Despised Films You're Happy To Defend

[Van Dammage]

Just like the songs thread, what hated films do you enjoy?
Oh and like the songs thread, try to pick films that are actually hated and not guilty pleasures.



I actually enjoyed this. Bits were shit but it was stylish and I enjoyed Stathams monologues. I thought the random animation part worked pretty well too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4vyuNY8v1c  Mark Strong being epic. Definitely the highlight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myTTvC1QgTo

[Puce Moment]

I think some of the visual elements and the devastating use of the failed Alien-Ripley's make this a very enjoyable edition to the franchise (as good as 3, not as good as 1 but shits all over 2):



For me, this is the best of the Hammer Dracula films, partly because it includes an amazing Van Helsing vs Dracula opening, and also because of how camp and silly it becomes, as well as the fact that I have a lot of nostalgic love for it:



I wouldn't say this was despised so much as disliked, particularly by some ardent fans of Fincher. I'm not a Fincher fan, in fact I think he's a hack, but I think this is (perhaps accidentally) a brilliantly obtuse and structurally mysterious chin scratcher:

[phantom_power]

 There are many accusations you could along at Fincher but hack isn't one of them. He is well known for his meticulousness and attention to detail

[Puce Moment]

So I hear.

[Danger Man]

Showgirls

Paul Verhoeven is always worth a watch.

Jaws: The Revenge

Sharks and Michael Caine. What's not to like?

Plan 9 from Outer Space (and any other Ed Wood movie)

Made with love, unlike most movies.

The Avengers

Never understood why this is disliked so much. It's ok, nothing more.

Heaven's Gate

This isn't disliked anymore, is it?

The Love Guru

Only joking, this is rank.

[Garam]

I don't have a clue if this film in particular is despised, but Don 't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood is a classic in my book, up there for laughs with any of the Monty Python films.

I like Lock Stock and Snatch even though i haven't seen either in a decade.

I think Todd Solondz' post-Happiness films, that i've seen, are on a par with his first...

uhhhh

i mean Alien Abduction: the McPherson Tape is a classic, right?

[newbridge]

I wouldn't say this was despised so much as disliked, particularly by some ardent fans of Fincher. I'm not a Fincher fan, in fact I think he's a hack, but I think this is (perhaps accidentally) a brilliantly obtuse and structurally mysterious chin scratcher:

Zodiac was widely critically acclaimed and only idiots would dislike it much like despise it, but I forgive your transgression because the original premises of this thread and the music thread are incoherent (there is no movie/song that is universally despised).

In terms of guilty pleasures, I think Rat Race (2001) is an amazing comedy and sorely underrated. After typing that, I now realized that my contribution to the music thread was Smash Mouth, and Smash Mouth appears at the end of this movie. I promise I'm not the goatee-guy from Smash Mouth.

[Bored of Canada]

I think Alien 3 is surprisingly great. The CGI is terrible and would have looked terrible back when it first came out.
I feel most people slated it as soon as it started because it just immediately

Spoiler alert

kills off Newt and the others

[close]

but I think that fits perfectly with the tone of Alien. One human's determination to not give up surviving in the face of unstoppable horror and death.

[clingfilm portent]

I think Alien 3, and its tone, is decent until

Spoiler alert

Charles Dance' character dies.

His and Ripley's relationship could have been intriguing, but he's literally the only new character worth caring about, and he's killed pointlessly after about 35 minutes. Its just a big corny mess after that, Newt or no.

[close]

Oops. Sorry Thomas!

[Thomas]

CHEERS for the massive SPACE SPOILER, clingfilm. I sort of hope an alien gets you.

[clingfilm portent]

My advice is to completely and utterly forget what I've said, take a year or 5, then revisit Alien 3.

And it will still be crap.

[Mr Banlon]

Freddy Got Fingered Fucking hilarious

[Bored of Canada]

Sinbad's Houseguest.
Lots of yuks.
I propose that it's chockablock fullayuks.

[Johnny Textface]

Freddy Got Fingered Fucking hilarious

This. Just for this.

Compared to Alien and Aliens, Alien 3 is a piece of shit.

I agree with the gaffer http://www.gadflyonline.com/home/index.php/david-finchers-career-long-response-to-alien-3/

[Pepotamo1985]

Specifically came in here to nominate Alien3. Maybe years of hearing how terrible it is discoloured my preconceptions, maybe seeing the superior Assembly Cut upped my perceptions, but it's really good. There are a ton of interesting themes in there, some great cinematography and some good performances. Obviously not a patch on Alien, but miles better than Alienz.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Velvet Goldmine is a hugely reviled film, and yet for me - its obvious flaws and all - it captures the wayward spirit of Glam Rock in an incredibly beautiful, sympathetic way.

It was released at the height of Britpop, so most of the reviews sneered at it for being camp, pretentious and silly. Which was, of course, the whole fucking point of it. It's not a perfect film by any means, but it's a sincere, if overreaching, work of art from someone who is clearly devoted to the milieu he's celebrating.

The last scene alone says more about pop's loss of bravery, magic and mystery than anything I've ever seen in cinema:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYiOCFr6ltI

In all its messy, heavy-handed glory, I love this film.

[Puce Moment]

I never knew that mildly criticising Fincher would provoke such ire! lolz

I agree that Alien3 is a really good film, but also concur with clingfilm that killing Dance's character is a problem in terms of plotting.

Aliens is boring, generic shit of the type that only James Cameron can seem to make. Sorry Cameron fans!

[Gulftastic]

Aliens is boring, generic shit of the type that only James Cameron can seem to make. Sorry Cameron fans!

True. And like another of Cameron's overblown flash-fests, Terminator 2, some idiots consider it superior to the first film.

[Pepotamo1985]

I actually enjoyed this. Bits were shit but it was stylish and I enjoyed Stathams monologues. I thought the random animation part worked pretty well too.
Mark Strong being epic. Definitely the highlight.

Yeah, always had a bit of a soft spot for Revolver.
Pseudo psychology as it is, I think a lot of the hatred stemmed from a pronounced desire for it to be a flop. His over saturation off the back of Lock Stock's ubiquity and Snatch's mega popularity had already made critics take a disliking to him, and  his subsequent celebrity and marriage to Madonna had people gunning for him. The dreadful Swept Away was a gift to said critics - a shit film universally regarded as awful, that allowed critics to say 'see what we've been saying all along?!'.

When Revolver came out, the stage was set for another panning. Ritchie did himself no favours by talking about how intelligent the film was, and how it was all about concepts and ideas, before its release. The critical vitriol was extremely sneering, and was largely centred on Ritchie being too thick to make a philosophical movie, Madge getting him into kabbalah (celebrity endorses stupid new age belief system - LOL!) and how he should stick to guns and geezer flicks because he can't do anything else. I suspect a lot of hate and derision is poured upon it by people who've never seen it.

[checkoutgirl]

I'm not a Fincher fan, in fact I think he's a hack

Madness.

[Custard]

I think Alien 3 is surprisingly great. The CGI is terrible and would have looked terrible back when it first came out.
I feel most people slated it as soon as it started because it just immediately

Spoiler alert

kills off Newt and the others

[close]

but I think that fits perfectly with the tone of Alien. One human's determination to not give up surviving in the face of unstoppable horror and death.

Agreed, though its all about the Assembly Cut. Makes for a far better film

I've got a lot of time for the first Resident Evil film, though a few fellow verbwhores do too, as we've discussed it before

I also genuinely find bits of Scary Movie 1 - 3 very funny, especially the disgusting dinner scene in 2, which has me cackling like a wrong un, every time. Anna Faris is really good in them, too

Not Another Teen Movie was recommended on here, and I loved it. Far superior to similar fare

[checkoutgirl]

Aliens is boring

Madness.

[Pepotamo1985]

True. And like another of Cameron's overblown flash-fests, Terminator 2, some idiots consider it superior to the first film.

Thing is, Terminator 2 actually works as a flash-fest. It's still massively overlong and riven with flaws, but it's action packed and manages to sustain attention for most of its duration. Aliens is just incredibly dull and moronic.

[checkoutgirl]

Aliens is just incredibly dull and moronic.

I'm not hearing this. I'm not hearing this.

[Puce Moment]

I think it's fair to say that marriage is out of the question checkoutgirl.

[checkoutgirl]

I think it's fair to say that marriage is out of the question checkoutgirl.

I don't know what you mean.

[Puce Moment]

Oh dear Lord Jesus, this ain't happening, man... This can't be happening, man! This isn't happening!

[Bored of Canada]

That Snuff Film my little brother discovered in the shed that tore apart my family.

It had really clever placement of the camera and I really felt the truth of the scenes.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Terminator II is a superior film overall to the original. It's an insane work of apocalyptic obliteration. The visuals and score are the most obviously impressive things but the tension level/threat level is masterfully worked to operatic levels of finesse. It reaches a level of timelessness and will cut through the ages.

When the film starts it immediately transports you into the world, something which the original for all it's lean mean linear qualities never quite manages.

[Pepotamo1985]

Terminator II is a superior film overall to the original. It's an insane work of apocalyptic obliteration. The visuals and score are the most obviously impressive things but the tension level/threat level is masterfully worked to operatic levels of finesse. It reaches a level of timelessness and will cut through the ages.

Excellent post, and completely correct. I also think, from a technical perspective, it's still very impressive - it's effects haven't dated at all and its aesthetics feel somehow organic even when they're graphic-heavy. This isn't something you can say about almost any film made in the past 20 years that is as or even less dependent on CGI.