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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsEver watch a movie that was so bad you couldn't finish it?
Especially when said movie was supposed to be good?
Now I mostly despise big hollywood "blockbuster" type movies "everybody's talking about" and am mostly a fan of high quality "B" movies or idie stuff, but even then a lot of them kinda' sucked too.
Lots to list, and this does not include movies which I hate/hated but for some reason stuck through and saw the whole thing.
'Borat' -- I was deluged with people who told me I just HAD to see this because ( and I swear they ALL used these exact words ) was "just SO funny!". I thought maybe there was a metabolic imbalance that day depriving me of my normally fertile humor genes, but stupid, lame and tasteless doesn't even begin to describe it. If I could pile together all of whatever mirth that movie generated in the 1st hour I could stand it, it wouldn't have added up to a half-assed chuckle. Now I'm no prude. Another film that I really like that full of racy dialogue was the original 'Clerks'. Racy and even vulgar dialogue done witty.
'Once Upon a Time in America' -- After seeing and enjoying 'Goodfellas' and 'Casino' and the like, this one was recommended to me. I thought it incredibly cheesy and overwrought. Yeah, I'm supposed to appreciate it because it was made by supposed master Sergio Leone of spaghetti western fame. True to form this film had all his hallmarks: Cheesy dialogue, cloying and recurring corny-sounding musical scores, the liberal (over) use of annoying and distracting sound effects. Was a shame because there were a lot of good people in it's cast that could have made for a great film with better direction/production.
'The Valachi Papers' -- Maybe I was in a bad mood but I never seen such spectacularly sloppy attention to period correct details of the time of any movie I've ever seen...and it pissed me off. it seems a lot of movies from the early 70's had these faults, but none so brazenly insulting the audiences intelligence such as this.
'Malena' -- I felt I was supposed to really like this film, but it just didn't happen. Yeah she's voluptuous, and I did enjoy the vignettes of life in a Sicilian family, but the disjointed way it was made just annoyed me in a way I was surprised I couldn't tolerate.
'The Weight of Water' -- Was recommended to me by someone whose film tastes usually mirrored mine. So slow moving and ponderous that it holds the distinction of having the shortest run before I yanked the plug. I read reviews later and found I wasn't alone.
What are yours, if any? I hope I didn't offend anybody with my choices
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,674 posts)Stupid movie. Couldn't finish it.
Ishtar. It got horrible reviews but I thought it couldn't be all that bad. It was.
madinmaryland
(64,931 posts)frogmarch
(12,153 posts)any movies on TV Ive become bored or disgusted with and stopped watching them, but I always read the onscreen guide blurbs about them before I tune them in. I avoid movies whose blurbs have drug kingpin in them or to hunt down the person who killed his or her partner/wife/husband/friend/parents/sister/ brother/family. I dont watch movies that I think will contain a lot of violence or excessive profanity, and if I think a movie will include the death of an animal, I wont watch it either.
I loved The Weight of Water, but I can see why it wouldnt appeal to everyone.
The movie had almost too much gore and violence for me, but by the time it appeared I was hooked on the movie, so I ewwwed my way through it.
rucky
(35,211 posts)Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)Plot holes you could shove a piano through, implausible characters and situations, insipid musical score.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)Yooperman
(592 posts)Dana Carvey .... absolutely couldn't finish it... usually love his comedy but he certainly missed on this movie.
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,833 posts)Yooperman
(592 posts)I remember the those previews... I said the same thing..but I still waited till it came out for rent.
Dune was long ..and long... and long and boring. I suffered through it in the theater...mostly hoping it would someone get better.... but it never did.
Doc Holliday
(719 posts)was such a letdown for me...."having read the book", as they say.
av8rdave
(10,573 posts)trof
(54,256 posts)DUDE!
It's a classic.
You need to rethink your position on this.
av8rdave
(10,573 posts)Shallow character development. Never could really get interested in any of the characters or what happened to them. Bogart overacted and seemed very, well, hammy to me.
I know, I know...to each his own. That movie just never really worked for me.
MGKrebs
(8,138 posts)over the top. The modern equivalent is stuff like the Clint Eastwood movies or the Schwarzenegger movies where they always have a gotcha line, like "go ahead, make my day". Casablanca is one scene after another with classic lines and scenes like that.
That scene when she is at the fabric merchant after they quarreled the night before is hilarious.
(paraphrased)
Merchant (to Ilsa): Only 1500 francs!
(Rick approaches)
Merchant: For friends of Rick, only 700 Francs!
Rick: Last night we said a lot of things.
Merchant: For SPECIAL friends of Rick, 350 Francs!
EvolveOrConvolve
(6,452 posts)I couldn't stand watching it all the way through.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)You know what really blew my mind? Was that those that liked it...I mean raved about how much they loved it, did so for the same reasons, the very same, that I hated it....particularly the corniest jingoistic moments. The one with an angry FDR standing up was the queen mother of them. Talk about "same planet - different worlds"!
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Initech
(100,063 posts)trof
(54,256 posts)About half way through.
I generally like Mel Brooks' movies, but that one sucked, big time.
Terra Alta
(5,158 posts)It got pretty good reviews apparently, but it made absolutely no sense to me. I only got about halfway through it.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)I guess they were trying to get metaphysical or try to get quantum physics into it, or something (which I am interested in), but it sucked a bag of big ones. I got through 20 minutes.
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)charlie and algernon
(13,447 posts)Someone should've told the director that pages-long, boring monologues in a book do NOT translate well to the screen.
But what I most hate about Gods and Generals is that is killed any chances of seeing a movie on the last, bloody battles of the war.
HOPEFULLY, Speilberg's "Lincoln" movie that is coming out will actually be good and we can FINALLY get a decent movie on the battles of 1865.
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)There was way too much that was ham-handed in that movie. The scene with the Irish regiments facing each other at the stone wall on Marye's Heights made me cringe (I'm cringing just thinking about it).
I would really like to see Spielberg do a movie on Grant's Overland Campaign of 1864. I think it has all of the elements:
1. Personal drama on the Union side (the conflicts between Grant, Meade, Sheridan, and Warren)
2. The serious hardships of soldier life during our civil war
3. The politics around the killing (thinking here of the role that the upcoming presidential election of 1864 played in the thinking of Lincoln, Grant, and Lee; and, of Emory Upton's willingness to spend his soldiers' lives at Spotsylvania Courthouse in order to gain promotion).
4. The whole change in the nature of the war with the introduction of Grant's overall strategy, and the increasing use of serious entrenchment.
To me that series of battles in May and June of 1864 encapsulate a lot of the nature of the war that is often unrecognized by many Americans; although, it would probably have to be a good 3 hours long.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)And Woody Allen's "Everyone Says I love You...."
I was actually embarrassed for Edward Norton, who, at one time, I thought was a an exceptional actor.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)and still can't believe it was that bad.
Couldn't finish "Zombie Strippers," either. Knew it gonna be bad, but never guessed it could be THAT bad.
YellowRubberDuckie
(19,736 posts)If it didn't have such trainwreck qualities, I would have turned Time Bandits, but it was so amazingly horrible, I just couldn't do it.
Then there is any horror movie on Chiller. We've seen so many bad horror doozies it's kind of a thing at this point.
hunter
(38,310 posts)...once there, I didn't leave.
rug
(82,333 posts)Initech
(100,063 posts)"You just got killed by a Daewoo Lanos, motherfucker!"
that movie was AWESOME
Though, the first time through, I do remember that I found it unfunny.
Hmmm...try watching it stoned.
That should help. Worked for me.
Initech
(100,063 posts)I was given a copy of the DVD for my birthday a few years back, I normally like Jack Nicholson (especially as the die-hard Lakers fan I am), but I really don't know what the hell they were thinking with this one. It was so bad I couldn't watch it.
boston bean
(36,221 posts)UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)Knocked Up.
More if I think of them.
SaintPete
(533 posts)someone call a freaking ambulance!
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Soooo fucking sexist!
I saw it shown in a class I was interpreting, so I couldn't say anything that was on my mind. I was sooo disappointed---the female students were angry or laughed nervously, but couldn't articulate what was bothering them. A few frat boy types laughed uproariously and shouted down anyone who tried to criticize. The guys who didn't fit that mold laughed along, in order to fit in.
Worst of all, the Professor didn't open discussion, discuss and identify the reactions nor analyze the messages. That reallllllly infuriated me.
UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)I can't stand There's Something About Mary low brow "humor".
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)but she was presented as an unfulfilled rich bizatch, with unfulfilled, ugly snotty superficial rich bizatch friends.
All women in the film, including her mother and even a female gynecologist were presented as incredibly detestable. (geeeeeeeee, that couldn't be a reflection of attitudes about women.....must be a mistake! Writers/directors/producers never try to purposely control the audience's emotional response to the characters. No never. )
All other women in the film were basically extras. As the one female star, she is a completely unsympathetic character, UNTIL she realizes her true purpose---to end her personal aspirations, drop all vestiges of herself as an interesting individual, and become the appendage of this jerk and bear the dumb ass sleaze bag's child.
Only then does she become likeable and fulfilled.
Excuse me while I fucking PUKE!!!!!! Fuck you, Rogen.
Doc Holliday
(719 posts)was that I thought it was simply unbelievable that a mega-hottie like Katherine Heigl (who figures prominently on my personal Celebrity List) would do a one-nighter with Seth Rogan... even with alcohol involved.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)Generally, I don't think Judd Apatow's movies are all that funny...but that one was just terrible. I generally will finish any movie I start, I even managed to sit through 54 on a date in college but I could not get even 40 minutes into Knocked Up.
Canis Mala
(91 posts)After the dog pictures, I turned it off.
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)God that film sucked.
pink-o
(4,056 posts)When that bus took forever to fall from the bridge, I just wanted to go up to the screen and push it in the water.
Also, there is NOTHING worse than lazy writing, and this movie had it in spades. When they all fall to the floor, defeated over some obscure solution that didn't work, and they're ready to throw in the towel--when SUDDENLY Ellen Page jumps to her feet and cries out: "Wait! We haven't tried _________ yet!" and they all jump up and are re-energized and OF COURSE it works.
Whatever "it" was: I could never figure out what they were doing. Only that I sat thru until the end like an idiot--and with how much the movie obsfucated, the ending was TOTALLY predictable. Yawners!!!!
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)Last night I dreamed that I was doing a sea watch with this group of people, then we went to a restaurant run by the three DU admins that served only hard-boiled eggs with various condiments. All the tables were round and they only sat FOUR people to a table even though the tables could have fit more people.
Yes, this dream wasn't the most exciting dream ever, but it still had a certain WTF factor that Inception lacked.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)DARN!!!
We laughed our asses off. Not at the MOVIES, but at our reactions to them!! Usually we would sit through whatever it was, no matter what, but there was one that we finally did say, "pack it in"!
Can't remember a single title, though. Guess this was completely unhelpful of me.
kimi
(2,441 posts)I'd heard it was so goooood, my now ex-husband had as well. I'd driven 400-some miles to visit him at Sheppard AFB in Texas where he was at officer training school, and to get out of the heat (it's pretty damn hot in Wichita Falls in August) we went to this dog of a movie. Well, I hated it, but didn't want to walk out cause I thought that HE liked it; he hated it but didn't want to leave cause he thought that I liked it. What a waste of an afternoon.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Also, an anti-drug "movie" called "The Weird World of LSD".
Mayberry Machiavelli
(21,096 posts)There are a number of candidates where I stuck around but it was a near thing:
Excorcist 4 (it's so bad it's kind of funny though)
the fourth Scary Movie film
digonswine
(1,485 posts)granted--she was not with me at the time. For the record-Unforgiven is in my top five BEST films I've seen.
mysuzuki2
(3,521 posts)horrible, horrible, horrible! On the other hand, I loved Mars Attacks! That may say something about my taste in movies.
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Sure didn't live up to the hype...
She was so much better as Cleopatra and going crazy on the Streetcar...
UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)sarge43
(28,941 posts)Based on George Bernard Shaw's play
Ilsa
(61,694 posts)I hated and turned off the DVD player. I wanted to walk out of Freejack, mostly because it was so loud, but I had a date.
Duer 157099
(17,742 posts)is one of my all-time favorite films.
You might want to give it another try.
mrmpa
(4,033 posts)walked out of the theater. Friend had the DVD, watched it & still hated it.
Archae
(46,318 posts)It was so damn !!!
And stupid.
laconicsax
(14,860 posts)I'd seen the ending, and everyone talks about it in glowing terms, so I figured why not actually sit down and watch the whole thing...
I made it less than an hour before I was bored witless and turned it off.
Gone With the Wind is another notable film I've shut off before it was over.
quakerboy
(13,919 posts)Worthy of its own mention.
I would rank it as the absolute worst of the classic movies, maybe of all the movies.
My honorable mention goes to the musical 7 brides for 7 brothers.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)Nothing is even in the same ZIP Code as Casablanca.
quakerboy
(13,919 posts)than Casablanca. Easily and hands down, no question about it.
LeftishBrit
(41,205 posts)JonLP24
(29,322 posts)I loved that movie for different reasons than most people that enjoy that movie do.
Tabasco_Dave
(1,259 posts)murielm99
(30,733 posts)My son felt the same way. We simply could not watch.
Bo-rinnnng!
Lil Missy
(17,865 posts)ldf
(2,964 posts)stumbled across it on a cable channel late one night....
and, yes, it was bad. at least the approximate 5 minutes i watched. two women and one man (of course). it is amazing how they can make a porno movie that shows no dick.
Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)Night of the Lepus (about giant killer rabbits)
Saturday the Fourteenth
kaitcat
(193 posts)Leaving Las Vegas and Ishtar.
Tripod
(854 posts)And there is another version coming out. And what the hell happened with Nicholas' face. Maybe he shouldn't ride that burning motorcycle any more, it reached his face.
RushIsRot
(4,016 posts)I couldn't stand the first five minutes of it.
Wait Wut
(8,492 posts)It was a complete WTF movie. An old bf had gotten a hold of my Netflix queue and I didn't catch it. He paid dearly.
Chan790
(20,176 posts)Hell, I might want to own it and hang the movie poster on my wall as framed art.
MorningGlow
(15,758 posts)I soldier on through most of them, even ones I rent or come across on TV.
I did turn off Dancer in the Dark.
I WISH I had turned off Moulin Rouge. It was PPV and I figured I had already paid for it--might as well just sit there, maybe it'd get better. I ended up wishing I had my $3.99 and those two hours of my life back.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Movies that made History...Sort of...
So, if you waste any time, it will be free time and only yourself to blame for bothering to download and watch any of these "gems"
MorningGlow
(15,758 posts)kentauros
(29,414 posts)It used to not be a torrent site, but direct download. I guess teh bandwidth started hurting after a while. The only problem is that if no one else is seeding your choice, then you can't get it. However, sometimes they are available on YouTube, such as this gem I'm about to watch:
Unknown Satellite over Tokyo (Warning from Space)
You just have to put up with commercials. Look at their links for Top Seeders and Leechers, too
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)I agree on "Borat".
kentauros
(29,414 posts)that I only managed to make it 26 minutes into it before I shut it off. They usually don't understand why I would, even after attempting to explain myself. There are a lot of zealots for that 'film'...
Tripod
(854 posts)kentauros
(29,414 posts)then yes, that is you
However, I have met far too many people that fall into the category of "zealot" with regards to this 'film' being their number-one-of-all-time-forever-and-no-others-even-approach-in-quality-of-story favorite, so the plural is correct
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)Why are we friends again?!?!?
Iggo
(47,549 posts)MGKrebs
(8,138 posts)Fled.
Also, as mentioned above, Pearl Harbor.
ceile
(8,692 posts)I like comic book movies, but the Watchmen was a bit boring. The Bad Lieutenant was Nicolas Cage at his overacting best (worst).
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)havent watched another of his movies since. and it got such raves. only movie i can remember walking out of. there have been videos i stopped watching.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)The Matrix and Battlefield Earth.
Better stories told by Dr. Seuss, better visuals found in Berenstein Bears.
Utter crap-- both of 'em. Absolute waste of time.
MGKrebs
(8,138 posts)It does have one MAJOR flaw though: A big, bad, mean, alien monster with John Travolta's whiny little voice.
PVnRT
(13,178 posts)Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)A fantasy for frat boys: You can be an obnoxious, inconsiderate, self-absorbed, oblivious, stupid jerk who is alternately stalker-like and callous, and a sweet, pretty young woman will still love you.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)Having never tried drugs (which I'm assuming is part of the premise of that meandering and pointless mess), I guess I'm not part of "The Club".
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)If I start a movie, I feel like I have to finish it. Some I wish I hadn't:
1. The Two Jakes. "Chinatown" didn't need a sequel.
2. Kill Bill, any part.
3. Star Wars Episodes 1 and 2. Episode 3 barely makes it.
4. The Others. Still paying Mrs. gratuitous back for dragging her to see that one.
5. A.I. Forget waterboarding. Just start showing this stinker, and your prisoner will confess to anything.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)I rented it and fell asleep halfway through.
TheCentepedeShoes
(3,522 posts)But then. I saw it on TNT or something so no outlay
We have not been to a movie house since Titanic, and then just because everyone seemed to be going
And I am rather picky about what I rent or call up on Dish
TorchTheWitch
(11,065 posts)HATED it. I don't think I ever got passed the first 20 minutes.
RZM
(8,556 posts)God that movie sucked.
DryHump
(199 posts)Had to walk out of the theater
Bonobo
(29,257 posts)bluesbassman
(19,370 posts)Never felt compelled to try to watch it again.
HeiressofBickworth
(2,682 posts)I needed to repeatedly stab a dinner fork in my thigh to stay awake. Don't remember the name at this moment but it was a Merchant Ivory film.
opiate69
(10,129 posts)PassingFair
(22,434 posts)I WOULD have walked out of "Druids", but I rented it.
The. Most. Unwatchable. Movie. Ever.
SO bad.
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/movie-reviews/druids.php?page=1
ZenLefty
(20,924 posts)I knew it was going to be awful, and I was even in the mood for an awful movie. But I just couldn't get into it for some reason.
geardaddy
(24,926 posts)Just couldn't get past the first 30 minutes of no plot.
deucemagnet
(4,549 posts)but then again, I can sit through Russian science fiction flicks, so everything else is a walk in the park.
Stalker
Kin Dza Dza
Solaris
Yep, I saw them all beginning to end.
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)I'm a fan of Russian films, especially pre-USSR break-up. I liked the insight, and it was interesting to see their take on "the future" circa 1972.
deucemagnet
(4,549 posts)Stalker is long and extremely slow, but beautifully shot and poetic. Kin Dza Dza is also rather long (Russians!) but is goofier and more satirical. You won't find an English version of Kin Dza Dza on DVD, but there are subtitled versions available to stream over the web.
MiddleFingerMom
(25,163 posts).
.
.
... I have tried more than half-a-dozen times to watch "The Maltese Falcon" and
have been literally bored into slumber each time.
.
.
.
Much like my attempts to read Shakespeare. I've tried and tried again, but have
never enjoyed nor "gotten" him (except for the exceptional quotes given by
Steve Martin in "L.A. Story" -- perhaps his greatest film).
.
.
.
SaintPete
(533 posts)Its very accessible.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)a romantic comedy thats somewhere near ten hours long, in something like 10 acts. It kept going on and on for no reason. The title turned out to be right for us.
SaintPete
(533 posts)This is an interesting thread.
I think that a list of movies we hate might tell more about how we perceive ourselves than any list of movies we liked.
Doc Holliday
(719 posts)Why, I don't know. It was like a train wreck for me...couldn't stand it, couldn't look away. Normally, I'm a huge Oliver Stone fan, but I thought he really jumped the shark with that one.
Agree on Star Wars Episodes 1 and 2. I wouldn't have made it through 2 if not for Samuel L. Jackson.
Solaris-- the George Clooney remake. I fell out twenty minutes in. Even the lovely Natasha McElhone couldn't keep me awake....and that's something I never thought I'd say.
Titanic. Three hours of my life, lost forever...and I don't care how many Oscars it was nominated for.
The Return of Bruno. Bruce Willis? Fine. Bruce Willis singing? Not so much.
Casino. Gods, what's not to like? Scorcese, DeNiro, Pesci, Sharon Stone, all-star supporting cast, awesome soundtrack? There must be something wrong with me...I just didn't like it. Thought it was overdone, and for some reason the word "turgid" comes to mind.
AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)Turned it off half way though it... worst thing I have ever saw.
Behind the Aegis
(53,950 posts)I didn't speak to my boyfriend for three days following (he said it was a "must see," guess what he didn't see for three days!?).
tjwash
(8,219 posts)I'll never forgive them for that launching Tom Cruise's career as a big name star thing.
My sister played and rewound that volleyball scene so much, it actually stopped working on the tape.
mackattack
(344 posts)the movie Bounce. Man was that thing bad. Only time ive ever done that.
Spacemom
(2,561 posts)Steve Martin and I think Goldie Hawn. My husband and I were dating at the time. We got up and left the theatre. Truly horrible.
LeftishBrit
(41,205 posts)the one that really springs to mind is 'Hannah and Her Sisters'. It really depressed me - if I'm going to cry over a film, I'd rather it was one that was intended to be a tragedy!
I really liked 'Solaris' and 'Stalker', by the way!