HEATHER’S TOP TEN OVERRATED MOVIES

With this list I attempted to incorporate different kinds of films.  Movies acclaimed critically or by everyday people.  I wanted to include dramas, comedies, musicals, and box office action and Sci-Fi.  There may be some that I’ve missed, but I find this list to include a little of everything.  Here is the list.  Feel free to enjoy or bluster me or both!

10. Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain was not the movie I had expected.  From the previews I assumed it was a short summer’s love and then they meet a cross road- The End. I never realized how long the two men carried out their relationship and how they dealt with it and the secrecy of their orientation for the rest of their lives.  It was actually the deciding factor that seemed to make this film really worthwhile for watching.  I fear people will focus too much on the homosexual aspect of Heath Ledger and Jack Gyllenhaal rather than really thinking about the big picture.  Unfortunately, due to the first thirty minutes that’s fair because it was full of cliche and boring lovie moments.  The film itself was good but I think it was only acclaimed as it was because of the controversial subject matter.  It was a decent movie but nothing near Oscar caliber.  The film was essentially lonesome and depressing.  I enjoyed it but probably won’t revisit it again for a long time.

9. Chicago

No doubt this is a great movie.  In fact, I’m a proud owner of it.  I’ve watched it numerous times and am always entertained.  However, Best Picture?  Best movie of the year?  I just can’t agree with it.  There was so much talk about it upon it’s release that I was certain the greatest film of all time had been made.  It WAS the best musical I had seen in years, and an enjoyable film, but I don’t see where the particulars of it’s greatness come in.  It’s a solid movie with great music and decent performances that for me falls somewhere in the middle of good and great, but certainly nowhere near “The Best.”

8. Meet The Parents

This was a comedy embraced by both critics and movie goers alike.  I won’t debate the talented cast or crew, however, I never caught on to it’s humor.  Movies that deal with misunderstandings tend to make me uncomfortable, but here is an entire movie dedicated to mistaken situations, awkward slapstick comedy, and characters that weren’t necessarily likable.  I can’t say I outright hated it, but it certainly would never find itself on any of my well loved or liked lists.  I still am oblivious to what has attracted so many people to it over the years and what was so funny about it.  I just found it awkward.

7. Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge kind of suffered the same fate as Chicago for me, except I didn’t think it was as well rounded a film as Chicago.  While Chicago still managed to make this list for me, it was based on the principle of simply being too far overrated.  Moulin Rouge was a film that I found on it’s best day to be “OK” as the “phenomenon” of the year, and is also revered as one of the more brilliant movies of the decade.  For me it fit more in the category of one of the more interesting of the year, and forgettable over the decades.  If anything it had moments were it was simply boring.

6. Ed Wood

Speaking of boring…………As much as I love Tim Burton and most of what’s he’s achieved over the years, I simply can’t get behind the works of Ed Wood.  I wouldn’t go so far as to say it isn’t a good movie, but it seems most revered among Tim Burton films which I really disagree with.  Landau was flat in it, and while Depp was good as usual it wasn’t one of his most notable performances.  There wasn’t anything overly remarkable about this film yet it seems to be a darling of critics while also having a strong cult following.  A good movie, but in my thoughts not worthy of it’s potential.

5. Armageddon

Deep Impact came out the same year as Armageddon and I suffer the displeasure of having seen each atrocity in the theatre.  Disaster movies were very prevalent in the late nineties, and at this point as long as stuff blew up and lives were in peril a script seemed acceptable.  It also explains why Micheal Bay was chosen for this movie.  As a fan of his, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, he was just the wrong choice for this movie.  In fact, having a cast period was a bad choice for this movie.  The script should by all means still be sitting somewhere gathering dust.  Instead, we have a movie that spends nearly two and half hours stumbling through weak versions of Ren and Stimpy humor wondering if these oil drillers can achieve their goal more soundly than trained professional blower uppers.  They should have just skipped the semantics and sent Micheal Bay directly to the Asteroid.  It would have exploded and the movie would have been over in twenty minutes.  Twenty of course because Micheal Bay would make sure is was a super big and cool special effect! I absolutely detest this poor excuse for a film.  The only semi-remarkable part of it, was the comic relief of Steve Buscemi.  Next to the other living dead he was inter-connecting with he seemed to be the only one with flowing blood and the ability to think.  In fact, he even cracked the occasional funny joke.

No there isn’t.  As far as Hollywood comedies go this movie was wildly accolades by film critics and fans alike.  I stand here and disapprove.  Sure, it had it’s moments, and opened doors that had been closed for awhile in the raunchy comedy department, but for me it was a lot of shock comedy that hasn’t held up over the years.  I only laughed briefly upon it’s release and find it even less humorous now.  It’s not a bad movie, but it certainly didn’t hold up against similar comedies of it’s genre like KINGPIN which was a far superior film in every way.  Too much Ben Stiller, and far too annoying Cameron Diaz does not a good movie make.

3. Spiderman

I’m going to be hated, but I just can’t jump on the Spider-Man bandwagon. I’ve watched it three or four times now and still cannot like, let alone love, this movie. I like Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst. William Dafoe is a bad bad dude, and James Franco is a good actor as well as delicious. Stan Lee’s character Spider-Man is one of the best super hero’s the comic world has to offer, and yet this movie falls flat with me each time.  A love story that didn’t sell, a guy I didn’t buy as Spider-Man, mediocre CGI, and an overall feeling of disappointment made Spider-Man a very weak addition in the super hero genre of movies. I found the Fantastic Four to be a better put together movie than this, an overall more enjoyable and it was even a pretty awful film. There was an excitement and suspense that Spider-Man totally lacked. A lot of people called Spider-Man the best movie of the summer of 2002. I call it the biggest disappointment.

2. Erin Brockovich

Erin Brockovich is a very smart and impressive movie to watch, filled with engaging character’s and stellar acting, but eight years later I’m still dumb founded at the acclaim this film has received.  Julia Roberts performance specifically.  In a year full of profound film making with movies like Wonder Boys, Requiem For A Dream, Traffic, Quills, Gladiator, The Contender, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Chocolat, Billy Elliot, and Almost Famous what made Erin Brockovich so Oscar worthy?  Joan Allen and Ellen Burnstyn both turned out the best performances of their very excellent careers and Julia Roberts wins on basis of what?  Her boobs looked great?  Temporarily putting Julia and boob jokes aside, the only thing worthy of being nominated from Erin Brockovich in this year of brilliance was Albert Finney’s performance.

1. Shakespeare In Love

This film seemed wrong to me from the start, but eventually I had to see what all the fuss was about.  The Academy adored it along with men and women flocking to the theatres to see it or rent it when it came on VHS/DVD.  I broke down, sat, enjoyed, and thought, “This was it? This was what all the fuss was about?”  Even now I’m completely dumfounded by the accolades this film has received. It’s good.  It entertains, but at best it’s an okay movie that is utterly forgettable.  Even in it’s best state it’s scored it’s most opportunistic points by mere factor of using Shakespeare’s brilliance rather than it’s own originality.  I’ve never gotten it’s allure nor shall I ever, hence rocking out my number one spot here.