Stop the snobbery and lets have some honesty.

I am new to the forum but have read through a lot of the topics and I have to believe there are a lot of people on here telling porky pies. The amount of slating of top actors and actresses and classic films is unbelievable. Is it like the classic thing where if a film or actor becomes universally popular it is then uncool to like them?
So please feel free to use this post as your confessional.
If you still love the big movie star despite a couple of stinkers lets hear it? If you have that favourite classic movie but are afraid to admit to it scream it out? If you have sang the praises of some obscure foreign arthouse flick to keep up with the cool kids but actually think it is a bag of Poopie then now is the time to let it off your chest?

Nice thread and welcome to the board  

I love most of Spielbergs early stuff and think that ET is almost a perfect film. Still makes me cry.

I also like Tom Cruise in virtually all of his films.

Cheers for the welcome. totally agree on ET you have to have a heart of stone not to like that movie.

Phileas wrote:Cheers for the welcome. totally agree on ET you have to have a heart of stone not to like that movie.

Are you listening Hero?

Tom Cruise as a person makes me cringe, but I do have to say he is an excellent actor who has held his own with some of the greats, Dustin Hoffman and Paul Newman spring to mind. Generally like most of his films and think he has real screen prescence.

Guilty pleasure will have to be Wizard of Oz. Superb film.

One of my favourite films is Jerry Maguire.

I dearly love Independence Day. Other than that though my tastes are every bit as cool as they appear on here.

Adam D wrote:

Phileas wrote:Cheers for the welcome. totally agree on ET you have to have a heart of stone not to like that movie.

Are you listening Hero?

I seriously despise the little wobbling turd, I'd kerb stomp him all the way home.

I'm also a Tom Cruise fan. Most of the stuff he does is good and he's usually good in them.

I've never been a great fan of ET - I thought Close Encounters was far better. I saw ET when it came out and again at the cinema abut 10 years later in case I'd missed something, but still thought it was just OK.

Being of a certain age, I'm a big fan of certain Brat Pack films - Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club and especially St Elmos Fire. I wouldn't expect anyone under 35 to like them, but they captured the zeitgeist of my salad days.

Other than that my tastes are obviously cooler than Rowley's

Not even close Julius. I even started a thread about foreign language films. It is like having Melvyn Bragg on the forum.

Rowley wrote:Not even close Julius. I even started a thread about foreign language films. It is like having Melvyn Bragg on the forum.

Isn't the title of the thread "Stop the snobbery"?

No confessions from me, I'm afraid.  Cage is still sh1t, Nolan is still overrated, the Coen brothers are still geniuses and, of all the films that have a scene where a piece of bacon is taped to the bathroom wall, Gummo is certainly the finest.

I don’t want to stop the snobbery. I enjoy being one of those annoying people who, whenever someone mentions a film, says “the book is better” or I preferred the Korean original when the film is a remake.

(Only joking about the book is better bit, it is possibly the most specious observation imaginable.)

Fair enough. I have to admit, I much preferred the original Korean version of ET.

JuliusHMarx wrote:Fair enough. I have to admit, I much preferred the original Korean version of ET.

Starring Kim JOng Ill in the titular role?

Right then, here goes.

Tom Cruise is a very good actor, who suffers due to his personal views (which are embarrassing in the extreme). Never afraid to challenge himself in different roles, and in general does a fine job.

Similarly, enjoy Brad Pitt, who I think suffers due to his looks (people look at him, think "male model" and assume his popularity is due to that, rather than his acting skills which are pretty decent).

I also think Cage has put in some very good performances, yes he's OTT, but in certain films it works very well: thinking Bad Lieutenant, Kick-Ass, heck he was the only redeeming feature in The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Absolutely love Nolan's work, and genuinely believe that The Dark Knight is the best film I saw in the 00's. An unfortunate side-effect of Nolan though is that too many people try to be like him (dark and serious all the time), and too often aren't good enough to pull it off (whereas a lighter tone is easier to get away with).

Agree with Galted that the Coen brothers are genii though, it's been too long since I last watched A Serious Man.

I know all the songs to Sound of Music

I defy anyone to watch Welcome To The Jungle starring The Rock and Johnny Knoxville to tell me that they didn't enjoy it, even a little bit.

Have downloaded countless classics with " a view to watching them one day" the number of times "Citizen Kane" or "12 Angry Men" etc etc gets deleted from my hard drive only to be downloaded again several months later is becoming painful. That in itself isn't too bad (am I only wanting to watch them out of snobbery?) but when you factor in that I'm generally deleting these films in order to watch something starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson or Stone Cold Steve Austin instead, it doesn't look like I'll be getting an invite to any serious film lover soirees any time soon.

Dave Citizen Kane is missable, I only watched it as one to tick of the list but have felt no compulsion to repeat the viewing since. However 12 Angry Men is dizzyingly good and not just because it is in black and white and is meant to be cool.

I've only seen Gone With the Wind once - in the cinema about 25 years ago. Brilliant, epic film. No idea if it comes across well on TV, but I doubt it. It needs a big screen.
I saw Citizen Kane around the same time (again, once only, in the cinema). I thought it was good but not great - I suspect much of it's reputation comes from the innovations it used at the time, which were probably more startling back then. It's more of a critics' film.

I shall delete "Kane" without fear that I will lose cool points

You will lose points Dave, you are meant to watch it and pretend you liked it. However as a middle aged, bald heavy metal fan from Bradford think the cool ship sailed some time ago for you.

Dave, you can get your cool points back by watching this :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_(2012_film)

Never even knew there was a cool ship.

Don't think I'd get a go on the cool pedalo these days.

I thought the purpose of the thread was to let go of these pretensions and thus obtain some kind of cathartic release by proclaiming your love for "New Jack City" or "Ricochet"

JuliusHMarx wrote:Dave, you can get your cool points back by watching this :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masquerade_(2012_film)

Looks great...what part does Ben Stiller play though?

some more from me:

I loved Planet Terror.

The 60's Batman film with Adam West is the second best Batman movie of all time.

I admire Ben Affleck.

STC wrote:I admire Ben Affleck.

an interesting one. The problem with Ben Affleck is that while he's not a bad actor, he's been in some absolutely dreadful movies (Daredevil immediately springs to mind). Having said that, he was good in Argo.

Nothing wrong with that STC, he is an excellent director. All three of the films he has directed have been very enjoyable.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:some more from me:

I loved Planet Terror.

The 60's Batman film with Adam West is the second best Batman movie of all time.

"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb" - that's a classic scene. Does the film have the Bat-shark repellent spray in?
I can honestly say that Cesar Romero did a very good turn as The Joker in the 1960s. Obviously the script wouldn't allow for multiple homicides, but he captured the maniacal craziness of The Joker very well.
I thought Jack Nicholson was better than Heath Ledger.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:some more from me:

I loved Planet Terror.

The 60's Batman film with Adam West is the second best Batman movie of all time.

"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb" - that's a classic scene. Does the film have the Bat-shark repellent spray in?
I can honestly say that Cesar Romero did a very good turn as The Joker in the 1960s. Obviously the script wouldn't allow for multiple homicides, but he captured the maniacal craziness of The Joker very well.
I thought Jack Nicholson was better than Heath Ledger.

yep though technically it's "shark-repellent bat-spray"
here's one for you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHufrsP9XMA

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

STC wrote:I admire Ben Affleck.

an interesting one. The problem with Ben Affleck is that while he's not a bad actor, he's been in some absolutely dreadful movies (Daredevil immediately springs to mind). Having said that, he was good in Argo.

Rowley wrote:Nothing wrong with that STC, he is an excellent director. All three of the films he has directed have been very enjoyable.

I just think that how he went from the success of Good Will Hunting all the way down to the pits of despair the was Gigli and Daredevil, and Jersey Girl, to then claw his way back up with Gone Baby Gone, The Town and Argo is something to be admired.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:some more from me:

I loved Planet Terror.

The 60's Batman film with Adam West is the second best Batman movie of all time.

"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb" - that's a classic scene. Does the film have the Bat-shark repellent spray in?
I can honestly say that Cesar Romero did a very good turn as The Joker in the 1960s. Obviously the script wouldn't allow for multiple homicides, but he captured the maniacal craziness of The Joker very well.
I thought Jack Nicholson was better than Heath Ledger.

Romero's cackling laugh epitomises the essence of Joker for me however, Nicholson and Ledger all brought something to the role. In The Dark Knight when Caine's character said "Some people just want to watch the world burn" and you see sociaopathic tendencies in Ledger's character, you also see how he captured some of Joker's essence.

A lot depends on how the character is written in the script I guess. The 1989 Batman got the character better than Nolan did.
Ledger was a very good twisted sociopath, but the Joker is also an unpredictable fruitcake, more likely to throw a street party with murderous intent (a la Burton) or want to turn fish into his likeness (The Laughing Fish) than he is to simply want to watch the world burn. The Joker of the Dark Knight could almost have been any villain bent on destruction.

JuliusHMarx wrote:A lot depends on how the character is written in the script I guess. The 1989 Batman got the character better than Nolan did.
Ledger was a very good twisted sociopath, but the Joker is also an unpredictable fruitcake, more likely to throw a street party with murderous intent (a la Burton) or want to turn fish into his likeness (The Laughing Fish) than he is to simply want to watch the world burn. The Joker of the Dark Knight could almost have been any villain bent on destruction.

But Heath Ledger's dead so you can't say that.

I really like Mean Girls.

Galted wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:A lot depends on how the character is written in the script I guess. The 1989 Batman got the character better than Nolan did.
Ledger was a very good twisted sociopath, but the Joker is also an unpredictable fruitcake, more likely to throw a street party with murderous intent (a la Burton) or want to turn fish into his likeness (The Laughing Fish) than he is to simply want to watch the world burn. The Joker of the Dark Knight could almost have been any villain bent on destruction.

But Heath Ledger's dead so you can't say that.

No, it's OK, I'm putting the blame on the scriptwriters.

I could watch Signs over and over again.

Hugh Jackman is a w*nker.

Glad Ben Affleck is getting his dues as well. Good Will Hunting, Argo and The Town are all brilliant and all involve him.

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Galted wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:A lot depends on how the character is written in the script I guess. The 1989 Batman got the character better than Nolan did.
Ledger was a very good twisted sociopath, but the Joker is also an unpredictable fruitcake, more likely to throw a street party with murderous intent (a la Burton) or want to turn fish into his likeness (The Laughing Fish) than he is to simply want to watch the world burn. The Joker of the Dark Knight could almost have been any villain bent on destruction.

But Heath Ledger's dead so you can't say that.

No, it's OK, I'm putting the blame on the scriptwriters.

Ah ok, as you were then.  All I saw was a post involving Ledger that didn't say he's the greatest actor ever and didn't claim his portrayal of The Joker as the greatest performance ever and I may have over-reacted.

STC wrote:I really like Mean Girls.

Glad someone else has thrown themselves out there first.

I don't care thay Mel Gibson took liberties with the story of William Wallace. I enjoy "Braveheart" immensely and may even watch it again now that I've brought the subject up.

The Rocky franchise is better than any real boxing biopic or boxing story told on film.

Adam D wrote:The Rocky franchise is better than any real boxing biopic or boxing story told on film.

No it isn't.

I really like Dirty Dancing. The film, not actually dirty dancing.

Rowley wrote:

STC wrote:I really like Mean Girls.

Glad someone else has thrown themselves out there first.

I had to say it. I feel a lot better now.

I quite enjoyed Teen Wolf (the Michael J. Fox version) when it came out (the film, not the wolf)

The last fancy dress party I went to I went as Teen Wolf.

I quite enjoyed Pitch Perfect.

I really like Hugh Grant in some films. I love Music & Lyrics.