So, this one made the list. I can't say I'm surprised, Spidey 3 has gotten a lot of bad press. Total Film stated that this movie is hated by the fans. Actually, they said that three-peats try to do too much (debatable to say the least) and that "Marvel went ahead anyway." Uh-uh. Listen, you work for Total Film, okay? Get your facts straight. Sony is doing the Spider-Man pictures. SONY. Not Marvel, Marvel would not do a crappy Spider-Man flick, which is what #4 is looking like, okay? You work for Total Film. This is your job. This is your brand. If you're going to make a lame list like this, at least sound like you know what you're talking about (even though clearly, you don't), okay?
So, the contention is the fans hate this film. Okay, fair enough. However, who are the fans? Are we talking about fans as in the first time I saw Spider-Man was the first Raimi film? Are we talking about Spider-Man fans as in collected the comics, saw the television series (live-action and the 1960's/1990's cartoon), bought the toys and when Spider-Man first hit theatres in 2002, took the day off school/work and went to see it? What are we talking here, what is your definition of the word fan? Because if it's someone who only cared about Spider-Man since the first live-action film, then who cares? What do they have to say about it? What is their basis of knowledge, the other two films? There's so much about Spider-Man, I would find it extremely hard to give credence to the opinions of a bunch of johnny-come-lately's.
That being said, I do agree that the movie did try to do too much. Look, putting in Venom and Sandman was a mistake, having one or the other would have been fine. You could have the 2nd Green Goblin (or the Green Skateboarder or whatever the hell he was supposed to be), but really, putting both villains in the movie does justice to neither. Also, Sandman killing Uncle Ben was terrible. Spider-Man does not need a personal vendetta to go after Sandman, the fact that the man is walking around, robbing armoured cars and the like is sufficient enough. We don't need this extra drama that really doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense.
That being said, I think this movie is a mixed bag. The black costume is great (didn't the fans like that?), I like how Peter Parker is wrestling with good and evil, Sandman himself was great and this was the first film in the series where I didn't want to punch Mary Jane Watson out. So, it wasn't as terrible as everyone says and for the record, I used to get the Spider-Man comics whenever I could as a kid, so it's not like I'm one of these first day fans like the people talking trash about Spider-Man on the 'Net. To me, it's still a lot better than what this fourth film is looking like and I think when it's all said and done, Spider-Man 3 will have it's own fans, though I will admit it's not as good as the first two films, it's not bad enough to be hated.
Worth the hate? Nope.
- Stephenstein
Okay, hold-up, time out here people.
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When did Alien 4 suddenly become the most hated? I went to the bathroom, Alien 3 was the most hated one in the franchise, everyone agreed, it was a terrible movie (actually it wasn't, it was pretty good), but I come out, I think the world is the same and all of a sudden, Alien 4 is making the most hated lists. Well, what the hell happened?
Well I can tell you what happened. What happened is the director of Alien 3, David Fincher became Mr. Big Shot. That's right, David Fincher made Alien 3. Everyone's favourite movie director, the guy who has been nominated for at least 2 Oscars now, as well as making Seven and Fight Club which all the fanboys and film geeks love and quote and all that stuff, he made Alien 3, which everyone said was kakka doody not too long ago. What's that? You looove all Fincher movies, so Alien 3 isn't that bad? Well, I can point to a piece of my anatomy and tell you what I'd like you to do with it. Because you know what? You guys didn't Max Reed that up. You didn't go back and take a second look at it and appreciate it for what it was. You just happen to like it because David Fincher is now in everyone's top 10 directors list. You know, that sort of stuff sickens me. Like, don't have an opinion of your own! Heavens no! You just go along with the crowd, little boy! Here's a lollipop! Geez.
Anyhow, I actually went back and re-read the Total Film article (while holding my nose and keeping back the vomit). Here is why Alien 4 made the list, because I have no logical explanation at all why Alien 4 would make the list. Here it is and I quote:
"An unnecessary addition to the story, muzzled by the law of diminishing returns and the misjudged tone of black comedy. The less said about the Newborn, the better."
Now, let me start off by saying if I'm making a list of the 50 most hated films of all time, I think I owe each of those movies more than 2 lines. Talk about a weak explanation to hate a film. Let's get into it a little bit:
Unnecessary addition? Why? Because they wanted to make more alien films? Because they didn't want Ridley dying to wrap up the series? Because they thought up a new way of bringing the franchise back to life? (P.S., one of the writers of this movie was Joss Wedon, whose picture all these jackasses put up beside Fincher's, Tarantino's and Stephen Soderbergh's before going to sleep at night, so don't even think the loss who created the list still has the same opinion that this movie was unnecessary, he's probably telling everyone how much he looooves Alien 4...asswipe).
Muzzled by the law of diminishing returns. Muzzled? Muzzled? First of all, who are you trying to impress, you pimply-faced dropout? Muzzled? Really. You hit the thesaurus button in Word for that one, didn't you. You high-fived all your loser colleagues when you did that one. Muzzled? Give me a break. Essentially, what this guy is saying is that the longer the series goes, the more diminished the box office returns get (which I've already proven is wrong) and the the less reason to go on. So, you know according to this guy, there would be only 3 Godzilla films and that's it. Three Mission: Impossibles. No more Pirates, no more Transformers...Basically, any franchise is toast after 3. It's a good thing this moron isn't running things.
Okay, the Newborn. WHAT? The Newborn is awesome! It's a cross between and alien and a human! What's wrong with that! You see the carnage it caused on the ship? That entire part with the Newborn was awesome! What was wrong with that? Honestly, WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THAT? Why do you hate this movie? I mean, what is the explanation? Just because it was the 4th film in the series and you think it was going for black comedy (a misread if there ever was, Alien 4 is the sickest, most gruesome and fantasy-ish installment in the series...but it's not going for comedy-value, even dark comedy, you half-wit), and you didn't like the Newborn. That's...it. I don't get it. Then to top it off, you post a review from some poster on Jo Blo. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Half the guys who post on there haven't had a single thought in their head for entire generations. You have got to be kidding me. I'm sorry, but this is just a complete farce.
Rating: Worth the hate? When I understand why his movie is hated or even if it's hated, I'll get back to you...on second thought, I'll get back to you now...No.
- Stephenstein
Last year, I ranked Sucker Punch as the best movie I'd seen in 2011.
So, you know right off the bat, I'm not a supporter of this film being in the "most hated films of all time" category, nor do I think it should be there. First of all, the movie's a year old, so even if I did not think this movie was great, I would question why a movie that's barely a year old deserves to be on the list of worst movies of all time. I do think that the quality of movies in general has lessened over the years, but I think it's hard to screw the pooch that badly, that fast. Especially considering the director of the film is Zack Snyder, who could do not wrong before this film came out.
If there is angst against this movie and I'm not going to argue that, I read the reviews, I know what's going on out there, then all I have to say is I greatly underestimated the sheer ignorance of the group of sad human beings who call themselves movie critics and I also greatly underestimated the sheer stupidity, arrogance and ignorance of that group of sad human beings who spend their time posting on movie websites sheerly to put their utterly worthless vote behind movies that other people tell them are good instead of formulating an opinion that is uniquely their own. People didn't like Sucker Punch because they couldn't understand it, they thought it was like a video game and they thought the women's clothes sexualized these young girls.
Here's my counter-arguments:
1) You didn't understand the movie. Well, I saw it the first time and I got it. Babydoll is equating her experiences in the insane asylum to being in a bordello. It's not that far a stretch as they both have the same principles: in this case, women being tied down to an authoritative masculine figure. When she fights back by her dancing, she imagines it much like one of the fantasy scenarios in the movie, fighting zombie Nazi's, stealing fire from a dragon, defusing a bomb made by robots...it's not that hard to figure out. Go buy the Director's Cut of the movie, read Wikipedia and do some research before you dismiss the movie for being "stupid" because you couldn't understand it, because trust me my friend, the only stupid one we're talking about here, is you.
2) It's like a video game. What isn't these days? The line between video games and movies have become so blurred. Take for example Mortal Kombat. Do you know the latest one, if you type in "Mortal Kombat 9 Story Mode" on Youtube, you know what comes up? A link that says "MORTAL KOMBAT MOVIE" and showing all the cutscenes bunched together into one two-hour MOVIE. So, you know what? You saying it's just like a video game as a negative point shows how ignorant you are of the direction that media is moving in. Video games are now movies and vice-versa. You don't like that, fine, I didn't say you had to, but hating on this movie for that point is absolutely absurd.
3) The girls were oversexualized (with their outfits being mentioned). Don't watch Manga much, eh? Guess not, because if you do, you would be appalled. Just terribly scandalized. Because EVERY YOUNG FEMALE CHARACTER IS SEXED-UP IN THOSE SHOWS. Don't go on the web much? Don't browse around, look at media websites. I guess not, you're too busy joining that nunnery or something. The fact is, the girl's costumes are representative not just of a culture (in this case manga and if you're turning your nose up to Manga now, just remember that Japanese Manga is more popular than anything North America has churned out in animation recently, you bigot), but also of their respective roles in the movie. Nurse, Warrior, Armed Forces, it's all in there. You just have think about it and maybe do a little reading, instead of having everything explained to you because you're too damned stupid to think for yourself.
So, that's my post on Sucker Punch. The fact that this movie is included doesn't surprise me, but as you've guessed, it sure as hell has irritated me.
Worth the hate: Up yours, Total Film and haters of this film.
- Stephenstein
Did anyone see the Academy Awards for the year 2004? Just wondering. Because if you had seen these awards, you would have seen the movie that won BEST PICTURE for 2004.
Crash.
Yup, apparently Total Film has decided that the film that won BEST PICTURE in the year 2004 is one of the most hated movies of all time. I cannot even begin to explain the rationale.
On a personal front, I never watched Crash. J-Man and Decepitsean both came back from viewing the movie with less than stellar reviews of the film and quite frankly, I was not surprised. I saw the trailer and it did not grab me. Now, when this happens, one of two outcomes take place:
1) Someone sees it, tells me it was better than the trailer, at which point I catch it in some manner or form.
2) Someone sees it, tells me it's as bland or garbage as I thought it would be and I never watch it.
You can file Crash in slot 2. Nevertheless, I do not agree that this film should be on the 50 Most Hated Films of All Time list. This viewpoint may shock you, but you should probably hear me out before you start protesting how utterly over-hyped the film is.
Quite simply, Crash cannot be hated. If it is overrated, then it must have been highly thought of to begin with. Nowadays, more than ever in fact, the Academy Awards are a popularity contest. That is not to say that I think all the films that win awards are garbage. All I'm saying is that the film that gets the most campaigning from the studios wins. So, it is enough to say that at the time that Crash won, it was the most popular choice amongst the movers and shakers in the film industry to win the Academy Award. You can't win the BEST PICTURE award and then seven or eight years later proclaim that the movie is suddenly hated. Like it or not, this film won Best Picture in a popularity contest in Hollywood. That alone shows this movie is not hated and this inclusion on Total Film's list is a result of bias on the part of the person who produced the list, not an actual census.
Rating: Worth the hate? The little gold statue in Paul Haggis' room proves it's not hated.
- Stephenstein
Quick, how many Godzilla movies are there? 28. 29 if you count this film. To date, this is the only North American attempt in film towards Godzilla. The only one. Apparently it is so reviled, they didn't go for a round two. Deceptisean has already written pretty eloquently about this subject so I'm not going to dwell on it too much. All I'm going to do is give my perspective.
Now, when I saw the original Godzilla in theatres in 1998, did I hate the film? No. However, before you think you know how this is all going to shake down, let me add something to that fact: I had not seen a single Godzilla film or television show or anything before Godzilla. Of course I knew who Godzilla is. Godzilla is all over pop culture, he's in video games, books, board games, lunch boxes, he was in a Hanna Barbera cartoon, I mean, it's all there man, whenever you see people running in Japan and screaming, you automatically think an enormous lizard is chasing them. However, that's all I knew. So, seeing the movie, I did not immediately understand how deficient this film is.
I now own the original Godzilla, the 1954 one, not dubbed, proper subtitles. J-Man and Decepitisean have shown me a few Godzilla movies. I get it now. I get it. I understand why this movie sucks. It's just not good, it's a terrible representation both of the character and of the world of the character. The scene in Madison Square Garden with the babies? Horrendous. Terrible. There's a reason they haven't made another one -- because this movie sucked so much, they were afraid to do another one. To get it this wrong this badly is inexcusable.
So, even though I originally did not hate this film, I get the hate now. Hey, Total Film can't always be wrong. This one is easy to hate and easy to understand why people roll their eyes and spew all sorts of profane comments when this movie is mentioned. Looking back now, almost 15 years later, this movie just was a terrible, terrible representation of the source material, just a totally vapid and poorly executed film that did no justice whatsoever to the original.
Rating: Worth the hate? Absolutely.
- Stephenstein
So, Total Film tried to slip this one on us. 2 for 1! That's right, they lumped both Matrix sequels in on the most hated films of all time. Nice try, but this one seems like a slam dunk. Sure, the online internet population may hate on these two movies (something that actually annoys me...more on this later), but are these two movies really hated?
See, I wasn't that huge a fan of The Matrix. Back when it came out, everyone was pumped up for it. People emulated the look of the characters in the movie (long dark trenchcoats, wrap-around sunglasses) and the infamous bullet-time photography was spoofed and stolen all over the place. Like I said, I wasn't a huge fan...I mean, the movie was good and it had it's points for sure, I would not take that away from it, but people were all excited about this movie's action scenes, when frankly, the guy who choreographed this film had done tons of Asian films. It wasn't like he was saving his best stuff for North America or anything, it was just what he did, but no one had seen this before because quite plainly, a lot of people here are really, really ignorant about world cinema.
Anyhow, I wasn't dying for the two Matrix movies. When they came out, yeah they were boring and obtuse, it seemed to be reaching for a higher goal than the films could actually attain (or audiences were willing to put up with...I mean let's face it, people mostly remember the action scenes from the Matrix, not the religious allegories). Anywhoo, the movies made a mint at the Box Office and people seemed to be talking excitedly about the highway scene from Reloaded and the 1000 Mr. Smith fight from Revolutions. Then boom, before you know it, these movies are hated. At least, according the idjit at Total Film who came up with this list in the first place.
The fact is, there were two initial big sellers in Blu-Ray sales: The Dark Knight and The Matrix Trilogy. You can say all you want about how there wasn't much initial selections and this and that and the other thing, the fact is, people were WAITING for this film trilogy to hit Blu-Ray and they were snapped up as soon as they hit shelves. For the longest time I would wander into a store and I'd be damned if I can even find a Matrix trilogy set. When you lump in a bunch of movies with Dark Knight, you know you're getting into heady stuff. Don't give me the "they just wanted 1" thing either, because then they could have just waited for individual releases or hell, just held on to their DVD copies, I mean if they hated 2 and 3 so much, why double dip on the whole damned set?
I got a book off Deceptisean named Film Classics. It talks about (are you ready?) classic films from different eras. You know what he talks about in the book? The Matrix Series, that's right, 1, 2 and 3 and he praises all three films to the hilt. For some guy to put all three movies in a book about film classics and then have it published? To me, that's already showing that those movies aren't hated.
Rating: Worth the hate? They're not hated. Period.
- Stephenstein
