theplatypus wrote:Honestly, probably Vanilla Sky. A lot of people write it off immediately because it's a Tom Cruise vanity project remaking a beloved indie foreign film, but it's so much better than the original in just about every way.
Fantastic movie and I think TOm Cruise did an excellent job.
I like Garden State. Crystal Skull really bummed me out when I saw it in the theater but I haven't watched it since and have planned for years to give it another chance.
Yeah, I should qualify that I only saw Crystal Skull once and that was back when it was in theaters. I didn't love it but I certainly didn't think it was a dumpster fire like so many did. My initial thinking was that it was better than Doom. I've seen Doom a dozen plus times. So maybe I'll feel differently if I see CS a dozen times, too.
I think this was the most recent movie I saw in the theater that I contemplated walking out on. I've kind of removed this movie from my brain. It really was that bad.
Problem with Crystal Skull was I took my wife to it and she knows I love Indiana Jones and she had never watched one before and I could feel her looking at me thinking this is the shit and you love these movies more than anything what is wrong with you and I'm thinking why is this so shitty and why did I chose this one to introduce her to Indiana Jones and why is the Beef swinging on a vine and why did the actress that plays Marion forget how to act is she drunk or something and what's with all the bad cgi....not a fun time.
ABNorman wrote:Garden State. Perfectly fine indie movie that had become hip to hate.
Have you watched it recently? Some stuff is pretty cringeworthy, but it does have its moments
Yup, it's got a couple of watches from me over the last few years - not as affecting as it was when I first watched it as a student, but I still enjoy it.
My wife and I saw it (Crystal Skull) pretty late in the run and had seen the reaction to it. So our expectations were pretty low. Maybe that's why I liked it more than some.
But my wife said, "This isn't anywhere near as bad as people are saying. It's just as absurd and fun as the other ones."
ABNorman wrote:Garden State. Perfectly fine indie movie that had become hip to hate.
Have you watched it recently? Some stuff is pretty cringeworthy, but it does have its moments
Yup, it's got a couple of watches from me over the last few years - not as affecting as it was when I first watched it as a student, but I still enjoy it.
I watch Garden State at least once a year. As I've gotten older I've gotten a bit further away from some of the central themes, so the bells don't ring quite as loudly. But otherwise I think it still holds up.
I could add a ton of movies here that I accept as "mindless entertainment" but others scrutinize. For example:
Battleship
Battlefield: LA
Pacific Rim
The Other Guys
With that being said, when it is a franchise, I do expect higher quality if you are going to keep coming out with sequels. Indiana Jones did this until Crystal Skull.
Then there are those (to me) that I expect to be "not good" but are way worse than I could have imagined. The last Transformers, for example.
theplatypus wrote:Honestly, probably Vanilla Sky. A lot of people write it off immediately because it's a Tom Cruise vanity project remaking a beloved indie foreign film, but it's so much better than the original in just about every way.
One of my best friends hates this movie and his reasoning is always "the cop out 'just a dream' ending". I usually counter with "so Wizard of Oz was awful too, huh?"
durdencommatyler wrote:I haven't seen the original but I rewatched Vanilla Sky last year and I enjoyed it a lot more than I'd remembered. So, yeah, I'd agree.
Outstanding soundtrack and some really beautiful sequences. A lot of ridiculousness, yeah. But I like it a lot.
It's one of my favorites. It's beautiful to watch.
