Doc VS Overrated Movies

I believe the Inception debate has gone as far as it can. Dos and I will not be swayed one way or the other. I love it, he doesn't. He thinks it was overrated. I and almost the rest of the human population, do not. Now if I wanted to speak about a movie that was overrated and horrible, I would talk about The Last Emperor. Man, what a boring movie that was! I have nothing against historically factual movies as I find them interesting and entertaining. In fact, The Last Samurai* is one of my favorite movies! So that proves I have no problem with historically accurate movies.

The Last Emperor was slow, boring and there were no characters I cared about. Honestly, I was just hoping everyone would be assassinated so the movie would end. I make a point to never stop a movie. Once I start it, I always see it to the end. The Last Emperor was one of the hardest movies I ever had to get through. The best way to sum up the movie is from a quote in the New York Times by Vincent Canby:

The Last Emperor is like an elegant travel brochure. It piques the curiosity. One wants to go. Ultimately it's a let-down.

Another quote from Rita Kempley of The Washington Post:

We need more than elegant parallels and lavish production values. We need tension, characterization, drama.

She said it better than I could. The biggest problem with the movie was that there was ZERO tension or drama. I just didn't give a shit about anything going on the whole time. The story is much more interesting than it was portrayed in the movie.

I am sure a lot of our readers never saw or even heard of The Last Emperor. So lets get more modern. A more recent overrated movie I had trouble getting through was Scott Pilgrim VS The World. Was this movie supposed to be a comedy? Comic book action film? Drama? Video game come to life? I have no fucking idea. It started off good enough, but as it went on, I just wanted him to battle the evil exes, defeat them, get the girl and for the movie to be over with already. It was just incredibly boring. If it was supposed to be a comedy, it just wasn't very funny. There were a few chuckles here and there, but that was it.

Another problem I had with the movie is I am sick of Michael Cera playing the same awkward teen over and over again. He needs to take a break from movies for a while and then come back with something completely different. And, catch 22, once he started fighting the evil exes I didn't find him believable as an action star. So he has already screwed himself and will forever be stuck playing those types of roles.

Some other movies that are completely overrated and a brief reason why:

Blade Runner - Slow pacing. Boring. Read the book, way more entertaining.

Little Miss Sunshine - Good for one viewing. Nothing more than an interesting road trip movie. Not very original.

Rocky Horror Picture Show - Weirdness overshadows the story. You are nothing without a good story.

Avatar - One of the most overrated movies of all time. Generic story. Too much hype on 3D and effects.

Scarface - It is good, don't get me wrong. But it is way too long and does not seem very believable. If you want to watch a great gangster movie with Pacino, watch The Godfather. Unless you are a rapper (Y'all are obsessed with this)

The Departed - While good, not as great as you are led to believe. Unbelievable plot and overly long.

Children of Men - Very cliched. Interesting plot, but overall more of a mess than anything.

I'm sure there is a lot of other overrated crap out there, but those are the ones that come to mind right now. If anyone wants to chime in on what they think is overrated feel free!

* I am aware The Last Samurai is no where near accurate, but damn, what a great movie.