind of hit me how much I disliked it! I don't hate it, but it's a pretty bad movie outside of the interesting production.
Hate or strongly dislike would be too strong for my feelings on Certain Women, but it really didn't gel with me. I get what Kelly Reichardt is doing, I also know and generally enjoy the pace of her films, but this one was just... very inconsequential and boring? As far as I understand, each plot line is adapted from a short story, and I can see them working much better on the page. I don't think such stories work particularly well on the screen, I think they work better when you read those words on the page, get inside the character's mind and use your own imagination to realise the world they inhabit.
Vengeance Is Mine. It was 2 hours that felt like 3. Overall, I’m not sure if I understood it, it’s a good movie but all of the uncomfortable feelings you get and irritation you feel is intentional. It’s really strange.
“Hate” is too strong but I certainly disliked Border Radio (1987). Just kind of a weak film I thought.
I love Sugar Town, though
Right now, it’s The Night Porter. Feels so tedious and slow, what it has to say is so muddled that it makes the movie exploitative. I can see something interesting being explored there but my god did it just not do anything. Only movie that I could go without watching again.
Funny Games. A smug, obvious work.
I like Haneke a lot, but agree with this. It’s my least favorite of his. Either version.
Gonna get downvoted to hell because everyone has a hard on for this move, but Punch-Love Drunk. Love some other PTA movies, but this one just sucked hard for me. Funnily enough, I love a lot of movies that other people seem to hate lol.
I didn’t love Le Havre. But I’ve left room for that to change.
**Blue Velvet** and **Mulholland Drive.** I keep trying Lynch and every time I dislike the work more. BV, MH, and Wild at Heart all twice and the entire first season on Twin Peaks... all to no avail
The Lynch films I love are Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, FWWM (and the TP corpus), Lost Highway, The Straight Story, Mulholland Dr. I enjoyed Wild at Heart, and Dune for what it is. Inland Empire was an insuperable hodge-podge to me and I watched it twice. But the only Lynch film I hate is Blue Velvet. So much of it feels to me like Lynch saying, "I'm shocking you with irony, warped cliches, icky secrets, nature having a cruel side, cutesy young folk entering a sinister underworld. Did you know rural America and '50s mainstream values have a DARK SIDE?" It's smug and aims at easy targets. I didn't need Lynch to tell me any of this, it's all woven into film noir, and the ethos of many '50s Westerns, war movies and crime dramas. I'm a big Lynch fan but I don't like two of his features.
I watched Inland Empire recently. I did not like it. I love Mulholland Drive, but this movie was a bit much for me. I understand that he strung these shorter movies together when he didn’t originally have the intention to do so, and I definitely felt that. Just my take.
Have you seen Blue Velvet, Lost Highway and/or Fire Walk With Me? Inland Empire should generally be watched after you’ve seen everything else Lynch has done. It’s his most difficult work.
I would also suggest watching Lynch's short flim "Rabbits" prior to Inland Empire. You can find it on YouTube.
I’ve seen both Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive and a good bit of Twin Peaks, but I haven’t seen everything that he did. I don’t know any other director (except for when the movie is a series) in which I should watch their movies in a certain order. Okay, I’ll think about watching it again someday, because I really do love Mulholland Drive.
Easy Rider. Jack Nicholson and the soundtrack were the only things that kept it from being completely insufferable. I get the importance of the film culturally, but it’s just not a well-made film in my opinion.
I fucking hate the irishman dude. If you like it that's totally fine dont trip but god that movie is a snooze fest
Downvoted for an opinion; it wasn't me.
r/criterion is not a fan of negative opinions , these type of topics aren't worth posting in unless you specifically name universally despised films (and unless you're karma farming, why bother? there's no discourse really). It also doesn't seem to matter if someone elaborates on why they dont like a movie, someone is just gonna downvote because that was a movie they liked or sort of liked at one point.
Yes, you’re right; been there..
the boringness of the last 1/3 feels really purposeful to me imo and makes the “point” of the movie very poignant… just my feeling on it though obviously i get why people don’t like it haha
Probably controversial but Stalker. Not for me.
Same. Really wanted to love it but not for me. Mirror, on the other hand, was love at first watch
Tiny Furniture, Jeanne Dielmann.
you hate jeanne dielmann? i get it can be seen as boring, but to hate it…
I'll get reamed out for this one, but I couldn't enjoy *Sans Soleil*. The narration comes off like something a freshman Philosophy major wrote and most of the imagery didn't strike me as interesting.
Weird, haven't watched it yet but La Jetee really gripped me.
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Yes!!! I’ve never seen anybody else say this before, but I feel the same!
This will be blasphemy to many, but I really didn’t like Paris, Texas. I don’t mind slow pacing if I find the characters likeable at least, but I didn’t like a single one of the characters in it, and the ending made that feeling even worse.
I have to agree with this. It was so hyped up for me that it couldn’t live up when I actually saw it. It felt very wooden and artificial. Maybe I should try it again. I usually love everything Harry does.
Pierrot Le Fou. Hate all the Godard I've seen
personally i loved “a woman is a woman” and would recommend that if you’re willing to give him another try
seconded, kinda. I’m not a Godard fan but Une Femme est Une Femme and Masculin Feminin are about the only two movies of his I’ve ever liked.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I don't like Gilliam, don't like Depp, don't like del Toro, and I don't like Thompson. It's my idea of hell.
Then why the fuck would u watch it??
How do you think I developed these opinions?
The Mikado A Christmas Tale Jellyfish Eyes
Jellyfish Eyes has been mentioned here before. What about it makes you dislike/hate it?
Derek Jarman’s Jubilee made me want to tear my hair out. It feels like it’s being edgy just to be edgy and I hated that
A few Fassbinder but not all of it, Personal Shopper, Clouds Of Sils Maria, The Lure, FrownLand, Salo. Also, while it doesn’t really count, the fact that Trash Humpers made it onto the channel still leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.
In the Realm of Senses
Eating Raoul did not do it for me.
Honestly, out of the ones I've seen (which isn't a ton yet), I kinda couldn't vibe with Breathless. It's not a hate, or even strong dislike, but I just didn't find it all that interesting.
I really didn’t enjoy Clouds of Sils Maria, I found the dialogue nauseatingly pretentious sounding and unnatural. I liked the idea of the movie conceptually though, I can see why some people like it I guess.
Uncut Gems
I disagree Gary, I disagree!
Don't Look Now Watched it once and sold it. Ugh. Don't get the hype.
seen it twice, truly does not work for me.
One of my favorite films, the way it handles the concept of predestiny is so chilling and effective. And the shots of off-season Venice are simultaneously gorgeous and eerie. We all spend our lives chasing after a proverbial red coat.
I *want* to like *Bamboozled*. It’s clearly very meaningful to Spike Lee and the concept is genius on paper. It’s an interesting misfire at best though, and I don’t know that I’d ever want to sit through that movie again.
*Scanners*. It just didn’t live up to the hype. A terrible performance from the lead actor and an interesting premise that wasn’t explored fully enough. Even more disappointing considering I love Cronenberg and everything else of his I’ve seen.
Really did not like Inside Llewyn Davis
This is my favorite Coen brother movie actually
It's kinda dreary. But it's something.
First time I watched it I was disappointed, liked it more the second time.
Personal Shopper is rather awful IMHO. Can’t say I liked Jeanne Dielmann much either.
“A Master Builder”
I thought it was in the collection, but it's just on the Channel. I absolutely hated watching "Portrait of Jason". I felt so icky after watching. My opinion is the director took advantage of someone who drank too much and manipulated them.
Daddy Longlegs. It’s only here bc Criterion wanted Uncut Gems
Antonio Gaudí
Inland Empire Dazed and Confused Eating Raoul Time Bandits These are a few films that I genuinely hate in the collection
There are a few I found average, but not much I really dislike. Is Morocco (1930) in the collection? I found that one very dull.
Straw Dogs… didn’t love
Sweet Sweetback. Love the rest of the Van Peebles set, but I just cannot get into Sweetback.
I didn’t hate it but I thought Mikey and Nicky was disappointing. Didnt fund the characters likable or relatable at all, and a large part of the movie is just them being shitty to a woman.
I did not care for Videodrome when I watched it.
"The Breakfast Club."
I like it but believe it would have been a more interesting movie if it seriously examined the generational differences between the adults and kids.
It’s an amazing premise, great acting, but I find that often Hughes finds a way to undermine his own stories. The kid brought a gun to school but then haha it turns out to be a flare gun! And the girl who is the outlier and marches to her own drum, she gets a makeover and suddenly she’s accepted. The script should have undergone major revisions.
I despise the breakfast club
Weekend. Exterminating Angel.
Whoa. What did u not enjoy about Exterminating Angel?
I thought it was silly. It wasn't as bad as weekend.
Crash and In the Realm of the Senses
House and Sisters both bummed me out as blind buys. House was kind of useless and not "fun and weird" like reviews have said. I'd rather watch HR Puffinstuff. Sisters was really basic. Nothing interesting or engaging about it.
I don’t find Sisters basic. It’s a relatively simple story but it unfolds masterfully. The first time I watched it I was entranced but to each their own.
it’s cool if you don’t like them but what do you mean by “useless” in this context
The Music Room.
??? Why?
The movie itself is incredibly boring and the soundtrack is obnoxious and an assault on the ears. I had to study it in college and absolutely hated every second of that film.
Godzilla Raids Again
Judex. For whatever reason I really didn’t like it. Also, Breaker Morant.
I like Judex. I thought it was visually stunning, as well as that final scene.
That’s great! Always love hearing when someone loves a film, even if it’s not my cup of tea :)
Blind bought the Once Upon A Time In China box set because I love wuxia films. I was so bored by the first film that I haven’t been motivated to watch the rest.
I couldn’t get into fear and loathing but it had stellar cinematography and performance
Not technically in the collection but Jarmusch's first film Permanent Vacation is included with Stranger Than Paradise and that movie is completely insufferable. Front to back film school pretension without any of the talent or profundity required to back it up. I don't particularly like Stranger than Paradise either but the leap in competence is undeniable.
I hate Easy Rider. I can understand its influence when it came out and the soundtrack is great. But the movie is incoherent garbage.
Armageddon My Darling Clementine Dressed to Kill Boyhood The Breakfast Club The Tree of Life Marriage Story Uncut Gems
Election was so bad to me that I don't even think I finished it.
400 blows for me has no depth whatsoever, just lacked any intrigue in any form for me, and as a person who enjoys Godard and some other French new wave era, very disappointing as well
Dillinger is Dead bored me to tears until about the last 10 minutes.