What movies have you seen qualify as "jury is still out?"
 

Everyone has them-- the movies with which you can't quite seem to get a critical grip. You liked it one moment, and thought it dull the next. Or disliked it at first, then thought perhaps you sold it short.

A movie you think about after you've finished watching it, yet your thoughts do not lead to a general appreciation of the film.

One movie I have seen recently that falls into this category is Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise. The movie has occasionally popped up in my thoughts; nothing intense or certain, but vague and sparse just like the film. It is an interesting film, but only in its totality. No one scene is actually memorable.

I'd have to say Bruce Almighty. Maybe it's the high expectations I have for a Jim Carrey movie, but it just didn't seem funny enough to me. It was ok, but far from a comeback for Jim.

lots of movies do this to me, but one that comes up a lot is american beauty - hippie wank-fest? or thoughtful portait of midlife crisis in suburban family? cant really seem to decide. on the one hand i totally hated the ending and most of the characters, other aspects of it were somewhat more engaging and believable. sigh, i suppose one day i'll have to sit all the way through it in one sitting, not really looking forward to it though, so it'll probably taint my opinion of it if i ever do.

another big one that does it is apocalypse now, and i'm not really sure why. every time i watch it i just feel like it's not going anywhere and start to doze off, then i wake up somewhere around the middle when robert duval and his surfer buddies come in, then i fall asleep again until it's over. each time i come away with the impression that martin sheen's voyage didnt really go anywhere at all, he starts off in a miserable nihilistic haze of liquor and somehow i find it difficult to really imagine him coming away sober after meeting kurtz. if only i could stay awake through the whole movie maybe i'd get more out of it [heh].
my reaction to conrad's heart of darkness was basically the same, to boot.

Iris (2001)
I can't say I liked or disliked it. Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent and Kate Winslet were all really good in their roles. But, I don't know...something was missing for me. There were parts of the story that were interesting and parts I wish they had explored more....like Iris' Alzheimer's disease and the effect it had on the people that cared about her. They did a little...but my family is going through that with my mother in-law now and I felt the movie didn't delve as deeply as they could have into the subject...they skimmed the surface.

By the end I didn't have that..."gawd that was good" feeling...and I wasn't overly dissapointed either.

well lots but one that sticks out is House of a 1000 Corpses. I really liked it at first but soon I rewatched and disliked most of the movie. then the other day I watched it again and it was good again...I liked it more then, than I did the first time. I'm scared to watch it agian...I just want to like it darn it! I waited sooo very long....please let me just like it...

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

It had some really wonderful moments, but I need to see it again [and to buy the DVD] before I can grade it or anything.

It still sits a little oddly with me, that one...

Clerks. Loved it, hated it, thought it was ok, thought it was nothing special. I will probably never love it again though.

Matrix Reloaded stands out for me. It was either "well that wasn't bad for an action film" or " OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THE MATRIX!?!?!?"

the biggest for me was The Hulk I couldn not tell whether I hated it or loved it. I hated it b/c it the false advertisement drew in the entirely wrong crowd and made the experience of seeing it awful (little kids EVERYWHERE!!), but from what I did see it was awesome.

Good responses.

Just bumping this up for some of the newbies.

O.K. Aniko

I going to go all the way back to the beginning.

D.W. Griffith's The Birth Of A Nation (1915).

One of the most important films in history.

I was repulsed by the theme of the movie.

The film depicts the KKK as a bunch of swell guys that do nothing but good.

I found this to be sad and laughable.

For me, I have the most difficulty deciding my opinion on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I go at these movies from two points of view:

1) Comparing them to the books. Under this point of view I find myself suppressing urges to find Peter Jackson and rip his lungs out for ruinging one of the greatest stories of all time. The books are so much better than the movies that it isn't funny!

2) Pretending the books don't exist. If I look at them like this I can enjoy the movies and say, "They're okay!"

I try as hard as I can to look at them under the light of number 2, but when the Two Towers concluded in theatres, I turned to my parents and said, "I don't know what that piece of crap was, but it wasn't the Lord of the Rings!" because I had just reread the book the week before I saw the movie. It was a biased vote since movies can never really be as good as the books which inspire them, but I fight this one often!

Matrix Revolutions for me at the moment...i'm just going to let all the hype and fuss die down and when it comes out on DVD watch it by myself without anyone whinging in my ear...i didn't like Reloaded until i saw it a second time (and totally loved it 10 sittings later), so, the jury is definitely still out on Revolutions

yea 'Lord of the Rings'

I went to the cinema to see it and I actually really wanted to leave because i hated the mocvie so much. I then watched it again on DVD and thought that it was one of the greatest movies of all time...

The Underworld (2003) was an awsome movie but... The ending was just simple filmed stupidity!

Bumping this up again. Btw...thanks Loner for your response earlier. :)

Sideways
There were things about this movie I really liked and there are parts of the story I really hated. I liked the acting, but I think they (writer/director or whomever is responsible) missed the boat on a few things that could have made the story deeper and the characters richer. I also heard it was suppose to be funny...I didn't laugh once. I did roll my eyes a few times though. On the other hand, there were a few touching moments that I loved and wished there were more scenes like that.

All in all...ehh...I wouldn't recommend it to my best friend, but I wouldn't turn her away from it either.

Omg yes! I fell asleep both times i wached it. from what i saw of it the first time i figure it would be a buddy road movie were they go get plastered and hit on women. The sencond time i woke up to full on male nuddity:eek:. There could be a good movie in there but i already fell asleep twice and i'm uncomfortable seeing any penis but my own.

Thanks Aniko.

You didn't laugh when he went to retrieve the wallet?


http://jacketmagazine.com/05/px/merlot.jpg

You're welcome.

No. That was an 'oh geez..what now' type of moment...and dragged Miles down further into being pathetic.

For me, it would have been nice to see Miles grow a backbone at that point (of the trip and their friendship) and make Jack get his own wallet. And, it might have been funnier for me to see Jack try to clean up his own mess.

Nice pic. I did love the part when Miles was explaining why he liked the Pinot grape so much. And, I loved Virginia Madsen as Maya.



:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I needed that this morning.