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Post by marshamae on Sept 15, 2021 13:54:15 GMT
This is a spin-off of lune’s excellent thread about genres we avoid and why. The list of genres may grow but many of us have one or two films within the despised genre that are not only watchable but positive favorites. What 1 or 2 films do you like , DESPITE your general dislike of the type. Then if possible, what makes that film interesting despite disliking the genre?
i will go first with an example
WESTERNS - The Big Country - I generally don’t enjoy westerns but The Big Country is a favorite film. First , really outstanding performances by all , especially Burl Ives. Second The smoldering presence of Charlton Heston at his male animal best. Third , I always like a film where the brunette gets the guy. Finally, all the characters were a little more than their stereotypes, the configurations of allies and enemies kept shifting and in so doing, revealed interesting inconsistencies and depths of character. No one was quite, or only, what they seemed at first.
Another thing- though the Big Country was firmly set in the West and all the fuss was about water, a truly western theme, the film was really about culture clash, about bullying, about control and who has it. The film played out a story about a man who knows who he is and refuses to be defined by other people’s ideas of courage.
so , what about that genre you avoid? Are there one or two films from that genre that you value?
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Post by mikef6 on Sept 15, 2021 18:27:09 GMT
Good question marshamae . I simply will not watch modern so-called "horror." And at the bottom of that pile are the slashers, or as Siskel and Ebert called them, dead teenager movies. Yet, the original "Halloween" (1978) from John Carpenter is a masterwork of suspense and tension, heightening to almost unbearable levels. There is not a trace of the exploitation and comedy killings (most of the deaths, I have been told, in the Friday the 13th films were met with laughter by young theater-goers along with the boys chanting, "We want boobs!"). |
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Post by london777 on Sept 15, 2021 18:53:49 GMT
... or as Siskel and Ebert called them, dead teenager movies. "Dead teenagers", eh? Sounds refreshing!
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Post by london777 on Sept 15, 2021 18:59:23 GMT
This is a spin-off of lune’s excellent thread about genres we avoid and why. The list of genres may grow but many of us have one or two films within the despised genre that are not only watchable but positive favorites. What 1 or 2 films do you like , DESPITE your general dislike of the type. Then if possible, what makes that film interesting despite disliking the genre? ... so , what about that genre you avoid? Is there one or two films from that genre that you value? Brilliant idea, marshamae. Just wish I had thought of it first.  london777 wrote
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Post by marshamae on Sept 15, 2021 19:09:43 GMT
You thought of it. There were many comments about this phenomenon. I on the other hand , only mentioned two genres . Then y’all kept adding things ( oh yeah, animal movies , dead teenager films, slasher films with comic deaths …) now my list of genres I do not care for is at 11 and counting.
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Post by london777 on Sept 15, 2021 20:15:05 GMT
You thought of it. There were many comments about this phenomenon. I on the other hand , only mentioned two genres . Then y’all kept adding things ( oh yeah, animal movies , dead teenager films, slasher films with comic deaths …) now my list of genres I do not care for is at 11 and counting. Just joshing, marshamae. It is in good hands with you. I was hoping someone would urge me to implement my suggestion myself so that I could shuffle, blushing and protesting, to the front and say, modestly, "Aw, shucks, fellas. But since you since you all insist ..."
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Post by lune7000 on Sept 15, 2021 20:16:30 GMT
I am not a big fan of prison films but Brute Force (1947) grabbed me for some reason- especially the futile ending. I can't identify any reason for this. Sometimes the director, actors and crew can break through my barriers in ways that are totally mysterious to me.
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Post by mikef6 on Sept 15, 2021 20:42:32 GMT
Another genre I try to avoid is the Dedicated Teacher In A Public School With A Minority Student Body. These are all, of course, “based on a true story.” In the large majority of these, the teacher is white while the students are African-American or Latino. One big switcheroo is “To Sir, With Love” with Sidney Poitier teaching in a school of lower class English teens in London. A sampling is “The Blackboard Jungle,” “Up The Down Staircase,” “Music Of The Heart,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Lean On Me,” and “Freedom Writers.”
My exception is “Stand and Deliver” (1988). Retired scientist Jaime Escalante (James Edward Olmos) as a retired scientist who starts a second career as a math teacher in an inner city school. I especially liked the way the movie handles the inspirational ending. Also with Lou Diamond Phillips who I like very much as the most rebellious of the students.
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Post by Isapop on Sept 15, 2021 20:48:57 GMT
Like others, I'll avoid horror movies. But if one is particularly well received, like Get Out or A Quiet Place, I'll give it a go.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Sept 15, 2021 21:20:05 GMT
I sort of blew my bankroll on lune7000's thread by listing my exceptions there, but there was one more western I forgot to mention this time around (although have done so before on other threads): the thematically thin but entertaining whodunit, Five Card Stud, which takes the "old dark house" murder mystery out of the house and drops it onto dusty streets of the old west. Although the mystery ain't much of one (it's easy enough to guess the guilty party the moment he comes on the scene), it's enlivened by casting and performance, such as that of Roddy McDowall as the son of rancher Denver Pyle (huh?), playing one of the slimy ne'er-do-wells in which he was then specializing, Yaphet Kotto as a barman who quietly notices everything and Inger Stevens as a saucy and sympathetic madam, along with a collection of familiar faces at home among the tumbleweeds. But most notably in its old-smoothie stars, Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum, competing to one-up each other in displays of middle-aged cool. Atmosphere is contributed to by Maurice Jarre's discordant, minor-key score, turning not only empty, eerie, darkened streets as wind ominously whistles through but settings such as a sundrenched cemetery or pine-laden hillside into places in which menace lurks. It's a purely "for entertainment purposes only" opus under the practiced hand of Henry Hathaway and, while slight, it's tons of fun. |
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Post by marshamae on Sept 15, 2021 21:47:38 GMT
You thought of it. There were many comments about this phenomenon. I on the other hand , only mentioned two genres . Then y’all kept adding things ( oh yeah, animal movies , dead teenager films, slasher films with comic deaths …) now my list of genres I do not care for is at 11 and counting. Just joshing, marshamae. It is in good hands with you. I was hoping someone would urge me to implement my suggestion myself so that I could shuffle, blushing and protesting, to the front and say, modestly, "Aw, shucks, fellas. But since you since you all insist ..." Did I sound pissed? Gosh I hope not I was joshing too. I am enjoy8ng Lunes thread. Any thread that gets us talking about actual films is good.
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Post by phantomparticle on Sept 16, 2021 9:57:18 GMT
I'm a big horror/science fiction fan of the Classic and post classic era and really despise the slasher/dead teenager movies. I saw Halloween in '78. When Michael got up off the floor for about the third or fourth time at the end, a group of guys at the back of the theatre started singing, "Macho Man."
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Post by lune7000 on Sept 16, 2021 20:03:05 GMT
Another genre I try to avoid is the Dedicated Teacher In A Public School With A Minority Student Body. These are all, of course, “based on a true story.” In the large majority of these, the teacher is white while the students are African-American or Latino. One big switcheroo is “To Sir, With Love” with Sidney Poitier teaching in a school of lower class English teens in London. A sampling is “The Blackboard Jungle,” “Up The Down Staircase,” “Music Of The Heart,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Lean On Me,” and “Freedom Writers.” My exception is “Stand and Deliver” (1988). Retired scientist Jaime Escalante (James Edward Olmos) as a retired scientist who starts a second career as a math teacher in an inner city school. I especially liked the way the movie handles the inspirational ending. Also with Lou Diamond Phillips who I like very much as the most rebellious of the students. As a teacher of high risk teens for 25 years I can tell you that I dislike these teacher movies too. They commit two sins: 1. they make the students seem like animals 2. they glorify teachers taking big risks to "save" these students. Inner city students are not wild, they react to different teachers very rationally and if you treat them with enough respect and firmness, they are incredibly polite. More than any other profession, the success of a teacher depends on personality. If you have a great personality they love you. The "risking" teacher who does dramatic things to save kids is also scary- but for another reason: a teacher who does stuff that cannot be explained well in a meeting w/ parents/principals, etc. will be ripped apart by the administration. Teaching worships "appropriate" behavior on the part of the teacher and wild, imaginative teaching methods will usually get a teacher in big trouble. It is not necessary to be "out there" to connect with students anyway, what really works is just constant, respectful effort to help a kid. I fear for teachers who, having watched movies, enter schools seeing themselves as a force of nature- they often have a short career. FWIW- the most realistic movie I ever saw about low income schools was "Up the Down Staircase" - but I don't know if it reflected the 60's HS well. I work with a teacher now who looks, and acts, exactly like Sandy Dennis- it's uncanny. I am going to tray to get her to watch it.
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Post by marshamae on Sept 16, 2021 20:42:13 GMT
Many years teaching, many years retired . There are no silver bullets for special needs, inner city, or any other student population we perceive as challeng8ng. Firm fair, consistent, with a sense of humour are the ticket.
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Post by OldAussie on Sept 17, 2021 3:21:12 GMT
Horror - horrible!
And with 2 kids now in their 20s I have endured more horror movies in the past 15 years than I thought I'd ever see.
Some exceptions -
The Innocents
The Haunting (the one with Julie Harris)
The Uninvited - I think that's the title, Ray Milland buys a house by the sea
The Exorcist - a very good character driven drama but it loses me when the pea soup goes flying.
P.S. big Heston fan and the Big Country is my favourite of his performances.
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Post by marshamae on Sept 17, 2021 3:52:09 GMT
Horror - agreed
The Innocents
The Haunting (the one with Julie Harris)
The Uninvited - I think that's the title, Ray Milland buys a house by the sea
The Exorcist - a very good character driven drama but it loses me when the pea soup goes flying. - Agree heartily !
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Post by Bella on Sept 18, 2021 10:33:01 GMT
Yes, indeed, there is one exemption.
Ingmar Bergman's Hour of the Wolf is the only horror film I like.
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Post by lune7000 on Sept 18, 2021 13:27:47 GMT
Horror is wonderful for ma- it's the real world you should be scared of. Any study of history reveals that life has been pure misery for the vast majority. Just think of all those bodies washing up on the shores of Normandy. Things can get bad again. Movie horror is pure fun in comparison to a war film.
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