Most Overrated Movie of 2006
I have to agree with you on United 93. I finally watched the DVD and was profoundly disappointed! I couldn't get over how incredibly unimaginative the whole things was (Greengrass certainly didn't deserve a nod for Best Director over Condon!).Damien wrote:Having now seen all the poll contenders, I find four of them to be abysmal movies: Babel, Little Children, Little Miss Thing and United 93. Little Miss is probably the worst of a rotten batch, but it wasn't taken as seriously by critics as United 93. So I voted for the unengaging tale of a bunch of air traffic controlers sitting around talking and its amateurish recreation of a plane trip. What a complete waste of celluloid.
Having now seen all the poll contenders, I find four of them to be abysmal movies: Babel, Little Children, Little Miss Thing and United 93. Little Miss is probably the worst of a rotten batch, but it wasn't taken as seriously by critics as United 93. So I voted for the unengaging tale of a bunch of air traffic controlers sitting around talking and its amateurish recreation of a plane trip. What a complete waste of celluloid.
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OK, just finished Babel and I knew I was going into it expecting the worst and that it couldn't possibly be worse than Crash but ...
Um, I was right. This is nowhere near the pile of illegally irresponsible shit that Crash is. It isn't even anywhere near the worst film of the year. I'm not saying it's any good, really, but there's at least some nominal committment to its admittedly pompous aims. Maybe I'm being generous because I haven't subjected myself to either Amores Perros or 21 Grams, so maybe I didn't feel the sense of the director/screenwriter duo rehashing themselves yet another time.
Out of these choices, Little Children, Little Miss Sunshine and Pan's Labyrinth are all far more deserving of the title ... especially since I'm hard-pressed to find too many people defending Babel (odd to say as I know it is, what with its placement towards the top of the conglomerated critical mass and with a Best Picture nomination to boot).
Um, I was right. This is nowhere near the pile of illegally irresponsible shit that Crash is. It isn't even anywhere near the worst film of the year. I'm not saying it's any good, really, but there's at least some nominal committment to its admittedly pompous aims. Maybe I'm being generous because I haven't subjected myself to either Amores Perros or 21 Grams, so maybe I didn't feel the sense of the director/screenwriter duo rehashing themselves yet another time.
Out of these choices, Little Children, Little Miss Sunshine and Pan's Labyrinth are all far more deserving of the title ... especially since I'm hard-pressed to find too many people defending Babel (odd to say as I know it is, what with its placement towards the top of the conglomerated critical mass and with a Best Picture nomination to boot).
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I saw Pan's Labyrinth this morning and was disappointed with it.Eric wrote:I almost wish I had waited to vote here, because Pan's Labyrinth merits some consideration. It's nowhere near the disaster that is Little Children, but then again Little Children didn't win the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Picture.
Whilst I didn't go in expecting another Devil's Backbone, I was let done by how unengaging this film was, given the great acclaim the film has received. The actors, with the sole exception of the sensational Sergi Lopez who busted with life, vigor and twisted purpose, were are dreary bunch. To be far to the actors most of the characters are rather cliched. The leap from the horrors of reality to the young girl's fantasy world sat very uncomfortably against each other.
The Devil's Backbone on the other hand mixed it's supernatural elements and real life horrors seamlessly. It was also much better acted with far more interesting characters.
It's far from the most overrated of the year in my books but it was a disappoint for me.
I'm off to Dreamgirls tonight with mixed expectations.
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But it was the Best Picture front-runner for months prior and is due to receive double digit nominations and...I don't know, man. I think I should be allowed to call 'Dreamgirls' the most overrated film of the year. I mean, it's no. 11.
I understand that you can't go back and start again, which is why I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but I honestly think were 'Dreamgirls' included it would be a very strong contender for most overrated film of the year. A very strong contender.
Barring the inclusion of 'Dreamgirls', I cast my vote for 'Babel'. 'Little Miss Sunshine' may be absurdly overrated, but 'Babel' is a boorishly self-absorbed piece of retread for Innaritu & Arriaga.
I understand that you can't go back and start again, which is why I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but I honestly think were 'Dreamgirls' included it would be a very strong contender for most overrated film of the year. A very strong contender.
Barring the inclusion of 'Dreamgirls', I cast my vote for 'Babel'. 'Little Miss Sunshine' may be absurdly overrated, but 'Babel' is a boorishly self-absorbed piece of retread for Innaritu & Arriaga.
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I have no way of editing it; besides, I have ALWAYS only included the films that make the collective top 10 of the Ten Best lists--this isn't based on how many Oscar nods a film receives--it's based purely on critics' Ten Best lists. The fact that Dreamgirls doesn't crack the top 10 on such a compilation, I should think, is indication that it isn't nearly as overrated as some of the titles here.
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"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
I don't know, it seems to me that Dreamgirls has not received the level of excessive praise that, say, Little Miss Sunshine or Babel or United 93 have received--indeed, I'd say this board is reflective (somewhat) of the fact that a number of prominent critics have not liked the film, or, at the very least, had only a lukewarmly positive reaction to it.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
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