Have you ever gone and seen a movie solely from word of mouth?
I have done it a few times. Most times, the movie has turned out to be fantastic. I went and saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding because so many people said how great it was. 
I don't know if I would have seen The Departed in the theater without people saying how much they enjoyed it.
I don't know if I would have seen The Departed in the theater without people saying how much they enjoyed it.Of course, you are disappointed sometimes. I saw the movie Sideways and I didn't like it at all. For someone who hasn't ever found one wine that she likes it was pretty much a snoozer.
Last night, after so many people (including the morning radio DJ's talking about it ad nauseum) saying how great the movie was, I invited Funny Girl and a new great friend Aria to see the movie 300 on IMAX. It costs a bit more but I had heard that it was 10 times better.
This movie was fantastic. If you liked Gladiator or similar style movies I would recommend that you see this movie.
If you are a women, there is a ton of eye candy and more 6 packs then at a frat party. I never thought I would get turned on by a man in a leather diaper-looking loin cloth but there is no avoiding it in this movie.
If you are a man, the action, story line and primal force of this movie will suck you in. It doesn't hurt that there are some great scenes with boobage too.
Have you ever seen a movie solely because of word of mouth? If so, were you disappointed or did you love it?
34 comments:
300 was FANTASTIC!!!!!!! And the leather loin cloths/bvd's were great! Heck, I thought I was watching a movie about UPS, because there were so many packages. Then I wondered what Brown could do for me.
The king of Persia was so interesting to look at. His eyes were amazing. Although, he looked quite femmy...I expected him to say, "Look at you spartans in your cute little matching uniforms! After the battle, it's mojitos at my house!"
I rely on "word of mouth" on movies more and more. This includes reading reviews in this and other blogs that I have linked to.
I used to rely a LOT on Roger Ebert's movie reviews. His reviews were so well written that I could "read through" them and be able to tell whether or not I wanted to see the movie, regardless of whether or not Roger liked it. However, Roger is very ill and has not been writing reviews for a while now.
I also liked the movie reviews by John Douglas of the Grand Rapids Press. He was probably the 2nd best movie reviewer I'd ever read. However, he has retired from doing that.
I just haven't found any movie reviewers that I liked to read, to replace those two. So I rely on "word of mouth" a lot more now.
Some of the written reviews weren't all that great for it, but everyone I know who's seen it has just loved 300. I go way more by word of mouth, than written reviews.
Cinema Paradiso -- It had great word of mouth and I had a hard and fast rule about not going to movies where I had to read.
This was when RFB and I were courting.
She persuaded me to go.
It was great. I loved it. I cried. I told her she'd been right and I'd been wrong. I probably should've stopped with crying.
Because if you think that story doesn't comes up every time RFB and I are trying to choose a movie to go to and I'm not fully up for her 1st choice, then you, my friends, do not understand the true nature of marriage.
playtah ~ I thought that their vibrant red cloak things were cinematographically gorgeous. I was focused more on the 6 & 8 packs then the sticks and berries.
Xerxes was very fascinating. He looked like he would talk like Carson Kressley but when he spoke it came out more like James Earl Jones.
dmarks ~ I usually don't read reviews. Most of the time I don't agree with them. I am a bit of a movie goer and love the trailers. I see a lot of them based on the trailers but others based on recommendations from co-workers or friends.
Churlita ~ I have been telling everyone at work today to go see the movie. It was phenomenal.
David In DC ~ That is fantastic. I have a hard time watching subtitled movies as I focus so much on the subtitles that I miss what is happening on the screen.
That is funny that she brings that up whenever you don't want to see the same movie.
Rachel: Ebert's such a good writer that it is usually fun to read his reviews. He also wrote in a way that whether or not I agreed with him, I could usually tell whether or not I would like the movie.
I know so much less about movies overall now that he is not doing reviews.
Mmm...Gerard Butler...Hey, have you made him Hump Day Hottie yet? You should. That's serious eye candy. I'd go see 300 to see him bare chested.
Anyway, I was a little disappoined in "Sideways", and I saw it because of word of mouth. Someone also told me to see "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and I hated it.
I went to see "Big Fat Greek Wedding" with my mom because she heard it was really good, and it is now one of my favorite quotable movies. I loved it. There have been others like that too.
dmarks ~ I understand what you are saying. Since I so very rarely agree with them regardless of the writing I just don't read them. To me it is like reading Anne Coulter just for the writing.
Tara ~ Oh My Gosh!!! The abs on those men were fantastic. They either had a fantastic makeup artist or had to endure some heinous workouts to achieve those bods. Probably some of each.
There is a nude scene with Gerard Butler. He has a very nice tookus!
You don't read Ann Coulter for the writing, you read Ann Coulter so you can laugh when she has her inevitable trainwreck.
I read George Will and William F. Buckley for the writing, although I rarely agree with them. Buckley always teaches me a new word and Will puts my biases to the test.
David In DC ~ Hey, I just used the first name that popped in my head when I thought of people that I disagree with vehemently.
I haven't ever actually read an Anne Coulter book because I can't stand her view.
I wouldn't be surprised if her writing was a crappy as the content though.
You really didn't like Sideways? I guess we all see a different movie. I don't drink wine at all, but thought the relationships between the characters were very real. I laughed almost the entire movie. Then again I also thought Bean was the shit.
I have zero interest in 300 for some reason.
From back when I cared about political stuff, I read several books by pundit/entertainer types who were not "literary figures" to begin with, but basically "wrote" books to cash in on their fame (or someone else's). This includes Michael Moore, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Al Franken. I found all of these books to be barely readable. I'm guessing that anything by Ann Coulter has to be the same kind of thing.
From back when I cared about political stuff, I read several books by pundit/entertainer types who were not "literary figures" to begin with, but basically "wrote" books to cash in on their fame (or someone else's). This includes Michael Moore, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, and Al Franken. I found all of these books to be barely readable. I'm guessing that anything by Ann Coulter has to be the same kind of thing.
Egan ~ I tried to get into it. The only interesting part was Sandra Oh's character.
I do think that I nodded off a couple of times. I did the same thing with The Big Labowski. That one I was out like a light. My friend was PISSED!
The Big Lebowski did nothing for me either. Oh well, we can't always be on the same track. I bet you didn't like the movie Big Fish either. Nobody, but me seemed to like it.
dmarks ~ Do you have a bad taste in your mouth about politics?
I know that I do. I am sick of the rhetoric and the lies.
I am tired of people acting the like morality police while having affairs and lying and cheating.
This applies to people on both sides of the aisle.
egan ~ I never saw Big Fish so I can't say yes or no. I can tell you that it didn't look interesting to me.
I can list a few of my favorite movies for you.
The Notebook
Big Trouble In Little China
Independence Day
Gladiator
Bravehart
Bend It Like Beckham
A Walk To Remember
All the Superman movies
Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
The Sound Of Music
The War Of The Roses
Beaches
Lean On Me
Yours, Mine & Ours (original version with Lucille Ball & Henry Fonda)
Meatballs
I think that is a decent enough list. I intentionally didn't list any movies from this year since they aren't guaranteed to remain a favorite.
I liked Sideways, The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Big Lebowski, and Big Fish :-)
I have seen many movies through word of mouth recommendations.
When it comes to movies that I can watch over and over again, it seems like comedies stand up best to the test of time. The sillier the better. Zoolander is a classic as far as I'm concerned.
That's a pretty decent list there Rachel. You did overlook Orgazmo though and I think that's really too bad. Rent it and get back to me. Make sure the little one is out running around the neighborhood when viewing.
Zoolander? Someday, just someday, in some future year, I might see a movie with Ben Stiller in it. Has not happened yet.
l.b. ~ You have quite a variety of movie likes. What movies have you absolutely hated?
Egan ~ I haven't ever heard of that movie. I will have to see if they have it at the local video store. Once I get my DVD player replaced.
dmarks ~ Ben Stiller can be hit or miss. I like a lot of his stuff but none of it would be in my top movies.
I tend to NOT see movies that have a big hype, just because I like to be different in a really stupid way. Such as "Dangerous Minds"....everyone was raving about it and so I decided to not see it...and I still haven't!
But if the reviews are good, then I will generally see it. I tend to trust the critics more than I do my friends, probably because I went to film school so I don't like cheesey crap. And of course I trust friends who have similar film tastes as I do.
That said, I did want to see 300 before it got popular and I still will! Just have to wait for the crowds to die down.
Rachel, um... umm... you might not... ummm... be able to find that movie in your local movie store. I guarantee it won't be on The Blockbuster shelves. (wink wink)
I loved Sideways!
I tend to keep my eye on the cinema pages in the newspaper so I don't really miss many films but I did see The Notebook because a friend recommended it. Oh my god, that's two hours I will never get back. I hated it so much. I laughed my head off at the end which didn't go down well for some reason. I can't even remember the ending but it must have been something where my laugh wasn't appreciated.
Loved The Big Lebowski (also liked Big Fish!).
With a baby, we don't get out to see movies much. I'll have to put it on the DVD list though. Thanks!
I thought the Big Lebowski was great! So funny. "That carpet really tied the room together."
I liked Big Fish, too! I cried at the end.
Sideways was ok, but I don't know if I'll ever get the image of the big angry guy running naked down the road....uh.
I have certain people in my life whose recommendations I won't take. If they tell me to see a particular movie, I avoid it all costs.
Sideways got on my very last nerve, but I loved The Departed.
Just saw Zodiac in the theatre, and it was very good.
That's all
"Sideways got on my very last nerve"..."Sideways got on my very last nerve"..."Sideways got on my very last nerve"
So, Sofi, I'm beginning to get the impression that you didn't like "Sideways" very much. Am I even in the ballpark on this?
Dmarks - see what wine does to me? It makes me do things in triplicate. Luckily, I only saw Sideways once.
Geez, I'm kind of 'challenged' today.
I also didn't like Sideways too much either. And I love most of your favourites, including The Notebook, Lord of the Rings, War of the Roses, Gladiator, so I just know I will love 300. I cannot wait.
The movie that everybody loved in the UK, but disappointed me, was Harry Potter and something..., I just was expecting something more I suppose. But people also recommended Walk the Line and I loved it so much that I wish Reese and Joaquin would get together now that she is single!!!
erica: Everyone loved Harry Potter 3 (the one where he was threatened by screaming ratty bedsheets), but not me. I wonder if that was the one you were thinking of.
I've heard great "word of mouth" on "Walk the Line"...but have not seen it.
The last movie I saw in the theaters was Wild Hogs. Oh my! It wasn't as bad as all that, but it was up there with Talladega Nights for PU factor. So much talent wasted!
Sideways. Didn't love love it but that scene with the naked dude running down the street was the fucking bomb!
And we just got Casino Royal on dvd. Talk about eye candy. Meow! :o)
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