Name something that you believe ruins an otherwise decent film. Is there any one aspect of a certain film that annoys you so much that it almost spoils an otherwise decent movie?
Here are some examples, in my opinion:
-Ice skating scene in Peter Jacksons King Kong.
-Mutt's tarzan style vine swinging in KOTCS
-JarJar Binks in Phantom Menace.
-Everytime I watch a Marx Brothers or Abbott and Costello film there's always singing and unnecessary romance subplots and that annoys me tremendouslyIf I wanted to watch a romance/musical I go rent one but I don't want it interfering the classic comedic teams. There a few exceptions: Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, Who Done It? (1942)
-Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Elizabeth starts ranting at the three dueling pirates really irritated me because it felt unnatural and unfunny felt like it belonged to Ethel Merman in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Lack of exposition in the climax really took me out of the film and made it my least favorite film of the HP series.
-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Barty Crouch Jr's over the top performance as a secretive death eater was my only complaint of otherwise perfect HP film.
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail: I never like the ending.
-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: THEY SHOULD NOT SHOWN THE ALIEN NOR THE SPACESHIP, IT WAS JUST TOO OBVIOUS and it made the ending offbeat then it should be.
Last edited by jonesissparrow : 06-07-2008 at 05:28 PM.
I hated it when they actually showed the ghosts in The Sixth Sense. When the little girl does her little barf thing I thought it was absurd. When they start showing the ghosts (the kid that shot himself with his daddy's gun, and the people hanging from the gallows in the school) it completely broke the tension for me. The beginning is masterful, and of course the ending was masterful, but the ghosts just don't justify Haley Joel Osmet's fear. Mostly they're just laughable.
I hated it when they actually showed the ghosts in The Sixth Sense. When the little girl does her little barf thing I thought it was absurd. When they start showing the ghosts (the kid that shot himself with his daddy's gun, and the people hanging from the gallows in the school) it completely broke the tension for me. The beginning is masterful, and of course the ending was masterful, but the ghosts just don't justify Haley Joel Osmet's fear. Mostly they're just laughable.
I hated when they showed the aliens in Signs and War of the Worlds. Completely ruins the fear of the unknown. Ditto for KOTCS. If the crystal skeletons hadn't come to life (or merged into 1) they would have been more mysterious and creepy. It's the unseen presence that drives fear.
I hated when they showed the aliens in Signs and War of the Worlds. Completely ruins the fear of the unknown. Ditto for KOTCS. If the crystal skeletons hadn't come to life (or merged into 1) they would have been more mysterious and creepy. It's the unseen presence that drives fear.
Totally disagree. Just my opinion but I hate films thats all talk and you are just waiting for something to jump out or exciting to happen and nothing ever does. I much prefer to see the Aliens personally, although rarely is that done well. I quite liked signs though.
Totally disagree. Just my opinion but I hate films thats all talk and you are just waiting for something to jump out or exciting to happen and nothing ever does. I much prefer to see the Aliens personally, although rarely is that done well. I quite liked signs though.
I like it filmakers give their audience some credit and leave something to their imagination instead of giving them everything in-your-face.
^I actually agree with you. When you give the devil a face, it stops being scary. Freddy Kruger was scary as **** for the first hour and a half of Nightmare of Elm Street. Hell, they call him "Fred" in the movie, which is a much better moniker. It was at the end when he became just another Mike Myers-rip off. Running into doors, falling down stairs, getting beat by a little girl...it totally ruined one of the best horror icons first movie. Now Freddy is more of a joke than anything.
I hated when they showed the aliens in Signs and War of the Worlds. Completely ruins the fear of the unknown. Ditto for KOTCS. If the crystal skeletons hadn't come to life (or merged into 1) they would have been more mysterious and creepy. It's the unseen presence that drives fear.
Completely agree! I did love the video in Signs though where you just get a glimpse of the alien for that grainy split second. That gave me chills!
And the old War of the Worlds gave me NIGHTMARES when I was a kid because the scene in the farmhouse... you never really see the alien. I had quite the imagination and it scared the heck out of me! The same scene in the new one has none of that tension. Just not as good at all!
I really liked The Ninth Gate with Johnny Depp up until (literally) the last minute of the movie. Seriously, I was loving everything about that movie until it got down to the final 3-5 minutes of the film, then it all just went to Hell and the final moments left me sitting there going, "WTF? What the hell was that?" I had no idea what was going on just before the credits rolled, and it killed me because I loved the rest of the movie.
Otherwise, I'm typically not a fan of the "it was all a dream" twist ending. I think it's ruined every movie I've ever seen that used it.
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Originally Posted by The Whip
Completely agree! I did love the video in Signs though where you just get a glimpse of the alien for that grainy split second. That gave me chills!
I thought that was the best part of the movie. And I would have disliked it even more if, after all that build up, they hadn't shown the alien at the end.
I hated when they showed the aliens in Signs and War of the Worlds. Completely ruins the fear of the unknown. Ditto for KOTCS. If the crystal skeletons hadn't come to life (or merged into 1) they would have been more mysterious and creepy. It's the unseen presence that drives fear.
I have to say, its not them being shown in any of those films, but instead its their generic appearances, lack of it being something new and we haven't seen.
For example when we first see the alien in Alien, it far from ruins the suspence in the next scene w/ Dallas in the vents. Or when Ripley is alone with it.
I think the real problem is were spoiled by CGI so those once magical things, Aliens, monsters etc aren't the same anymore. The age of "wow how did they do that!?" is over. So now, instead, were left with one thing trying to over the top the other.
But Ridley's Alien works because we rarely get a good glimpse of it. It is mostly confined to darkness and it's light and shadow that obscures its form and quick cuts. It has an asymmetrical form to begin with that gives it a very "alien" appearance as well. It's definitely not a humanoid BIM (Bug Eyed Monster). Seems too many a filmaker has lost the art of light and shadow for dramatic effect. Now everything is shot rather harshly so you can see every detail to show off the design of the creature and it's really non-flattering. In fact, it's quite obscene.
Yea, I agree but I did basicaly say the CS alien was generic. I would have preferred no skeleton merging and just all the eyes lighting up or w/e they did. I did like it for half a second when at first the skeleton gets rdy to stand up, it tightened its grip. It was creepy, and then it started transforming and lost something.
I really liked The Ninth Gate with Johnny Depp up until (literally) the last minute of the movie. Seriously, I was loving everything about that movie until it got down to the final 3-5 minutes of the film, then it all just went to Hell and the final moments left me sitting there going, "WTF? What the hell was that?" I had no idea what was going on just before the credits rolled, and it killed me because I loved the rest of the movie.
Wow, how true.
The ice skating scene ruined King Kong for you al? Really? I thought that was one of the best parts. What killed the movie for me was the unnecessary 3 hour running time. And the Tarzan bit ruined the rest of KotCS for you? Just shut your eyes in the future. It doesn't last that long of a time
The casting of Keira Knightly in PotC almost did it for me. I hate that woman with a passion. And the "opening action sequence" in PotC 2 killed the movie for me, along with the rehashed jokes from the original. And don't get me started on the lame cliffhanger! I still haven't bothered with the third one.
The lack of an ending in The Golden Compass. I really liked it up until they removed the huge, turning point, surprise, cliffhanger ending. They showed clips from the ending in the trailers too.
The casting of Keira Knightly in PotC almost did it for me. I hate that woman with a passion. And the "opening action sequence" in PotC 2 killed the movie for me, along with the rehashed jokes from the original. And don't get me started on the lame cliffhanger! I still haven't bothered with the third one.
Don't bother with POTC3. I didn't think it was possible, but it was even worse than the second one. The whole time I was watching it, I just sort of sat there on the couch and I don't think I had one single emotional response to anything that was happening on screen. I loved the first Pirates, but the sequels were awful.
I also thought the "ice skating" scene in King Kong was stupid and time-wasting, but that was the least of that movie's problems.
When Regan is being hypnotised and questioned, Friedkin ruins the original scene by plastering a digital mask over her face just before she attacks the doctor.
Earlier in the same film, Chris returns home to find the lights failing in the house. When the kitchen goes dark, they insert little flashes of Pazuzu's face just over her shoulder. She walks upstairs to check on Regan and - damn it - they show brief images of the Iraq statue layered onto the shots of the windows and doors.
Leave that film alone, fellas!!! The power of Christ...(yeah, yeah).
But Ridley's Alien works because we rarely get a good glimpse of it. It is mostly confined to darkness and it's light and shadow that obscures its form and quick cuts. It has an asymmetrical form to begin with that gives it a very "alien" appearance as well. It's definitely not a humanoid BIM (Bug Eyed Monster). Seems too many a filmaker has lost the art of light and shadow for dramatic effect. Now everything is shot rather harshly so you can see every detail to show off the design of the creature and it's really non-flattering. In fact, it's quite obscene.
We are totally on the same wavelength here. Movies are too bright, too clear these days. Everything is perfectly lit, perfectly focused, and perfectly framed. Its boring.
Completely agree! I did love the video in Signs though where you just get a glimpse of the alien for that grainy split second. That gave me chills!
He uses the same effect in The Village where the 'monster' walks beneath the watch tower and you glimpse it for the first time. The other scene in Signs where you get a quick glmipse of it on top of the barn through the bedroom window. Great little touches for me that make these films creepy.
He uses the same effect in The Village where the 'monster' walks beneath the watch tower and you glimpse it for the first time. The other scene in Signs where you get a quick glmipse of it on top of the barn through the bedroom window. Great little touches for me that make these films creepy.
That sort of thing is good. Its not that I want to be spoon fed every detail but personally I like plenty of action in my films. If you don't get to see the alien/monster at all in a movie it often lacks in that department, films that are all talk usually bore me. (usually, not always)
Don't bother with POTC3. I didn't think it was possible, but it was even worse than the second one. The whole time I was watching it, I just sort of sat there on the couch and I don't think I had one single emotional response to anything that was happening on screen. I loved the first Pirates, but the sequels were awful.
Thanks for the advice. That franchise should have been an Indy-esque set of movies for the 21st century. The second and third films should have been able to stand on their own as ToD and LC do to RotLA. What a blown opportunity that was
Spider-Man was an obnoxiously overrated and camp filled abomination consisting of poorly acted pubescence’s battling it out with the Green Power Ranger (as played by a brilliant actor who’s facial features we’ll annoyingly cover up entirely to mask the fact that this film might actually have a gifted performance). All the while its written with the depth and psychology of a twelve year old wrestling fan that once briefly glanced over a Spider-Man comic in a grocery store. The only shred of dignity stepping from these "Dawson’s Creek meets radioactive superpowers" atrocities would be Doctor Octopus, only vaguely shrouded the abortions taking place during this trilogy. Raimi should be sacked from filmmaking and the Spider-Man franchise abandoned like an unplanned lovechild after the CGI suckfest that was Spider-Man 3.
During opening night of Spider-Man 3...I actually rather liked it. It wasn’t perfect but I was somehow surviving with a mild smile. Then suddenly Peter Parker was strutting around with Emo hair. What…the hell? No one saw that coming! Then Venom came to Sandman and asked for the most dreaded word in comic book film history: a villain team-up! I knew there was no saving the film from that point on.
Once they actually showed an alien in Spalko’s tent, Crystal Skull took a rollercoaster of a dive for me. Then I was (mis)treated to obnoxiously inappropriate scene after scene. Suddenly my eyes are shown things that never should have even been conceived of for an Indiana Jones film. When did I walk out of Indiana Jones and walk into an Ed Wood movie? Tarzan vine swinging with monkey horde, endless rivers of velociraptor-like ants, commie swatting rubber trees, magically living alien inside the ancient merry-go-round, and a huge flipping UFO up and out of the temple! This was Indiana Jones? Pssh! I wanted to vomit on George Lucas’s face. As a matter of fact, I still want to...
Just watching Hayden Christenson act with Natalie Portman made me want to gag. Calling that acting is already being too kind. But as if that wasn’t bad enough, watching Anakin Skywalkers pseudo-transformation from hero to villain play out in a matter of two minutes made me want to pop George Lucas’s fat frog neck. Way to make the greatest screen villain look like the stupidest tool in the galaxy! But we're supposed to sympathize, right? What better way to feel for someone...by making them kill children. I don’t know about you guys, but child murderers really do pull at my heartstrings. That's sarcasm for the few actually oblivious. I think George Lucas avoids depth like the plague. It's sad because it wasn't always so.
When I bought the ticket for Batman and Robin! What was I thinking?
Last edited by MaxPhactor23 : 06-09-2008 at 12:11 PM.
Don't bother with POTC3. I didn't think it was possible, but it was even worse than the second one. The whole time I was watching it, I just sort of sat there on the couch and I don't think I had one single emotional response to anything that was happening on screen. I loved the first Pirates, but the sequels were awful.
I felt the complete opposite when I watched POTC3 I blown away from the experience and I honestly thought it was better than the first two films. DMC was a bit indulgent but the last one I just had fun with it while others thought it was a major headache.
Katarn07 Quote:
"Thanks for the advice. That franchise should have been an Indy-esque set of movies for the 21st century. The second and third films should have been able to stand on their own as ToD and LC do to RotLA. What a blown opportunity that was."
Yeah it would've been something if they went with the Indy direction and made seperate adventures because both films have iconic heroes who go after mythical objects in the real machevillian world but I'm kinda glad the direction they took with the sequels
If I wanted to watch a romance/musical I go rent one but I don't want it interfering the classic comedic teams. There a few exceptions: Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, Who Done It? (1942)
