it seems like the more movies i see the more disappointment i suffer. and i cant figure out if my taste is getting more selective or if movies are getting worse. but either way this year has been a lot of heartache for me and its not to say that all of these were terrible, actually some of these are still my favorite films of the year, its just in most cases i expected more from who was involved and the film didnt deliver on my expectations. so here are some of my biggest letdowns...
1. Kill Bill: Volume II
oh what happened here? the first one blew my mind and i had nary a doubt that the second part of the film would do the same. it wasnt a sequel, he filmed it / imagined it at the same time, how could it POSSIBLY not live up to the first half?!?! because, it never should've been split up in the first place. volume two is full of scenes that while cool scenes, are really just time-waster to fill up the length of a second movie. how quickly she manages to finally track down bill was a joke. and what happens when she gets there is worse. after SIX FUCKING MONTHS of waiting, what would've worked great as a neat rug-pull at the halfway mark is the biggest goddamn letdown of the year. this movie makes me upset, but whats worse is its still in my top 5.
2. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
even though my disappointment for the film was minor, because of my anticipation (see thread for details), its huge. for wes anderson to deliver an imperfect film with visible flaws is a shock. for this to not be my favorite film of the year....i had no idea it could happen. now, nothing is sacred.
3. Spider-Man 2
a good film, but the hype was 'best superhero film of all time'. not by a long shot. some really big mistakes were made here and despite its intentions to focus more on the characters, i felt less for them in this one. despite a few ridiculous scenes, i still prefer the first one for handling the story/characters better.
4. I Heart Huckabees
expected this to be right up my alley, the initial denial was proof of how much i wanted to love this. but i just couldnt. at first i thought it was a disappointment for a Russell film, but then i realized even as a film from a nobody director, i still wouldnt have liked it.
5. A Very Long Engagement
amelie is probably one of my favorite films ever. it was a total surprise and it made me love every second of it. it was a reminder of why i love movies in the first place. this was just a good movie. in a sane world, this would've come first.
6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
the adult Harry Potter from the cool director. i liked it, i didnt love it. the plot just didnt engross me and so i wasnt totally satisfied. the only one i've loved was the first because it took its time introducing you to the world of HP, which was where the magic was for me. when the films are left to rely on plots, theres just not as much there.
7. The Terminal
as mentioned in the 05 thread, spielbergs only slipup for me in 7 years. a neat experiment that didnt totally pan out. he was on a roll too...
8. Oceans 12
i sort of counted on this to be really fun like the first one and i thought it was an utter disaster. embarrassing.
9. The Ladykillers
the coens were some of my favorite filmmakers (in that rung 2 with crowe) and i loved everything they did until O Brother which i felt was 1/2 great. intolerable cruelty was a steaming pile, and one i hoped would be soon left behind them. it was because they 're-wrote' someones bad script, right? THATS why it sucked, and they would quickly redeem themselves with this silly movie. they didnt, and it may have even sucked worse. i'm now worried they may never return to greatness. and thats a huge disappointment.
10. Van Helsing
i thought the mummy movies were a lot of fun and the premise for this alone was enough for me to have a full geek-out, but for anyone who witnessed it personally knows it was a bomb of Batman and Robin proportions.
11. Spanglish
james l. brooks, WHY?!?! i still have to see I'll Do Anything, but from what i've heard its as mixed as spanglish was. so i guess when he hits, he hits, and when he misses, he misses. i dont know how batting averages work but it looks like he's 3 for 5.
Ocean's 12 - Just didn't have all the cool and slickness that the first one had.
The Aviator - It's still one of my favorites of this year, but was too damn long
Shaun of the Dead - HILARIOUS until it went all drab and fucking serious, that really ruined it.
1. sky captain and the world of tomorrow - heralding a new age of computer animated film, its style was a desperately anxious hole to fill in contemporary film. what we get is a mess on paper that no beautifully rendered image can fix. the performances feel depressingly over-the-counter while the story inexplicably fails to draw the viewer in amid its gunfights and amazing scenery. a crashcourse for a new filmmaker even if it lets through occasional flashes of brilliance.
2. the aviator - the hughes biopic spent years in development before one of our most revered filmmakers took on the task to adapt his life story to theaters. the effort is epic and ambitious, but also excessive and over-the-top. heavyhanded, it lacks subtlety. cut too quickly, it can't afford the fluid performances we expect from scorsese. this combination only gives us the tops of the peaks and the bottoms of the valleys.
3. the terminal - speilberg works in efficiency and strong storytelling--see catch me if you can as a recent example. with the terminal, it's a problem bag filled with an uncharismatic (albeit attractive) zeta-jones, humor that tries a bit too hard, and subplots that go overboard in screwing with the general tone of the film. it's a knot that could use a few tugs.
4. the polar express - van allsburg assisted the animators in matching the look of his amazing book as closely as possible--to great effect. visually the film pays off its initial cost of potentially ruining a belovedly drawn story. even the eyes of the characters have a unique quality to them...and everything is definitely improved with 3-D, which is bottom line: really cool. less "in your face" than finally realizing space and depth within a frame, the film uses the technology well. unfortunately, it takes its liberties out on expanding allsburg's initial story and adding subplots that are tied by the benchmark scenes from the book. spotting the adapted pictures from the book becomes thrilling when they work, and depressing when they don't. adding a cheesy musical number harmed it enough to prevent me from ever really embracing it like i embraced the book as a child.
5. clifford's really big movie - what can be said about clifford the big red dog? he's fuckin pwn. they totally ruined it. ASSHOLES.
just kidding.
5. (for real this time) the passion of the christ - forget matt and trey; gibson's the one that gets the "biggest balls" award this year. the concept was nuts, no one wanted to front the money, so he paid for it himself. that's dedication. gibson also gets "best independent filmmaker" award because his spirit in making the film completely reflected that. it was a dissapointment to find that the film's ending was more of a sell-off towards his favored audience rather than an attempt at honest filmmaking. for all of his balls, gibson remained inside the text throughout the film and never dared to venture out into the unknown territories that audiences would have found so engrossing and captivating. it's jesus; make the most of a character audiences will be receptive towards.
dishonorable mentions:
- fahrenheit 911,
- secret window,
- finding neverland
- garden state
- kill bill volume 2
1. Van Helsing- I really didn't like this movie. I was looking forward to seeing it for such a long time. I remeber seeing the trailer during superbowl half time and freaking out, but the movie was pretty terrible. You can see when watching it that they had no idea how to fit Dracula, wolfman and Frank in to one story. The story was just plan old bad.
2.Troy- I didn't hate it, but i didn't see anything special about this movie. I was expecting alot more.
3. Alien vs Preditor- I have to admit going in to this movie i knew it was going to suck big time. But as a fan of both franchises i thought i would enjoy it alittle, but i was wrong.
I don't think anything disappointed me this year. There were plenty of films I wish were better (Alexander, The Ladykillers, among others), but I've been too distracted by all the other brilliant films that are out to give them too much thought.
Garden State: way overhyped, i really wanted to love it but it just wasnt going to work, good soundtrack though
The Terminal: People just dont want to watch something set in an airport, ex: t.v.'s LAX. I have always liked Stevens work but he lost it on this one, im really hoping for a smash with WOTW
The Ladykillers: An example of how not to listen to the trailers, the Coens really need to get their stuff together, i miss the old Coens
Undertow: Another overparised flick al la Garden State
Also:
The Village
The Clearing
Napoleon Dynamite
Shrek 2
I forgot
Garden State This movie was just a forum to play Braff's favorite songs and then release the soundtrack
Quote from: Gamblor not so gone.I forgot
Garden State This movie was just a forum to play Braff's favorite songs and then release the soundtrack
Well for anyone who loves the soundtrack can just go to www.pitchforkmedia.com ...I mean they've been raving about the shins for a long time now. Braff was late...
house of flying daggers
undertow (but still a favorite)
garden state and napoleon dynamite both had amazing trailers
goodbye lenin
monsieur ibrahim
oldboy
There weren't too many letdowns to me this year. What seemed good was good, what seemed shitty was shitty.
Some didn't live up to my expectations, but letdown seems a bit derogatory. Those movies would be...
Napolean Dynamite
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Passion of the Christ
Garden State
... I can't think of too many others, but it crossed my mind that there should be an entirely new category for lists. It'd be a good way to make and finds lists and browse them.
... or not.
i just watched the manchurian candidate tonight, and boy, was it shitty. not that i had real high hopes for it, but geez. all the politics stuff reminded me of a really crappy sports movie...not telling which political parties were involved and using lame fake news channels (cmn!)reminded me of when they don't show professional sports teams' logos. and the political rally stuff was just awful, awful stuff. looked like the production of a junior high girls basketball pep rally.
Ocean's 12 and The Bourne Supremacy. Unlike those two, I didn't expect anything from Kill Bill Vol. 2, but I didn't like it either.
Quote from: abuck1220i just watched the manchurian candidate tonight, and boy, was it shitty. not that i had real high hopes for it, but geez.
then it doesnt belong in this thread. in order for something to be disappointing you must have had expectations for it in the first place. it could go here...
http://www.xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=1286
Garden State-because the trailer was so awesome but the movie wasn't
F911- becuase Bush is still in office
I Heart Huckabees- because the cast and idea seemed so great but it just didn't deliever.
Quote from: GhostboyI don't think anything disappointed me this year. There were plenty of films I wish were better (Alexander, The Ladykillers, among others), but I've been too distracted by all the other brilliant films that are out to give them too much thought.
Here, Here!
This wasn't a very good year for movies. There were a few great ones, some really good ones, but disappointing overall. I was disappointed by:
Alexander
Meet the Fockers
Ocean's Twelve
The Aviator (very good movie but not as artistic as I thought it would be, particularly coming from Scorsese)
Danny Deckchair
Birth
Collateral (good movie but not near what it could've been)
The Terminal (so much in the movie worked and so much didn't)
Baadasssss! (decent movie over-rated by the critics)
We Don't Live Here Anymore
Quote from: themodernage02Quote from: abuck1220i just watched the manchurian candidate tonight, and boy, was it shitty. not that i had real high hopes for it, but geez.
then it doesnt belong in this thread. in order for something to be disappointing you must have had expectations for it in the first place. it could go here...
http://www.xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=1286
i did have expectations for it. while i didn't expect greatness, i thought it would be watchable, given the people involved. so when it turned out to be at the top of my 'worst of 2004 list' i was disappointed.
Alexander. end of story.
I just saw Tarnation and now it's my most recent addition.
Quote from: Small Town LonerThis wasn't a very good year for movies. There were a few great ones, some really good ones, but disappointing overall.
No way, I think this year was really great.
Alexander.
QuoteQuote from: Small Town LonerThis wasn't a very good year for movies. There were a few great ones, some really good ones, but disappointing overall.
Quote from: Gamblor not so gone.No way, I think this year was really great.
Feels like every year to me.
The Life Aquatic and The Ladykillers.
Bourne Supremacy too, I guess. I never saw the first one though, and I walked in ten minutes late so I had no idea what the hell was going on for most of it. I can remember laughing a lot and getting a lot of stares and looks like "SHUT UP OR I'LL KNOCK YOU OUT".
Well, they played The Shins on an episode of "Scrubs" over two years ago, which is how I found about the band. So, Braff didn't discover them; his show did.
For what it's worth, I just got done watching "Garden State" and I liked it. Sure, there wasn't much for me to fall in love with this year (it was rather week in my book) but I liked this movie. Nothing amazing. Nothing outstanding, and after I just got done watching "Magnolia" for the 20th time, my expectations weren't high at all. :)
Quote from: Reformed WeirdoQuote from: Gamblor not so gone.I forgot
Garden State This movie was just a forum to play Braff's favorite songs and then release the soundtrack
Well for anyone who loves the soundtrack can just go to www.pitchforkmedia.com ...I mean they've been raving about the shins for a long time now. Braff was late...
Garden State
Napoleon Dynamite
Ladykillers
I Heart Huckabees
QuoteWhat are your Biggest Disappointments of 2004?
Every film released = Biggest disappointment ever. Way overrated by the critics. Made too much money in the theaters. Too much fluff. Didn't go far enough. Could have been better. Assholes like it for the wrong reasons. Too long. Too boring. Too heavy-handed. Too controlled. Too deep. Not my favorite film. Lacked daring. Lacked subtlty. Way overhyped. Too uneven. Too fake. Nothing new. Will Smith = Fecal matter. Too sketchy. Good trailer, bad movie. Not artistic enough. Too artistic. No depth. Not as good as it could have been. Nothing to write home about.
Worst. Year. Ever.
Quote from: life_boyQuoteWhat are your Biggest Disappointments of 2004?
Every film released = Biggest disappointment ever.
Wow. Wanna do everyone a favour a list the films you saw this year?
The Village was good up untile you find out what really is going on. At lest thats how i feel.
no that's actually the best part because it's close to being over at that point.
The Spongebob Squarepants Movie - my girlfriend dragged me to it; while I still regard the show as little more than a watered-down Ren & Stimpy, it's got its moments. Moments that were completely missing from the movie. Lucky for me, I love the sound of Scarlett Johansson's voice.
Sky Captain - while I have to admit I kind of enjoyed the movie, it was by no means a good one. It was nice to look at and the story was charmingly retro but the acting was damned awful.
Hellboy - I don't know; maybe it was how I was feeling that day... I just wasn't blown away by it. I liked it but I wouldn't cry if I never saw it again and wouldn't say that I'll be first in line for the sequel. And it confirmed my suspicions that Selma Blair is, with the exception of Storytelling (and possibly A Dirty Shame), the most unemotional actress working today.
The Life Aquatic (let me explain!!!!) - only because I was expecting to like it more than Tenenbaums... still goes in my top 5 of the year.
Bourne Supremecy: I feel like I'm the only one on earth who doesn't LOVE this flick. I found it flat & dull as all hell.
Oceans 12: While I liked it, it really is a massive dissapointment. It goes for 2 hours and really, jack all happens. At least the first one was a great flick. The ONLY enterainment factor in this one is the stars who are in it, because the film itself is nuthin to talk about...
Exorcist the begining: Okay I knew this was gonna be shit, but not THAT shit. My god...
Quote from: life_boyQuoteWhat are your Biggest Disappointments of 2004?
Every film released = Biggest disappointment ever. Way overrated by the critics. Made too much money in the theaters. Too much fluff. Didn't go far enough. Could have been better. Assholes like it for the wrong reasons. Too long. Too boring. Too heavy-handed. Too controlled. Too deep. Not my favorite film. Lacked daring. Lacked subtlty. Way overhyped. Too uneven. Too fake. Nothing new. Will Smith = Fecal matter. Too sketchy. Good trailer, bad movie. Not artistic enough. Too artistic. No depth. Not as good as it could have been. Nothing to write home about.
Worst. Year. Ever.
I can't tell if you're just mocking the thread in general, or making a mockery of yourself by being serious.
well i asked life_boy a week ago to list all the films he saw this year.. and i guess he didn't wanna do that. so he really has no idea what he's talking about.
I tought Faranheit 9/11 was way disapointing. It was repetitive and tedious, and my least favorite Micheal Moore film, which I usually really like.
REPUBLICAN!
Quote from: Pas RapportI tought Faranheit 9/11 was way disapointing. It was repetitive and tedious, and my least favorite Micheal Moore film, which I usually really like.
You liked The Big One more than F 9/11? Maybe you just forgot about it - a lot of people do. The more I thought about The Big One, the more uncomfortable it made me feel. Of all his films, it seems to be the least genuine. I definitely think F 9/11 wasn't as good as Roger and Me or Bowling for Columbine, but it blows away The Big One.
Quote from: Walrus ShakurI can't tell if you're just mocking the thread in general, or making a mockery of yourself by being serious.
I wasn't so much mocking the thread as I was the general list of dislikes for movies by people like us. Depending on how many of those reasons come together in the collected films we see in a given year, we then determine the disappointment level we feel by all those who should know better than to do this or that. I have begun to try and discern the nature of the general shallowness of my film viewing and thought I would express that in the form of satire. Sorry if it went over everyone's head.
Quote from: cinephilewell i asked life_boy a week ago to list all the films he saw this year.. and i guess he didn't wanna do that. so he really has no idea what he's talking about.
Speaking of making a mockery of oneself by being serious...I didn't feel a serious response to a blatantly non-serious post was even worth putting the words together to express the thought that it was a joke. So, yeah, I really have no idea what I'm talking about.
List all the films you saw last year.
Quote from: life_boy
I wasn't so much mocking the thread as I was the general list of dislikes for movies by people like us. Depending on how many of those reasons come together in the collected films we see in a given year, we then determine the disappointment level we feel by all those who should know better than to do this or that. I have begun to try and discern the nature of the general shallowness of my film viewing and thought I would express that in the form of satire. Sorry if it went over everyone's head.
Satire's fine, here, but you're dealing with elitists. Some people really do hate everything.
Napoleon Dynamite... I didn't get around to seeing it until about three weeks ago. Aside from all the regular people I have heard singing its praises, I read an interview with Jonathan Demme where he said he has seen it multiple times and it has inspired him. Then, I read another interview where David Gordon Green was saying how he has seen it like three times or something and thought it was so bold and he loved it and blah blah blah. So, yeah, after all that I was sort of underwhelmed.
cat woman not quite bad enough to be funny (as i had hoped) just bad.
Top 5 "Eh's" of 2004[/b]
These movies aren't the worst or anything, they were just films that I was hoping to like and ended up not really caring much for them, although they weren't really bad movies.
1. Million Dollar Baby - Clint Eastwood
I admit that I used to put a lot of stock in Ebert's Top Ten List. I admit that 2004 was no exception. I admit that I came to this movie expecting to like it because I liked everyone involved and even if it didn't live up to the hype, at least there would be something good about it. Well, the story just didn't work for me. The last 45 minutes felt out-of-place. The acting felt wasted on mediocre material. To me, this was a decent genre film that decided to tack-on a hot-button issue at the end to add "importance." It didn't work for me.
2. The House of Flying Daggers - Zhang Yimou
People were freaking out about how fucking cool this movie was. It really wasn't that cool. Some of the fight scenes were nice, the cinematography was good, but the story was just kind of rambling. And why does CGI have to be involved in martial arts fights, now?
3. The Dreamers - Bernardo Bertolucci
I know there's a number of people here who love this film. I don't. I found it wholly uninteresting, even though I find the cinema to be enthralling and the time period of the film very interesting. The characters were childish but they never felt real enough to care about. I felt like this film was so detached that the detachment wasn't even a comment on anything, it was just a distraction.
4. Ray - Taylor Hackford
Jamie Foxx should have had better material to work with. The dude turned in a great performance in an amazingly mediocre film. Taylor Hackjob seems like he's in a hurry to get through Ray's life, but he's not in a hurry to get anywhere except that pathetic fucking ending note. After that, one goes, "What the hell did I spend 2 1/2 hours watching this movie fer?" This could have been such an interesting story, but the screenwriter felt like he had to do Ray's life as a greatest hits collection instead of actually telling the story of the man and getting into why he did what he did and why that was important. The 2 1/2 hour biopic that did that was The Aviator, which I really enjoyed.
5. Garden State - Zach Braff
Geez, the way some people talked about this one (not really anyone here, of course), you'd think it was groundbreaking or something. It's also not nearly as bad as some people say. It just exists. There's some nice songs and some decent moments; there's some dumb scenes and some pretentious moments. Nothing worth writing home about. This should find a place in the okay movies thread (http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=7540) (except I don't own it).
Quote from: life_boy
3. The Dreamers - Bernardo Bertolucci
I know there's a number of people here who love this film. I don't. I found it wholly uninteresting, even though I find the cinema to be enthralling and the time period of the film very interesting. The characters were childish but they never felt real enough to care about. I felt like this film was so detached that the detachment wasn't even a comment on anything, it was just a distraction.
4. Ray - Taylor Hackford
Jamie Foxx should have had better material to work with. The dude turned in a great performance in an amazingly mediocre film. Taylor Hackjob seems like he's in a hurry to get through Ray's life, but he's not in a hurry to get anywhere except that pathetic fucking ending note. After that, one goes, "What the hell did I spend 2 1/2 hours watching this movie fer?" This could have been such an interesting story, but the screenwriter felt like he had to do Ray's life as a greatest hits collection instead of actually telling the story of the man and getting into why he did what he did and why that was important. The 2 1/2 hour biopic that did that was The Aviator, which I really enjoyed.
agreed
huckabees
life aquatic
Quote from: life_boyTop 5 "Eh's" of 2004[/b]
These movies aren't the worst or anything, they were just films that I was hoping to like and ended up not really caring much for them, although they weren't really bad movies.
1. Million Dollar Baby - Clint Eastwood
I admit that I used to put a lot of stock in Ebert's Top Ten List. I admit that 2004 was no exception. I admit that I came to this movie expecting to like it because I liked everyone involved and even if it didn't live up to the hype, at least there would be something good about it. Well, the story just didn't work for me. The last 45 minutes felt out-of-place. The acting felt wasted on mediocre material. To me, this was a decent genre film that decided to tack-on a hot-button issue at the end to add "importance." It didn't work for me.
2. The House of Flying Daggers - Zhang Yimou
People were freaking out about how fucking cool this movie was. It really wasn't that cool. Some of the fight scenes were nice, the cinematography was good, but the story was just kind of rambling. And why does CGI have to be involved in martial arts fights, now?
3. The Dreamers - Bernardo Bertolucci
I know there's a number of people here who love this film. I don't. I found it wholly uninteresting, even though I find the cinema to be enthralling and the time period of the film very interesting. The characters were childish but they never felt real enough to care about. I felt like this film was so detached that the detachment wasn't even a comment on anything, it was just a distraction.
4. Ray - Taylor Hackford
Jamie Foxx should have had better material to work with. The dude turned in a great performance in an amazingly mediocre film. Taylor Hackjob seems like he's in a hurry to get through Ray's life, but he's not in a hurry to get anywhere except that pathetic fucking ending note. After that, one goes, "What the hell did I spend 2 1/2 hours watching this movie fer?" This could have been such an interesting story, but the screenwriter felt like he had to do Ray's life as a greatest hits collection instead of actually telling the story of the man and getting into why he did what he did and why that was important. The 2 1/2 hour biopic that did that was The Aviator, which I really enjoyed.
5. Garden State - Zach Braff
Geez, the way some people talked about this one (not really anyone here, of course), you'd think it was groundbreaking or something. It's also not nearly as bad as some people say. It just exists. There's some nice songs and some decent moments; there's some dumb scenes and some pretentious moments. Nothing worth writing home about. This should find a place in the okay movies thread (http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=7540) (except I don't own it).
YES, YES, no, YES, YES
My opinions are in the threads.
I Heart Huckabees
Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Napoleon Dynamite (more dislike than "eh")
House of Flying Daggers
Garden State
EXPECTED TO LIKE BUT VERY MUCH DISLIKED
Hotel Rwanda
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Before Sunset
EXPECTED TO LIKE MORE
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
The Saddest Music in the World
Last Life in the Universe
Open Water
Tarnation
Saved!
Maria Full of Grace
The Yes Men
Five Obstructions
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
I always go into a movie, hoping that it will be good. So these are my many disappointments of 2004:
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
A Love Song for Bobby Long
Dawn of the Dead
Alien vs. Predator
Ocean's Twelve
Secret Window
Spider-Man 2
The Punisher
Suspect Zero
Garden State
The Grudge
The Aviator
King Arthur
Ladder 49
Hellboy
Criminal
Troy
Quote from: Meat
Alien vs. Predator
Ocean's Twelve
Secret Window
The Punisher
The Grudge
King Arthur
Ladder 49
Troy
What were you expecting from these, seriously?
Especially Ladder 49. :ponder:
Quote from: RaviQuote from: Meat
Alien vs. Predator
Ocean's Twelve
Secret Window
The Punisher
The Grudge
King Arthur
Ladder 49
Troy
What were you expecting from these, seriously?
To be entertained, even just the slightest.