Happy!

As you might have guessed by the thread title, this is meant to go hand in hand with the Unhappy! thread.
What are some pleasant surprises you've had regarding movies? What exceeded your expectations, or what just knocked you out the first time you saw it?

(Mods: I checked with the search function and didn't find anything similar, but if I'm wrong, please close this thread and direct folks to the proper thread).


As a guy, it pains me to admit that some movies that exceeded my expectations fall into the category of "chick flicks." The most notable one of that genre was Fried Green Tomatoes. My wife at the time had rented it and more or less dragged me kicking and screaming in front of the TV to watch it. In the end I was forced to admit that it was a pretty darned good movie.

When my dad had me watch this one, I swore that I wouldn't like it:



Raiders of the Lost Ark
Would you have guessed?

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My God, CQ! How young/naive were you?


Not at all what I was expecting and I still haven't seen it again because it completely knocked me sideways.


The word of mouth on the festival circuit for this film was great and yet I still enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Truly one of my favourite films.


Managed to catch this when it was released on video and instantly wished I'd gone and seen it at the cinema. One of those films you make everyone you know watch.


Obviously I was going to love this, but as I'm a huge fan of the original series I had concerns. I needn't have as it's actually a really good popcorn film and not the mess the second one was.


One of the few times my sister chose a film that was actually really enjoyable and that I liked a lot more than the film I chose. In fact, I can't even remember what film I chose, but I still remember this.


If you don't like this film, I'm not sure I need to know you.


I avoided this for about 6 months, even though I like Verhoeven, just because I don't like sci-fi and I thought it looked ridiculous. Almost everyone was saying it was great, but then some real sci-fi nuts I know told me that it was dreadful and completely betrayed the book, blah, blah, blah. Suddenly, I was interested. If real sci-fi nerds didn't like it, maybe there was something to see. There was. It's great and I loved it from first to last. I've no idea how many times I've seen this film since.

I had a similar experience with this movie. My girlfriend had just dragged me to the first Superman movie which bored me simple. Then she begged me to go see the next show of Raiders which was playing at the same Duplex Cinema--this is when movie theaters had two screens max. I agreed to go if she would pay for my ticket. I thought I was guaranteed another dull two hours. Boy, was I wrong! It was the best money she ever spent.

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Louise Vale first woman to play Jane Eyre in the flickers.

Actually, not much younger than I am now. I'm 15 now and I was 13 when I watched it the first time. I didn't love it until the second time I watched it. That must have been about 30 viewings ago...

Anyway, I thought it definately fit this thread considering I watched it against my will and it is now my all-time favorite movie.


My little sister swore off watching any Indiana Jones movie again after Temple of Doom. It's her favorite now and she has a wall in her room covered with Indy pics.

The first one that popped into my mind was No Country for Old Men. I'd heard good things about it, but still tried to keep what I knew about the plot and whatnot to a minimum. So when I ended up going to see it in theatres, I was blown away by it. Subsequent viewings haven't really done it any favours, but damned if the first time wasn't amazing.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

My son and daughter had to practically force me to see Shrek. Even though I generally like animated films, I was absolutely positive I was going to hate it. I ended up watching it three more times over the next weekend, without them.


Nothing will make me avoid a movie more than a lot of hype, and The Incredibles had been hyped to the nth degree for over a year before its release. There was no way, I thought, that this could live up to all the hooplah surrounding it. Of course, I was wrong, and I kicked myself afterward. It still remains one of my favorite Pixar movies.