For some years now, I haven't cared for Pixar films, and even puzzled over the critical high praise that the occasional one still achieves. (See Inside Out - which is on my mental list of the most undeservedly over-praised movies of all time*.)
But it has one out now on a Mexican theme, and I've been feeling increasingly interested in all things about that nation and culture for years, so I think I should probably see it. Christopher Orr in The Atlantic thinks so, but then again, while he also has noted the decline of Pixar, he thinks it's not as good as Inside Out. (?) What's a reader of movie reviews supposed to do?
* OK, lets get some of those title down on the record:
Forest Gump: don't exactly hate it, but found it basically glum and depressing and just couldn't see the point. Sometimes eccentric movies are worth it just for the eccentricity - not this time.
The Godfather: noted here before that I only finally saw recently on streaming TV, and found abundant flaws in the story and acting that left me very surprised at how it maintains its status. Again, not terrible terrible, just puzzlingly over praised.
Unforgiven: hated it. Only viewed it once, when released at the cinema; immediately puzzled about what critics saw in it from a directorial or story point of view. I don't think I had even evolved my full blown dismissal of Clint Eastwood as bringing anything of value to cinema at that time - this movie was probably the start of it.
Inside Out: not emotionally resonate or funny at all; other audience members seemed to me pretty bored too, yet it was seriously praised by the great majority of American critics in particular. Don't get it.
Chariots of Fire: a simple, simple story: so simple what was the freaking point of telling it? High praise evidence only of the disproportionate effect a memorable theme can have on a movie's reception. Otherwise, it really was an incredibly slight film.
The Truman Show: contains no redeeming value at all. Look, I consider reality TV to be pretty awful and don't watch it; but making a whole movie (as opposed to, say, a 30 minute Twilight Zone exercise) about how cruel and awful it could become and how our hero will endeavour to escape it has to contain some plausibility and not just be a fantasy exercise for it to work. This movie doesn't. I found it such an awful waste of my time that (I'm embarrassed to say), I actually expressed my disagreement to a stranger I was walking past on the way out of the cinema who was praising it to his girlfriend. They slipped away quietly, not willing to engage in critical debate. Sorry about that...
The Piano: come on, surely you have to have two X chromosomes to think this is the most brilliant movie? I've no problem with stories from a female perspective, but there was just something so overwhelmingly, blatantly "I'm a woman director putting a strong, resilient woman's story on screen" about this whole exercise it felt like the male audience was being punished, or frozen out, or something. (To be honest, I remember little about the story - am more remembering some of my reaction and discussion with female friend I saw it with at the time.) Oddly, my mother didn't mind it - but of course, she has the chromosomes for it.
Ghostbusters (the original): well, I only add this because of the nutty enthusiasm for it of alt.righters into attacking last year's OK-ish female version. From memory, the original wasn't that big a hit with critics, and I would certainly agree that it wasn't really all that funny, although basically harmless. Fast forward to 2016 and it seems that a certain group of males (admittedly, nutty obnoxious ones with no sense of proportion) seem to think it was comedy gold that was the most meaningful experience of their childhood. Weird.
Update:
Silence of the Lambs: not offensively bad, just that I found it not particularly scary, tense or engaging. I couldn't see was particularly well directed, either. Teaches you that a movie can be remembered for just once sequence - her first visit to Hannibal. The rest of it - couldn't see the reason for any praise, and have never watched it a second time.
That's it for now - must come back to expand this list as I recall more.
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