Much of this thread be like...

Deadpool.

I’m not sure if I absolutely hate it, but I definitely don’t get the hype—especially with Deadpool and Wolverine. There were some funny bits, but I feel like most of it is almost Family Guy-tier reference humor.

The plot feels as unimportant as ever—there are no real stakes or anything significant going on. It’s all about the "jokes," fourth wall breaks (which get tiresome almost immediately), and Ready Player One-level "recognize the character" moments.

Maybe the last part is the biggest reason why I don’t connect with it. I’ve never really been into comics outside of film and television. But I feel like that shouldn’t be the main driving force for a movie anyway—or at least not for a good movie. Like, Ready Player One was fun, but not good.

Saw.

It is on the very tiny list of movies that I am actively angry I watched because I'm never getting that time back. It is one of the single worst movies on "Tell don't show" that I felt like I was being actively gaslit by the writers because what they were telling was opposite of what they were showing.

"Jigsaw tricks people into killing his victims" says the cops, and says all the people watching the movie. NO. He kills people and gives them a potential for a way out. Setting up a maze with cutting wire and a door sealing off if you don't make it in time isn't "tricking someone" it's killing them with extra steps. It's like blaming fucking landmine victims "Well if they didn't step there they'd be okay". Legit the logic that movie gives I find my blood pressure rising just going into it again.

And the ending. I guess spoiler if you haven't seen the movie, I'm not gonna bother to figure out the formatting for it so here's your warning to stop reading. The surprise twist was why my friends made me watch this movie, the logic above was explained and how clever Jigsaw was they said I'd like it. I'm not a horror guy but I love Scream because holy fuck it was clever and well done. Saw, the victims are looking for where Jigsaw is watching them and I just said "He's the dead guy in the middle of the room." and questioned why would I come to that so early in the movie my reasoning was simple. It was a dumb movie that was up its own ass so much to say that it was clever that was the obvious "clever" haha we got you option it could be. Anything else would have actually been clever.

I compare Scream and Saw so much. Scream is a very clever movie masquerading as a dumb movie that deconstructs a genre and pulls of a fantastic twist that if you didn't see it coming will shock you and when you go back there's all sorts of clues. Hell, part of the twist is realizing they put thought into the killer instead of just "slasher villain #85" that the genre had done for so long, but if you know what's happening the movie is winking with you with such amazingly dumb and clever things like "He's behind you Jamie". Saw is a dumb movie that masquerades as smart, it wants to be clever and philosophize at you and wants to pull off a twist that is unearned because there's no clues for the twist, so unless you watch a lot of movies and realize this one is up its own ass, of course you're going to be surprised. It's like a guy who built a tesla coil and (think he) knows how it works and no one else does so he shows up in a cheap top hat and a wand and expects everyone to applaud like he's David Copperfield. Sure, everyone loves tesla coils, but that reaction is unearned.

From what I understand from others who've seen the rest, even what little cleverness goes away on the character and it just becomes a show to watch more elaborate ways to see people get hurt. It's the only way I can comprehend that the series is loved by as many as it is. I work in healthcare, I can see plenty of that on the day to day basis.

I like these threads when people complain that “old classic movie” is formulaic and trope ridden or unoriginal… seemingly forgetting these films set the tropes, formulas and genres that all subsequent film makers hopped-on. That’s why, in retrospect, it appears clunky.

In another similar thread somebody said the band Queen were boring… yeah, maybe now. But fifty years ago when they first released? Not so much.

Not one comment in here about Lord of the Rings.

Which I agree with. Amazing movies. Glad everyone's on the same page.

For me, it's James Cameron's Avatar. Visually stunning, especially for its time, but the story has to be the most cliche, predictable, boring, lazy piece of writing to ever have existed. It's like they held an environmentally conscious 11 year old at gun point and made them write a story. The cigar chomping military guy working for corpos wants to pilfer a beautiful planet for its resources with disregard for the native populations that live there. Where have I seen that before? Oh yeah, ALL AROUND ME, EVERY FUCKING GOD DAMN DAY. Get an original idea.

Fuck this stupid piece of shit dumbass movie. It's intellectually insulting. It's a disgrace.

/endrant

Pretty much all of the Avengers films.

They aren’t engaging in any way. The characters are unintelligent and full of self importance. The whole franchise is Just loud noises and shark jumping.

Anything by JJ Abrams. He only knows how to start his shitty mystery box plots but never finish them.

Harry Potter.

Before JK went mask off, I had dropped the books about half way though for being increasing annoyed with how they ended. Never any change to the status quo except Harry actually regressing in character development. I watched the first movie, but that was around when I dropped the books and never looked back.

I was able to just quietly keep my opinions to myself, but with with JK becoming increasing unhinged with both her tweets and books, I haven't felt the need to be polite with the "separate the art from the artists" types. Especially when they just assume that you're a fan if you don't correct them.

Mortal Engines. I have not read the source materials.

Amazing concept, fantastic visuals, weak story, weak characters. Apparently just accidentally spliced in the end of Return of the Jedi instead of finishing the movie.

Elf.

Once you’ve seen the first 3 minutes and get the premise, then the entire rest of the film is so predictable in its jokes and situations that I derived absolutely zero pleasure from watching it and it just grated the entire way through.

Films can be funny because the initial premise leads to really entertaining, unexpected or clever situations… or a film can super straight up and shallow in its humour.

I really don’t get why Elf is so incredibly popular.

James Cameron’s Avatar series.

Then again… Does anyone actually like it? It seems to have all this online hype when it’s such a boring visual spectacle.

It’s like the opposite of the other Avatar franchise, which wasn’t a commercial hit, and seems less popular on paper, but seems to have a massive cultural impact.

Ted.

Juvenile fratboy humour done badly, very badly with lots of fan services to get the brainless cheering.

Made me laugh once in the first few minutes (I can't even remember the joke) and walked out of the cinema after about an hour.

Interstellar. That ending was so unbelievably dumb that I can't even stomach the rest of the movie thinking about it.

I know it's got rave reviews, a stacked cast, Nolan directing. Plenty was pretty, cool concepts, high stakes scenes. But that ending... shudders

Napoleon dynamite was fucking garbage and don't think it should have ever existed. No humor and barley anything. Honestly feel like the movie rubber was better

ITT: people using the downvote button as an "I disagree" button when the entire point is to name popular movies that you dislike. Sort by controversial for the real answers, I guess.

For me it's Alien. Maybe because I'm not a horror movie buff, but I do like sci-fi and yet it just didn't really do anything for me. I somehow found Prometheus to be more engaging.

Lord of the Rings.

I understand and respect the seminal role LotR (Book) has as a fantasy work. I have to, as a fantasy nerd myself.

I also believe that those three movies that everyone loves could be edited down into one and not much would be lost.

God DAMN do those films drag ON and ON and ON.

The books, too, drag on like Tolkien was being paid by the individual word. Thankfully with books I can set the pace at which things go.

The Greatest Showman is a masterclass in style over substance—a glittery spectacle that sacrifices depth and integrity for catchy tunes and flashy visuals. Beneath its feel-good facade lies a shallow, formulaic narrative that romanticizes P.T. Barnum’s exploitative history while failing to give meaningful voices to the marginalized characters it claims to celebrate.

The musical numbers, though undeniably infectious, feel jarringly modern and out of place, prioritizing audience pandering over authenticity. Despite its popularity, the film’s sanitized themes and lack of emotional nuance reveal it as more empty circus than cinematic triumph.

If you’re looking for substance, you’ll find the tent empty.

Lord of the ring. I think I just don't like this kind of movies.

Saving Private Ryan

I like Spielberg, but compared to others in the war drama genre like Band of Brothers or Full Metal Jacket, SPR is laughably bad.

The tone of the movie, trying to be more inspirational than realistic, was awkward at best. Acting was pretty mediocre, probably because the script and characters were 1 dimensional.

It completely disregards the historical context of the war. You could watch this movie and learn absolutely nothing about the history of WWII.

Now Band of Brothers. That was some amazing retelling of true war stories. It wasn't trying to be inspirational. It was just honest about the chaos and brutality of war. That made it harrowing heartbreaking, infuriating, and inspirational all at once.

Forest Gump. The 1994 Best Picture nominees were some of the most highly competitive the Academy has ever had, and they went with the one that was just a straight-up terrible fucking movie. It has no value except as nostalgia bait for Americans and propaganda for those who want to believe in the myth of American individual exceptionalism.

Its musical score is also probably the worst thing I've ever had the misfortune of performing in an orchestra. Dull and repetitive.

And its most famous line is straight-up bullshit. I've heard the book does it differently, but the movie puts "something that kinda sounds deep to a 14 year old" over a level of rationality that stands up to 20 seconds of thought from an average person. A box of chocolates tells you precisely what you're going to be getting.

Not really hate but, I just don’t love. Inside out. I find that the metaphor of little people living in Riley’s head removes agency from her and makes it seem like people are just mech suits for tiny people that make the real decisions. I’m indifferent to this movie.

Disney's Hercules.

Because it completely butchers greek mythology. Of course, that's to be expected from a kid's movie (especially Disney) but I've been a greek mythology fan from an early age and this movie really disappointed me as a child.

Pretty much any of the popular comedy movies. The Hangover, Hot Tub Time Machine, Elf, etc.

Snowpiercer. The movie was just a weak attempt at socio-economic metaphor, with an absolutely terrible premise, bad effects, action sequences shot mostly in the dark, weird pacing, and goofy characters. It seemed like a live-action Anime, and I hate Anime. I sat through that movie, the whole time wondering how and why it got such great reviews.

Some Nolan stuff.
Inception: I understand it, it's just extremely convoluted and dumb.
Oppenheimer: It's a movie with 95% dialogue, and he decided to put loud droning music under every conversation so you can barely hear the people talking.
The dark knight trilogy: I just can't take batman seriously in it. The voice is so silly, and the pointy ears just look really out of place in this very serious take.
Anyway, I do like some of Nolans movies, these are my pet peeves.

Titanic.

Why? Hmmm, hard to say. Seems obvious to me. I'm totally ok with a love story but I don't really care for romance stories. Let me explain the difference to me. I'm not saying this is a formal definition. To me a love story is drama and romance is melodrama. It felt more like melodrama to me.

And to interest the men, let's throw in a disaster flick. If people fall off the boat and hit the propeller on the way down, men will love it and women will love the rest. No pandering at all.

Plus screw the priceless gem, just toss it overboard.

I hate Lord of the Rings. Well, I don't hate it. I just don't understand why people love it so much (not "why everyone loves it", but "when one person loves it they love it more than anything else"). I don't consider the story all that enjoyable, especially for the movies. I definitely don't consider it rewatchable.

Like, I'm the target demographic. I was 16 when the first one came out. I played DnD and Magic the Gathering. Warcraft 2 was one of my favorite games. Mages and Orcs are something I've always had in my life since as long as I can remember. My parents read the Hobbit to me and I had read fellowship and two towers at some point around 11 or 12. But the movies? They just don't connect with me. And I've never had anyone be able to put into words what it is that makes it click for them.

Titanic.

The hype here was insane, when I finally saw it the experience was.. underwhelming. Such a boring slog of a movie, mediocre CGI when disaster finally struck and that stupid end.. Get on the piece of wood that is obviously big enough to hold you both, you dolt.

Only upside is that I watched it on TV, so apart from some hours of my life I'll never get back it didn't cost me anything.

Borat.

Supposedly it's a comedy, but it's completely devoid of humor.

It's kind of interesting how the reasons people dislike things range from "it sucks" to "here is a carefully constructed argument showing why the film's thesis promotes toxic ideas of etc etc"

Also interesting when someone's reasons for hating something are someone's reason for loving it. Like a review says "It's full of sad gay shit" and one chunk of people are going to boo and the other are going to perk right up.