People have vastly differing views on films. Some would even call certain irreconcilable differences "deal-breakers" but this list of the 20 Most Over-rated Films strikes me as -- well, ludicrous. It evaluates films, many of them icons and Oscar magnets, by the subjectivity of today. Here's what Premiere Magazine considers to be the top over-rated films of all time.
(1) Gone With the Wind (1939)
(2) 2001, A Space Odyssey (1968)
(3) The Red Shoes (1948)
(4) Easy Rider (1969)
(5) An American in Paris (1951)
(6) The Wizard of Oz (1939)
(7) Nashville (1975)
(8) Mystic River (2003)
(9) Moonstruck (1987)
(10) Monster's Ball (2001)
(11) A Beautiful Mind (2001)
(12) Jules and Jim (1962)
(13) Forrest Gump (1994)
(14) Good Will Hunting (1997)
(15) Chariots of Fire (1981)
(16) Field of Dreams (1989)
(17) Fantasia (1940)
(18) Clerks (1994)
(19) Chicago (2002)
(20) American Beauty (1999)
Does anyone else find it bizarre to compare Fantasia to a modern day screensaver? To say Easy Rider didn't age well? Call the Wizard of Oz garish because of its candy coated art direction and insulin shock inducing Technicolor? Not that any of it isn't true but this list labels films over-rated based on the evolution of technology, culture, art, and even human priorities and values.
Now, I'm not willing to fall on my sword for these films. Certainly all films are sifted through the eyes of the viewer. But was Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night over-rated because it looks like a modern day screensaver? Was a typewriter over-rated because it didn't age well and was eventually displaced by higher technology? Is baroque palace architecture over-rated because it's garish?
Certainly, all films have flaws. But sometimes, I think film critics simply enjoy taking on an air of superiority and spreading their cinematic expertise like the tail feathers of a horny peacock. Other times, I think they're just stupid.
11 comments:
Over rated films? Is there space on your list for Pirates of the caribbean, my dear?
It's not MY list but if it was, no.
that should have said HIGHLY rated as far as I am concerned
I'd agree with them on American Beauty. And Moonstruck. (I haven't seen numbers 10, 11 and 19, so can't comment.)
But to call The Red Shoes and 2001: A Space Odyssey over rated is the opinion of an utter idjit!
Maybe because Powell & Pressburger and Stanley K have passed, there's no way Premiere can suck up to them.
Ya know, while spending Christmas with the Mystery Family, I actually agreed to watch Gone with the Wind for the first time from beginning to end with my parents.
I... actually enjoyed it quite a bit, melodrama and all.
And you want to talk about a character who ISN'T sympathetic nor empathetic and does NOT arc, let's talk about Scarlett O'Hara. Well, she did change in SOME respects, but let's face it, she was, at her core, SELFISH TO THE VERY END.
Overrated? Hell no. When it comes to critics and their stupid lists, frankly, I don't give a damn.
-MM
"The Pirates of the Caribean" overated?! Why that's sacrilidge
"the Colonal" -- don't you know whose blog spot you're visiting?
To me a lot of so-called "classics" are overrated. "It's a Wonderful Life" sucks! I mean it absolultely sucks. "Casablanca" sucks.
When watching so-called "classics" from the 40's to early 60's I find so much of the acting stilted; it's like they're reading off a page, not living in the momment.
- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA
Of course, you are right, MM, It ain't fittin'...it ain't fittin'. It jes' ain't fittin'.......It ain't fittin'.
E.C., you're a diamond, mate.
Good Dog, specifically it says that Red Shoes feels more monotonous than magical and whines about heavy handed direction and the "interminable dance sequence". Pfft.
Todd, kind of like dissing a Volkswagon Beetle for not performing like a new Shelby Mustang GT500. Puzzing, isn't it? Puzzling. Very puzzling.
Red Shoes feels more monotonous than magical and whines about heavy handed direction and the "interminable dance sequence".
Oh, good grief. I mean GOOD GRIEF!
Maryan, you're spot on with the "pfft"! Those are the words of a complete idjit.
Anyone who wants to see how magical cinema can be just needs to watch the films of Powell & Pressburger. A couple of hiccups toward the end of the partnership, but their run from 49th Parallel in 1941 through to Oh... Rosalinda! in 1955 is just inspired.
Anyway, while the writers of Premiere burn in hell, have a great New Year!
Late comment, but I agree with all of these EXCEPT Moonstruck. Sorry, but this movie is a close to perfect Rom-com.
It doesn't bother me so much that anyone thinks they're over-rated. What strikes me as stupid is that the "over-rated"-ness is based on today's standards.
i agree whit all expet 2001 a space odissey
Post a Comment