Most Over Hyped Movies/Actors

[Magpie]

Oh, and not an actor, but I think quentin Tarantino is grossly overrated as a director/writer, as are Ang Lee, The Coen Brothers, and Oliver Stone.

Woody Allen is the most over-rated director in the history of film.

[Magpie]

John Carpenter's Halloween is the best modern horror film.

Halloween is so terrifying that it took me 4 tries to watch it--I kept falling asleep about half way through It was, however, better than Friday the 13th though. In retrospect, I think the much vaunted "golden age" of horror from the 'eighties is largely overrated, except for Cronenburg. Carpenter's best movie was "The Fog"

Angelina Jolie is great in action/genre flicks, but she keeps trying to establish herself as a "serious" actress, usually with disastrous results. Same with Keanu--as long as he's playing Keanu, he's okay.

I think Adam Sandler is immensely overrated, and I say that because I finally saw a movie of his that made me laugh (Zohan) and I realize that that's never happened before (although I though "The Longest Yard" was passable)

[kensei]

"No Country for Old Men." Why did this movie win the Oscar for Best Picture? It has no ending! Seriously, there are things still to resolve and then it just suddenly stops.

[sleekviper]

Most over hyped film ever had to be Godzilla. That thing ran ads in every major paper for months, thank goodness Toho is looking to do it right in 2012.

[mariab]

Yes, I'd say that Born on the 4th of July is one of the weakest results by Stone, still, it's probably the best movie Tom Cruise was ever in, he he. (Different standards. ;-))

[Steadmund Brand]

Funny how you picked Born on the 4th of July as one of the standouts, I say that because just the other day I was talking about films with a friend and we were saying how we don't *want* to like Oliver Stone... but most of his films are darn good... and Born on the 4TH OF July was one of the exceptions we came up with on the other said hahaha that is one of the few of his films we both said was bad

such good picks everyone..like I said I hate being negative, but all those listed really are BAD... fun thread!!!

[mariab]

Jodie Foster is a good actress and I thought she was fine in Silence of the lambs (which required her to be intense), but she definitely overplayed in Nell (stupidest movie of all) and when she tried to convey the scientist/academic in Contact.
Angelina Jolie is a good actress. She has made some turkeys, but this doesn't interfere with her acting ability. Jodie Foster has done tons of turkeys too.
Any movie casting Ben Affleck, Meg Ryan, or Tom Cruise is a must miss.
(OK, for the latter, Born on the 4th of July and A few good men were exceptions to the rule.)

[sdreid]

Does Jodie Foster have a lisp or was that some affectation for the role?

I guess it was for real with Boris Karloff.

Add them to Barbara Walters (R impeded) and Tom Brokaw (L impeded) in the speech impediment hall of fame.

[Mrs. E. Nigma]

Worst actresses
Jennifer Lopez
Angelina Jolie
Megan Fox
Jodie Foster - she's at the bottom of my list simply because of Silence of the Lambs .

Worst Actors
Keanu Reeves
Tom Cruise
Ben Affleck

All the best,
Erynn

[sdreid]

I think to really see how good Lugosi could be I'd recommend The Black Camel, an early Charlie Chan film that was released the same year as Dracula.

[Steadmund Brand]

I too agree, in part with Stan, but the thing with Lugosi was, he just wanted to work, always, so he would take just about any part to stay busy... as far as the Ed Wood stuff that everyone loves to make fun of him for.... isn't it funny that today they are as well known and watched as much, if not more so than anything else he did, including Dracula. The really sad thing is, none of us got to really see the best of Bela, seeing as he was already a shell of his former self by the time he did Dracula (or so he claimed....so take that however you will.)

As for Karloff, hmmm overrated.. Thats really hard to say, as he, like Lugosi, became so much more than just a charatcter actor, he really did become and icon, it was the face, and the voice, and the name... was he a great actor, not really, but he had such presence that it made up for so much.

Now when you put Lugosi and Karloff together... you got to see some really great stuff.. The Black Cat probably being the best..and filled with pretty heavy stuff, especially for 1934...this may very well be the best film of either of their lives, that includes both Dracula and Frankenstein, The Body Snatcher, another great film takes on a classic status just for the few scenes with the two masters together, and this was Bela at what may have been his worst, health wise, Lugosi actaully manages to steal the film away from the monster in Son of Frankenstein, The Raven is another fun film, Lugosi at his sinister best...now of all their films the Invisable Ray may be the most overrated, quite a slow moving film really, In Black Friday they don't even have one scene together, what a waste... they were also in You'll Find Out and Gift of Gab together, but there really isn't much of anything to say about those films.

Wow, I spend way too much time with old horror films eh?

---Steadmund Brand

[dmann30]

[/QUOTE]
Now on to the topic..... can someone, anyone please explain to me why people find Will Ferrell funny, hey may very well be the most unfunny man I have ever seen.....Ok I'll stop now as I really don't like to be negative on the forums.. but that is a question I must ask.[/QUOTE]

I would unequivocally agree with this. I do NOT understand why he is funny. I have laughed at his films, but it is ALWAYS at the other actors. And the kids around here are always quoting his lines like he is some kind of demi-god or something. Sheesh. *shrug* To each his own I guess.

Some would say the same of Adam Sandler, although I did like him in Spanglish. Better dramatic actor than I thought he could be.

And as for movies:
ANY horror flick makes little sense to me as to how they are "cinematic gems"

[Tom_Wescott]

I agree with Stan about Bela Lugosi, and I feel that Boris Karloff is very much overrated within the horror community.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Limehouse]

Brief Encounter

Although I adore Celia Johnson as an actres and Rachmaninov's music added a lot to the film - for me it was basically about a couple having cups of tea and catching trains with a bit of emotive wishful-thinking thrown in.

It is an interesting social study though because it's obviously a bit of propaganda encouraging people to get back into their roles (socially and within the family) following a period of war. It is also amusing to listen to the accents - the cut glass Johnson and Howard - the upwardly mobile cafe mangeress trying not to sound common - and the chirpy 'I'm-working-class-and-be-dammed' railway porter.

[mariab]

John Carpenter's Halloween is the best modern horror film.

The first Halloween movie is a cult film, a classic, and a casebook for the slash genre, and Jamie Lee Curtis the first so-called “final girl“. Scream and Buffy, the vampire slayer subverted the genre very cleverly and self-reflectively.

Just this weekend I tried to watch The Big Chill and couldn't. Maybe it made sense in 1983, but I thought it was extremely boring. And this is coming from a guy who absolutely loves The Piano and Remains of the Day.

I like The big chill because it makes me understand baby boomers, with whom I deal a lot at my job. It shows their haughtiness and self-importance very nicely. Plus I liked the way it showed old friendship realistically. I loved The remains of the day (I thought even Christopher Reeve was very good in it), but I found The piano unwatchable, boring to death. Maybe if it had another male lead, because Harvey Keitel as a romantic lead? Nah.

I think Angelina Jolie is very overrated, and Keanu Reeves' success remains a great American mystery.

Angelina has an amazing physicality, and she can act, although she's not the greatest actress out there. Still, I think she's become too much of a Hollywood twig. She should gain about 12 pounds, then she'd be perfect.
I didn't mention Keanu Reeves cause everyone knows he's one of the worst actors of his generation, special agent Utah! He manages to make every line he recites sound hilarious. Not everyone can do this. ;-)