Against The Crowd Blogathon
Here are the rules:
1. Pick one movie that "everyone" loves (the more iconic, the better). That movie must have a score of at least 75% on rottentomatoes.com. Tell us why you hate it.
2. Pick one movie that "everyone" hates (the more notorious, the better). That movie must have a score of less than 35% on rottentomatoes.com. Tell us why you love it.
3. Include the tomato meter scores of both movies.
4. Use one of the banners in this post, or feel free to create your own.
Let's get the ugly out of the way.
Boyhood
Oh Boyhood, the darling of last years award season, and a film I wanted so badly to like. But the more I think about Boyhood, the more I hate it.
It was slow, aimless, poorly acted (Patricia Arquette, while the best in the movie was highly overrated, in my opinion) and I think it gets far too many excuses made for it. You frequently hear "Oh, that but's how life is." Indeed, life can be boring, but that doesn't mean a film about a mediocre life is going to work. This one surely didn't. The most interesting part of the film was in the first hour, with the abusive husband and having to leave behind their step siblings, but then it's never mentioned again. They fell off the face of the planet.
On top of that, random Twitter fanboys made this worse for me. I'm not talking about other film fans that enjoyed Boyhood. We're a respectful group with a variety of tastes. I'm talking about Twitter accounts that are seemingly set up to only argue with people that didn't like Boyhood. You have no idea how many "Wahhh Boyhood was the best, no one will remember Birdman next year!!!111!!ELEVENTY!!!!" tweets I got sent to me during awards seasons last year. Sorry randoms, I put a good effort towards liking this film, and I just couldn't.
Running With Scissors
I was actually going to go with another Evan Rachel Wood flick, Pretty Persuasion, but this one had a lower audience score. This was a film I always thought was really interesting and was filled with great actors and great performances. I'm honestly not sure why it has such a low score on Rotten Tomatoes? Was it too weird? I kind of love everything about it. It was really complex and kind of out there, but this cast is amazing. Annette Benning, Evan Rachel Wood, Patrick Wilson, Joseph Cross, Alec Baldwin, Gabrielle Union, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes. I mean, sure Gwyneth Paltrow was in it too, but even she wasn't terrible here. This was a film that I thought would actually have some decent Oscar potential when I first saw it, then nothing.
Bening did snatch a Globe nom for her performance, but overall it didn't connect with awards bodies. I haven't seen it...but I've always wanted to.
ReplyDeleteYeah, her Globe nom gave me hope, but it really fell flat after that. It's a shame.
DeleteI liked Boyhood, but I think it's a one-time kind of film. I haven't seen Running with Scissors but I think I'll check it out.
ReplyDeleteBoyhood definitely doesn't feel like a repeat viewing kind of film.
DeleteMore hate for Boyhood. Yay!!!! Been meaning to see Running with Scissors for a while, now. Now you've really intrigued me. Thanks for participating!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting this again. I hope you like Running With Scissors. I don't think it deserves the hate it gets.
DeleteI STILL haven't got around to seeing Boyhood but I don't know if I ever will. Every time I saw the poster I just thought meh, I probably will turn it off. So unless it arrives on Netflix streaming I probably will be gleefully oblivious of it.
ReplyDeleteI think Evan Rachel Wood is cool and Running With Scissors has a fantastic cast! I might give it a shot now.
If you think it looks meh now, it will be a terrible watch for you. lol avoid it.
DeleteEvan Rachel Wood is awesome. She's one of my favorite actresses.
I haven't seen Running with Scissors, but I have to break the theme... I absolutely loved Boyhood, I didn't find it slow and I completely just 'got' why you never saw characters again and I loved all of it's imperfections and I was able to just go with it. But I don't get why random people would start random arguments on twitter with you, that just seems petty! Like, personal taste isn't a thing? Film reviews would cease to exist, as would this blogathon! :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't understand that either. And it wasn't like it was just one person, it was several different dummy accounts. Oh well, during the Oscar ceremony I was too drunk to care. lol
DeleteI haven't seen either, but I'm interested in both. The Boyhood train left the station months ago, so I can probably go into that one with the right expectations...at this point.
ReplyDeleteAs for RWS, I don't care what it's about, that cast is too good. Like, Deuce Bigelow good.
Great post!
lol Duece Bigelow good. Brian Cox has a room solely designated for masturbating in that movie. So yeah, kind of Bigelow-ish.
DeleteBoyhood hate is understandable.. I haven't seen the other one but I like Evan Rachel Wood so I doubt I'd hate it either.
ReplyDeleteShe's good in it. I loved all the performances.
DeleteI never saw Boyhood (the only BP nom from this year I skipped) for exactly the reasons you stated. Life is life, films and films; why would I want to watch someone else's boring existence play out in (what I can only assume) feels like real-time. Awesome post as always Brittani :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! And you're right, that's pretty much all Boyhood is. Existing for three hours.
DeleteI like Evan but..... I fucking hated Running with Scissors. It was so over the top and ridiculous. I just flat-out fucking hated that film. It was one of the worst films I had ever seen.
ReplyDeleteOh no! lol. I was wondering if I would get anyone that hated it here.
DeleteI still like Boyhood a lot, but I totally get your reaction. Running with Scissors was kind of forgettable for me, though I didn't hate it.
ReplyDeleteI wish I would've liked Boyhood. I wanted to so badly.
DeleteI have never seen Running with Scissors but Evan Rachel Wood does have me slightly interested. I agree with your thoughts on Boyhood. Yeah it was interesting in how it was made but the end result was nothing that astonishing. It was just too mundane for me
ReplyDeleteExactly. It was all gimmick, no substance for me.
DeleteRunning with Scissors has such a low score?! That's madness! It's a very good movie
ReplyDeleteExactly!
DeleteI loved Boyhood when I first saw it but I am definitely starting to join your opinion on it. It was cute to see the kid growing up but he was such a bad actor. I haven't seen Running With Scissors though, so I can't comment on that.
ReplyDeleteThe sister was the worst. She was only cast because nepotism and she never improved. It was cringe worthy.
DeleteI HATED Boyhood so very much! Even more so because people kept talking about how true to everyday life it was. I don't want to go to the movies to see everyday life, that's not what movies are for. Movies are suppose to entertain and enrich, this dull slog did neither. I hated every single character, Mason was a useless twit and his mother was an appallingly bad parent. That Arquette, who I'm not a fan of to begin with, won an Oscar for this nothing performance makes my blood boil.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen Running with Scissors though I've always meant to because of the cast, glad to find someone else who isn't a Paltrow fan!, but I haven't quite gotten to it yet. Even though the word to mouth on it has been bad those actors have to make it worth at least one watch.
Bless this comment. lol
DeleteArquette winning was ridiculous. Keira Knightley, IMO, should've won that Oscar.