Never hate a movie

[moviedoors]

I spend most of my time on the net reading about film. Drew McWeeny, MovieBob, OutlawVern, Roger Ebert, Todd Alcott. They write blogs I frequent almost daily. This one is by one of my regulars, FILM CRIT HULK, an uncommonly attentive, and, in his sideways way, eloquent writers on film on the net, not to mention that the in-character voice he uses is hysterical. His premiere entry as a writer at Badass Digest might be the piece of writing on film that has hit me the hardest this year (and it's been a good year for that). It touches on something that's been on my mind a lot recently, the "all or nothing/awesome or sucks" attitude I've been seeing in geek culture for far too long. 'Ol HULK addresses that very problem and then goes a hell of a lot deeper and the places he goes may just cause a shift in the way I approach movies. Please, have a read.

http://www.badassdigest.com/2011/11/03/film-crit-hulk-smash-never-hate-a-movie

 

[bullets]

That article has some swears in it.

 

[CelticPredator]

I like this article. I might just not hate any more movies after this..

 

[kedrell]

I tend to hate very few films, though I dislike quite a few, most even...in this day and age. The few I hate have to do something beyond being just poor films. They need to either insult me, or make me feel like I got ripped off or take a dump on adapting something I love(and there are very few things that I love in pop culture). The rest just doesn't have enough to inspire hatred. I've seen thousands of movies in my lifetime and while much more than half I didn't like, maybe only a dozen do I actually hate.

 

[gwynplaine]

I think it's Kubrick who said that there was always something interesting in even the worst movies, or something along those lines.
Also it's really hard to make a film, even a s#*%*y onet:

 

[CelticPredator]

Indeed.

I only really hate a few movies...because they gave me nothing. Ghost Rider, AvP-R, and The Nightmare on Elm Street remake.

 

[gwynplaine]

Indeed.

I only really hate a few movies...because they gave me nothing. Ghost Rider, AvP-R, and The Nightmare on Elm Street remake.

 

[CelticPredator]

Was that sarcastic?

 

[gwynplaine]

Was that sarcastic?

Not at all. In general try to stay off sarcasm on the internet, as it's not always very clear.

 

[CelticPredator]

It is.






(was it sarcasim? You'll never know! )

 

[gwynplaine]

It is.






(was it sarcasim? You'll never know! )

Hahat:

 

[Ipodman]

I only hate a movie if I feel as if it's directly insulting me... like Dragonball Evolution

 

[Homer J. Fong]

The only movie I come even close to hating is Batman & Robin, and I don't even hate that one. I think it's a spectacular failure, but there are good things about it - Michael Gough does wonderfully dignified work amidst a cast that, um...generally doesn't. The art direction is marvelous, even if the film as a whole is overblown. I've never finished a film and not found something to appreciate, and to hate something requires some energy. It's a violent emotion, and I'd rather use the energy to see why what didn't work didn't work, but put more attention on (a) articulating that or (b) focusing on the what did. Even movies that don't seem to be trying for anything whatsoever, well, those movies are mediocrity incarnate, so I can't hate them; they just leave me indifferent.

 

[trashmold]

like the article! made me realize what movies i really hate

 

[Matt Mortem]

That was a good article. Food for thought

 

[Dark Victory]

There are lots of movies I don't like, and I'm sure there are even more I'm glad I haven't seen (the Porky's sequels aren't on my high priority list).

But I generally appreciate the experience of watching a movie, even if the one I watched wasn't too good. I think there's always some enlightenment you can get out a movie, and it can be soul-crushing indignation. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[marcy17]

YEah. I agree with it ..!

 

[hopefuldreamer]

I don't hate a lot of movies, but another reason I think is legitimate for me hating a film is if it's incredibly boring and I've had to watch it to the end.

I mean, If I am at home, I can turn it off sure. Then I don't hate it, I don't feel anything about it because I haven't bothered to watch it all!

But if your in the cinema, or your watching it with someone else, you feel obliged to sit through the damn thing.

There have been a few times I've hated a movie for lasting so long

 

[actionavenue]

Well, I have disliked my fair share of movies and have genuinely liked many of them also. I try to be optimistic with most "bad" movies, that is, trying to find something of value or interest that I thought the makers of the film got right if nothing else. It's understandable that a lot goes into making a movie and with so many factors and influences involved, getting a movie to turn out great for the audience can't be easy. That being said, it is still difficult to sit through a sub par or boring movie. I guess, I will have to learn to be more patient.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

Brilliant article! It really does hold true. I was thinking the same thing goes for books, or to keep things relevant to this site, comic-books. Nothing is more important than to keep a conversation going. Someone mentioned Batman & Robin, and even though we can stack up the holy of holies of how it nearly killed the genre for a good half-decade, there's still a 7-year-old in me who ate that **** up, and wanted Batman Triumphant. If the audience was forgiving enough with the giddy-Batman, we might have today had a live-action Batman: Brave and the Bold near the end of the 90s. A sort of Neo-Silver Age nod to Adam West. For all my sincere love of The Dark Knight , I honestly can't say I would have disliked that.

But are there bad movies? Yes, there are. Too many of them. But Tarentino, in a rare feat of display, has wisdom when he says we shouldn't let that stop the conversation.

 

[Matt Mortem]

I just recently re-read that article after a long night of discussing movies with some friends. They were going on and on about movies they hate which was making me think about this article again. I've been trying very hard to apply that thinking to my film viewing habits.