Hype!

[sidewinder]

Okay, Hype, or "Buzz", can really kill a film for me, weather by reviews or my friends. For example, when my friend saw the Incredibles, I had hyped it to the point where he thought it would be perfect, so when he came out, he insisted he liked it, but I think that was just to make me feel less like a... hyper. So, whats the worst case of Hype you can remember tha happened to you or a friend?

[Stu]

The Matrix. A mate of mine hyped it for years, and then when the sequel came out, he told me to see it. So I borrowed the DVD from him. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. But after hearing for months it was the dogs bollocks, I was expecting a little more. Still a good film.

Then the second one came out. I couldn't bring myself to see the 3rd one. :p

[RogueMartian]

the star wars prequels......

[Frank Castle]

Van Helsing. Oh my god that was a spirit killer.

[Elven Moon]

Cat in the Hat. All that hype, and I hated it!

[Caffeine King]

Definetly The Ring.

All of that hype about how scary it was and I wasn't scared for one second during it.

Basic Instinct also. The only highlight of that was the leg crossing scene (to see it and to see where it originated from after seeing so many parodies of it.)

That's all.

[Xfox]

The Matrix, by far. There were so many problems with the story, acting and dialogue. And people fiercely defend this movie too. I don't understand why. After this movie came out, I no longer listened to any hype from any source.

As for critical hype- Rushmore. No likable characters, no funny parts, no reason to watch it.

[Speedy Boris]

Napoleon Dynamite is the most recent one to come to mind. Not nearly as funny as I had heard, though to be fair it had its moments. Others in the past included:
-Fritz the Cat. Not because it was a bad film, but in terms of content; I thought it was going to be more explicit and gross than it actually was.
-The Last Temptation of Christ. Again, a content issue. With the endless amount of church groups protesting the movie during the '80s (all ungrounded, BTW), it was made to be this horribly sinful film that was a bastardization of the Bible. I saw it two weeks ago and I thought it was one of the best portrayals of Jesus EVER. If you take everything in context, the film isn't a bastardization and is, in fact, quite well done and moving.
-Gone with the Wind. Why this movie made the Top 5 in the AFI is beyond me. Yes, it has the epic feel and it has some classic scenes (mostly during the war sequences), but overall it's not something I would want to watch again. The main character is annoying and selfish, which is the point, but it doesn't make her any more watchable or the movie more enjoyable.
-Matrix Revolutions. I loved the first film, I sorta liked Reloaded, but this film was just a chore to sit through. Whereas with the first 2 films, you could get great philosophical discussions about the situations presented, the third film spurred none of that. Add in a haphazard, abrupt conclusion, and ugh....
-Being There. My parents had hyped this as such a clever film. I watched it and was bored through most of it. Part of it was the verrrrrry slow pacing, but also the jokes about everyone thinking the TV man is a genius got pretty tiresome halfway through. This definitely needed a shorter running time and more variation in the humor.
-A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. My friends bought it for me for my birthday. It was sold within the next week. The film started off good, with its social commentary on robots and feelings, but the second half with the Pinocchio quest was bad and uneven. And don't get me started on the frozen-in-ice ending. :mad:
-Scary Movie. I gotta say, as blah as I felt about the sequel, it atleast had more laughs than the original. Yes, Scary Movie 2 had a ton of grossout gags, but the parodies and good timing on some of the gags helped matters. I can't say the same for Scary Movie 1, which at times felt like it was sinking to the source of its inspiration. I got so bored that I ended up counting the number of times I laughed total (FYI, it was four).

[Stewie]

Matrix: Reloaded. Most of this was me hyping it up for myself. It wasn't so much that I thought it would be that great, I was really hoping it would. Add to that all the press about it (100 Agent Smiths!) and it was a very big letdown. I still liked it, kinda, but it was hard for me to see Revolutions, and that I didn't like.

Napoleon Dynamite is the most recent one to come to mind. Not nearly as funny as I had heard, though to be fair it had its moments.Same here. It seemed like it was constantly setting up jokes and funny things, then nothing happened. It just had moments.

[cross blues]

Torque - trailers looked great, and I was so anxious to see this movie. then the story was about the worst ever.
LOTR trilogy - don't get me wrong, they're decent movies. but nothing near what I was expecting from all the hype (both from critics and from friends)
The Village - let's pitch our love story like a horror movie. people will love that!

[Martianinvader]

The Last Temptation of Christ. Again, a content issue. With the endless amount of church groups protesting the movie during the '80s (all ungrounded, BTW), it was made to be this horribly sinful film that was a bastardization of the Bible. I saw it two weeks ago and I thought it was one of the best portrayals of Jesus EVER. If you take everything in context, the film isn't a bastardization and is, in fact, quite well done and moving.Because if you believe Jesus is God, then He was perfect, and couldn't sin, making Last Temptation blasphemy. What's hard to understand about that?

I don't think I can see Napoleon Dynamite now. Again, it's the hype. From what I've heard, this is a very very different film, and I think it only works if you watch it in total surprise and have never heard of it before. Cult films tend to work that way. Maybe I might have been able to see it when it was first out, but now I wouldn't find it funny.

[Speedy Boris]

Because if you believe Jesus is God, then He was perfect, and couldn't sin, making Last Temptation blasphemy. What's hard to understand about that? I do believe Jesus is God. We actually had a discussion about this movie in class, and a lot of good points were brought up. Without wanting this to go off-topic, let me raise a few points:
-Not once in the film does Jesus actually sin. Sure, he has constant struggles with temptation, and sure, he has a vision of having sex with Mary, but taken in the context of what he could've had if he gave up his sacrifice on the cross, it's very powerful. So many Jesus films portray him as a guy who goes through the motions like he's 100% God and is 0% human, merely inhabiting the body of a human. Jesus was 100% God and 100% human, which isn't quite as difficult to comprehend with our human minds as the trinity, but awfully close. Considering, I think they did a good job portraying Jesus as fully human and fully divine.
-The film doesn't go by the Bible word for word (I'm talking about dialog here). Personally, I find this a big plus for the film. It makes the Christ story accessible to modern audiences. So many Jesus films just repeat the Bible verbatim so that the jargon goes over non-believer's heads and Jesus ends up looking like a robot. And yet they managed to update the language without inserting a lot of embarrasing modern slang and outdated catchphrases. I applaud them for that.
-Judas is Jesus' right-hand man who only turns him in because Jesus revealed to him that crucifixion was the only way to save humanity. Usually Judas is seen as a snidely back-stabber who only turns Jesus in for profit. And granted, there are many interpretations about Judas and his personality, but I found Last Temptation's interpretation of it a unique take that didn't seem unrealistic or blasphemous.
-Jesus not knowing the full salvation plan; God only revealing it a little at a time. I don't find this hard to believe, especially if you take into consideration the whole "Only God knows the time and the hour of Jesus' second coming". And as for Jesus' radical change from preaching love to igniting the people's interest with the sword, it isn't that hard to take either. He tried the love approach and the people wouldn't listen, and so the logical approach would be to stir some attention with violence, which is a natural attention getter. Of course, not violence against other human beings, but violence in the sense of, say, overturning the carts and tables in the temple.

I could go on and on, but I don't want this thread to go off-topic and I just thought I'd prove a point. The protestors WERE ignorant because they were protesting a movie that they hadn't even seen. They heard rumors embellished by the Moral Majority for years and they turned it into this ogre of a movie, when in fact it could be a great tool for witnessing to others. That's all I was saying. :)