Inspired by the linked XKCD. Using 60% instead of 50% because that’s an easy filter to apply on rottentomatoes.
I’ll go first: I think “Sherlock Holmes: A game of Shadows” was awesome, from the plot to the characters ,and especially how they used screen-play to highlight how Sherlocks head works in these absurd ways.
Like, I can see why others wouldn’t like it, because it has issues, but MAN! It’s an imaginative, sprawling sci-fi epic and we don’t really get those anymore. I mean, we never truly got them apart from Star Wars. That’s why I love it. It sets up a universe that hints at SO MUCH MORE but is content to play in its own little corner.
John Carter has a similar place in my heart.
I’m willing to bet I’d also like Valerian, but I can’t stand Cara Delevigne :/
Passengers is a pretty cool sci-fi movie. I like the first half in particular, the way it shows how “dumb” A.I. will be the bane of our existence feels very accurate as far as futuristic predictions go. I’m also a sucker for “lost on an island” stories, which this ultimately is. I will never understand how so much was made about the decision the main male character makes at a certain point, because the movie very clearly shows that a) he really struggles with the decision for a long time, knowing it’s wrong and b) finally does it after almost killing himself and being heavily intoxicated, immediately regretting it. The only real gripe I have with the movie is that Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence have zero chemistry, which kind of kills the whole romantic element of the film.
I love that video. I know that hindsight is 20/20 but that is such a good take on how it could have been such a better film. It’s frustrating when such a good premise cheaps out at some point to be truly poignant.
The only real gripe I have with the movie is that Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence have zero chemistry, which kind of kills the whole romantic element of the film.
That actually helped make the movie more plausible. Pratt’s character knew almost nothing about her, but formed an opinion and love based upon what he wanted her to be. She wakes up, and is (surprise!) an actual human being with thoughts and feelings of her own and very little about what Pratt’s character projected onto her. At the same time she’s dealing with the struggles that the only other awake human is essentially her murderer, and for her to find some other human to connect with, she’d have to perform the same egregious act on someone else against their will.
It felt like a struggle from before our modern age where a woman might have to marry someone she doesn’t even like to make sure she has food, shelter, power, etc. She came to terms with her situation and made of it what she could like millions of women before her in a world dominated by someone else.
That’s a great take of the movie! Although she could have gone back to hypersleep in the end but decided against it, presumably because she had a glimpse of how he must have felt when she thought he was dead. So she definitely feels genuinely something for him in the end. I think the movie could have benefited from a short montage of their decades together on the ship in the end, sort of like how UP started.
Although she could have gone back to hypersleep in the end but decided against it, presumably because she had a glimpse of how he must have felt when she thought he was dead.
I know thats the Hollywood desired take, but if we’re looking at the more realistic gritty vision we see a darker answer to Jennifer Lawrence’s character.
Since there was only one capsule that could put someone back to sleep, she could choose to save herself. However, she knows that she would have left the psychopathic murderer of Chris Pratt’s character to run wild for a few more years before he would wake up someone else when he gets lonely again. There is no second pod that could put someone back to sleep. She could have murdered him, then used the medical pod to go back to sleep, but then she too would take on and share Pratt’s “murderer” title.
So she sacrifices herself in the only way that no one else but her will die. She resigns herself to the hell of a life with Pratt’s character.
That’s definitely an interesting take on it, but I don’t think the movie as it is represented supports it. I agree that making Chris Pratt’s character into a psychopath would also made for a good movie, even a superior one. But that’s obviously not the movie that was being made.
I enjoyed Waterworld (I know it’s 90s, but I feel it gets too much hate). The premise and aspects of the screenplay were ridiculous, but the set design and effects were fascinating, and I was surprisingly invested in the characters. Kevin Costner and the kid had good chemistry. Dennis Hopper was a campy joy to watch as the villain as expected.
I, Robot - extremely disappointed that it didn’t follow the books, but I’ve watched it several times and if you pretend it came out under a different title it’s a good robot movie.
Hook with it’s 29% tomatometer rating. Dustin Hoffman—sexual misconduct allegations aside—fucking nailed it as Hook, and I think the general concept of an adult Peter Pan returning was pretty cool. Also, who doesn’t love Robin Williams? It was a movie I loved in my childhood so I am absolutely biased, but 29% seems absurd. I still find the “Don’t try to stop me, Smee” scene hilarious to this day.
I feel like the for xkcd question using audience score makes it a harder problem.
I’m surprised that Hook has a 29% tomato rating but it does have a 76% Audience score. So it’s more liking something that critics hate instead of something everyone hates.
It’s a classic that maintains that status across multiple generations, so 29% is a bit of a joke. I guess if you view it from the POV of a haughty film critic, but c’mon.
I am an absolute sucker for anything post apocalyptic. Book of Eli falls right in there, and i’m sure if I thought about it for a second I could come up with another 5-10 movies that fit this post.
Reign of Fire only has a 42% (Critics), 49% (Audience) rating on RT, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The visuals and sets create a nice moody post-apocalyptic vibe, and the actors deliver decent performances imo.
I just rewatched it. I understand the score, but I agree with your take. I think a director’s cut might add something, it was a bit rushed at times. And I dislike the skydivers.
I remember watching this movie with a friend on Bad Movie Night and we were both baffled at its low rating. I think the ending was a bit weak, I have honestly forgotten how it ends, I just remember thinking the ending was weaker, but the majority of the movie was great.
I liked it. Quite basic, yes, but damn, finally something new in the post-apocalypse genre. it came out during the time where everyone and their dog was churning out zombie movies and media. In the middle of that we get fucking dragons, and that’s the one to flop? Dafuq.
The critic vs audience score divide is pretty telling for some movies. Ant-Man: Quantumania and both Venom movies come to mind as movies that were critically panned but had pretty high audience score. They're nothing spectacular but still dumb fun movies.
Speed Racer is such a rad movie. Definitely suffered from the tendency I noticed in the past of hyper-stylized/”weird" movies getting trashed by critics just for aesthetics. That does seem to be lessening quite a bit, given the reception to movies like you mentioned. Here’s hoping it keeps going!
Thank you, I was searching for this so I didn’t have to post the same thing. It is such amazing world building creating an absurd colorful world of anime come to life that you never question it. John Goodman beats up a ninja and makes a tacky joke without it feeling dumb because it fits the world. The final race goes full expressionism and it’s beautiful.
Hell it deserves praise as it’s one of the few movies with a kid and animal sidekick where I don’t hate either because they just make sense in the madness.
Wow, 50% for Fear and Loathing is absolutely criminal. It’s what made me aware of Hunter S. Thompson in the first place—and it prompted me to delve into his other works. It also deepened my appreciation for Transmetropolitan’s Spider Jerusalem, who was blatantly inspired by him.
Dude I loved that movie so much as a kid, so much so that I made Van Helsing themed Sims 2 custom content 😂 My cousins made fun of me relentlessly for loving the movie. Then I re-watched it my first year in university and… It didn’t quite hold up but I still love the movie haha
Sucker Punch (2011) (technically not made in my ‘adult’ life, since I was still a teenager, but semantics)
I genuinely love this movie and don’t understand how it’s rated so poorly. Sure it’s got that Zack Snyder-flair (but I think it actually works for this??) and it can seem a little gratuitous. but even then to me it seems like it’s done to make a point instead of just ‘hehehe hot girls in short skirts’. The action is awesome, the sets are cool af, the soundtrack is phenomenal, the cast is great, the plot is interesting, (and sure, maybe me being a mega gay means I’m giving this a higher rating then I otherwise might have) - it’s just overall a great movie to me. I do wonder how much of the ratings is a symptom that all women lead films suffer from review bombs by some upsetti-spaghetti men, but even I think this movie is not generally liked by most.
As a straight man, I also liked Sucker Punch for reasons other than “hot girls in short skirts”. It was a bit over the top, but I concur with every point you made.
The short skirts were a bonus for me but perhaps a handicap to getting a decent rating. I’ve always thought it should have gotten a better reception than it did.
I like Sucker Punch, but I think think the gratuitous costumes worn by the women during the fantasy sequences hold it back. Not because such outfits are inherently flawed, but because the execution contradicts the message of the film.
This is a movie about women dealing with sexual abuse, and the fantasy action sequences both serve as a metaphor for them overcoming the struggle and as a means to empower them. But the way the costumes were designed and the scenes were shot end up feeling exploitative in a way that the text of the film would seemingly be against. This is a recurring problem I have with Zack Snyder; his choices in visual storytelling are often at odds with the actual story he is trying to tell.
Add comment