I like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, not because they areboth prison pieces, but the story and characterization is engaging, the acting is excellent and they are films that although I have seen dozens of times, I would happily sit through them another dozen times.

Mr. Holland’s Opus, The Usual Suspects and Black Robe are also three more films I love. I would also concur with Mr. Saturday that The Mission is hauntingly satisfying as a film.

I invariably disagree with the Oscar winners (it’s far too political to be taken seriously) and it’s almost always connected to commercial success and the smarts of marketing than true cinematic genius, yes alas even the technical awards. There are exceptions, I will not deny that, but winning an Oscar to me is never a sure fire reason togo and see a film.

All the best,

Murray @ Midnight

I would suggest the former are where you find the overrated, the later where the overhyped exist. Blockbusters are rarely considered technical achievements, they tend to return more cash in merchandising than in bums on seats.

Then again its not hard to see how some of these so-called “experts” can confuse cinematic mastery with the “straight to DVD/Video” set. Art is subjective as you have pointed out. You can please some of the people some of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.

That being said, I would like to see you Voodoo Boyz point the Fickled Finger of Fate, or the Bumpy Bone of Bejeezus at some of these. It’s long overdue.

I was actually wondering very much the same thing in terms of ‘overrated’ vs ‘overhyped’. I’m no expert on cinema, but I suspect movies that are overhyped – examples for me would “Jurassic Park” and “Independence Day” – rarely become thought of as ‘classics’, and probably aren’t in line for inclusion in an ‘overrated’ list.

I agree Star Wars Episodes I, II and III bit the big one, and that’s even without ever having seen Episode III.

Don’t know about Woody Allen, though – he had some hits and misses, sure, but I generally enjoyed his movies. I guess that’s the problem with lists like these – ultimately they’re about personal preferences.

Except when it comes to Quentin Tarantino.

All the best,

Murray @ Midnight

I’d like to remake Scanners just to cast Costner as the news hack whose head explodes, but do it in that multi-dimensional slow-mo Matrix kind of way, and with textual overlays like “BOOM” and “KAPOW” just like in the old Batman TV shows. Graphic, yes, gratuitous, of course.

Is there a difference between overrated and overhyped? Is one a more academic moviedom quality whereas the other is simply a marketing faux pas? I think all of the latest 3 Star Wars movies were overhyped yet I cannot go beyond Titanic is perhaps my favourite overrated movie of all time. Sure the visuals were great but the story was as insipid as a week old dry tea-bag.

As to your comments regarding Tarantino. His whole career was overhyped and overrated, Reservoir Dogs included, in much the same self-indulgent crapfest as Woody Allen too. Now there is someone so totally overrated it makes my eyes bleed just watching anything he’s done.