Movies that surprised you.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Anyone watch a movie and expect it to be poor or completely not your kind of movie and be totally turned around by it?

Mine is The Greatest Showman. My wife and kids raved about it and always said it was so good which I accepted but thought it was a kids movie and something I’d have no interest in. Anyway last weekend they decided to watch it again and pleaded with me to watch it with them so I reluctantly agreed.

I couldn’t get over how good it was, great story which keeps you interested right from the start and Hugh Jackman’s singing is amazing (I’d been a fan of his from X-Men/Wolverine) but never knew he had such a great voice and the music is very moving/powerful!

I said to them today that we should watch it again so we have a movie afternoon planned for tomorrow again.

Rubberlegs

A Star is Born, thought it was going to be a full on musical with people bursting into song every few minutes. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
I thought I would hate Apocolypto because of the subtitles but I really liked it.

BDI

I seen a grown man recommending a film I thought was for girls and said to myself maybe I should check it out maybe its not all that bad.

Then later I heard same guy was a fan of Hugh jackman from his x men days and decided that maybe the greatest showman is in fact a film for little girls after all.

I’ve been meaning to rewatch the wire.

Sir Osis of Liver.

Watched Hotel Mumbai recently half expecting it to be a Bollywood style production with random dance scenes in between the shootings and bombing scenes.

ArchXStanton

La Haine, normally black and white films turn me off instantly, but it added to the impact of it in this case

Mad_maxx

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Anyone watch a movie and expect it to be poor or completely not your kind of movie and be totally turned around by it?

Mine is The Greatest Showman. My wife and kids raved about it and always said it was so good which I accepted but thought it was a kids movie and something I’d have no interest in. Anyway last weekend they decided to watch it again and pleaded with me to watch it with them so I reluctantly agreed.

I couldn’t get over how good it was, great story which keeps you interested right from the start and Hugh Jackman’s singing is amazing (I’d been a fan of his from X-Men/Wolverine) but never knew he had such a great voice and the music is very moving/powerful!


I said to them today that we should watch it again so we have a movie afternoon planned for tomorrow again.

Awful sh1te

Ficheall

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Anyone watch a movie and expect it to be poor or completely not your kind of movie and be totally turned around by it?

Mine is The Greatest Showman. My wife and kids raved about it and always said it was so good which I accepted but thought it was a kids movie and something I’d have no interest in. Anyway last weekend they decided to watch it again and pleaded with me to watch it with them so I reluctantly agreed.

I couldn’t get over how good it was, great story which keeps you interested right from the start and Hugh Jackman’s singing is amazing (I’d been a fan of his from X-Men/Wolverine) but never knew he had such a great voice and the music is very moving/powerful!

I said to them today that we should watch it again so we have a movie afternoon planned for tomorrow again.

And on the other side of the blackboard; movies that you expected might achieve mediocrity, but instead turned out to be dogshite.

vicM

The Wall

Kept seeing it come up my movies section of prime but never paid much attention to it. Couldn't see how a man pinned behind a wall by a sniper could hold for an hour

Finally watched and was surprised at how engrossing it was

JohnnyFlash

I, Tonya.

Wasn’t expecting much, but was very surprised at how funny and poignant it was.

Gwynplaine

Suicide Squad. Was looking forward to it, had high hopes, thought it would be brilliant. An absolute stinker. Jared Leto was an abomination. I felt embarrassed watching it. Should be deleted from history.

peasant

Stan & Ollie

Expecting mediocre slapstick "humour" and instead got a very good story of enduring friendship and professionalism. Considering the cast you get surprisingly little comedy, but your heart gets most thoroughly warmed in the least cheesy way possible.

Canis Lupus

Gwynplaine wrote: »

Suicide Squad. Was looking forward to it, had high hopes, thought it would be brilliant. An absolute stinker. Jared Leto was an abomination. I felt embarrassed watching it. Should be deleted from history.

I couldn't believe what I was watching. Turned it off after 30 minutes or so. Absolute car crash.

cumulonimbus

vicM wrote: »

The Wall

Kept seeing it come up my movies section of prime but never paid much attention to it. Couldn't see how a man pinned behind a wall by a sniper could hold for an hour

Finally watched and was surprised at how engrossing it was

Same thing for Phone Booth starring Colin Farrell. I thought a movie about a man pinned in a phone booth by a sniper sounded as exciting as watching paint dry. Turns out it was actually pretty good.

Notmything

Brightburn, pleasantly surprised by it in a good way.

Otoh, The dead don't die, got caught up in the hype and the cast. Bitterly disappointed by it.

Sir Osis of Liver.

cumulonimbus wrote: »

Same thing for Phone Booth starring Colin Farrell. I thought a movie about a man pinned in a phone booth by a sniper sounded as exciting as watching paint dry. Turns out it was actually pretty good.

Would put Phone Booth in the same class of a film as Locke.
Equally sh1te except with Tom Hardy in a BMW X5.
An hour and a half I'll never get back.

griffin100

The Devil Wears Prada.

I’m a middle aged man.....WTF? My wife thinks it’s hilarious that I like it.

I don’t know what it is.......the clothes, the feel good story.......As a heterosexual man I’d like to think it’s my horn for Emily Blunt.

Plumbthedepths

Mama Mia, wife wanted to see it. So I dutifully accompanied her to the cinema. Have always hated musicals but I despite myself enjoyed it. Terrible story, dreadful acting in places, but ABBA tunes. So bad it was good.

Annurca Apples

Rubberlegs wrote: »

A Star is Born, thought it was going to be a full on musical with people bursting into song every few minutes. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
I thought I would hate Apocolypto because of the subtitles but I really liked it.

I struggle to think of a movie I enjoyed more than Apocolytpo, such a great movie that seems to have been forgotten about, it's a masterpiece.

rockatansky

vicM wrote: »

The Wall

Kept seeing it come up my movies section of prime but never paid much attention to it. Couldn't see how a man pinned behind a wall by a sniper could hold for an hour

Finally watched and was surprised at how engrossing it was

Along the very same lines - Tom Hardy in Locke.

A guy, driving a car for the entire film. How could it be any good? Passed it over and over until I had simply watched everything else and begrudgingly put it on expecting to fall asleep after 10 minutes.

Watched it, thought it was outstanding.

statesaver

Black 47. Didn't expect much but really enjoyed it.

Marty Xavier

Plumbthedepths wrote: »

Mama Mia, wife wanted to see it. So I dutifully accompanied her to the cinema. Have always hated musicals but I despite myself enjoyed it. Terrible story, dreadful acting in places, but ABBA tunes. So bad it was good.

Along wit Sex in the City 2 , this is the worst film I've ever endured.

Love the Devil wears Prada, apart from the boyfriend who is a tool.

EmmetSpiceland

Marty Xavier wrote: »

Love the Devil wears Prada, apart from the boyfriend who is a tool.

Spot on. He was a tool. But, to be fair, the movie had some terrible “messages” in it.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Annurca Apples wrote: »

I struggle to think of a movie I enjoyed more than Apocolytpo, such a great movie that seems to have been forgotten about, it's a masterpiece.

I have been meaning to watch this since it came out but always figured I wouldn’t really like it but I’ll give a chance before judging it.

Homelander

Mean Girls. Was dragged to it by a girlfriend and couldn't wait for it to be over before it had even started, but it was actually pretty good. Obviously, loads of movies surprise me, but that was one in particular I would have rather have sat staring at a wall for 90 minutes before actually seeing it.

Relikk

Under the Silver Lake. Completely absurd, funny in places and very entertaining.

recyclops

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

I have been meaning to watch this since it came out but always figured I wouldn’t really like it but I’ll give a chance before judging it.

Apocolypto is so good that I was in a hostel in Barcelona and watched it from start to finish with Spanish subs and still knew exactly what was goin on and loved it. Absolute gem.

Noveight

Always have been a fan of werewolf/wolf films, so when I saw the thumbnail for Hold the Dark on Netflix I gave it a go.

An awful, awful movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFAwDO6b5KI

buckwheat

P.S. I Love You

I mean I knew it would be **** but Jebus ****ing Christ I was genuinely taken aback by how toe curlingly bad it was. Even herself wanted to leave but I made her sit through it to teach her a valuable lesson. Worst thing I've ever seen.

Wayne Jarvis

I saw Joker today. With all the hype and the 5/5, 10/10, "It's a masterpiece" reviews I decided to give it a go. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece but I also wasn't expecting to find it as boring as I did. It was quite dull really.


On the other end I love really good spoof movies Airplane, The Naked Gun, Loaded Weapon etc.. There is a spoof movie called Not Another Teen Movie that was made by MTV in the early 2000's that I thought would be shíte because it was made by MTV but actually was really funny.

Annurca Apples

Guy Person wrote: »

I saw Joker today. With all the hype and the 5/5, 10/10, "It's a masterpiece" reviews I decided to give it a go. I wasn't expecting a masterpiece but I also wasn't expecting to find it as boring as I did. It was quite dull really.

What exactly were you expecting that was absent?

Wayne Jarvis

Annurca Apples wrote: »

What exactly were you expecting that was absent?

I don't want to spoil it by saying what I didn't like about it but I had no expectations really, we just wanted to watch a good movie on a Saturday Afternoon. We knew it was similar in style to Taxi Driver and it was but we still just found it dull.

Deebles McBeebles

The Crying Game.

One eyed Jack

Sex and the City.

The first time I watched it when it came out and I thought it was awful shìte. It was on the other night and there wasn’t much else on so I gave it a go. I actually surprised myself seeing it from an entirely different perspective, and I’m not even ashamed to admit it!


Well, maybe a small bit

blue note

Argo really surprised me. I had somehow gotten it into my head that Ben Affleck played a drug dealer (possibly drug lord) in it. Then I saw him in the FBI and thought the SOB is hiding in plain sight. I wondered for the first 30 minutes how all this Iranian stuff was going to tie in. Probably took another 30 to fully accept that I had the film mixed up with something else.

It was very distracting watching a film and trying to figure that out!

isohon

Good Surprises:

The first Shrek movie. Sister and I ended up wandering into the cinema to kill time after my mother was delayed collecting us. Honestly laughed till I hurt.

Wall-e, expected it to be 'just another kids' movie' but it was brilliant and affecting.

Jarhead, thought it was going to be trash, it is still one of my favourite films.

Bad Surprises:

Sweeny Todd, just abysmal never could look at Johnny Depp the same again, or Tim Burton's subsequent films.

Brokeback Mountain, it had its moments for sure, but mostly it was just boring.

SEPT 23 1989

The Elton john movie

Not a big fan like a few of his songs

But I thought it was a good film

Way better than the Queen one

ziedth

Into the Spiderverse I just brought my 7 year old kid too thinking I would enjoy it along the same lines that say I enjoyed Despicable me. A smirk here and there kinda thing.

However, about half an hour or so in I remember saying to myself "****ing hell this is excellent"..... hasn't happened very often apart from that as I usually have a pretty good idea of a film before I go in. I have been caught out a good few times thinking a film would be good and turn out ****e mind

cj maxx

Midnight run . I'd never heard of it and it came on tv ( years ago) thought it very funny.
Also another movie I'd never heard of at the time ' the killing fields'. I remember 'imagine ' at the end and thinking 'wow'
I was a teenager then !

Quantum Erasure

Flash of Genius, good sunday afternoon viewing

When college professor and part-time inventor Robert Kearns (Greg Kinnear) develops an intermittent windshield wiper, he believes he will be set for life. Though the invention is a big hit with automakers in 1960s Detroit, Kearns finds himself forced out of the picture. Determined to collect the recognition and financial reward due him, he wages an arduous legal battle with the auto industry.

steves2

Annurca Apples wrote: »

I struggle to think of a movie I enjoyed more than Apocolytpo, such a great movie that seems to have been forgotten about, it's a masterpiece.

Apocalypto is a great film, I thinkel Gibson's profile means a film like that is overlooked.

black_and_blue

Whatever happened to baby Jane?

It's a black and white movie and not my thing but this movie was good and sad at the same time.

It was about two child stars that were sisters, one doing good and other not so much. By the time they were adults, the roles reversed and then the sister not doing well got jealous, knocked her sister down in an accident. The sister ended up in a wheelchair and other sister locks her up in a room and treats her cruelly in their house while she tries to get famous again.

It's real psychotic and classed as a horror movie which is never my thing. But having a narcissistic family, I've watched more and more movies like this since becoming aware of the abuse that I had to go through.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Homelander wrote: »

Mean Girls. Was dragged to it by a girlfriend and couldn't wait for it to be over before it had even started, but it was actually pretty good. Obviously, loads of movies surprise me, but that was one in particular I would have rather have sat staring at a wall for 90 minutes before actually seeing it.

Mean Girls being good didn’t surprise me. Tina Fey was involved. Plus Lindsay Lohen was quite a charming actress.

Qrt

Hustlers.

Just saw it in the cinema, ****ing loved it.

cj maxx

Napoleon dynamite

Ipso

steves2 wrote: »

Annurca Apples wrote: »

I struggle to think of a movie I enjoyed more than Apocolytpo, such a great movie that seems to have been forgotten about, it's a masterpiece.

Apocalypto is a great film, I thinkel Gibson's profile means a film like that is overlooked.

Subtitles didn’t help.

robertpatterson

Ipso wrote: »

Subtitles didn’t help.

You'd find it hard to follow the plotline if they weren't there ...

Beanntraigheach

"True Grit" - the 1969 version with John Wayne.
I've never really been much into the older westerns, but I'd seen "The Searchers" not long before and thought that was pretty good so I decided to give it a go.
The focus is more on the characters, each fascinatingly eccentric, and the development of their relationship rather than the adventure they set out on itself. I found it greatly entertaining, endearing too in a way. Certainly one I'd recommend to others (including to those usually uninterested in westerns).

ToddyDoody

The Covenant. I don't think it was released here but the writers / directors made absolutely sure not to miss any oportunity for homoerotic appeal.

From wikipedia:

'The film, despite receiving very negative reviews, was a moderate box office success.'

Danonino.

There’s been a lot but one that comes to mind instantly is American Made. Absolutely loved it.

byronbay2

LA LA Land.

Romantic comedy jazz musical about Hollywood!!! Thought (indeed, assumed) it would be absolutely terrible but was the first American movie for a looong time that pleasantly surprised me! The 2 leads (Gosling and Stone) were excellent and had real chemistry together. The musical numbers (I HATE musicals, except for Willy Wonka) worked well within the movie and were catchy. Most importantly, they didn't do the ridiculous tacked-on happy ending that EVERY American movie does!

Kudos to LA LA Land - great movie.

Andrewf20

ArchXStanton wrote: »

La Haine, normally black and white films turn me off instantly, but it added to the impact of it in this case

La Haine is absolute class. Vincent Cassels other famous film Irreversible was surprising also. Heavy going but i loved it. Really stayed with me after.

Dead mans shoes blew me away. A top 10 film of all time despite a mediocre score on rotten tomatoes from the critics.

Also Brooklyn...

Despite all the hype at the time, I was surprised to find that it was as bland and manicured as you could possibly get. Every scene is ever so nice, with everyone one well dressed, cars always clean on the street etc. Very banal.