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August 24, 2005
20 "Overrated" Movies - Part III
Back to Premiere magazine's list of the 20 most overrated movies of all time (via Kulturblog, who is now the newest member of the Curmudgeon blogroll). Here's my thoughts on their numbers 10 through 6.
10. Field Of Dreams. I got into a good discussion on IM today about whether this movie is overrated with my friend, fellow Red Sox fan, and occasional commenter "JewsForDamon." JFD argued passionately that there is no way Field of Dreams is overrated. I'm not sure I could agree.
There are parts of Field of Dreams that are not only classic, but will make any American male cry unabashedly. Every time the end of the movie hits, and Kevin Costner calls out to his dad with a lump in his throat and croaks out, "You wanna have a catch?" I break out in sniffles and start blinking furiously to keep a lid on the waterworks. I defy you to find a guy anywhere who doesn't get choked up at that moment. As soon as I get my composure back, it's a dead lock cinch that the next thing I do after hearing that speech is call my dad. And for baseball fans, there is no greater speech in the history of Hollywood than James Earl Jones' impassioned embrace of interconnection between baseball and Americana.
But as soft a spot as I have in my heart for this movie, I have to admit that there are some cringe-worthy moments: Amy Irving telling off the book-banner at the PTA meeting; just happening to run into Moonlight Graham while driving from Minnesota to Iowa; Timothy Busfield all of a sudden seeing the players when Burt Lancaster steps in to save the choking daughter. And I have to think that if I didn't bleed baseball -- if I didn't believe with all my heart that every word of Jones' soliloquy is 100% true -- I might think that Field of Dreams was a sappy melodrama. I love it, so I can't call it overrated. But I can see where Premiere could.
9. Fantasia. I'm not a classical music fan, and I'm not really a Disney fan either. But this is another movie that I think has to be taken in context. This marks the first attempt to synchronize animation on the screen to a specific piece of music (long before Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon/Wizard of Oz thing made it cool. Calling Fantasia overrated just because it's somewhat tame and average by today's standards is to be ignorant of just how innovative it was at the time. Not overrated.
8. Easy Rider. Yes. I've not yet been able to sit through the entire thing. I probably should love this movie, if for no other reason its anti-establishment theme... but I just don't. Gonna have to agree that it's overrated.
7. Clerks. I love Kevin Smith. My film school friends from grad school worshipped him. I own every one of his films (except for Jersey Girl) on DVD or VHS. And Clerks was funny, it really was.
But even as witty and insightful as Smith is, he's also derivative of himself, and he's a one trick pony (I need for him to show me a movie that doesn't depend on vulgarity for its humor). In hindsight, Smith's greatest moment with Clerks was not the film itself, but that he got the film made. He was the pioneer of the indie film genre, but Clerks' legs get weaker with age.
6. Chicago. I didn't think it was overrated. I didn't think it was great either, but it did stand out the year it was nominated. The fact that the leads all did their own singing and dancing adds to its impressiveness. Was this a great film? Nah. Was it the best film of a weak lot the year it won Oscar? Yeah. Is it overrated? No, especially because it's not like I hear a ton of people elevating it to a place in the pantheon of film.
Coming tomorrow: my take on their top 5.
Comments
Correction on Field of Dreams, Mudge: The wife was played by Amy Madigan, not Amy Irving. Amy Irving was whom I used to dream about in high school after seeing "Carrie." I also like Amy Brenneman. I found Amy Madigan annoying in Field of Dreams.
Posted by: JewsForDamon at August 25, 2005 10:03 AM
