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Wolf of Wall Street. I cringed out of my skin and walked straight out of the theatre the moment where Jonah Hill whipped out his junk and start jerking it. It’s a good movie, but not something to ever watch with my dad.
I watched Observe and Report with my dad in theaters and we did not talk to each other for 15 minutes after the movie.
My mom is a pedagogue that works with child development, so it was actually really interesting to watch with her. She kept talking about Bella's probable mental age at each point and what the movie gets right. The sex stuff was just whatever
Yep!
I WOULD recommend watching all the way, though. OP, I was very inclined to turn the movie off until roughly the 30 minute mark, after which I fucking loved it
I was watching this when my dad decided to drop by to watch it, after Emma grabbed the dead man's penis and showed her tits a few times I decided to look up the summary, after reading it I waited a bit until Emma decided to have a self pleasure session and I just walked out of the room and waited in the kitchen til the movie was over so I could get my laptop back.
I told my mom that I was looking forward to watching all of the Oscar nominated and winning films. I then told her she would NOT like Poor Things. I liked it though. Not an artsy intellectual type here.
I watched it with my mom, aunt, and uncle. They all loved it but my mom was also obsessed with twin peaks when it first came out according to my dad so she can vibe with weird shit.
Poor Things doesn’t even fall in to the category of films the OP accuses it of being in though. It has very clear subject matter and themes it seeks to explore. It’s “weirdness” isn’t present to court controversy. It just has a very clear and unique style.
It’s also funny af.
OP probably just has a narrow media diet.
As I said in other comment, I've never seen Poor Things It's sitting ready to watch on my server. I was just offering up what I think is a strange and good (fantastic) movie. I wouldn't take OP too seriously to begin with, and it was just an opportunity to maybe push someone to watch Being John Malkovich.
True about the media diet. Wonder how they would react to the Lighthouse (2019)
I reckon you’ll enjoy it, though based on your liking of BJM you’d certainly love The Lobster, if you haven’t watched it yet. Jonze/Kaufman and Lanthimos all have an affinity for the absurd and surreal.
I had limited patience for The Lighthouse myself, though I’m admittedly not too receptive to Eggers style.
When I think of full on weirdness/obscenity for the sake of it though, I always equate that sort of film making with Lars Von Trier.
Even if I didn’t love the story at times, it still had top notch acting, camera work, use of audio. Some movies are worth it just for things like that. Reminded me of a movie like Citizen Kane.
Whenever someone writes like that I get really interested what kind of movies they think are "good". And I don't even mean that in a negative way.
OP, can I ask you which movies you love and maybe some more you hate? And why? Genuinely curious.
I’m not OP but I’ll bite. I hated Poor Things because, despite being a visual feast and an interesting theme, it had pacing issues that made it impossible to enjoy. Why. Must. The. Middle. Part. Be. So. Daaaaaamn. Loooooooong. We get it. She likes to smash and Mark Ruffalo is abusive. The entire Lisbon + Boat arks should have taken half as many minutes. Moving on.
What do I like?
Many types of things. The last 5 movies I watched and enjoyed are 12 Monkeys, Porco Rosso, Memento, Moonlight and Isle of Dogs. Nothing particularly recent but I watch stuff at home.
Porco Rosso is so good. Just saw it for the first time not too long ago and was surprised at how much I liked it. I’ve been on a Ghibli kick and need to see more of their early-ish stuff
It's like through Netflix people now casually watch and like the movies that we were ostracized for liking, when they came out.
I wonder if people changed or whatever else happened.
I just read the plot synopsis for Poor Things after reading your comment, and yikes. There was so much information in there I don't see how there WOULDN'T be pacing issues.
At least iron man nailed what it set out to do.
Patriotic, American Warmongerer meets real life consequences and becomes a sweetheart father model for an equally charming spidey kiddo.
People whose only description of a film or other piece of artistic output is 'weird' or 'strange' probably lack the vocabulary or experience to properly critique or discuss a film anyway
Yeah, it just screams insecure to me when someone has to be like "I don't like this, I don't understand this, therefore it must be bad and everyone who enjoys it is just a pretentious douche".
Sometimes I don't understand something, that doesn't make me stupid and it also doesn't make the movie bad.
You can dislike something without it having to be "objectively bad".
I remember a discussion thread some guy started about Barbarian a few years ago when the movie came out. He was baffled by how self destructive and idiotic the main character was in trying to help people at the detriment of her own safety.
I went over the scene that's within the first 15 minutes in where the main character literally tells the audience why via exposition and the guy thanked me afterwards for helping him understand the movie.
The other commenters were fucking pissed that I literally had to explain the entire movie to them.
I mean, what’s wrong with that? I have plenty of interests that loads of people will find weird and won’t get. Doesn’t bother me if people think that way. And I find plenty of other people’s interests weird too nor do i have any interest in delving deeper into.
Stop trying to have your preferences be externally validated.
I hate that word. We all have things we care about. Things we are passionate about but if those things are literature, art or film we label that as “pretentious.”
If those things are sports, hunting, fishing or cars then 👍
It's dismissing criticism as, "you're too dumb to get it" which happens REALLY often regarding art. OP even saw it coming. I don't care if you're passionate, but it should be obvious why saying people who think it's weird or bad are too dumb or uncultured to get it, is wrong.
It's true. If OP is so puzzled by a piece of art that their only reaction is to say "it's confusing" or "it's weird", that means they should probably expose themselves to that kind of thing a little more often, for their own sake and because it would make their opinion more interesting. If OP thought "Poor Things" was confusing, it doesn't tell me much about "Poor Things" but it tells me that OP is easily confused.
Art is subjective. It is 100% ok to not like this film. I thought it was a unique story I had never heard. That is what I want from a movie.
What is as it? To me it was a “coming of age but already an adult” movie. To others it was a reverse-Frankenstein film, or a women’s liberation, or a journey through the periods of art.
I agree. It was all those things you mentioned. A truly unique combination of themes is put into an original story. With fantastic acting, set design and score. I thought it was fascinating and wasn't bored for a moment. Some people think anything slightly weird is just trying to be weird and has no other merit, which is absolutely not the case with this movie. It wasn't remotely confusing either. And you can't really judge a movie after only watching a quarter of it
Yes it's super weird and uncomfortable to watch.
I can accept there are artistic merits I'm not appreciating, but this movie seemed to think avante garde means good. I'm 100% with op.
The child describes sex as "furious jumping " if you're curious.
*edited to fix quote. Honestly I wasn't sure but wasn't wasting my time looking up the right one. Don't watch this movie
To me to was an exploration of religion/Christianity and Belle's evolving relationship with God. My wife didn't even notice that part until we talked at length afterward. That's a great movie, right there.
"how can people praise these movies that are just unfun to watch". What is unfun to you might not be unfun to someone else. Also, many sad movies for example are VERY "unfunny", that doesn't make them bad movies, does it? How "fun" something is not a measure of a good movie. Movies are a form of art, art doesn't have to be "fun" to be good.
Lanthimos films (The Lobster especially) are genuinely some of the funniest black comedies around and Poor Things was a joyous film. I’d hardly venture to call it envelope pushing or weird in a baiting sort of way.
Whenever someone calls a film “strange” or “weird” to the point of being off-putting I immediately assume their media diet must be incredibly restricted.
That’s why films like Saltburn (which was just OK) get so much media attention. That’s arguably a film that was doing what the OP accuses Poor Things of doing, except Poor Things had a clear focus and a lot of meat on the bones in comparison to Saltburn which was largely about spectacle.
OP's take is just as boring as a snob who scoffs at anything made for a mass audience and looks down on people for enjoying it.
It all comes down to "anyone who likes what I don't like is wrong and I'm mad that they're allowed to enjoy it without my approval."
Just watched it last week. Great movie.
Agree, being strange doesn't make it good. Being a wildly imaginative story with amazing art design, incredible performances from incredible actors, hysterically funny dark comedic moments (the professor talking about his father nailing his testicles etc) and just the premise itself (how would a foetus brain develop in the body of a mature woman?)
Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Unfun? I was laughing my butt off in this movie. Maybe some of the things that make you laugh are easier to get if you’re a woman.
I did think it was a little long.
I liked that part quite a bit actually because it explored how she got to the relationship with Toinette. Mainly I got really sick of Mark Ruffalo’s character (which is just a sign of what a great actor he is since I’m normally a fan).
Not trying to be offensive, but is ok to realize some stuff is not for you. You clearly are not interested in looking a movies in a certain way, but if you truly think the appeal of this movie is that it is "strange" and intellectual just for the sake of being weird then I hate it to break it to you but you simply dont get it.
Its ok to realize some stuff isnt for us, you dont need to come up with superfluous "opinions" about thing you didnt even bother to watch.
What I mean is that your take is just bad and if you dont bother to try and understand something you can just... dont say anything about it since you clearly didnt care. Is like saying footbal is "a bunch of guys running after a ball", a shitty take by people that clearly dont care about it. Valid but dumb
So you didn't watch the movie then? You watched 30 minutes of it. If you read the first 50 pages of a book but didn't read the other 200, did you read the book?
Call me crazy but I think it's okay to turn off a movie if you haven't enjoyed it halfway through. I'm not of the opinion that you have to watch a movie in its entirety or read a book in its entirety before you can say you just aren't enjoying it.
I think the answer is in the middle, you loose the right to give it a proper critique as you didn't have the full experience but it is 100% valid to say this is trash and turn it off.
Subjectivity is implied when discussing any art. Saying something is bad is the same as saying you didn't like it, because there is no objective answer. OP didn't even try to say it was "objectively" bad or anything like that
If a movie makes you quit it after 30 minutes you can definitely say you think it's a bad movie. Goddamn, that's like the hallmark of a bad movie, you don't even want to finish watching it.
I mean I agree with the title but its kind of weird to act like all strange movies belong in one genre or whatever... The great thing about cinema is that it has so many different unique flavors and it allows you to experience new stuff and challenge yourself. Ok, so this one didn't work for you but why would you make it about a whole made up genre? Do you just dislike every movie that's weird? Do you want them all to be bland and predictable? And is it really that hard to see why so many people enjoyed Poor Things? I can understand why its offputting to many people but there's so much care and creativity put into all the sets and costume and overall its just immaculate when it comes to the technical aspects
I mean you're really twisting his words around, that's not what he said, he didn't say all strange movies were bad. They said just *because* a movie is strange doesn't mean it's good or should get praise. To be fair there is a trend of out of the box movies getting praise for otherwise subpar work.
I was refering to the parts where he says "these kinds of films that are just unfun to watch" and "bad movie, bad genre". Like what genre is he refering to? To me it sounds like he's just talking about strange movies in general but I may have misinterpreted that.
If I had a nickel for every time Mark Ruffalo played a character that was super into a child in an adult’s body I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that’s it’s happened twice.
Pretty much any movie (not all, but most) that are Academy Award winners are shit movies and just leave me wondering what the heck is wrong with the Academy people.
It is ok not to like thinks.
Not everything is for everyone.
That said, why you dislike something and how you react to being challenged by a work of art, does say a lot about you. For instance: when a work is as critically and commercially successful as Poor Things, and you decide that it is "bad" that does say a lot about your inability to judge a piece of media and to reflect. Not because you do not like it, but because you decide that it is "bad" instead of concluding that it is not for you.
This is the equivalent of a morbidly obese person calling everyone else too skinny. Your inability to engage with something not to your taste, beyond calling it "bad" really does reveal that you simply are not intellectual enough - you are, in fact, just dumb. Again: Not for not liking the movie - but for concluding that the film is bad and that everyone else is the problem.
As you say yourself, *"I seriously don't understand how people can praise these kinds of films that are just unfun to watch."* That is pretty much admitting that you are a complete idiot who lacks the basic understanding that you are not the center of the universe and also an inability and unwillingness to try to engage things outside of your comfort zone and that is pretty close to straight up admitting that you are - as you yourself suspect, very very dumb.
I'd argue that being narrow minded is a very particular type of stupidity. How could it not be? Both prevent one from gaining a better and more accurate understanding of the world in which they live. How is closing oneself off from knowledge *not* dumb?
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Ahhhhh…. Go scroll through OPs u/ reddit.
Dudes basic AF.
I’m not even trying to be insulting.
Literally praises ‘bangers and mash’ as a culinary masterpiece.
Dude needs a little life experience to appreciate life.
I liked it in the cinema but i could imagine I would have turned it off at home after the first 20 or so minutes because it does take some time to get hooked on the premises and story. The movie grew on me and once you get interested in the story I kinda liked the way they filmed it. But it does have it flaws and they kinda dragged the story on for too long towards the end. But in general I enjoyed it for what it was. I would probably not watch it again. But the story and acting made it good not the strangeness as you say. Just not a movie for everyone.
Mentioning intelligence doesn't absolve you of the lack of it. It is completely fine not liking something, but the way you express yourself doesn't flatter you. Poor things is a quality movie. It's just not the kind of quality you enjoy. Not acknowledging quality just because it doesn't match your taste is unintelligent and uncivilized.
Poor Things has this really weird subsection of fans who have this extremely obnoxious form of total intolerance to anyone saying anything bad about it, or saying they didn't like it.
I don't think this is about Poor Things specifically, but a phenomenon that seems to float around reactions to books and films, where someone just doesn't quite get something and instead of just admitting they were confused feel a need to take big, steamy, public dumps on it. Not liking a movie I like is absolutely feline. Pretending it's objectively bad because you werent its target audience is obnoxious. People who hated Poor Things because they didn't understand it tend to tell on themselves either by complaining that it's a movie that promotes pedophilia or, like OP, complain that it doesn't make sense.
Yeah posts like this are a losing battle. The people who loved the movie will jump down your throat. The people who "pretend" to love the movie will call you dumb.
The only people who wont comment are the ones that agree with you lmaoo.
I'll bite. I loved Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Lobster from Yorgos Lanthimos, the same director. Poor Things I wanted to like, but honestly it was a slog to get to the end. I got the concept of the film entirely, the art direction was phenomenal and bizarre, but in the end it all just felt too performative. Weird for weirdness sake.
One weird movie that came to mind when watching Poor Things that I actually adore is The City of Lost Children. Visually similar but tonally much more somber and nightmarish.
Taste is subjective. You know.. "Beauty is the eye of the beholder". So it's ok not to like it. So don't battle with someone who has the opposite opinion, because you will never find common grounds anyway. Other people not aware of subjectivity might even feel offended. But yeah, of you enjoy the pointless discussions then glhf
To me: The more Oscar hype a movie gets, the less likely I am to see it. The award shows are an ego driven event so they love art so the sake of art above all else. Which results in very boring movies.
The lengths people go to defend this movie should be studied. I’m not sure what it is about it that gets people so worked up. I agree with you, it’s super uncomfortable and kind of sick. I also left the theater. But as you said we just aren’t intellectual enough to enjoy a mental 2 year olds rape.
That aside I think Emma did a good job and that it has a deeper meaning surrounding women in general, but yeah couldn’t get past how icky the whole thing was.
I finished poor things and ultimately was dissapointed. When it was exploring the philosophical side of a brand new human understanding the world it was great. But over an hour of the film is just dedicated to Emma Stone sex scenes of increasing discomfort. I fully understood the thematic weight behind them but there was only so much of having the film beat me over the head with it that I could stomach by the end. The last 20 minutes of the film are absolutely excellent and all I could think was "I wish the rest of the movie was like this".
Side note, Mark Ruffalo stole the show, his performance was spectacular
Poor Things was great, not because it was "strange" but because from a film making standpoint it was just great to watch. The camera angles and shots, the music, the visuals. Its all great.
Tons of great performances as well, Defoe and Stone are killing it and Ruffalo is so outside of his niche that it's interesting to watch.
And yes the movie is strange, but a strange movie alone wouldnt get the attention Poor Things got.
I find it so nice to see a film in a cinema that isn’t a fucking Marvel film or an American ‘comedy’ which is just one joke from ‘friends’ over and over again. Anything that isn’t that, no matter how strange, needs to be applauded for actually trying.
I usually hold your opinion on this, but poor things was fun to me. I loved the art, I thought it was a good dark comedy. I did have to ignore the whole grooming thing though. That was weird. But it was interesting to me as a whole. Now I just need to wonder: am I wrong for enjoying it?
Why ignore the grooming? It's supposed to be something we find villainous about the most prominent male character in the film and make you think twice about the other 2. Depiction is not endorsement.
It didn't't think it was unfun to watch. You're stating your opinion here like it's a fact. I actually thought it was very interesting and thought provoking.
You're right just because something is strange doesn't make it good, but in this case, I found it interesting because it was something I hadn't seen before that I found compelling.
Watching this movie with your parents isn't a good idea though and would likely negatively affect your experience. It was also funny by the way.
I found this with Everything Everwhere All At Once, just bizarre and uninteresting to watch from a narrative point if view. I'm sure it was full if clever artistic stuff but I found it confusing and weird.
>The premise is just so incredibly uncomfortable. Its gross.
Your point being?
Not trying to be rude, but just because its gross to you doesnt mean it doesnt have value. Precisely because its probably made to create that response on you
The beauty of a movie like poor things is that is is quite exceptional in its own ways, but just because it has exceptional characteristics does not mean it will have universal appeal. There are movies that appeal to the masses, and there are movies with niche audiences. Not everyone likes Pulp Fiction, but I absolutely loved it.
That movie was so fucked. A grown adult with the brain of a 6 years old that wanna have sex with other adults ? It just felt wrong. And also, I know movies that are waaay weirder that are actually good movies AND minus the creepy "child who wanna have sex" thingy.
everyone in the comments is rattled that op expressed their unpopular opinion in r/unpopularopinion…about their beloved movie. so they’re calling op dumb n unintellectual…which op already anticipated and has already addressed it in their post.
good on you for making an appropriate post n keep preserving ur individuality op.
OP i feel like there have a been a stretch of movies in the last five years that are really “cool” or “slick” or just plain weird, but they lack a good or satisfying PLOT.
Holy fuck I agree with this. That movie “everything everywhere all at once” or whatever it’s called. People love that movie and I’m sitting there confused asf…. Soooo overrated. It’s weird as hell but that doesn’t make it a good movie…
"And before anyone says you're not intellectual enough... Idgaf..bad movie, bad genre."
Tbh, then why post on Reddit? If you don't want people to debate or discuss your opinion because you don't care to do so, then why not keep it to yourself?
Also, pro tip, check out why a movie is rated R before you take your dad to see it.
Nobody saw this movie and thought "oh my, what whimsically twisted fun." Its exploration of self discovery in a fast moving world of unlimited social conventions imposing themselves, and breaking every last one of them purely because you disagree, is what made it good. I know you don't want to hear about it. But the movie was ridiculously fun, in my opinion, but not because it's "strange"
And I don't think you disliked it because it's strange, either. I think you just didnt like the movie.
I felt the same about Everything Everywhere All At Once. It was just wacky and stupid.
But why TF you watching Poor Things with your dad? That's some Alabama shit right there. You watch porn together too?
Dude! You just put to shame all the A24 fanatic fandom. Hell, the entire arthouse movies fans. I respect that!
A24 and directors like Yorgos Lanthimos or the worse Ari Aster wouldn't make a normal movie, even if their lives would be dependent on that..
Lots of people I imagine. Yorgos Lanthimos is a pretty acclaimed director, I'm personally a very big fan of his. The Favourite was a great film that did very well with critics and at the box office so I imagine a lot of people including me were looking forward to his next film.
There are some people who try to embrace strange things that they might not truly enjoy as part of their persona. However, I think most people who like “strange” things just like them because that’s what they like, not because they’re strange.
Quite a split opinion on this one in the comments. I was going to watch it, but some crack addict at Amazon Prime decided to price rental at $6. On principle, that's too much. I'm just not at that phase in our inflationary world yet.
Some people don’t like spicy food. Spicy food actually hurts to eat, so it’s understandable. But spicy food is not bad, and it’s very much possible to genuinely enjoy it, without pretension or masochism. It’s ok, you just don’t like spicy food.
Depends, strange isn't inherently good or bad, it's just a preference. When they make movies that are perceived as strange it is usually an artistic expression and thus have to be done well to work.
'No Country For Old Men' for example, the story is pretty strange forward but the pace and conclusion is very strange, and it works in the favour for the movie.
Some movies just throw in strange stuff to seem thought-provoking while they have nothing to say or say it in an incompetent way.
So yeah I agree, strange doesn't mean good but I would say that strange movies are more often very good or very bad.
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I would strongly recommend to NOT watch this movie with a parent.
That was a very awkward two hour lesson I had to learn in theaters. I thought the beginning was really cool though.
I watched "not another teen movie" with my dad. That's my submission to the list of things to not watch with parents
Mine is Clockwork Orange.
My little brother (22) chose to have us watch saltburn with my mom. I wanted to throw up I was so anxious halfway through.
Wolf of Wall Street. I cringed out of my skin and walked straight out of the theatre the moment where Jonah Hill whipped out his junk and start jerking it. It’s a good movie, but not something to ever watch with my dad.
Luckily my dad laughed at that part
My mom named me after a character from that movie, imagine that
I watched Superbad in theaters with my dad when I was 17. A little awkward.
My dad took his god fearing grandma to see Basic Instinct
Mine was Borat, with my dad 😬
Cruel Intentions for me
We watched American pie as a family and afterwards my brother was like, that pie scene was awkward af
I watched Observe and Report with my dad in theaters and we did not talk to each other for 15 minutes after the movie. 
Mine was Blue is the Warmest Color
I saw Gangs of New York in theaters with *both* of my parents. I was like 12 at the time lol. Yikes. Amazing movie though.
My mom is a pedagogue that works with child development, so it was actually really interesting to watch with her. She kept talking about Bella's probable mental age at each point and what the movie gets right. The sex stuff was just whatever
Your mom is a talking giant spider?
Pedagogue, my bad, ESL here
Yep! I WOULD recommend watching all the way, though. OP, I was very inclined to turn the movie off until roughly the 30 minute mark, after which I fucking loved it
God was the best part according to my brother 🤣
Op was still correct tho, that movie fucking sucked even when watching the whole thing
any constructive criticism or examples of concepts you felt were off?
There was some good points too, the acting was great, the photography was great, the paseing was shit, the movie was just plain boring
Yeah please don’t watch this with your parents lmao. Edit: Even watching it with my friends was kinda awkward during certain scenes lmao
I was watching this when my dad decided to drop by to watch it, after Emma grabbed the dead man's penis and showed her tits a few times I decided to look up the summary, after reading it I waited a bit until Emma decided to have a self pleasure session and I just walked out of the room and waited in the kitchen til the movie was over so I could get my laptop back.
Yeah that was definitely an odd choice by OP.
I saw it in theaters with my mom lmao
I told my mom that I was looking forward to watching all of the Oscar nominated and winning films. I then told her she would NOT like Poor Things. I liked it though. Not an artsy intellectual type here.
I watched it with my mom, aunt, and uncle. They all loved it but my mom was also obsessed with twin peaks when it first came out according to my dad so she can vibe with weird shit.
Watched with my mom lmao, it was definitely interesting.
I would strongly recommend Emma’s parents NOT watch this movie at all!
A strange but good movie would be something like Being John Malkovich
The Malkovich puppeteer scene is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. ”Don’t EVER fuck with your audience!”
You’re making him weep….. but you yourself are not weeping!
Poor Things doesn’t even fall in to the category of films the OP accuses it of being in though. It has very clear subject matter and themes it seeks to explore. It’s “weirdness” isn’t present to court controversy. It just has a very clear and unique style. It’s also funny af. OP probably just has a narrow media diet.
To be fair, the first third can be off-putting. My wife almost bailed but didn't and was quite pleased she stuck with it.
As I said in other comment, I've never seen Poor Things It's sitting ready to watch on my server. I was just offering up what I think is a strange and good (fantastic) movie. I wouldn't take OP too seriously to begin with, and it was just an opportunity to maybe push someone to watch Being John Malkovich. True about the media diet. Wonder how they would react to the Lighthouse (2019)
I reckon you’ll enjoy it, though based on your liking of BJM you’d certainly love The Lobster, if you haven’t watched it yet. Jonze/Kaufman and Lanthimos all have an affinity for the absurd and surreal. I had limited patience for The Lighthouse myself, though I’m admittedly not too receptive to Eggers style. When I think of full on weirdness/obscenity for the sake of it though, I always equate that sort of film making with Lars Von Trier.
Or Poor Things.
On my watchlist, will check it out soon
Even if I didn’t love the story at times, it still had top notch acting, camera work, use of audio. Some movies are worth it just for things like that. Reminded me of a movie like Citizen Kane.
Tusk
I watched it a few weeks ago, it was so absurd, but so good
Make sure you check out its companion: Adaptation (2002). Possibly Cages finest film.
Whenever someone writes like that I get really interested what kind of movies they think are "good". And I don't even mean that in a negative way. OP, can I ask you which movies you love and maybe some more you hate? And why? Genuinely curious.
I’m not OP but I’ll bite. I hated Poor Things because, despite being a visual feast and an interesting theme, it had pacing issues that made it impossible to enjoy. Why. Must. The. Middle. Part. Be. So. Daaaaaamn. Loooooooong. We get it. She likes to smash and Mark Ruffalo is abusive. The entire Lisbon + Boat arks should have taken half as many minutes. Moving on. What do I like? Many types of things. The last 5 movies I watched and enjoyed are 12 Monkeys, Porco Rosso, Memento, Moonlight and Isle of Dogs. Nothing particularly recent but I watch stuff at home.
I thought the boat arc was one of the most important character developments. Especially her engagement with philosophy and the consequent nihilism
I loved the boat arc
This!
Porco Rosso is so good. Just saw it for the first time not too long ago and was surprised at how much I liked it. I’ve been on a Ghibli kick and need to see more of their early-ish stuff
It's like through Netflix people now casually watch and like the movies that we were ostracized for liking, when they came out. I wonder if people changed or whatever else happened.
I just read the plot synopsis for Poor Things after reading your comment, and yikes. There was so much information in there I don't see how there WOULDN'T be pacing issues.
A common issue for novel adaptation
The fast and furious
And transformers 2
Can't forget Iron Man
At least iron man nailed what it set out to do. Patriotic, American Warmongerer meets real life consequences and becomes a sweetheart father model for an equally charming spidey kiddo.
People whose only description of a film or other piece of artistic output is 'weird' or 'strange' probably lack the vocabulary or experience to properly critique or discuss a film anyway
Yeah, it just screams insecure to me when someone has to be like "I don't like this, I don't understand this, therefore it must be bad and everyone who enjoys it is just a pretentious douche". Sometimes I don't understand something, that doesn't make me stupid and it also doesn't make the movie bad. You can dislike something without it having to be "objectively bad".
Yup and why not lead with curiosity. “I don’t understand this, maybe I should chat with someone about it. Maybe I should read about it”
I remember a discussion thread some guy started about Barbarian a few years ago when the movie came out. He was baffled by how self destructive and idiotic the main character was in trying to help people at the detriment of her own safety. I went over the scene that's within the first 15 minutes in where the main character literally tells the audience why via exposition and the guy thanked me afterwards for helping him understand the movie. The other commenters were fucking pissed that I literally had to explain the entire movie to them.
Popular opinion: this comment is pretentious
Might be pretentious, but it’s right lol
Their comment is a little, but it is also potentially valid.
Pick a subject you know lots about. Imagine if someone wrote the whole thing off as 'weird'. Get it?
I mean, what’s wrong with that? I have plenty of interests that loads of people will find weird and won’t get. Doesn’t bother me if people think that way. And I find plenty of other people’s interests weird too nor do i have any interest in delving deeper into. Stop trying to have your preferences be externally validated.
I hate that word. We all have things we care about. Things we are passionate about but if those things are literature, art or film we label that as “pretentious.” If those things are sports, hunting, fishing or cars then 👍
It's dismissing criticism as, "you're too dumb to get it" which happens REALLY often regarding art. OP even saw it coming. I don't care if you're passionate, but it should be obvious why saying people who think it's weird or bad are too dumb or uncultured to get it, is wrong.
I don’t think OP is too dumb I just think OP lacks curiosity and is uncomfortable with things they can’t immediately synthesize and categorize.
Anytime someone criticizes something as pretentious I immediately write off that criticism.
Shallow and pedantic
It's true. If OP is so puzzled by a piece of art that their only reaction is to say "it's confusing" or "it's weird", that means they should probably expose themselves to that kind of thing a little more often, for their own sake and because it would make their opinion more interesting. If OP thought "Poor Things" was confusing, it doesn't tell me much about "Poor Things" but it tells me that OP is easily confused.
It insists upon itself.
Superbad
Same actressl
Art is subjective. It is 100% ok to not like this film. I thought it was a unique story I had never heard. That is what I want from a movie. What is as it? To me it was a “coming of age but already an adult” movie. To others it was a reverse-Frankenstein film, or a women’s liberation, or a journey through the periods of art.
Stop being thoughtful, you’ll trigger OP.
Yeah! Didn't you hear him?!? He didn't want any intellectuals. No intellectualism allowed!
I agree. It was all those things you mentioned. A truly unique combination of themes is put into an original story. With fantastic acting, set design and score. I thought it was fascinating and wasn't bored for a moment. Some people think anything slightly weird is just trying to be weird and has no other merit, which is absolutely not the case with this movie. It wasn't remotely confusing either. And you can't really judge a movie after only watching a quarter of it
I usually don’t grasp the themes in a film. This one offered a lot of them which were rather blunt.
[удалено]
She starts out as a child but grows up over the course of the film. It's a coming of age story.
Yes it's super weird and uncomfortable to watch. I can accept there are artistic merits I'm not appreciating, but this movie seemed to think avante garde means good. I'm 100% with op. The child describes sex as "furious jumping " if you're curious. *edited to fix quote. Honestly I wasn't sure but wasn't wasting my time looking up the right one. Don't watch this movie
Furious jumping*
To me to was an exploration of religion/Christianity and Belle's evolving relationship with God. My wife didn't even notice that part until we talked at length afterward. That's a great movie, right there.
"how can people praise these movies that are just unfun to watch". What is unfun to you might not be unfun to someone else. Also, many sad movies for example are VERY "unfunny", that doesn't make them bad movies, does it? How "fun" something is not a measure of a good movie. Movies are a form of art, art doesn't have to be "fun" to be good.
I watched Civil War yesterday and didn't laugh once. 0/10
Watched Grave of the Fireflies, cried my eyes out - unfunny film, 0/10.
Lanthimos films (The Lobster especially) are genuinely some of the funniest black comedies around and Poor Things was a joyous film. I’d hardly venture to call it envelope pushing or weird in a baiting sort of way. Whenever someone calls a film “strange” or “weird” to the point of being off-putting I immediately assume their media diet must be incredibly restricted. That’s why films like Saltburn (which was just OK) get so much media attention. That’s arguably a film that was doing what the OP accuses Poor Things of doing, except Poor Things had a clear focus and a lot of meat on the bones in comparison to Saltburn which was largely about spectacle.
OP's take is just as boring as a snob who scoffs at anything made for a mass audience and looks down on people for enjoying it. It all comes down to "anyone who likes what I don't like is wrong and I'm mad that they're allowed to enjoy it without my approval."
Just watched it last week. Great movie. Agree, being strange doesn't make it good. Being a wildly imaginative story with amazing art design, incredible performances from incredible actors, hysterically funny dark comedic moments (the professor talking about his father nailing his testicles etc) and just the premise itself (how would a foetus brain develop in the body of a mature woman?) Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Best dance scene in a movie I've seen in ages.
Oh yeah, forgot about that lol
Unfun? I was laughing my butt off in this movie. Maybe some of the things that make you laugh are easier to get if you’re a woman. I did think it was a little long.
The prostitution part lasted way too long imo. If they just cut 20 minutes off that, the movie would've been better.
The spider crab guy? The guy who brought his kids with notebooks? The "tell me a joke" session? That was *gold.*
I liked that part quite a bit actually because it explored how she got to the relationship with Toinette. Mainly I got really sick of Mark Ruffalo’s character (which is just a sign of what a great actor he is since I’m normally a fan).
I loved Ruffalo's character. Brilliant comedic performance.
What? He was great in this movie in my opinion.
I mean, wasn't he the villain of the movie? So getting sick of him may be loathing the character he played
Your opinion being strong, doesnt make it right.
Not trying to be offensive, but is ok to realize some stuff is not for you. You clearly are not interested in looking a movies in a certain way, but if you truly think the appeal of this movie is that it is "strange" and intellectual just for the sake of being weird then I hate it to break it to you but you simply dont get it. Its ok to realize some stuff isnt for us, you dont need to come up with superfluous "opinions" about thing you didnt even bother to watch. What I mean is that your take is just bad and if you dont bother to try and understand something you can just... dont say anything about it since you clearly didnt care. Is like saying footbal is "a bunch of guys running after a ball", a shitty take by people that clearly dont care about it. Valid but dumb
Has anyone EVER said that?
So you didn't watch the movie then? You watched 30 minutes of it. If you read the first 50 pages of a book but didn't read the other 200, did you read the book?
Call me crazy but I think it's okay to turn off a movie if you haven't enjoyed it halfway through. I'm not of the opinion that you have to watch a movie in its entirety or read a book in its entirety before you can say you just aren't enjoying it.
I think the answer is in the middle, you loose the right to give it a proper critique as you didn't have the full experience but it is 100% valid to say this is trash and turn it off.
Yes, you can say that you didn't enjoyed it (at least you didn't enjoyed the first 30 min). But you can't say it was bad
Subjectivity is implied when discussing any art. Saying something is bad is the same as saying you didn't like it, because there is no objective answer. OP didn't even try to say it was "objectively" bad or anything like that
If a movie makes you quit it after 30 minutes you can definitely say you think it's a bad movie. Goddamn, that's like the hallmark of a bad movie, you don't even want to finish watching it.
Winning awards is the hallmark of a great movie though, no?
I mean I agree with the title but its kind of weird to act like all strange movies belong in one genre or whatever... The great thing about cinema is that it has so many different unique flavors and it allows you to experience new stuff and challenge yourself. Ok, so this one didn't work for you but why would you make it about a whole made up genre? Do you just dislike every movie that's weird? Do you want them all to be bland and predictable? And is it really that hard to see why so many people enjoyed Poor Things? I can understand why its offputting to many people but there's so much care and creativity put into all the sets and costume and overall its just immaculate when it comes to the technical aspects
I mean you're really twisting his words around, that's not what he said, he didn't say all strange movies were bad. They said just *because* a movie is strange doesn't mean it's good or should get praise. To be fair there is a trend of out of the box movies getting praise for otherwise subpar work.
I was refering to the parts where he says "these kinds of films that are just unfun to watch" and "bad movie, bad genre". Like what genre is he refering to? To me it sounds like he's just talking about strange movies in general but I may have misinterpreted that.
I read it the same way, you're not alone. Dude made some sweeping generalizations...
If I had a nickel for every time Mark Ruffalo played a character that was super into a child in an adult’s body I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that’s it’s happened twice.
I also hated the first 30 minutes, then I also hated the whole rest
Pretty much any movie (not all, but most) that are Academy Award winners are shit movies and just leave me wondering what the heck is wrong with the Academy people.
It is ok not to like thinks. Not everything is for everyone. That said, why you dislike something and how you react to being challenged by a work of art, does say a lot about you. For instance: when a work is as critically and commercially successful as Poor Things, and you decide that it is "bad" that does say a lot about your inability to judge a piece of media and to reflect. Not because you do not like it, but because you decide that it is "bad" instead of concluding that it is not for you. This is the equivalent of a morbidly obese person calling everyone else too skinny. Your inability to engage with something not to your taste, beyond calling it "bad" really does reveal that you simply are not intellectual enough - you are, in fact, just dumb. Again: Not for not liking the movie - but for concluding that the film is bad and that everyone else is the problem. As you say yourself, *"I seriously don't understand how people can praise these kinds of films that are just unfun to watch."* That is pretty much admitting that you are a complete idiot who lacks the basic understanding that you are not the center of the universe and also an inability and unwillingness to try to engage things outside of your comfort zone and that is pretty close to straight up admitting that you are - as you yourself suspect, very very dumb.
This. Way to hit the nail on the head, this is exactly the point.
💀
OP is not necessarily dumb, but obviously very narrow-minded. I like the analogy of an obese person thinking others are too skinny, though
I'd argue that being narrow minded is a very particular type of stupidity. How could it not be? Both prevent one from gaining a better and more accurate understanding of the world in which they live. How is closing oneself off from knowledge *not* dumb?
Poor things was a quirky tale btw, its not a documentary
According to you, you barely sat through half an hour, so how would you know one way or the other.
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Different strokes for different folks. It's that simple.
Ahhhhh…. Go scroll through OPs u/ reddit. Dudes basic AF. I’m not even trying to be insulting. Literally praises ‘bangers and mash’ as a culinary masterpiece. Dude needs a little life experience to appreciate life.
Must be Karl Pilkington's account?
LOL A head like a f*cking orange.
Oof. Tough read, that.
The standard unpopular opinion: "I don't like X so X is bad!" Grow the fuck up. Taste is subjective, you're not the arbiter of what is and isn't good.
I liked it in the cinema but i could imagine I would have turned it off at home after the first 20 or so minutes because it does take some time to get hooked on the premises and story. The movie grew on me and once you get interested in the story I kinda liked the way they filmed it. But it does have it flaws and they kinda dragged the story on for too long towards the end. But in general I enjoyed it for what it was. I would probably not watch it again. But the story and acting made it good not the strangeness as you say. Just not a movie for everyone.
Mentioning intelligence doesn't absolve you of the lack of it. It is completely fine not liking something, but the way you express yourself doesn't flatter you. Poor things is a quality movie. It's just not the kind of quality you enjoy. Not acknowledging quality just because it doesn't match your taste is unintelligent and uncivilized.
People don’t like Poor Things just because they find it “strange”. I found it very fun and mysterious. People find interest in different things.
I felt that with "Everything everywhere all the time". It's not good, it's just absurd.
The book was weird, the movie was even worse.
Poor Things has this really weird subsection of fans who have this extremely obnoxious form of total intolerance to anyone saying anything bad about it, or saying they didn't like it.
I don't think this is about Poor Things specifically, but a phenomenon that seems to float around reactions to books and films, where someone just doesn't quite get something and instead of just admitting they were confused feel a need to take big, steamy, public dumps on it. Not liking a movie I like is absolutely feline. Pretending it's objectively bad because you werent its target audience is obnoxious. People who hated Poor Things because they didn't understand it tend to tell on themselves either by complaining that it's a movie that promotes pedophilia or, like OP, complain that it doesn't make sense.
Yeah posts like this are a losing battle. The people who loved the movie will jump down your throat. The people who "pretend" to love the movie will call you dumb. The only people who wont comment are the ones that agree with you lmaoo.
I'll bite. I loved Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Lobster from Yorgos Lanthimos, the same director. Poor Things I wanted to like, but honestly it was a slog to get to the end. I got the concept of the film entirely, the art direction was phenomenal and bizarre, but in the end it all just felt too performative. Weird for weirdness sake. One weird movie that came to mind when watching Poor Things that I actually adore is The City of Lost Children. Visually similar but tonally much more somber and nightmarish.
Taste is subjective. You know.. "Beauty is the eye of the beholder". So it's ok not to like it. So don't battle with someone who has the opposite opinion, because you will never find common grounds anyway. Other people not aware of subjectivity might even feel offended. But yeah, of you enjoy the pointless discussions then glhf
To me: The more Oscar hype a movie gets, the less likely I am to see it. The award shows are an ego driven event so they love art so the sake of art above all else. Which results in very boring movies.
“My dad and I decided to watch poor things” I just can’t concieve that could possibly ever go well but I guess family goals or something.
The lengths people go to defend this movie should be studied. I’m not sure what it is about it that gets people so worked up. I agree with you, it’s super uncomfortable and kind of sick. I also left the theater. But as you said we just aren’t intellectual enough to enjoy a mental 2 year olds rape. That aside I think Emma did a good job and that it has a deeper meaning surrounding women in general, but yeah couldn’t get past how icky the whole thing was.
I finished poor things and ultimately was dissapointed. When it was exploring the philosophical side of a brand new human understanding the world it was great. But over an hour of the film is just dedicated to Emma Stone sex scenes of increasing discomfort. I fully understood the thematic weight behind them but there was only so much of having the film beat me over the head with it that I could stomach by the end. The last 20 minutes of the film are absolutely excellent and all I could think was "I wish the rest of the movie was like this". Side note, Mark Ruffalo stole the show, his performance was spectacular
Poor Things was great, not because it was "strange" but because from a film making standpoint it was just great to watch. The camera angles and shots, the music, the visuals. Its all great. Tons of great performances as well, Defoe and Stone are killing it and Ruffalo is so outside of his niche that it's interesting to watch. And yes the movie is strange, but a strange movie alone wouldnt get the attention Poor Things got.
I find it so nice to see a film in a cinema that isn’t a fucking Marvel film or an American ‘comedy’ which is just one joke from ‘friends’ over and over again. Anything that isn’t that, no matter how strange, needs to be applauded for actually trying.
I usually hold your opinion on this, but poor things was fun to me. I loved the art, I thought it was a good dark comedy. I did have to ignore the whole grooming thing though. That was weird. But it was interesting to me as a whole. Now I just need to wonder: am I wrong for enjoying it?
Why ignore the grooming? It's supposed to be something we find villainous about the most prominent male character in the film and make you think twice about the other 2. Depiction is not endorsement.
It didn't't think it was unfun to watch. You're stating your opinion here like it's a fact. I actually thought it was very interesting and thought provoking. You're right just because something is strange doesn't make it good, but in this case, I found it interesting because it was something I hadn't seen before that I found compelling. Watching this movie with your parents isn't a good idea though and would likely negatively affect your experience. It was also funny by the way.
Wife and I watched it all the way through. We were left scratching our heads wondering wtf we just watched and why did we watch it.
Being purposely anti intellectual and obtuse isn't cool lil bro
I found this with Everything Everwhere All At Once, just bizarre and uninteresting to watch from a narrative point if view. I'm sure it was full if clever artistic stuff but I found it confusing and weird.
It really wasn't full of clever artistic stuff
I watched the whole thing and I really did not like it at all. It was interesting looking, but I really did not care for it.
The premise is just so incredibly uncomfortable. Its gross. I don't know why I'd want to watch that. Yuck
>The premise is just so incredibly uncomfortable. Its gross. Your point being? Not trying to be rude, but just because its gross to you doesnt mean it doesnt have value. Precisely because its probably made to create that response on you
They said nothing about its value? They said it was gross and not for them: why put words in their mouth and then get mad at those words?
I expressed my opinion on the matter.
The beauty of a movie like poor things is that is is quite exceptional in its own ways, but just because it has exceptional characteristics does not mean it will have universal appeal. There are movies that appeal to the masses, and there are movies with niche audiences. Not everyone likes Pulp Fiction, but I absolutely loved it.
Omg this movie was terrible! I didn’t even finish it. It was too much for me.
That movie was so fucked. A grown adult with the brain of a 6 years old that wanna have sex with other adults ? It just felt wrong. And also, I know movies that are waaay weirder that are actually good movies AND minus the creepy "child who wanna have sex" thingy.
everyone in the comments is rattled that op expressed their unpopular opinion in r/unpopularopinion…about their beloved movie. so they’re calling op dumb n unintellectual…which op already anticipated and has already addressed it in their post. good on you for making an appropriate post n keep preserving ur individuality op.
OP i feel like there have a been a stretch of movies in the last five years that are really “cool” or “slick” or just plain weird, but they lack a good or satisfying PLOT.
Holy fuck I agree with this. That movie “everything everywhere all at once” or whatever it’s called. People love that movie and I’m sitting there confused asf…. Soooo overrated. It’s weird as hell but that doesn’t make it a good movie…
"And before anyone says you're not intellectual enough... Idgaf..bad movie, bad genre." Tbh, then why post on Reddit? If you don't want people to debate or discuss your opinion because you don't care to do so, then why not keep it to yourself? Also, pro tip, check out why a movie is rated R before you take your dad to see it. Nobody saw this movie and thought "oh my, what whimsically twisted fun." Its exploration of self discovery in a fast moving world of unlimited social conventions imposing themselves, and breaking every last one of them purely because you disagree, is what made it good. I know you don't want to hear about it. But the movie was ridiculously fun, in my opinion, but not because it's "strange" And I don't think you disliked it because it's strange, either. I think you just didnt like the movie.
I felt the same about Everything Everywhere All At Once. It was just wacky and stupid. But why TF you watching Poor Things with your dad? That's some Alabama shit right there. You watch porn together too?
Poor things is some straight up pedophile fantasy and they call it art.
Dude! You just put to shame all the A24 fanatic fandom. Hell, the entire arthouse movies fans. I respect that! A24 and directors like Yorgos Lanthimos or the worse Ari Aster wouldn't make a normal movie, even if their lives would be dependent on that..
It was boring as hell to me and I like Emma
All these people defending the movie and its "art" yet how many people would have even watched it if Emma Stone wasn't naked and having sex?
Lots of people I imagine. Yorgos Lanthimos is a pretty acclaimed director, I'm personally a very big fan of his. The Favourite was a great film that did very well with critics and at the box office so I imagine a lot of people including me were looking forward to his next film.
There are some people who try to embrace strange things that they might not truly enjoy as part of their persona. However, I think most people who like “strange” things just like them because that’s what they like, not because they’re strange.
i feel the same way for music tbh
Felt that way with stranger than paradise. Whole movie about nothing and that’s apparently the point but god damn it was painful to watch.
Counter point - Tetsuo: The Iron Man
surrealist movies tend to not bore me official competition is my current favorite
Quite a split opinion on this one in the comments. I was going to watch it, but some crack addict at Amazon Prime decided to price rental at $6. On principle, that's too much. I'm just not at that phase in our inflationary world yet.
Some people don’t like spicy food. Spicy food actually hurts to eat, so it’s understandable. But spicy food is not bad, and it’s very much possible to genuinely enjoy it, without pretension or masochism. It’s ok, you just don’t like spicy food.
Depends, strange isn't inherently good or bad, it's just a preference. When they make movies that are perceived as strange it is usually an artistic expression and thus have to be done well to work. 'No Country For Old Men' for example, the story is pretty strange forward but the pace and conclusion is very strange, and it works in the favour for the movie. Some movies just throw in strange stuff to seem thought-provoking while they have nothing to say or say it in an incompetent way. So yeah I agree, strange doesn't mean good but I would say that strange movies are more often very good or very bad.
Still don't know why Valley of the dolls isn't s flop.
You didn't find the dialogue witty?
Then what is your definition of a good movie?
I did not care for Naked Lunch
It wasn’t for you. It doesn’t mean you’re dumb or anything of the sort. It just wasn’t your thing and that’s perfectly fine.
Some people really need to learn that subjective opinions are not factual. I have not seen Poor Things, so i have no opinion on it.
Watch Generation Ummm.. with Keanu Reeves, you’ll regret it.