I saw an article on Medium.com discussing movies that guys are always trying to get their girlfriends to watch, while their girlfriends refuse to cooperate. I wanted to add to the discussion with my own list of movies, that if my boyfriend tried to get me to watch multiple times, I’d probably punch them in the side of the neck, (in the most loving manner possible, of course).
Here are some movies that men seem to absolutely love, that simply didn’t impress me very much. I’ve been told again and again, in movie list after movie list, that these are great films, and that I’m supposed to like them, but I just don’t. It’s not that I’m unmoved by them, though. Some of them are fun, or pretty, or have some feels, but for whatever reason, (and sometimes I’m not at all sure what that reason is), I was never inspired to watch some of them not more than once, nor were any of them life changing events for me. I don’t look back on them with nostalgia, or think my childhood is ruined, if one of them gets remade. Some of them I simply fell asleep on, and never felt any pressing need to try to watch them again, and some of them I have an almost visceral dislike of. This is an example of how subjective movie watching can sometimes be, and how much of yourself you bring to an interpretation of a movie.
In some cases, I think the critics of these movies are mostly impressed by the technical aspects, like the editing, or camera movements. I’m less impressed by such things because sometimes my criteria for liking a film is just as a member of the audience, rather than as a professional film critic, or student. Don’t get me wrong. I notice the technical aspects of certain movies, but those things are not what I’m looking for in whether or not a film becomes a favorite.
Citizen Kane (1941)
I have heard one hell of a lot about this movie. I even know the surprising, not so surprising ending, because this movie has been lauded to within an inch of it’s life. I have no idea if the movie is good or bad because I’ve never been moved to watch it, even though I’m sure it’s as technically brilliant as the critics (mostly all men) claim it to be. It’s true that it could be the greatest movie ever made, but that’s probably something I’ll never know, because I have remained consistently uninterested in watching it.
Back to the Future (1985)
I have watched all of the movies in this series, and except for the Wild West entry, I remain unimpressed. I wasnt greatly impressed with that one either, but it’s the one I remember most positively. I consider the first and second films to be highly over-rated, and never watched them more than once. Once was enough.
I’m going to talk a minute about seeing this movie through the lens of race, though. There are all kinds of movies about time travel, and I try to steer clear of most of them, because its a subject that seems wholly of interest only to White men. Like most Black people, I don’t fantasize about visiting some romanticized era of the past. There isn’t any place in America’s past that would have been good for me to visit, so I, and a lot of other Black people, are less interested in movies that explore time traveling to America’s good ‘ol days. The fifties that’s visited by McFly in the first movie, while a period of nostalgia for him, (and the men who wrote this movie), it means something completely different for us.
One of the scenes from the first movie, that I found the most irritating, (and clueless), was when Marty performs the song Johnny B Goode, at a school dance. Now this scene takes place in 1955, and that song was first performed by Chuck Berry in 1958. When Marty leaves the stage, he says that song is a little before everyone’s time, when he doesn’t get the reaction from his White, teen audience that he wanted. What’s distasteful about it? There is a Black man standing behind Marty when he says that. Marty doesn’t take credit for inventing the song or anything, but I’m pretty sure the Black members of his band were well aware of that type of music, (maybe not that specific song, though. Its a moment that pulled me out of the movie.
I think I mentioned, in another post, that when White people imagine the future, there is absolutely no sign of the influence of other cultures in those futures, and when PoC do appear in the future, most creators don’t imagine them in any way that’s different from our present. Whiteness remains hegemonic in these futures, and PoC, gay ,and lesbian, Muslims, etc. are all still serving in the same servile capacities, or absent entirely from them. The futures the creators imagine are still bland, white , straight, Christian, conventionally thin, suburban middle class, and of course, male. So no, I don’t get too excited about most of these types of movies, beyond Star Trek, and Star Wars.
The Godfather (1972)
I have been told by popular media that I’m supposed to watch this movie and love it. I have to confess that not only have I not watched this movie, but I have a complete lack of interest in rectifying that situation. It probably is pretty good. It certainly can’t be that bad. I like Al Pacino. I like movies made in the 70’s. I have watched lots of movies about the Mob, including The Godfather 2, and 3, movies I actually enjoyed, but the enthusiasm for this one just ain’t there. Not only do I not care about this movie, I don’t really care that I don’t care. Movie purists would say I’m supposed to feel some sort of shame at not having seen it. That I can’t actually be a film lover unless I have, but I can’t seem get worked up about that either.
I suppose at some point in the future, could be this weekend, or twenty years from now, I’ll sit down and watch it, but I have no particular plans to do so. Sometimes, I’m just a contrary little shit, and I think this is one of those instances, where a large number of people want me to like something, but my brain rebels against it, just for the hell of doing so.
Scarface (1983)
I have actually watched Scarface about 5 times, and the movie is certainly interesting, but I’m not particularly wild about it. I haven’t watched this movie in a really, really, long time. I have heard people talk about this movie a lot, and they all seem to be really impressed with it. I do remember the last time I watched it, I thought the performances were overdone, Al Pacino’s accent was atrocious, Mastrantonio’s hair was so incredible that it needed it’s own backstory, and I kept laughing at everyone’s outfits.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Nah.
I think you have to be a Stoner to like this movie. I am unimpressed by The Dude and I’m sure I’m not alone in that.
Okay, let’s be frank. There are some movies that are, for lack of a better term, strictly a White guy thing. Movies like Back to the Future, and this one, are the type of movies I have never heard a single Black person even mention in my presence, or talk about online. I’ve spent my whole life around Black people, and I have heard guys mention The Godfather and Scarface, but not those two movies. It’s as if Black men don’t know that these movies exist. If I mentioned this to any random Black guy on the street, he might know about it, but he’d be hard pressed to tell you anything about the plot, beyond The Dude’s catchphrase. I’m sure there is, somewhere, a Black man or woman who likes this movie, but I have never met them, and I’d like to, because I have questions.
I’ve seen gifs, and stills, and heard the movie’s catchphrases, and I’m still not particularly interested in watching it. I don’t dislike the movie. In fact, from what I’ve seen, it looks kinda funny. I like all the actors, too. I also don’t think I’m being especially contrary in not watching it. I just think I’m not the audience for this movie, (I’m not the audience for most movies), and I’m okay with that. I may get around to watching it one day, but maybe not.
Heat (1995)
I watched this movie once on cable. It was okay, in the sense that I didn’t hate it. Actually, I barely remember the details of it. I haven’t seen it since, so it must not have made much of an impression on me, I guess, although for a good while after its release, it was all anyone wanted to talk about ,especially that scene between Pacino, and DeNiro, as being the first time those two had ever starred in a movie together, although I understand they were both in The Godfather sequel. I like both of these actors, but I was not particularly impressed with that scene, not becasue of the acting, which was fine, but probably because the dialogue was not especially inspiring.
The Goonies (1985)
This movie was released in 1985, and I think by that time I had aged out of any chance at being the audience for this movie, so it was not one of those movies, at least not for me, that other people claim to have been an influential part of their childhood. Since that time, I haven’t had any particular interest in watching this, despite that a lot of men love to talk about what an incredible part of their childhood this was. This movie wasn’t part of my childhood. I think the movie was aimed at little boys, and while I watched plenty of stuff for which the audience was young boys, this was one that didn’t appeal to me.
There are a lot of things I look back on with fondness, but I’m not an especially nostalgic person, at least not in the sense of wanting to hold onto, and relive, the past. Nor do I think things were better then, than right now, and that goes for this movie.
E.T. (1982)
I feel the same way about this movie that I feel about The Goonies, except I actually watched this movie exactly twice. It was really cute and I liked E.T., and Elliot. My biggest memory was of a very young Drew Barrymore, who I remember really liking. Mostly, though, this was just a cute kids movie, over which people, inexplicably lost their shit. By the time this movie was released, I was firmly into my horror movie phase, and was more impressed with The Thing, which got released around the same time.
And Movies That Did:
It’s not that I don’t have an appreciation of classic films. I like a lot of musicals, (Singin in the Rain), Marilyn Monroe (Some Like It Hot) and Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl, Yentl), crime movies made after 1980, and anything by Terence Malick. I’ve watched The Seven Samurai a few times, and I like the work of Toshiro Mifune.
There were other movies on that guy’s list that I have actually watched and enjoyed, and are some of my favorites. Here are five movies that men seem to love, that I happen to love too, although, now that I think about it, maybe not for the same reasons.
Taxi Driver (1976)
Taxi Driver was not the first movie I ever saw which starred Jodi Foster. The first Jodi Foster movie I ever watched was The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, in which she plays a young girl whose parents have mysteriously disappeared, and she spends the rest of the movie trying to keep any other adults from figuring out that she is alone. I remember my mom letting me watch it late one evening, and how impressed I was with her acting. My mom could tell I was a fan.
My mom would not let me watch Taxi Driver until I was a little older, probably because of the sexual elements. I was about 15 or 16 when I finally watched it, and I remember thinking, at the time, that there wasn’t enough Jodi Foster in it, and how harrowing the ending of the movie was. I think I may have been in just a bit of shock. I had watched violent movies before, but not something like Taxi Driver.
No Country For Old Men (2007)
I’m going to have to talk about this movie at a later date. I was really impressed with the performances and the movie’s themes.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
This movie was released in 1979, but I didn’t see it until I was an adult. It simply wasn’t on my radar until I got to college. Ironically, I read the the book about how it was made before watching the movie, and I picked up the book because, at the time, I was reading books about jungle explorers. So, I read the book, but I still didn’t watch the movie, instead I read the book by Joseph Conrad called Heart of Darkness on which the movie is loosely based.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
This was the first Tarantino movie I ever saw, and I distinctly remember having watched this in 1994. It was on TV late one night and I was intrigued because it had the word “dogs” in the title. I hadn’t read anything about it because the bulk of my movie reading consisted of horror magazines, and this was a crime movie. I also remember seeing the trailer once or twice before its release, though. I remember being impressed by the music, acting, and dialogue, feeling exasperated about the characters themselves, and devastated by the ending I saw coming.
Over the years, I’ve heard the criticism that the movie is all style with no substance, but I disagree. The movie does have substance which is largely emotional. Later I’ll have to talk about that in a review.
Geeking Out about It 