MetaChat - Ugh.

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05 January 2008

Ugh. Sappy, shmaltzy, predictable movies make me mad!→[More:]Been stuck indoors 'cuz of the rain. Going stir crazy so I turned on the tv and this movie was all that was on. So I watched it... and now I want to hurt someone. Yeah, I know it was for kids but I hate when a movie is so ridiculously manipulative. It insults the audience. (Yes, I hated Titanic for that reason, too.)

James Woods' awful German accent aside, the thing was cheesy and... just... grrrrrrr. It was like the entire creative team went through the list point by point and got paid by how many cliches they could include in the allotted time. Animal bonding with kid? Check! Adults ignore kid, but kid turns out to be right? Check! Bad guy foiled by kid? Check! Pretty lady warms old widower's heart through kid? Check! Emergency situation involves fixing something adult hands are too big to reach so kid bravely saves day? Check! Anthropomorphized animal behavior? Check! Famous American hero cameos as friend and admirer of protagonist kid? Check! I could go on & on. Me angry. GRRRRR.

Anybody else ever see it?

post by: miss lynnster at: 18:06 | 16 comments

I haven't seen it. Last week I managed to watch Forrest Gump which I immediately followed by watching Patch Adams. I know they're both manipulative pieces of crap but but but yeah. (I spent the rest of the evening in an upset mood.)

posted by fluffy battle kitten 05 January | 18:18

Never seen it, but it does sound pretty high on the cheesy scale. And not the yummy white cheddar kind.

posted by chewatadistance 05 January | 18:23

What movies tick you guys off? Or is it only me that gets this silly?

posted by miss lynnster 05 January | 19:12

What movies tick you guys off?

any movies with Johnny Depp or Robert Downey Jr.

posted by jonmc 05 January | 19:57

Movies that play to the lowest common denominator; they're usually comedies. Comedies don't have to be stupid to be funny, although I have to admit stupid is sometimes funny.

posted by deborah 05 January | 19:59

I just gave myself the rare treat of being completely nonproductive so I could watch Velvet Goldmine. Visually impressive, but the music was painfully pretentious and cringeworthy at times. Ewan McGregor, though, helped me through the rough parts :) Now on to a guaranteed good time: either Shining or Altered States.

posted by moonbird 05 January | 20:01

For some reason, I have always despised James Woods. He has always come of like a self-satisfied twit.

posted by danf 05 January | 20:14

I, for one, got seriously angry at "The Forty Year Old Virgin". Fer Chris'sakes, already, just TELL her you're a virgin!!!!! Ditto for "Taladega Nights" (UGH!) and "Old School". (See a pattern here?) I can't think of any others at the moment, but by golly I know they're out there.

posted by redvixen 05 January | 20:16

For some reason, I have always despised James Woods. He has always come of like a self-satisfied twit.

Rent Salvador. He's great in that.

posted by jonmc 05 January | 20:20

Musicals. I hate them with the heat of a million suns. And Andie McDowell.

posted by chewatadistance 05 January | 20:34

I love James Woods. I hate to hear that the guy who once pulled a tumour-like gun out of his own stomach in a David Cronenberg movie is now doing sappy kid flicks.

The last good movie I saw him in was Northfork.

posted by BoringPostcards 05 January | 22:13

As for the question of movies that tick me off: I hate movies that are so blatantly pandering to an audience that you know there's not going to be any kind of story involved- just a crass payoff for handing over your ten bucks. See: Tyler Perry's "chit'lin" movies, every 3D-animated movie that cashes in on Pixar's brilliance using lame scripts and actors on their day off, any sci-fi-ish flick that has a gun-toting chick in leather who's been promo-ed for a year or more via Ain't It Cool News, the annual crop of "slightly-edgy-but-heartwarming" Christmas movies... this list could go on all night, but you get what I mean.

posted by BoringPostcards 05 January | 22:23

I thought this thread was going to be about French Kiss, which was on TV today (I've been sick and indulgent all day). My guilty pleasure is romantic comedies of the 80s and 90s, especially those starring Meg Ryan. I also love Robert Downey Jr., and think he's completely under-rated by lots of people.

Crappy, formulaic romantic comedies tick me off, though. Like remember that movie from a few years ago, where the dude rented an apartment, but it was haunted by the former resident, and they like, fell in love? And it had Napoleon Dynamite in it? I wasted 2 hours watching that, and I was on a plane at the time. I could have been reading SkyMag.

Speaking of, I hate movies that have Napoleon Dynamite in them, except for Napoleon Dynamite.

posted by muddgirl 05 January | 22:37

I really can't be involved in a thread with someone who hated Race for Space. Trust me on the 5th viewing, everything clicks.

Movies by Committee mostly suck.

posted by Hellbient 05 January | 22:44

Romantic comedies. OMG. Somebody invariably lies about something STUPID, which will, in fact, come to light at the end of Act II, and then, for some contrived reason, the person s/he lied to will come around. Or, they'll cheat on someone who is villainized to make the infidelity okay. IT'S NOT OKAY!

posted by headspace 06 January | 01:50

I watched "The Wedding Singer" the other night, which I remember I loved first time round. But this time I found it almost unbearable, redeemed only by the performances of Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. But it was cliché upon cliché and the characters, especially his girlfriend and her boyfriend, were cartoon characters.

posted by essexjan 06 January | 05:21

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