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4/18/2006

OVERRATED MOVIES

It's the fallback, the failsafe for sports radio producers and hosts. If it's a slow sports day or the current topic isn't eliciting much response they break out the "Best Sports Movies" topic. The lines will start ringing post-haste.

So since I don't have much to say (today or another day) I'm breaking out the first in an occasional series: Overrated Movies. And it doesn't have to be sports-related. I'll rattle off a few now, not necessarily in any order, that I think are overrated. Feel free to comment on your overrated movies. And one quick note on the definition of overrated: it doesn't mean the film is not good, it merely means it's given too many props. For instance:


→ CITIZEN KANE. I can't tell you how tired I am of hearing "The best American movie ever" whenever someone happens to being it up. Fabulous film, groundbreaking on more than one level--make no mistake about it. But is it really the best American film ever? At independentcritics.com, Jacob Hall says, "...there are movies I enjoy more than "Citizen Kane," but I realize that I would not be enjoying them without it." My thoughts exactly.

CRASH. The absolute worst usage of Don Cheadle in any film. Yes Matt Dillon was good. But it wasn't even as good as the film it emulates, MAGNOLIA. Best picture? No way. Jami Bernard from the NY Daily News said, "Crash wants to be taken seriously as a meditation on our anxiety-plagued times, but the coincidences are too pat, the tugs on the heartstrings too insistent." Exactly.

THE ENGLISH PATIENT. If you watch Seinfled and have seen the episode where Elaine is forced to sit through a viewing of this film you know where I am coming from. I found it dreadfully boring. Thankfully we watched it on video at home and also thankfully I had a crossword puzzle at hand. BTW, that Seinfeld episode is also the "Izzy Mandelbaum: It's Go Time" episode. Classic. Seinfeld, not The English Patient.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can add all three "Lord of the Rings" to this list. Sorry, but these films only exist to satisfy the Dungeons and Dragons dorks of the world. Overrated!!

Anonymous said...

Big D--

good to hear from you. I have never seen any of them.

BTW- I will be in Vero next month. How about a game of golf?

Anonymous said...

I'd much rather see Sack Lunch or Rachelle Rachelle than the English Patient!

Anonymous said...

I saw Rachelle Rachelle a couple of years ago on Broadway. Got the understudy, though.

Anonymous said...

Certainly seen all three and you have an argument for all three...

especially when you compare Crash to Magnolia, a far better film...also better than Crash and even more similar is the film Grand Canyon, a 1991 film about similar issues told in a similar way with Danny Glover, Kevin Kline, and Steve Martin.

--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

RC- I got the idea to do this after reading your Samuel Jackson post. It's hard to determine the best SJ movie when from 2000-2004 he was in every movie ever made.