quote: hough it would have been a nice fall-back if his brains failed him.
MY wife has perfect pitch AND a 152 IQ....
Ron doesn't know his IQ, the last time he was tested was on some standardized test in school, and he was off their scale. It only went up to 150.
He thinks that a steady stream of popular entertainment (including, but not limited to mediocre offerings such as many of the afforementioned) has probably reduced his IQ somewhat.
He'd be mad at me if he knew I posted this, because he thinks it's dumb to care about something as arbitrary as test results that don't really mean anything. But, to my shame, I couldn't let the implied insult pass unchallenged.
Don't take the fun out of this thread because a few of us didn't much care for something you think highly of -- there have been a few listed here that I could argue with, but what is the point? Even great movies rarely live up tro their hype.
So don't make this personal.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I don't know my IQ and I'm proud of my ignorance. My parents (both PhDs in elementary education) declined to have me tested as a child.
I admit to having taken a couple of ego-boosting, score-inflating online IQ tests -- I enjoy doing the questions where you have to mentally flip complex objects around in your head -- but I certainly don't believe the scores from those.
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Not to say that they are uncharted territory, but I think the profundities of "The Matrix" were a little more subtle than "oohh... maybe the whole world we know is just a big computer game!"
There's a great deal of wisdom in that story about what it means to be lost, what it might mean to be found, and overall an interesting mixture of Gnostic, Christian, and Buddhist ideas.
It's not that it was amazingly groundbreaking philosophy... but there was some fairly smart content for what was essentially a live-action Anime kung fu movie that also was groundbreaking in it's use of 3D modeling to enhance or even make possible spectacular scenes.
And yes, it's the kind of philosophy you stayed up late talking to your college roomie about... or posting on some sci fi author's forums about. Don't try to tell me that's not fun for you folks.
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I definitely didn't think as much of the mix of ideas as you did. To me the ideas were alternately filler and fodder for witty one-liners.
Added: And I thought those two uses were perfect for them in the context of the movies. Some of the lines were very memorable. Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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Twinky- I think your folks are absolutely right. The value of a person can never be quantified like that. My folks were... not exactly the opposite, but I was tested a LOT due to my memory condition. My mom used to brag about it to people, as if it was something cool and not something that made me a complete freak of nature... I finally got her to stop.
Those numbers don't have anything to do with a person's value or success. My dad's IQ was listed as 180 in his military record(we found it when he died - he never mentioned it), and he never got above Seargent and was a little OCD and a little paranoid. Not someone I'd really care to be like, honestly.
Erm, you may now return to your regularly scheduled thread.
Erm... I really, really hated The English Patient.
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The philosphy in The Matrix is probably deeper than 98% of other movies. It isn't exactly stuff that people haven't already thought about at some point in their lives anyway, but it is nice to actually think about the reality that the characters are in instead of being spoonfed each and every detail like Hollywood usually likes to do to its audience. However, I felt the sequels overdid the philosophy aspect by rehashing the same material without adding anything but trying to sound clever anyway. It seemed to just get in the way of the rest of the movie.
In Fight Club, when you discover the reality, it isn't really a ground breaking idea since it's been done many times already. However, I think the beauty of Fight Club is in its unique character development, excellent dialogue, and the interesting perspectives of the world that its characters have.
Overrated: Napoleon Dynamite was and is funny, but it officially reached overrated status in my book when everyone started quoting lines from it for any reason they could find, and then pretending that the quote in relation to the completely unrelated event was the funniest thing they've every uttered and then proceed to quote fifty more lines.
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quote:Napoleon Dynamite was and is funny, but it officially reached overrated status in my book when everyone started quoting lines from it for any reason they could find, and then pretending that the quote in relation to the completely unrelated event was the funniest thing they've every uttered and then proceed to quote fifty more lines.
This is how I feel about Monty Python. I watched the movie SIX TIMES before I managed to stay awake for the ending.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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I think what you think of as an overrated movie is going to largely depend on your friends. I mean, everyone is going to have every film hyped to a different degree for them, right?
If we're talking about movies that are overrated on this forum, I'd have to say that the LotR movies are right up there. I love them, but they're great because they didn't bastardize the books, not because they were particularly good renditions.
Posts: 3243 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote: And yes, it's the kind of philosophy you stayed up late talking to your college roomie about... or posting on some sci fi author's forums about. Don't try to tell me that's not fun for you folks.
I'm flattered that you think I was in college at the age of 14. Also, I think something that's being missed in a lot of the replies about various movies is that there's a difference between "overrated" and "bad". Example: I think the Matrix philosophy bits were overrated because tons of viewers DID think they were groundbreaking, amazing ideas. I never said the philosophy was bad or ruined the movie, just that it wasn't the big deal most people seemed to think.
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I'll second the English Patient. I really thought about leaving the theater and I never do that. Boring and long, truly a winning combination.
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Not to harp on the matrix, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I appreciate an action movie with a little brain as well, which was why I really enjoyed the original Die Hard so much.
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Die Hard is so totally overra- *chortle* No, I can't even type that with a straight face. Die Hard is FREAKING AWESOME! It's such a great movie it's probably still used as a descriptor in Hollywood script-pitching. (It's Die Hard on a plane, with Jodie Foster!)
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Don't attack me, but don't you think "Wizard of Oz" is over-rated? The acting, the plot, the weird choreography -- all of it seems a bit second rate. Except Garland's voice. That is pure magic.
And Lord of the Rings? Really disliked it. I can summarize most of it: Aagh! A Nasty Monster! Run Away! Gratuitous dismemberment! Run Away!
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I enjoyed the Matrix not because of its philosophy, but because of the character arcs in an interesting science fiction world. I hated the sequel because it totally betrayed the logical progression of any of those story arcs in favor of "gee whiz ain't that kewl" flash and sparkle. But I had an entire thread devoted to that after Reloaded (which, it seems, has since been purged from the archive).... and I refused to taint my brain with Revolutions.
I think that the sequels are more "overhyped" than overrated, though. I don't think they're "rated" all that well... but the premovie hype was immense. Same for ::shudder:: Independence Day (what a load of tripe that was) and Underworld (which thankfully can't even be considered overrated... cuz it was entirely forgettable after all the hype and gloss).
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I also think The Matrix was overrated. I liked it, but it wasn't the amazing thing that people made it to be. I guess that's the definition of overhyped. I really can't think of any more right now.
I want to play! It's Die Hard in a mineshaft with Judd Hirsch and Jennifer Anniston!
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The intro leads you to believe that all the characters will be tied together in some amazing coincidence. You slog through it for like four hours, and all you get is frogs. The performances were good and all, but... I swear that director should be forced to make twelve sixteen minute movies to make up for his gross self-indulgence in shite like that.
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I know you love that movie. But you don't like stuff in the Whedonverse, have never read a Harry Potter book and you think Gary Oldman is Canadian.
But I still like you.
You like Kevin Smith? He thought Magnolia was self-indulgent, too.
Maybe it's an age thing. After 30, angst and frogs just doesn't cut it. Sorry.
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Shrek II. I was bored for nearly the first hour, and then the last half hour or so wasn't anything special.
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Well, it had a running time of 92 minutes, so I assume that by "the middle," you're referring to the two minutes not covered by my boring first hour and not-anything-special last half hour.
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