Films that make you go yeah!

[yello]

Many years back, I lived in the US for a year. I watched quite a lot of made for TV movies. Some of them, particularly HBO ones as I recall, where surprisingly good. Ok, they'd maybe not win Oscars or anything but my point is that they'd never even be in the frame. There's a huge pool of films that are generally overlooked.

Saw one recently (I buy cheap ex-rental DVDs) - 'Riding In Cars With Boys' with Drew Barrymore. A surprisingly entertaining and capable film. I reckon there are loads of such films.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

being another who takes little notice of what the critics says...
Crouching tiger, hidden dragon
Leon

 

[Ron-da-Valli]

Godfather III

 

[goo_mason]

Amelie
Blue Velvet
Gregory's Girl

to name but a few!

 

[Dave Davenport]

Crackle mentioned one in the other thread: Funny Bones. It has Jerry Lewis and Lee Evans in it, and I remember Evans doing a very clever manic funny turn at the apex of the story. I think it bombed, and I don't know what I'd think of it now, but it seemed like a little gem.

Only seen it once, years ago but thought it was good. Quite dark.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Oldboy. It's just awesome.

Stunning film, the other two in the trilogy('ish) weren't anything special though.

 

[Custom24]

I think people are failing to read the bit about the film getting bad reviews on release but which you think are good.

Yes I think you're right. Although one of my choices, Gattaca, is actually quite well thought of nowadays. At the time it was released, I remember it didn't go very well.

 

[User169]

Sorry, you've lost me...

GGATACA is presumably intended to be a piece of DNA sequence. When the film first came out, I was working in a genetics lab and we wondered if the sequence had any significance.

Restriction enzymes are enzymes which cleave DNA at or near to specific recognition sites and GGATACA looks a bit like one of those sequences. However, restriction enzymes typically recognize palindromic sequences, i.e. a sequence which reads the same both ways (forward sequence is the same as the reverse complement). So, in the case of EcoRV for example, if you pair up 5'-GATATC-3' with the complementary bases, you get 3'-CTATAG-5'. Switch that around and you get 5'-GATATC-3'. GGATACA isn't palindromic, so you can pretty quickly tell that it likely isn't a restriction enzyme recognition site.

Maybe the film-makers intentionally chose something "meaningless", to annoy the nerds. To be honest, this is all I can remember about the film.

 

[Custom24]

GGATACA is presumably intended to be a piece of DNA sequence. When the film first came out, I was working in a genetics lab and we wondered if the sequence had any significance.

Restriction enzymes are enzymes which cleave DNA at or near to specific recognition sites and GGATACA looks a bit like one of those sequences. However, restriction enzymes typically recognize palindromic sequences, i.e. a sequence which reads the same both ways (forward sequence is the same as the reverse complement). So, in the case of EcoRV for example, if you pair up 5'-GATATC-3' with the complementary bases, you get 3'-CTATAG-5'. Switch that around and you get 5'-GATATC-3'. GGATACA isn't palindromic, so you can pretty quickly tell that it likely isn't a restriction enzyme recognition site.

Maybe the film-makers intentionally chose something "meaningless", to annoy the nerds. To be honest, this is all I can remember about the film.

Thanks for the reply. The film is actually spelled GATTACA, but I guess since that isn't palindromic either, it doesn't make any difference.

I'm not a biochemist, so your first reply was a bit cryptic. I thought EcoRV was some sort of Environmentally friendly recreational vehicle!

 

[MontyVeda]

...

I'll start things off

Gattaca - one of my favourite ever films. OK, so the acting is a bit wooden, but only in the sense that the romantic chemistry isn't there. The concept (as in the implications for the future), the story and the music I really love.
...

Great fan of Gattaca too... I think in such a story, in such a society, 'wooden' acting adds to the sense of paranoia.

...

Magnolia - Superb ensemble cast and includes Tom Cruise doing some actual acting!!! The soundtrack by Aimee Mann is brilliant.

...

Not a fan of Cruise but he suited his role in Magnolia perfectly... was he acting, or just being himself? Magnolia is probably his best performance after Legend

THX1138.... kind of 'meh' but it has cracking ending

 

[Deleted member 23692]

Boondock Saints. Panned by the critics on release and did poorly in cinemas but became a classic on DVD

 

[Herbie]

I see this forum has a propensity for pairs of opposite threads, so in response to the "Films that make you go meh" thread, I've created this one.

I'm not sure what the opposite of "meh" is, but here I mean a film that you don't understand why the reviews were so poor, when you love it.

I'll start things off

Gattaca - one of my favourite ever films. OK, so the acting is a bit wooden, but only in the sense that the romantic chemistry isn't there. The concept (as in the implications for the future), the story and the music I really love.
Machine Gun Preacher - I really can't see what is wrong with this. A fascinating and moving true story, and I didn't see anything wrong with Gerard Butler's performance.

The series of Tremors films....they were kinda cool and funny especially the first two

 

[Stringy Bob]

This is Spinal Tap.

It goes up to 11

 

[Custom24]

This is Spinal Tap.

It goes up to 11

The problem with that film is that over the years I'd heard most of the jokes from people who had seen it, such that when I finally got round to watching it, it was a let down. It's a problem with oft-quoted films, similar to the Python ones.