17 Critically Acclaimed Movies That "Everyone" Seems To Hate Now

[၍ᙡᗩᙢᙢᙦᖇᗠᗩᙢᒞ]

Several of us like Lists and I'm one of the worst offenders.
So when I saw 17 Critically Acclaimed Movies That "Everyone" Seems To Hate Now I felt an obligation to peruse and then post the list.

But what does the criterion even mean, anyway? Whose opinion is better, the Critics or "Everyone"? And why is "Everyone" in quotes? The emphasis seems to be on the "Now", either because sensibilities have changed, or because new information is now known about actor or scriptwriters.

Before giving the List, let me mention and recommend Crash (2004), a montage of very poignant stories. It is one of my very favorite movies althugh its IMDB rating (7.8) is lower than any other movie on my Top Fifteen.

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Each of the 17 items is accompanied with a brief blurb explaining the now-hatred. I've further abbreviated the blurbs.

1. The Blind Side (2009)
"... Back then, we hadn't heard the term 'white savior' yet, but I think that was what was bothering us."

2. Song of the South (1946)
"Song of the South won two Oscars and had one of the most iconic Disney songs in the last half of the 20th Century. Now Disney has more or less scrubbed it completely from availability."

3. Captain Phillips (2013)
"... the real-life Captain Phillips was warned to take a much wider berth ... but he wanted to save time! ... the crew was pissed the movie made him look like such a hero when the situation was basically his fault."

4. Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
"After I saw it, this was my blanket review: 'The wig designer should win an Oscar. The screenwriter should go to prison.'"

5. Forrest Gump (1994)
"Most of the recent reviews are negative; most of them cite political messaging and sappiness. I can't think of another movie with a response like that."

6. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

7. Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)
"explicit scenes ... come across as porn, and tbh, it comes off as a more hyper-sexualized depiction of lesbians than a celebration of a lesbian love story."

8. Crash (2004)
"Hey, lady! I know I sexually molested you a little while ago, but I saved your life! That means we're cool, ain't we?"

9. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
".... It was when I realized the Oscars are just a popularity contest."

10. Super Size Me (2004)
"If you do the math, you discover that he was eating a LOT more calories than he was presenting in the show, therefore ruining his entire premise. Then, it turned out those extra calories came in the form of booze..."

11. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
"Something like watching Requiem for a Dream and thinking it represented all America is."

12. The English Patient (1996)
"The English Patient never survived Seinfeld lighting it up for being long and boring."

13. Traffic (2000)
"Watched it recently... It's like a really preachy and flat episode of Narcos."

14. Bird Box (2018)
"Viral marketing at its best. My friend called it 'Astroturfing: The Movie.'"

15. Revenge of the Nerds (1984)
"It was considered one of the greatest comedies of the '80s at the time of its release. Now, given changing attitudes toward sex (specifically 'maybe revenge-porn and rape-by-deception aren't actually good subjects for a comedy'), the film is reviled. I'm not sure I can think of a single movie that had a larger drop in public opinion than that one."

16. Last Tango in Paris (1972)
"Last Tango in Paris used to be hailed as a masterpiece until the actress, Maria Schneider, spilled the beans about how scummy Brando and the director were."

17. And finally, The Birth of a Nation (1915)
"There has been a slight shift in audience sensibilities since its release."

I've seen six of the movies. I never liked Forrest Gump or Traffic, but otherwise wish to comment only on the excellent Crash.

I've heard this great film condemned as "preachy." Hunh?? I dislike preachy movies myself, but this ain't one of them.

I enjoy some movies about crime, especially if the criminals are made interesting or treated with nuance. Does that make me a criminal-lover? Does Godfather encourage the viewer to commit crimes? Michael murders in cold blood but seems to love his mother. Is that wrong? If not, how to explain an inane comment like "Hey, lady! I know I sexually molested you a little while ago, but I saved your life! That means we're cool, ain't we?"

Crash is a rich montage of interesting stories, all centered on differences of ethnicities. Yes, the Matt Damon character molests the Thandiwe Newton character, and ALTHOUGH IT OBVIOUSLY DOESN'T EXCUSE we know why he was in a very bad mood. Later he almost sacrifices his own life when saving her from certain death. She walks away shaken and confused rather than "cool."

I think the people objecting to this fine movie are only happy when a movie presents behavior only in black/white terms, or when it feeds their particular prejudices. If Matt Damon does something wrong, he should never do anything right thereafter in their sophomoric view.

[3acres]

Forrest Gump is the only one I've seen from that list. I still remember it as being ok. I don't remember any of the political messaging they object to, but yes, it was chock full of sappiness. I mean, everything that was going on back then happened to this one guy. Shrug. It didn't bother me then and it doesn't bother me now.

In the end, I don't seek deep meaning from movies - I just want to be entertained for 90 minutes or so.

[Zeener Diode]

Originally Posted by ၍ᙡᗩᙢᙢᙦᖇᗠᗩᙢᒞ

...Yes, the Matt Damon character molests the Thandiwe Newton character

It's "Matt Dillon", not Damon. (Thandiwe was "Thandie" at the time but goes by the updated spelling now.)

I had trouble with that particular scene. It touched so many triggers wrt race relations. It forced me to delve into what the writer and director were trying say. (Terrence Howard's character also presented a challenge in trying to be sympathetic while being hostile to everyone around him.) What I decided was that life is messy, all of us can be monsters in one moment and then graceful in the next.

[Swammerdami]

Originally Posted by Zeener Diode

It's "Matt Dillon", not Damon. (Thandiwe was "Thandie" at the time but goes by the updated spelling now.)

I had trouble with that particular scene. It touched so many triggers wrt race relations. It forced me to delve into what the writer and director were trying say. (Terrence Howard's character also presented a challenge in trying to be sympathetic while being hostile to everyone around him.) What I decided was that life is messy, all of us can be monsters in one moment and then graceful in the next.

Ouch! Writing "Thandiwe" proves I used Google to get the name, but somehow missed the name of the co-star. Oh well; "DamON" had most of the letters correct!

Anyway, it sounds like you liked the movie, even if it's not on your Top 15. I like some focused tear-jerkers (e.g. Titanic) but many of my favorites (Mystic River, One Flew over Cuckoo's Nest have mixed or ambiguous "messages."


ETA: I'm not a total ignoramus and am well aware of both Dillon and Damon. I just suffered a brain fart (or a short-circuit with similar names sharing brain synapses?)

[Slate]

I've only seen five: Phillips, Gump, Crash, Traffic and Nerds. I don't care to re-watch any of those, nor do I have any desire to check out the others. Maybe there's something to the list, although not all of them were 'highly acclaimed.'

[hajario]

When I first saw Forrest Gump I thought it was an irredeemable pile of stinking shit and my opinion remains the same.

[Radical Edward]

I have only seen two of these and hated them. The others don't sound appealing.

ETA: Ok, I didn't hate The Force Awakens. It was fun, it had plenty of action and some good new characters. I do have two very specific beefs with it tho.

1. Luke Skywalker is the kind of guy who finds out his friends are in trouble and rushes across the galaxy to save them even after being warned by swamp hermits and ghosts that he's probably going to get killed. He is NOT the kind of guy who goes and hides from the Big Bad on an island in New Zealand.

2. Han Solo is a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them. He does not just walk up to bad guys with light sabers. I do not care if the bad guy is his son. I know Harrison Ford ONLY AGREED to come back for this movie if they would kill him, but they should have found a better way. This does not fit with his character whatsoever.

[AHunter3]

I've seen a few of these. I liked Bohemian Rhapsody decently well, and quite liked Shakespeare in Love; didn't care for Forrest Gump and was very disappointed by Revenge of the Nerds (wtf, nerdy guy ends up with popular sorority-type girl? what about the nerdy girls? why don't the boy nerds and the girl nerds link up and turn their backs on the popular crows? );

Birth of a Nation was exactly as it's described, a pro-Nazi propaganda piece.

I saw Song of the South as a kid and again as an adult; the only really wince-inducing scene is the broad cheerful smile of James Baskett when he first appears, it really evokes "happy slave"; overall it's not as horridly racist a film as it's made out to be, unless sins of omission count. I mean, Uncle Tom's Cabin it ain't, but it's no worse than Gone With the Wind, maybe less so.

[Bashorian Clement]

It's hip in some circles to hate on popular culture. Always has been.

[Management]

My pick for current film, up for an Oscar even, that will lose its critical sheen over time: Saltburn.

Oh poor England, still struggling with those old class issues. Didn't they already make this movie several times over, and better, in the 50s, 60s and 70s? O Lucky Man, The Ruling Class, Morgan!, that one with Albert Finney, in fact lots of ones with Albert Finney...

This one differs at least in that the wealthy weirdos are matched with a prole weirdo.