Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  Normally I love John Candy and
    Steve Martin, but this movie was not only boring, it was
    *pathetic*.  I know it was supposed to be a black comedy, but ...
    
    Also, I didn't like Neighbors, with Dan Aykroyd.
    
    Tammi
    

    A few recent ones, off the top of my head:
    
    Spaceballs - I thought there was more humor in the movies they were
                 trying to make fun of, than in this
    
    Goonies   -  Pathetic, corny & boring
    
    Prizzy's Honor - Depressing, boring, repulsive character (Jack
    Nicholson)
    
    Always    -  Just released with Holly Hunter and what's his name
                 (I have a mental block, but he's been in a million
                  movies) - this was just toooo hokey- oh, Richard
                  Dreyfuss, he was wasted in this stupid movie, he
                  deserves a much better script
    
    Arthur II -   This was so badly done I felt embarrassed for the
                   people who made it.
    
    I hate anything with Chuck Norris, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Sw......
    (except Twins), and all slasher type/horror/blood & guts movies
    
    Re: 9 1/2 Weeks, Maybe the movie didn't seem so weak if you hadn't
    read the book.  I didn't read the book, and I felt that it was very
    difficult for her to end it with him.  I also thought she looked
    pretty miserable when she was crawling across the floor picking
    up the money he was throwing.  I didn't love it, but I thought it
    was interesting.  I don't care for Micky Rourke anyway.  But, I
    think Kim Basinger is gorgeous as well as likable, in all her movies.
    
    Lorna
    
                                  
    

    I only walked out of one movie in my life.  Best Little Whorehouse in
    Texas.
    
    Then again, I don't SEE movies I don't think I'll like very often.
    
    -Jody
    

    
    	The Gods Must Be Crazy
    	Batman
    	Eraserhead (I've tried watching it three times and just can't!)
    
    	Carla
    

re:  910.8  (I should have guessed :-)

>   Dead Ringer

Blech, arrgh, etc !!!  Thank you for reminding me, Doctah, of 
one of my *least* favorite movies :-p!  It was recommended by a 
person who was impressed by the intense psychological themes
and struggles going on in the movie; but he made no mention
of the particulars of the plot or level of violence, etc.

I listed that movie before in 703.13 as one reason (albeit
the least important one :-) as why I would never go to a male gyn
again.

I hate doing that -- being in the situation where a movie 
contains scenes or a theme or certain kinds of violence that, 
had I known about in advance, would have caused me to skip it.
I just sit there, telling myself that I should leave, and don't.
But then again I also hate skipping certain movies that I might
possibly find upsetting, because then I think I shouldn't shelter
myself like that.  And I also find the spontaneity of just going 
to the movie that's playing when out with friends without knowing
a lot about it in advance to be fun.  sigh.

						nancy b.

    
       "Frantic" with Harrison Ford  -- talk about being "frantic" to
    get out of a theater!!

    re: 913.5......
               
                  I thought that I was the ONLY one to see that movie!!
    Besides being really gross, "Dead Ringers" depressed me for two days.
    
    doug
    

    Funny, I was seriously depressed by "Housekeeping", a comedy 
    several people put on their "Best" list.  
    
    I found "Wings of Desire" unbelievably boring, except for Peter Falk.
    
    Bakshi's "Lord of the Rings" was a major disappointment. 
    
    -- Jane H.
    
    

    
    	I'd forgotten about "Wings of Desire", which I found unbelievably
    	boring except for Nick Cave (the singer), and wanted to walk out
    	on.
    
    	Carla
    

    
    several on the 'best' list are on my 'worst' list....but then,
    as someone mentioned, I see very few movies, and even fewer that
    i think might not be good.  
    
    but I did try to watch, and disliked:
    
    bladerunner
    a clockwork orange
    star wars
    kiss of the spiderwoman
    
    
    and my friends walked out of 'dead ringers'...same sentiment
    as you had nancy!
    
    deb
    

>Blech, arrgh, etc !!!  Thank you for reminding me, Doctah, of 
>one of my *least* favorite movies :-p! 

 Actually, I'm glad you noticed that. I knew you really didn't like it, and I
felt the need to add a little "gotcha!" in that lite topic. :-)

 It's not really one of the movies I'd consider as a "best" movie, but it was
interesting (and strange!) I knew I could get some mileage out of it. :-)
Thanks for indulging me. :-) :-)

 The Doctah

    Yeah, people are different.  Housekeeping cheered me up because
    I loved Christine Lahti's character so much, for one thing.  The
    movie definitely gave me a positive feeling towards life.
    
    On the other hand, I was completely disgusted by A Clockwork Orange,
    and I did walk out, leaving my date sitting in the theater.
    
    Lorna
    

    Some movies I have walked out on include:

        "Wired" - I loved Saturday Night Live, and went to see this mostly
        for nostalgia's sake, figuring that, despite all the negative
        reviews, it couldn't be *that* bad.  I was wrong.  I left the
        theater after an agonizing hour.

        "Ishtar" - Once again, I ignored the reviews, which was a mistake. 
        It only took me about 30 minutes to walk out on this one.

        "Surf Nazis Must Die" - Okay, I admit, the title of this movie was
        the only reason I went to see it in the first place.  Bad move on
        my part.  I left after about an hour.

    One movie I didn't walk out on because I kept thinking it would get
    better, but it didn't, was "Britannia Hospital".  This was supposed to
    be a comedy; I am pretty sure about this because the film had a an
    obviously male actor perform a female role, and we all know this is a
    time honored tradition in British comedy (a la Monty Python).
    Unfortunately, this movie forgot about the other great tradition in
    British comedy, namely being funny.  I found it mostly just
    mean-spirited.  I don't think I ever hated a movie more than this one.

    -- Mike

    Eddie Murphy RAW 
    Don't know if a standup comic routine released as a movie counts, but I
    hated this one.  My friend and I walked out.  Very bitter, unfunny,
    misogynistic.  When a swear word IS the joke, you're usually in
    trouble...  And I normally love Eddie Murphy, too!
    
    HELLRAISER 2
    It was a mistake!  It was a dinner/movie house, and I thought we were
    going to see THEY LIVE.  It took 5 minutes for me to realize something
    was wrong and ask the waitron "what IS this?!"  A truly horrible, badly
    done movie.  I kept searching frantically for the plot...bleah.
    
    Any movie of this genre goes automatically on my WORST list, whether
    I've seen it or not.
    
    DEAD RINGERS
    Rented this one.  It was a well-made movie, but I also squirmed while
    watching it and felt sick.  I kind of wished I hadn't seen it.
    
    Pam

A recent movie I intensely disliked and almost walked out on was 

" Back to the Future, II "  - mostly for it's portrayal of all major 
			      female roles; but also because the plot
			      seemed contrived, disjointed, and I 
			      positively groaned at the ending.
			      (I concede that hover boards are cool)

			-------------------------

re: .11  (the Doctah)          -< :-P yourself! >-

>  It's not really one of the movies I'd consider as a "best" movie, 
>  but it was interesting (and strange!) I knew I could get some 
>  mileage out of it. :-)

OK.  Fine.  Pull my chain.  See if I care.      BRAT.  

(and I didn't do ":-P", I did ":-p", which is just a little tongue
 stick-out; just FYI)

						nancy b.
							

    The Orchid (which very, very few people have ever seen.  Right,
    Jerry?)
    Laserblast
    Revenge of the Smog (Slime?) Monsters
    Lord of the Rings - yup, it's right down there
    
    							Ann B.

    
    A Boy and His Dog.  This is the only movie I can remember walking out
                        on. 
    
    Anything by Russ Meyer, but they're so bad they're -- well, not good,
    but -- entertaining, in a way.
    
    CQ

    
    re:.15
    gee, i rather liked
    'return to back to the future' (or whatever the hell it's called)
    perhaps it was the company...
    

re:.18 (Joe White)                -< bttfII >-

>    gee, i rather liked
>    'return to back to the future' (or whatever the hell it's called)
>    perhaps it was the company...
 
	Well, 2 of the 3 people didn't like it either, for a variety of
	reasons.  

	The scene that got me annoyed from the start was when the zany
	doctor put the boy's girlfriend to sleep (remember, when she
	was sitting between them in the time-mobile or whatever) because
	she was curious and "asking too many questions".  So he zapped
	her by touching his fingers to her eyes and she collapsed.

	After that, her sleeping body was left on top of something (a
	dumpster?) while they explored life in the future.  

	Life in the future included another major female role which
	was Biff's alcholic wife getting beaten and knocked around and
	being threatened because he was responsible for making all the
	money and therefore he could cut her and the kids out whenever
	he felt like it.

	Then a couple scenes later we see the girlfriend getting laid
	down on the porch of a house in the middle of a gunfight and
	abandoned.

	There were other examples we talked about afterwards, but I
	can't recall them now.  

	Ironic : I saw "Back to the Future, II" at a movie theater in 
	         the underground of Mont Royal, Montreal, over 
		 Thanksgiving. (yea, maybe it was the company)

							nancy b.

    
    Honey I shrunk the kids.
    
    I went to see it for the Roger Rabbit short and shouldhave left
    immediately afterwards....
    
    D.

    
    re:.19
    you are quite right and none of the examples of blatent sexism were
    lost on me. 
    

	While watching "Back To The Future, II" and getting pissed-off
	at its portrayal of women, I thought about how a couple of years
	ago, it might not have bothered me as much.  I might have actually 
	enjoyed the movie.  So then I decided, "OK. Good.  I can recognize
	bullsh*t and label it appropriately when it occurs."  

	Then I looked around at who else was in the theater and saw lots
	of 11-15 year old girls who probably **weren't** consciously aware
	that the messages they were being fed was:

	o  if a girl asks too many questions or are overly curious, bad things
	   will happen

	o  a wife should agree with her husband or else she will get beaten
	   or she will be financially worse off

	Thought of this movie again when I read the last part of the article
	that John Wood entered in 178.203 from the Nashua Telegraph:

	>   There's a whole generation of little girls out there
   	>   listening.

							nancy b.    

    
    looking back at my .21, i realise that it might have come off as a 
    tad flip. let me simply say that i completely agree with nancy b.'s
    observations and concerns. i don't know if it's just me, but i seem
    to be seeing alot more 'creeping' sexism in the movies, especially
    the ones that purport to be 'just' entertainment. it seemed more than
    co-incidence that the first indiana jones movie had a great female
    character, the second had merely an energetic whiner, and in the
    third the *only* female character was, in addition to a 'slut' and 
    a 'mata-hari', greed personified.
    
    anyway, getting back to that future movie, i suspect that the only 
    reason my date and i did not walk out was because we were exhausted 
    from trying to get to *any* movie that evening. 
    

    Re: .22
    
    YEAH NANCY!....    Finally someone else who speaks up against what I
    was TRYING to point out in LOOK WHO's TALKING...  Its one thing as an
    adult to go see a movie like either of these (LWT, or BTFII), and label
    these as CRAP!...  But... its the teenaged girls who watch this GARBAGE
    and don't know enough yet to NOT be influenced by the junk coming out
    on films these days!!!!
    
    Thanks for your .22, it made my weekend!
    
    Gale

    The worst movie I've seen had Ruth Gordon playing housemother to some
    sorority girls who did mud-wrestling on the side to pay the mortgage. 
    I saw it for Ruth Gordon, but even she couldn't save this turkey.
    I've blocked out the title from my mind.
    
    Marge

    CQ, I don't recall "A Boy and His Dog", but I did enjoy "My Life as a
    Dog". 
    
    Marge

    re: .17  "A Boy and His Dog"
    
    Thanks for reminding me of one I forgot to put on my favorite movie
    list.
    
    Tony

    While I wouldn't label it as *the* worst (after all, there is Plan 9
    From Outer Space, Rocky n, Rambo n, most of the Bonds with Roger Moore,
    etc.), I can never understand the fuss over (or watch more than about
    10 minutes of) "It's A Wonderful Life". It's one of those traditions
    that makes the Christmas season a bit tedious.

    
    Marge, it's impossible to confuse the two.  A Boy and His Dog is (I
    think) one of those "so-bad-it's-good" movies (except for me it was
    just "so-bad-").  I don;t think there's any middle ground on this one
    -- you either like it or hate it.
    
    CQ

    I'd just never heard of it, Christine... sounds worth a view to check
    it out.
    
    Grins

    I believe "A Boy and his Dog" derives from a short story by Harlan
    Ellison, if you're into SF.

    ah, I'm not.  thanks tho... 
    
    mdh

    [Should I admit this?]

    I own a copy of "A Boy and His Dog." I'd be willing to lend it to
    anyone who promised not to copy it. It's pretty... weird. If you've
    read the short story (yes, by Harlan Ellison) it's pretty good
    (assuming of course that you *liked* the short).

    The movie on it's own merits is pretty weak, unless you are in the
    "it's so bad it's good" camp.

    	-- Charles

    And it's got Don Johnson in it too.  One of his first big appearances.
    
    I saw it once, and liked it.
    
    -Jody
    

    re .33:
    
    I'll pass, Charles.  Thanks.
    
    ;^)
    Marge

   I've walked out of quite a few movies because I have physical reactions
to violence (I start shaking uncontrollably -- probably because I didn't 
have my violence quota when I was young -- no TV in our house)


   Nominations for worst movies:

    Earthquake  (I saw about 30 minutes of it)
    Monty Python Search of the Holy Grail  (my husband **likes this** -- but 
                  I have never gotten past the first cold blooded murder "Bring
                   out your dead . . .)  OK.  So I lack a sense of humor.

    Anything that has Sherlock Holmes in it that wasn't written by Sir Arthur
    Spies Like Us  




   And what did anyone LIKE about Terms of Endearment??????
           I was expecting a sensitive exploration of a mother/daughter 
    relationship (that's what they advertised), but all they discussed 
    was their sex lives.

Barbi

    Since we are discussing movies with "dog" in the title, let's not
    forget "Love is a Dog From Hell" :-)
    
    -- Mike
    
    P.S.  Actually, I wouldn't put it on my list of the worst movies of all
    time.  Like "Surf Nazis Must Die", I think the only reason I saw this
    one was because I loved the title, but in this case the movie wasn't
    all that bad.

This isn't the worst movie for me; I really enjoyed it (and so did Evan!),
but "The Little Mermaid" had in it what Shellie really hates: the evil
character is a woman, usually an older woman.

Disney does this a lot: Cruella DeVille of 101 Dalmations, The Queen of
Snow White, The Wicked Stepmother of Cinderella, etc.  Why are adult women
(non-teenage) portrayed so badly?

      Carol

    >>Why are adult women (non-teenage) portrayed so badly?
    
    Disney was, in some of the cases cited, merely being true to his
    source.  Snow White and Cinderella are based on folktales that featured
    female villains.  (If you're interested in exploring how folktales
    have been watered down in modern retellings, check out Bettelheim's
    (sp?) book, "The Uses of Enchantment.")  Peter Pan (based on
    the book by Barrie) features one of Disney's most memorable villains,
    who happens to be male: Captain Hook.  And Mary Poppins not only had
    an engaging and capable adult heroine, it provided my first exposure to the
    British suffragette movement.  (Maybe Mrs. Banks' involvment is supposed to 
    provide comic relief, but I found the chorus of "Sister Suffragette"
    quite stirring.) 
    
    Then again, maybe I'm just another sentimental baby-boomer who doesn't 
    want my Disney memories tarnished :-).
    
    Jane
    

    Maybe this should go in the True Confessions note, but . . .
    
    I always wanted to be the Queen in Snow White, so I could get back
    at this silly subservient puling little crybaby of a girl who's
    making me look bad by  willingly doing all this backbreaking
    housework  -- AND whistling while she does it!  And I can't even
    whistle!
    
    --bonnie

    Well, some of the "worst movies" mentioned here are among those
    I liked, though in some cases, I can understand why the film
    produces a negative reaction. I can see, for instance, why someone
    might be really turned off by the violence in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.
    
    At any rate, I could list screenfuls of titles in the "hated" category,
    so I'll limit myself to one from this year: STAR TREK V.
    
    As for Disney villains, personally speaking, I always thought
    SLEEPING BEAUTY's Malificent was absolutely one of the *neatest*
    characters in an animated film. Oooooo...scary stuff.
    
    --- jerry

    "Carrie"
    
    I loathe *all* horror movies, but this one is the worse.
    
    "All other horror movies" gets dishonorable mention. 
    
    Dana

    I walked out of "Halloween" when the German Shepherd started growling. 
    I can read horror, but I don't like watching it (with a few
    exceptions).
    
    I can't understand - even for a second - why *anyone* would like the
    insipid "Peggy Sue Got Married."  I thought it stunk.
    
    I pretty much feel the way so many of you feel about "Dead Ringers,"
    too.
    
    And all the reviews for "The Naked Gun" were good, but you I didn't
    agree at all!
    
    I think my all-time hated movie is "Grease."  I absolutely hated this
    movie.  I can't stand John Travolta in it (or anything else, so far!).
    
    Susan
    
    PS:  I didn't see "Look Who's Talking," though.  I hear Travolta's good
    in that.  I'll keep previous comments in mind if I *do* see it, though.

    re .43:
    
    I like each of the first 3 films you mentioned. If you hadn't finished
    with Grease, I would have been tempted to see Naked Gun on the strenght
    of your anti-recommendation.
    
    I'm surprised that Rocky - IMHO by far the worst film I have ever sat
    thru - hasn't got more mentions here.
    
    	Andrew.

    re .44:  Yes, there have been a number in here that I really liked a
    lot, and number in the "best" note that I really hated!
    
    Regarding Halloween, though, I probably would like it if I sat all the
    way through it.  Timing was my biggest problem - my mother was in the
    hospital being tested for cancer, and I was more or less "coerced" into
    going to a movie I wasn't interested in seeing at the time.  That mask
    gave nightmares for weeks!  And I didn't see *any* of the bad stuff!
    :-)
    
    As for Rocky, I know a lot of people who loved it.  I've never seen it,
    though (I can't stand Sly, although I did watch Nighthawks, which
    wasn't too bad).
    
    I find that when people really build up movies for me, I'm always
    disappointed with them.  Everyone raved over Peggy Sue and Top Gun and
    I thought they were both mediocre (a worse crime than bad!).  So I
    figure I shouldn't see Rocky ever!!