It’s stupid (though sometimes fun) to be contrarian for contrarianism’s sake. Case in point: The Onion A.V. Club’s list of Classic Movies It’s OK to Hate, in which the site’s writers offer dissenting views on Star Wars, Network, The Exorcist, The Shawshank Redemption, Caddyshack, and other beloved films. I’m surprised they didn’t take on some, y’know, actual classic movies (in the Turner Classic Movies sense), movies long-established in the critical canon; it’d be a much more subversive raspberry to take on a target as sacred as Citizen Kane (you could argue that its plot is confusing, its camera work self-consciously arty) or Gone With the Wind (its obviously problematic racial and sexual politics). It doesn’t take much skill to nitpick The Exorcist or Star Wars; a bigger challenge would be to examine why these films entertain so grandly despite their shortcomings. But what’s really unforgivable is their attack on Caddyshack. If you don’t laugh at that film, you’re just a hopeless churl. That’s OK, the world needs ditch-diggers too.
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Comments (1-21) of 21 Add your comment
Sorry dude. Caddyshack is the most overrated movie of all time.
So you’ve taken some of the most popular films of the last 30 years and told us why we should hate them instead. Tomorrow will you explain why puppies and ice cream are highly overrated?
I 100% agree about Kane. I just finished film school this year and if I drank a diet coke everytime I had to sit through Citizen Kane I’d be a very thin man right now. I understand that the film is supposed to be a masterpiece, it is also exceptionally boring. Just because a film is styalistically tight doesn’t make it interesting. It’s also the same beef I have with The Matrix. This just in to every film professor at the University of Western Ontario, THE MATRIX IS NOT THE ONLY SCIENCE FICTION FILM EVER MADE AND IT IS NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF AN ENTIRE GENRE!
Whoo I feel much better. Someone pass me my Star Trek DVDs and a case of diet coke.
My film professors used to drill it in our heads that the Matrix series was about the story of Jesus.
ooookay.
I don’t think people herald The Matrix as revolutionary science fiction, I think it was revolutionary film-making…you have to admit that style-wise, hundreds of movies since have tried to rip off or imitate The Matrix since its release.
I personally hated Citizen Kane, and not a huge fan of The Big Lebowski either (The Coens have done better in my opinion), and I have to say that while in film class, I really didn’t like a lot of the movies they made me watch like Cinema Paradiso or Roger & Me, but I at least could appreciate why we were watching them for film studies. However, Citizen Kane just feels like it tried to hard to be relevant throughout the ages and for me, it failed.
Star Wars (1977)
Overall a great film, but Luke was such a annoying wuss. I kept hoping Han Solo would kick his ass.
Network (1976)
The infamous “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore” scene? Priceless.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
It looked cool in the beginning, but went downhill from there.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Not a great film. It’s okay, but not my favorite.
The Exorcist (1973)
Still scares the bejesus out of me.
Fantasia (1940)
The only good thing about it is The Sorceror’s Apprentice. Mickey trying to control walking brooms carring buckets of water? Priceless. The rest? Not particularly memorable.
Caddyshack (1980)
Chevy and gophers. ‘Nuff said.
Roger & Me (1989)
Love him or hate him, Michael Moore never disappoints.
Carrie (1976)
Another one that still scares the bejesus out of me.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Dude, White Russians, bowling, The First Edition (with Kenny Rogers) playing in the background. What’s not to like?
Oh for heaven’s sake. It’s just an article, dude. If you think it would be cooler to write an article ripping on Citizen Kane and Gone with the Wind, then write one! I’ll read it.
Though I can appreciate it’s artistic and stylistic merits, as far as a movie to watch and enjoy…2001: A Space Odyssey…zzzzzzz! (I get sleepy just thinking about it)
Chariots Of Fire, more like Chariots of Damp Wood. I will agree that the music during the race was good, but good gravy, the rest of the movie had me wishing I was having a root canal instead.
If anyone wants to read about how Citizen Kane isn’t as good as everyone says it is, just read any message board dedicated to movies on the internet. There are millions of people who feel the need to tell us they didn’t like Kane. Everyone who thinks that they are being really rebellious and novel by ripping Kane needs to wake up and realize that it’s been done before, over and over again. It’s not daring anymore. It’s just more of the same.
Hank, I don’t think anyone here thinks they’re being rebellious…I think they are giving their honest opinions. There is a difference. After all, The Onion said it was okay to dislike it, so there really is no rebellion then. Stop reading too much into things.
Why not defend awful movies or speak up for cult flicks? A diatribe justifying fan love of “Army of Darkness” or “Barbarella” would be more fun to read through than another hater’s POV of Star Wars.
Speaking of which, for all the dissing, how come no one ever talks about Lucas’s absolute failure to understand anything about politics? Seems most other Star Wars “hate” subjects are done to death (Greedo shooting first, Jar Jar, the bad acting)
As for dissing on Caddyshack, they missed the obvious! The sequel was “Blues Brothers 2000″ bad, and Chevy Chase has basically disapeared from the limelight because everyone thinks he’s a jerk. Seems to me like that’d be a wealth of material more interesting than calling Chase and Dangerfield (RIP) “fake rich men”.
For all of you CITIZEN KANE haters out there: the film has always been the subject of reactionary backlash; it’s not shocking for anyone to bash it. I avoided
seeing it for years, assuming the film would stifle me with its mustiness. When I finally did see it, I was blown away. I can’t understand how anyone with intelligence could find it boring.
As for other overrated “classics”: I agree with CHARIOTS OF FIRE, and would also add SAVING PRIVATE RYAN; BRAVEHEART; THE HOURS; TOUCH OF EVIL; AMERICAN BEAUTY; JULES ET JIM.
EP Sato, There really isn’t much to discuss with cult flicks, that’s why they are cult flicks- there is already a loyal audience for these films who will defend these movies to the bitter end. As someone who can quote Rocky Horror Picture Show and Army of Darkness at will, own the entire Sleepaway Camp collection and almost all the Troma films, and still watch Harold & Kumar on a regular basis, I do understand your desire to debate the cult flicks but people who like cult flicks have pretty much stated their opinion on such by just enjoying those films. It’s sort of a well-explored topic by now.
EP, you also missed the point of the article- it was a debate of classics, not really bad sequels…of course both the Caddyshack and Blues Brothers sequels were bad…no one can debate otherwise and I challenge anyone to find merit with either. But this was a discussion on the “classics” and neither of those 2 movies come close to the title “classic” in my mind.
I do agree with TL on Saving Private Ryan though…I thought it was a standard war movie- and I have seen more poignant films on war that are famously overlooked because of SPR. I also found 2001…A Space Odyssey boring but spectacular to look at.
I thought Braveheart was really great but I don’t know if I would use the term classic with it… I also wasn’t a huge fan of “Being There” but I can see where other people would enjoy it.
I think they most likely chose the movies for the article that would be considered classics by their core audience. However, if that’s the case, “classics” like Scarface, Animal House, Taxi Driver (or any Scorcese gangster film), Swingers and Pulp Fiction should have been critiqued.
“Gone With the Wind” no means no (like on ‘Rescue Me’) and the romantic lead gives a speech at the end about all he ever wanted in a wife was a girl to cuddle and dress up MUCH LIKE THEIR RECENTLY DECEASED DAUGHTER!
Ew.
I love or like most of the films on the list. However, I found THE EXORCIST more silly than SCARY, and THE BIG LEBOWSKI made such a nonimpression on me when I saw in the theater that I can’t remember a single thing about it.
Ok, you want a classic thats REALLY ok to hate, how about The Graduate. I HATE that movie. Totally overrated. The only thing good about the movie is Anne Bancroft and the soundtrack. Dustin Hoffman is way creepy and annoying and for the life of me I don’t know why in the world would the daughter ran off with him. Yuck.
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