A-List: Overrated Movies

By Josh Spiegel

May 28, 2009

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Every movie is bound to have its detractors. Some movies will have far more detractors than those who love them, but there's always a few films that a vocal minority actively hate. Yes, the overrated movie is an archetype of Hollywood and has been for many years. Every once in a while, a major publication will come out with its list of overrated movies, which only will spur on plenty of online vitriol. Most people will be just plain shocked that a supposed classic like Gone With The Wind tops the most recent list compiled by Premiere Magazine, whereas others will want to know why their least liked movie didn't top the list.

So, is this week's A-List merely out to make you get so riled up that you fire off some e-mails towards the Box Office Prophets Web site? Well, no, but feel free. There are only five films in this list, meaning that the likelihood that your pick for the most overrated movie of all time probably isn't on the list. Obviously, this list doesn't extend to films I haven't seen, so a movie like the aforementioned Gone With The Wind won't be appearing (though it will likely make for a fine Classic Movie Review choice one of these days) among these famous five flicks.




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Also, let's be honest, if anyone out there reads this whole list and agrees with it 100 percent, I might be a little bit creeped out. Now, granted, it's not that these movies are among the most obscure films (for the obvious reasons), but my disdain and, at some times, hatred for these movies would seem a bit too personal to extend to loyal readers. Either way, by even creating this list, I'm aware that I will draw ire from some for including one of their beloved films here and there, so fire away if need be. So, let's get to it. Here's the A-List's look at some of the most overrated movies ever made.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Here's a movie that I've grown to accept without truly enjoying it. As a Blu-ray owner, I have this 1968 sci-fi epic, directed by the late Stanley Kubrick, in my library of movies. So why is it overrated to me? Why own a movie I put on this list? Where to begin? 2001: A Space Odyssey is long, meandering, slow, too in love with its visuals, filled with bland and unmemorable performances, and just all-around bad. Its visuals, though, are impressive, and when you key it up on a high-def TV, it's hard not to be impressed, especially considering that some of these special effects were revolutionary for their time. How does a movie like 2001 make images like men floating around helplessly in space or a large black monolith seem so striking and disturbing while making me fall asleep? Yes, I know the first 30 minutes of the movie, which shows a bunch of guys dressed as monkeys walking around a desolate landscape, is meant to show how man evolved from a savage into someone who wanted to learn the unknowable while still retaining that savage streak. But it's 30 minutes. 30 minutes of guys dressed as monkeys. The story doesn't get interesting in the slightest until the closest thing to a villain, HAL 9000, shows up. What a statement, purposeful or otherwise, that HAL is the most interesting character in the film, eh? Watching the human characters barely talk, barely even breathe, and be as mundane as possible is...well, it's mundane. I've seen 2001 more than once, but it always sends me off to a nice slumber, special effects be damned.


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