Movies you once liked and now can't stand?

I think it's tough to genuinely bash American Beauty, because there is so much "there" there, and usually I find that people who don't like it generally missed the point completely (although I'm not trying to criticize the two of you here who didn't like it, at least until I have a chance to discuss your perception of the film a bit further). Every time I see it, or even talk about it, I find new meanings hidden deep within the film. I think it's one of the most amazing screenplays ever.

Here's some observations I have about the film:

1) It definitely cultivates an "us and them" mentality. The film addresses a certain type of person who feels a certain way about the film, not to mention life, the "us." Some people, like Lester Burnham, feel like they've lost the true meaning of their lives, and there is no longer much sense in their everyday existence. These people are praying for catharsis; Lester is lucky enough to receive his, and he's ultimately hated and/or killed by those who don't understand it, the "them." I feel if you totally get the film, and it speaks to you, you are an "us." If you don't, you're a "them." That doesn't make you a murderer, or even a hater, but you are definitely not a truth-seeker.

2) Think about the title of the film. Think about what it means. Think about the plastic bag, and what that means. Think about the last thing that goes through Lester's mind before he dies (NOTE: this is not a spoiler, since you know he's going to die within the first minute of the film), and what that means, when he is finally able to define what is beautiful in his life.

3) If you think Lester is a pedophile, and that he's sick, you utterly missed the point of everything, in a big way.

4) Both American Beauty and Fight Club, another movie mentioned in this thread, are almost exactly about the same thing, even though on the surface the films seem radically different. Both are about the diminished role of the adult male in our society, how we have become drones, and we all we do is work until we die, how we have been trained from an early age to be consumers, to get heavily as heavily into debt as we can without getting into trouble, to be tiny cogs in a great big machine. It's about how we are brainwashed into conformity, and how we are penalized when we express our individuality. If you think there aren't a lot of men in our society who feel this way, you're not paying attention.

I'm not trying to rant here, but I've been able to convert two close friends who originally didn't like the film into absolutely loving it once they understood the true meaning. One friend actually admitted that he didn't like the movie the first time because he saw it with his wife, and she absolutely hated it. (Obviously, she was one of "them.") Once he saw it by himself, unfettered by her eye-rolling and disgusted sighs, he totally got it.

It's all about the plastic bag, gentlemen.

 

Come to mention it, I disliked the "he was all inside his head" revelation of FIGHT CLUB. I thought that was lazy writing. I realize it's based on a novel, but I felt cheated.

 

I'd agree with you on that...which is why Fight Club isn't quite on the same level as American Beauty as a film. But the good ideas are there if you look. And I love FC's bad attitude.

 

I respect it, but I don't like it. It's a real downer, especially the ending. I remember one film critic mentioning Peter Fonda's line at the end, "We blew it, man," and saying that it was Fonda realizing that they should have spent more money on a decent script instead of blowing it all on recreational drugs during the shoot.

 

Well actually I did get AB and that's why I liked it at first. But the reason I changed my mind is that their portrayal of "average America" feels as if it crossed the line of satire and is just plain insulting, and I'm a snooty yuppie know-it-all New Yorker.

 

Yes, but these aren't true characters as much as symbols. For instance, the poster who felt that Col. Fitts was a bit too cartoonish probably didn't realize that he was a symbol for a certain type of mentality in the US. The film is a not a character study, it is a parable, IMO.

 

Pink Floyd - The Wall

Seeing it as an adult, I felt like someone should have slapped this guy around a bit and tell him to grow up and get over it. A ninety-minute self-pity festival.

The album even seems to play that way to me now.

 

So no wonder you ended up disliking "American Beauty" - you only like Woody Allen movies!

 

I would contend that the characters are not symbols but badly exaggerated stereotypes.

 

The War Of The Roses. I saw it on tv the other day and wanted to choke someone. Just awful. Not keen on Danny De Vito's directing.

 

Gargoyles (1972 starring Cornel Wilde). I saw this when I was 13 and thought it was fantastic. I recently bought it on DVD with the sole result being the destruction of a beloved childhood memory. I'm now afraid to watch anything from the Batman television series for the same reason. I'd rather have the memories I carry with me from childhood than the disappointment from an adult point-of-view.

 

The Big Chill. Actually I can't believe I liked it when I first saw it, but, indeed, I did.

I must have been sufferring from premature Baby Boomer nostalgia syndrome at the time.

Saw it again and was aghast. What a load of pretentious, self serving, self indulgent crap. I mean that in a good way, of course.

Jeff

 

Or badly exaggerated stereotypes being presented as symbols and failing (to me) because it's so heavy-handed.

 

Crimes of Passion

I always knew it was dreadful, but it was so over the top bad, I loved it. On a recent viewing, though, it was...just...dreadful. Next thing you know, I'll stop loving Showgirls.

 

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I loved it as a kid, but now I find it overlong, overblown, and not all that funny. (Bracing for slings and arrows. )

 

You won't get slung by me. Yeah, comedy is tough to keep on loving. Jokes, bits, and styles that were hysterical one decade can age rather poorly the next. There are exceptions of course. For me, some of Monty Python's Flying Circus continues to be brilliant. The better Marx Brothers' Films are still very watchable. It's ten years down the road, and I'm still enjoying Seinfeld (although there are signs that it's slipping).

Mad, Mad World was a gas when I was young. It's still a treat for me to see all these stars of yesteryear together. But I agree that there is now some "down time" in the film. (It could never happen today, but I'd love to see someone assemble a cast of today's best actors and comedians and pull off a mad cap movie.)

 

Actually, Rat Race from 2001 is a direct rip-off of Mad Mad World. It does feature some current comic talent (John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Lovitz, etc.) and does supply a few good laughs. Directed by Jerry Zucker of Airplane! fame.

 

Monty Python's Meaning Of Life. I saw this in the theater about five times back when it first came out, and it became one of my favorite films. Then as time passed, for some reason it fell further and further out of my favor. Certainly nowhere near as good as either Holy Grail or Life Of Brian, and a heck of a lot less tasteful. Maybe I grew out of all the blood and vomit.

 

Me too! I saw this on TV back when I was a kid and I thought it was the scariest movie. I was thinking of getting the DVD but your right, it gets cheesier as it goes along.

 

For me, it actually improves each time I watch it. (I'm 33 BTW)

 

I 100% agree. However, check out the dvd where the director and the cinemantographer discuss scene by scene what they wanted to do. I forget his name at the moment, but he is one of the best of all time. It was interesting that the director had all of these ideas, and the cinemantographer ended up using none of it.