5 Totally Overrated Movies

Have you ever been talking with someone who holds a movie/book/show in high regard, only for you to tell them that you think it stinks? It's a hard situation, because most of the time the person is deeply offended by your hatred for the object of their affection. Look, I don't have anything against you personally, it's just that I disagree with your taste. And with the following movies, that awkward conversation rears its ugly head time and time again.

Inglorious Basterds

I really wish that I loved this movie; it would make life a lot easier. I love Tarantino. I quote Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs just as much as the next guy. But Inglorious Basterds as an entire film, is overrated. I even watched this movie multiple times to try and figure out what I was missing. Every part with Brad Pitt's crew is amazing- but they're only on screen for like 45 minutes. The rest of the time we get Tarantino-esque conversations between characters that are not near as interesting as "The Bear Jew" or "Aldo the Apache". I know that some of these dialogue scenes are vintage Tarantino, but I just felt like he was a bit overindulgent, which he has been known to do (does anyone like Death Proof?). It's not Tarantino's worst movie (ahem, Death Proof), but it's not in the same league as his classics.

Love, Actually 

Love, Actually is one of the few movies that actually left me close to physical illness after seeing it. It is also always mentioned in "best romantic comedies" lists, which is mystifying. The amount of syrupy sweet story lines about love and relationships is nauseating. Admittedly romantic comedies are not my cup of tea, but I can appreciate the good ones from the bad. There are several that I've liked, a fact I don't mind admitting. But Love, Actually just has so much unnecessary over-the-top romance that I can't handle it. The one that especially irked me was the 10 year old kid who was "in love" with his classmate. Puppy love can be cute when done the right way (see Moonrise Kingdom), but here it is just the worst. This 10 year old would basically sell his soul to be with this girl, and performs one insane romantic gesture after another. It wasn't cute to me at all. Having extensive experience around kids through my times at church and working at a summer camp, I can tell you that not one ten year old boy cares at all about romance. They might "like" a girl, but this is usually manifested in putting a worm in her hair or pushing her down on the playground. You're telling me this kid is going to do a Ross-in-Friends-style stop her at the airport thing? Give me a break.The rest of the stories are boring to annoying, and I found myself wanting Love, Actually to be over as soon as it started. Problem is, IT'S 2 AND A HALF HOURS  LONG! I'm calling way overrated on this one.

Crash

Most "movie people" already know that this film is the biggest stink-bomb to ever win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, but I still run into individuals who hold Crash in high regard. The only reason it even won was because most voters thought, "it's a little TOO edgy to choose Brokeback Mountain, so I'll just go with the movie that says racism is bad." The filmmakers bludgeon viewers over the head with the overly simplified message of, "EVERYONE IS RACIST ON THE INSIDE". Nothing is nuanced, it's all convenient, and it's just too much to handle.

Bridesmaids

This one gets me in trouble the most. And for the sake of not making that any worse, I'm going to be short. I just didn't think it was that funny. I think that the people in it are funny (Rebel Wilson, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph), it just wasn't a great movie. There. Am I the worst person in the world?

There Will Be Blood

I've already written some thoughts on this movie, but allow me to reiterate: There Will Be Blood is boring and terrible. Here's what I have previously stated, and I stand by every word:

'There Will Be Blood, released in 2007, had all the hype in the world. A critically acclaimed director, Hollywood acting great Daniel Day-Lewis as the lead, and the promise of an engrossing tale of oil prospecting at the turn of the century. Needless to say I was very excited to see this movie in the theater. The opening scene was extremely promising. Daniel Day-Lewis, struggling in an oil well, in an amazing one man scene with no dialogue. After that is when things started to turn south. For what seemed like the next 9 hours (in reality it was only two and a half), absolutely NOTHING happened. Seriously, there is nothing that happens. I understand that not all movies are moved along by  a traditional plot, and that there are other types of films. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a good example of a film that is a character study. We see Benjamin from his birth to his death. But in between there is growth, action, and love. In There Will Be Blood, there is none of that. Day-Lewis' character is an evil curmudgeon in the last scene, the exact same as he is in the first. There's no plot to speak of, just some events, and then it ends. Was I supposed to be invested in any of the characters? Was I supposed to care when anything happened?

About halfway through the movie I started to realize that my expectations had gone horribly wrong. After the movie my friends and I all had sheepish looks, none of us daring to be the first to say they hated it. Someone finally piped up with a "that was kind of boring" comment, finally giving the rest of us the ability to tell of how bored we all were during the movie. A group behind me in the theater loudly exclaimed, "this is boring crap!" and actually left the theater with an hour left. True story. I wish I had been as bold as them. It most certainly was boring crap. It was almost as if I could hear Anderson behind me in the theater screaming, "THIS IS ART! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO LIKE THIS!" I understand that I'm supposed to, the problem is that I don't, not even in the slightest. Maybe I was confusing that with Day-Lewis horribly overacted performance. It was as if Anderson told him,"OK, if you yell and strain your face, it conveys emotion! Do this EVERY time!" Yelling is not great acting, and that is the gist of Day-Lewis' performance. He overacts like Calculon from Futurama.'