High-profile / classic movies one's never seen

[Fading Fast]

(Beta tested in the "What Was the Last Movie You Watched" thread)

I will admit (with some embarrassment) that I've never seen all of "West Side Story" as I am always bored out of my mind when I try. It's not because it's a stylized musical - I love "The Sound of Music" and like "Singin' in the Rain." There is just something about the style of the movie that I can't engage with, at all. I've tried at least five times.

And I have others that it is embarrassing to admit I haven't seen - which I'll do if this thread builds out.

 

[Stanley Doble]

What is wrong with not watching a movie? It isn't mandatory. Why shouldn't tastes differ in movies as in anything else?

There are lots of movies I can't stand including almost everything made in the last 50 years. There are some movies I should like and just don't.

For example I just bought 2 albums of Will Rogers movies. 1930s comedies which I usually enjoy, even the bad ones. But I am sure I will never watch these. I watched 2 of them and they didn't hand me a single laugh, plus I can't stand Rogers' rube persona. For some reason he rubs me the wrong way and his movies aren't funny.

While I am at it I might as well make myself a complete pariah by admitting that I don't know what anybody sees in Robin Williams. To me he is the modern Danny Kaye, both obviously trying very hard to be funny, without succeeding.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I watched about half an hour of "Lawrence of Arabia" and walked out. Didn't do a damn thing for me.

"The Godfather" turned my stomach.

I fell asleep halfway thru "2001: A Space Odyssey."

 

[2jakes]

" In Cold Blood " (1967)


I was away from home for the first time . I went to see the only movie available
@ the local military base theater.


What was I thinking ? :eusa_doh:

 

[Fading Fast]

I watched about half an hour of "Lawrence of Arabia" and walked out. Didn't do a damn thing for me.

"The Godfather" turned my stomach.

I fell asleep halfway thru "2001: A Space Odyssey."

"Lawrence of Arabia:" took me until the second viewing to appreciate the sweep of the movie and the conflicted passion he had as a Englishman sympathizing with the Arab world. My favorite David Lean movie is "Brief Encounter" followed by "Dr Zhivago" and, then, "Lawrence of Arabia," but he had some real clunkers as well.

"Godfather:" Not your thing, but blew me away right away and every time since.

"2001:" I didn't even make it half way

 

[2jakes]

" 2001 Space Odyssey ". I loved the music but fell asleep after the opening scenes.


" The Good, the Bad & the Ugly ".

I missed the first showing at the base theater. I stayed for the next showing later that night.

It was very late when I got to my barracks. I missed my flight which went down & all perished.

I owe Clint a Thank You !

 

[Big J]

I enjoyed Lawrence of Arabia, biting social commentary on British attitudes of the era, and the inability of the arab world to get beyond tribalism is as relevant now as it was then. Of course, great music and cinematography.

2001 is also a classic and deep with layers of meaning, hints, and clues, which are always lost on those expecting to be spoon fed.

 

[Worf]

My list of "never seen it's" off the top of my haid.

"China Town"
"The China Syndrome"
"Coming Home"
"Network"
"Mr. Holland's Opus"
"Tron"
"Silent Running"
"Last Tango in Paris"
"A Streetcar Named Desire"
"Sophie's Choice"
"Ordinary People"
"Little Big Man"
"The Wild Bunch"

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Worf

 

[ChiTownScion]

I watched about half an hour of "Lawrence of Arabia" and walked out. Didn't do a damn thing for me.

"The Godfather" turned my stomach.

I fell asleep halfway thru "2001: A Space Odyssey."

"2001" was a hard one for me to grasp. Read the book and had to view the film 3 more times before I finally, "got it." Then I saw "2010: The Year We Made Contact" and discovered that my interpretation was light years off course.

I read Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" before I saw the film and loved the book. In fact, Don Vito Corleone's advice to Tom Hagan ("One lawyer with a briefcase can steal more money than a hundred men with guns.") is what inspired me to become an attorney: not because of any desire to purloin the cash of others, but because it addressed a potential to do good. I thought that if the practice of law could be a way to do something unsavory, like steal money, why not acquire those skills and knowledge so that they could be utilized for good, such as benefitting those in need? (The Don's line never made it to the screen.)

Lawrence of Arabia is one of those films that bored me when I first saw it as a kid ( 8 years old) but I had the opportunity to see after I had taken several history courses and read up a bit on the historical context.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Lawrence of Arabia is one of those films that bored me when I first saw it as a kid ( 8 years old) but I had the opportunity to see after I had taken several history courses and read up a bit on the historical context.

Thing was, I already knew the history when I went to see it. I just didn't buy the movie they made of it -- it was too grandiose and full of itself for me to invest in any of the characters.

In general I don't like movies that go out of their way to impress me with their own importance. Epics, for the most part, leave me ice cold.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My list of "never seen it's" off the top of my haid.

"China Town"
"The China Syndrome"
"Coming Home"
"Network"
"Mr. Holland's Opus"
"Tron"
"Silent Running"
"Last Tango in Paris"
"A Streetcar Named Desire"
"Sophie's Choice"
"Ordinary People"
"Little Big Man"
"The Wild Bunch"

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Worf

With the exception of "Network," which is one of my all-time favorite pictures, I have also never seen any title on your list. I was tempted to see "Chinatown," but I made the mistake of reading the "Mad" magazine parody first, and realized I would never be able to take it seriously.

 

[Zombie_61]

...I love "The Sound of Music" and like "Singin' in the Rain."...

Those are two movies I haven't seen, and probably never will because I have a strong dislike of most musicals. I don't have a problem with movies being "escapist" entertainment, but it's beyond my abilities to suspend disbelief to accept people suddenly breaking into song and dance.

Another movie that comes to mind is Gone With the Wind. This movie I'll probably never see because I dated a girl in high school who loved it so much that it and Vivien Leigh were just about the only two things she ever talked about (when she wasn't talking about Bette Davis or the L.A. Dodgers, that is). I heard so much about Gone With the Wind that I felt like I had seen it; to this day the mere mention of it makes me feel slightly nauseated.

I know there are others, but they're not coming to mind at the moment.

 

[Fading Fast]

My list of "never seen it's" off the top of my haid.

"China Town"
"The China Syndrome"
"Coming Home"
"Network"
"Mr. Holland's Opus"
"Tron"
"Silent Running"
"Last Tango in Paris"
"A Streetcar Named Desire"
"Sophie's Choice"
"Ordinary People"
"Little Big Man"
"The Wild Bunch"

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Worf

"Ordinary People" is one depressing movie. We were assigned the book in high school, then had a class trip to see the movie (which was the only time in my life that happened - the teacher was a bit obsessed with it) and I've seen the movie a couple of times since. Is it good - yes. The acting is outstanding, the movie captures some deep interpersonal relationships and the aguish of dealing with losing a child. Also it highlights how some families have brutal under-the-surface anger and game playing. But again, it is aggressively depressing. I will not watch it (or "Leaving Las Vegas") again for that reason - those movies hang over me for days when I see them.

Is "Tron" a classic - I had to look it up as I didn't even know what it was?

 

[Edward]

I hate 'Sound of Music'. Those precocious kids grated so much they had me rooting for the Nazis.

2001 was tripe, at least an hour too long. On form, Kubrick was brilliant, but any worse and thwt one cojld easily have been attributed to a hack like Spielberg, who only ever made a decent film by accident.

I've never seen 'Gone with the Wind', and I harbour no shame for that.

 

[2jakes]

Another movie that comes to mind is Gone With the Wind. I heard so much about Gone With the Wind that I felt like I had seen it.

Remove GWTW & insert "Raiders of the Lost Ark" for the same reason.


I went to see "Song of the South" as a kid...don't remember much about it except...

"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" & fell asleep....Thank Goodness !

 

[Fading Fast]

I don't know if it is a classic, but "Meet Me in St. Louis" is one I have never seen for three reasons:

(1) In general, I avoid musicals (with some notable exceptions)

(2) In general, I don't like amped-up technicolor as I am turned off by its loudness and that, early on at least, they also chose insanely loud and inaccurate colors for costumes, scenery, etc. to emphasize its technocolor-ness

(3) I cannot stand that one clip they always show from the movie (in documentaries and retrospectives, etc.) where Judy Garland sings (with her head and eyes bouncing all over the place):

Clang, clang, clang, went the trolley
Ding, ding, ding, went the bell
Zing, zing, zing, went my heartstrings...

Her over-emoting on those lyrics reminds me of bad stage acting

 

[W-D Forties]

I have never seen much of Mr Disney's classic output including Snow White and Bambi.(plus any of the more recent ones with the 'Disney Princesses' in). They were only on the pictures when I was a kid and my mum was too mean to take me!

 

[2jakes]

I'm sorry that you missed seeing Snow White as a kid. !

Full length animated movies was new back then in my town
& my folks had never seen one. The scary part was when
the wicked queen turns into a witch.
I watched it again as an adult recently. And I'm glad to have seen it
as a kid with a youthful "imagination" .



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Smithy]

I've never seen The Godfather, Gone with the Wind, Grease, The Maltese Falcon (which is probably tantamount to heresy round here! I actually want to see it but always miss it when they play it on the telly).

2001 is utter rubbish. I'd rather watch 2 hours of non-stop television commercials than watch it again. You wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The Maltese Falcon
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves