Acclaimed Works You Didn't Like [Archive] - Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums

Laddy

07-18-2011, 01:32 AM

I just watched Baccano!, or at least, the first half of the series. This is supposedly the golden standard of anime.

You know what? I'm not too impressed. I'm not. None of the stories or characters strike me as particularly original or interesting. It seems that the dynamic and non-linear plotlines were forced and simply exist to make the relatively ho-hum and uninteresting plot seem more poignant.

It's certainly well-acted and animated, but I felt I was watching a show trying to be Pulp Fiction. And I'm not going to give merits for trying. When you have around twenty significant characters, whose plots are told from three different times and from swapping points-of-view, it's jarring. It seems like a whole lot of effort was put forth to confuse me. And when I connected the plots and points, I wasn't impressed. Sure, it was mysterious, but none of the mysteries particularly intrigued me. None of the characters seem likable enough for me wanting to absolutely know their motivations or backgrounds. It seemed to be ambigious for ambiguity's sake.

Frankly, it felt pretentious. Trying to desperately convince me it's different when in fact it's a concept that's be done before and done better. I stand by that. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it's decent. The acting and animation are excellent, but it's the unnecessarily obtuse plot and characters that so strongly turned me off. Instead of being what it wants me to think it is, it feels like it suffers delusions de grandeur that prevent it from being excellent. A fine effort, but the result feels like a marginally above-average IFC film done by film students who just watched Rashomon.

Anyway, what critically-acclaimd works, regardless of medium, did you find yourself unimpressed by?

blackmage_nuke

07-18-2011, 01:48 AM

The Godfather

I Don't Need A Name

07-18-2011, 01:56 AM

Pride and Prejudice. Oh my god. If I had to spend another minute near that thing... Worst. Book. Ever. How can something become so acclaimed when so little happens in it..

Wolf Kanno

07-18-2011, 02:22 AM

^ I'll second Pride and Prejudice, though I only had to suffer through one of the many movie adaptions, but I still found it pretty boring.

I'd say Ulysses by Joyce. A book which is more interesting by how it tells its story rather than the actual story itself. The cast is pretty bland and boring, while it might have been a filthy book at the turn of the 19th century, it is pretty damn tame by today's standards. Its different use of writing mediums to tell the story is interesting, it can get jarring at some times, especially when you have to deal with characters thinking in images which takes a few reads to understand what the hell they are actually thinking about. Its just a boring story told in a very pretentious manner, that may have been scandalist(sp?) a hundred years ago, but by today's standards, Disney could be helming a film adaption of it.

Rye

07-18-2011, 02:49 AM

sharkythesharkdogg

07-18-2011, 03:06 AM

Fuckin' Moby Dick. Call me Ishmael? Call me pissed and bored.

It's like Mellville thought, "Hey, I get payed by the word. Why not dedicate half the damn book to describing how they process the whale, and other random, boring crap that has nothing to do with the story? It's brilliant!"

I know the man loved the whaling business and all, but fuck me.

Pike

07-18-2011, 04:04 AM

I didn't like most of what I read in AP English. I liked the Dostoyevsky stuff and I liked Jane Eyre. But Heart of Darkness, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Sound and the Fury... some other stuff we read that I can't remember... wasn't a fan.

(I do understand why Sound and the Fury was genius, though, I just didn't like it.)

I also didn't like a good chunk of the movies I watched in film school. Not gonna list 'em all now...

Peegee

07-18-2011, 05:45 AM

Lord of the Rings - the novels. Verbose, overly descriptive. huge battles that take an hour plus in the film are a paragraph long (supposedly) and my entire critique has just been dismissed because i couldn't get further than chapter 6 in TTT

I also cannot understand why the godfather was good. I like goodfellas a lot more.

fire_of_avalon

07-18-2011, 06:27 AM

You're all terrible.

I hate pretty much anything Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote.

NorthernChaosGod

07-18-2011, 06:33 AM

FFIX Choco Boy

07-18-2011, 08:07 AM

Avatar sucked.

demondude

07-18-2011, 09:59 AM

Star Wars. srs.

Pheesh

07-18-2011, 11:14 AM

I don't like The Beatles.

Breine

07-18-2011, 05:16 PM

I don't care for Austen and I don't care for Wuthering Heights. I also do not like Vonnegut.

On the flip side, I fully expected to hate The Canterbury Tales, but am being taken aback by how much I kind of adore them. Middle English is a pain, but they're so saucy and funny!

Seriously? You don't like Wuthering Heights - that book is brilliant.

I am tired of Shakespeare. I liked Macbeth and King Lear and from a purely technical standpoint I guess I can see why people think he's brilliant, but ugh... there are so many much more interesting writers throughout history!

Clo

07-18-2011, 05:19 PM

I also do not like Vonnegut.

:eek::cry::mad::nonono:

I hated Catch-22.

Araciel

07-18-2011, 06:17 PM

I just learned more than I wanted to know about some of my favourite members of this site by reading your posts in this thread :( Sooo disappointed, but that's what makes life interesting.

I'll second the LOTR books... Fictional text books...

sharkythesharkdogg

07-18-2011, 06:44 PM

I also do not like Vonnegut.

:eek::cry::mad::nonono:

I hated Catch-22.

Really? I didn't think I'd like it, but I did.

One acclaimed work that I haven't seen/read that I think I won't like is "Catcher in the Rye." I've heard about it, and have a general idea of how the story plays out. It seems like it'd be too angsty and depressing.

I liked The Great Gatsby more than I though I would.

Miriel

07-18-2011, 07:09 PM

I freakin' love Pride & Prejudice.

I loathed Anna Karenina. People call it one of the greatest love stories ever and it's really really, not. What a struggle to get through this book. And by the end, I just had a huge dislike for every single character.

Also hated Catcher in the Rye. What a overhyped load of poop.

I also do not like Vonnegut.
:Oo:

Which books have you read by Vonnegut? I'm actually not a huge fan of his more popular stuff like Slaughterhouse Five or Cat's Cradle. But Sirens of Titan is one of my favorite books ever.

NorthernChaosGod

07-18-2011, 07:38 PM

I don't like The Beatles.

I really hate The Beatles. :|

Pheesh

07-18-2011, 07:41 PM

I...thought I was the only one. Y_Y

Laddy

07-18-2011, 07:43 PM

I know I'm breaking the mold but WHY?

It's rare to see someone who hates the Beatles who isn't a fourteen year-old pretentious Paramoron.

NorthernChaosGod

07-18-2011, 07:44 PM

I'm usually the only one, now I have a brother. :cool:

EDIT - Laddy: Because they're so Goddamned boooooring.

Laddy

07-18-2011, 07:50 PM

:colbert:

NorthernChaosGod

07-18-2011, 08:06 PM

:doublecolbert: That's all I'm willing to explain.

Slothy

07-18-2011, 11:22 PM

I...thought I was the only one. Y_Y

I'm with you and NCG. While on the topic of popular bands I hate, I also hate Nirvana.

And Laddy, all I can say is that there just isn't anything about the Beatles music that I find interesting, or even catchy for that matter. Almost every time I've ever tried listening to them I've just wanted to beat my head against a wall more than continuing on. It's tough to explain, especially since it's been quite a while since I deliberately listened to anything by them.

I'll also agree with everyone else on just about everything named that I've read or watched other than The Godfather or Star Wars since I enjoyed the former quite a bit and the latter was an integral part of my childhood.

Catcher in the Rye can burn in a fire for all I care Miriel.

Laddy

07-18-2011, 11:33 PM

I guess I can understand. The Beatles were more revolutionary for their time but today its hardly as noticable.

But if you're talking about their early stuff than you're totally listening to the wrong stuff.

Chris

07-18-2011, 11:37 PM

My bro kept bugging me about watching the Shawshank Redemption after raving on and on about how terrific it was. I thought it was avarage, which is far worse than being terrible, if you ask me. I was bored to indifference, which is not something that happens very often.

FFIX Choco Boy

07-18-2011, 11:38 PM

Inception sucked.

Slothy

07-18-2011, 11:41 PM

But if you're talking about their early stuff than you're totally listening to the wrong stuff.

I have listened to some of the later stuff, but it really didn't do much for me either. Better than the earlier stuff definitely, but nothing I'd go out of my way to listen to.

demondude

07-18-2011, 11:45 PM

Oh here's another one - Green Day are smurfing terrible.

champagne supernova

07-19-2011, 12:00 AM

I'd say Ulysses by Joyce.

Have you read The Iliad and The Odyssey? Prerequisites for properly understanding it as everything is based on those two wonderfully short Greek epics.

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Halfway through I just got over it.

2001: A Space Odyssey. The pacing is definitely way too quick. I could hardly keep up with anything going on, that's how quickly events were happening. [/sarcasm]

NorthernChaosGod

07-19-2011, 12:53 AM

I...thought I was the only one. Y_Y

I'm with you and NCG. While on the topic of popular bands I hate, I also hate Nirvana.
It's like we're the same person, I hate Nirvana as well. :monster: Fucking grunge.

I guess I can understand. The Beatles were more revolutionary for their time but today its hardly as noticable.

But if you're talking about their early stuff than you're totally listening to the wrong stuff.
I've had several people try and change my mind about them, I was even made to play all the way through Rock Band: Beatles. I hate my friends. :|

Wolf Kanno

07-19-2011, 12:58 AM

Yes, I have read Odyssey and the Illiad, and I understand the use of symbolism, but it doesn't really change the fact that the book is about a bloke who thinks he's smarter than everyone in his town, but obviously not smart enough to leave it and actually do something with his life.

In Joyce's failed attempt at presenting the reader that even ordinary people can live epic lives, it still doesn't change that it was all pretty boring, and its a struggle to get through the book. I can appreciate the technique, but the story is awful.

On Topic: I don't like Terry Brooks' books. Then again, I hate most high fantasy novels cause they all start to sound the same after awhile.

As for music, I don't like the Rolling Stones, The Doors, REM, Bob Dylan and most popular bands today. I've also never been terribly fond of indie bands either, most of it is not worth talking about, and I always feel like people jump to them more as an excuse not to look mainstream, instead of actually liking the music.

I also can't stand Jennifer Aniston, Jack Black, Michael Cera, and Tom Hanks and will automatically turn down a film if it features any of them in it; unless I'm forced to, bribed, or if the film concept is just too ingenious.

Rye

07-19-2011, 02:17 AM

Laddy

07-19-2011, 02:56 AM

I've also never been terribly fond of indie bands either, most of it is not worth talking about, and I always feel like people jump to them more as an excuse not to look mainstream, instead of actually liking the music.

Agreed. Don't get my wrong, I love Indie music. But bands like Crystal Castles are just plain terrible.

Laddy

07-19-2011, 03:03 AM

Oh, and I fucking hate bishounen, shounen-ai, and yaoi. With a passion. I don't care how "good" they are.

Bishounen look like fucking girls and ALL. LOOK. THE. SAME. God, they're usually whiny, annoying, fishfaced dickweeds and I despise those things with the burning intensity of a thousand Foreman grills.

I read some shounen-ai. Stuff's fucking retarded. Boring meandering involving two boring archetypes with the charisma of a damp rag.

Yaoi is ridiculous. It's Cinemax bullshit with annoying as hell characters. Fuck those guys, seriously. I read one set in a New York prison for fuck's sake. There was an entire subplot between Andy Dick getting raped by Trunks from DBZ. I'm not kidding. Stuff's stupid.

And if a girl asks if I'm more seme or uke again I will gouge their eyes out and feed it to them.

There, I'm done.

DMKA

07-19-2011, 03:27 AM

Alright, I'll say it.......

I HATED The Bridges of Madison County.

FFIX Choco Boy

07-19-2011, 03:51 AM

Robin Williams sucks.

Pheesh

07-19-2011, 06:40 AM

Alright, I'll say it.......

I HATED The Bridges of Madison County.

Wait... People actually liked that shit!?

sharkythesharkdogg

07-19-2011, 12:37 PM

Led Zepplin.

The music is decent, but I don't need Plant having a "mangasm" in the middle of every fucking song.

I also like Pink Floyd's later work more than their early stuff. Momentary Lapse of Reason and Division Bell over Darkside of the Moon, and The Wall every time.

Rantz

07-19-2011, 12:56 PM

Also hated Catcher in the Rye. What a overhyped load of poop.

Didn't care for it either - I was bored through most of the book. I feel like the writing style might have been more unique and, as a result, effective when it was published. Today it sounds mostly pretentious to me.

It's hard to come up with things I actually disliked in spite of critical acclaim. As far as overrated works though, Citizen Kane. It was good, but I fail to see how it tops so many all-time lists.

Slothy

07-19-2011, 01:00 PM

Led Zepplin.

The music is decent,

Nothing personal, but as a drummer and fan of John Bonham I'm obligated:

:colbert:

Pike

07-19-2011, 04:14 PM

As far as overrated works though, Citizen Kane. It was good, but I fail to see how it tops so many all-time lists.

I agree; Casablanca is better :monster:

sharkythesharkdogg

07-19-2011, 06:16 PM

Led Zepplin.

The music is decent,

Nothing personal, but as a drummer and fan of John Bonham I'm obligated:

:colbert:

I respect and enjoy most of the songs musically. I love metal, and that's like going back to your roots. I just can't do the vocals. UGH!!

Araciel

07-19-2011, 06:29 PM

lolinception

I have dream fluid in my dream ears!

Bastian

07-19-2011, 08:10 PM

The Fellowship of the Ring bored me to death and felt like some horrible required reading in school, but I was REQUIRING IT OF MYSELF. :/ I finally got into the books halfway through The Two Towers.

I could not stand Requiem for a Dream when I saw it, nor Waking Life.

Shiny

07-19-2011, 08:25 PM

I hate Stairway to Heaven.

NorthernChaosGod

07-19-2011, 08:25 PM

sharkythesharkdogg

07-19-2011, 11:23 PM

Pipes of the Gods? Great news! Did he use those for the live shows? Because I'm convinced he used sewage pipes for the studio recordings.....

NorthernChaosGod

07-20-2011, 02:31 AM

:colbert:

DMKA

07-20-2011, 03:50 AM

I hate Stairway to Heaven.

I dunno, I kinda liked Dolly Parton's cover (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp8-tJTUWto). :bigsmile:

blackmage_nuke

07-20-2011, 04:05 AM

I also didnt care for the LotR books which is a shame because I loved the hobbit.

Here's what I remember from the Fellowship of the Ring: Oh were in a spot of trouble, oh it's over, TEA PARTY, rinse and repeat. NO! Bilbo had to work for his title as elf friend, what did you do Frodo!? Eat some cake!?
(I still loved Samwise though)

Breine

07-20-2011, 10:18 PM

But bands like Crystal Castles are just plain terrible.

You disappoint me, Laddy :(

Nicolas Cage really annoys me. I guess he's not really this terribly well-respected actor, but he has a lot of box-office successes under his belt, so somebody must like him. I haven't seen "Adaptation" yet, though, which I'm sure is a good movie - but then that would probably be because of Spike Jonze way more than Nicolas Cage.

EDIT: He was good in Kick-Ass. I'd have to say.

The Captain

07-20-2011, 11:18 PM

To defend 3 films quickly:

Citizen Kane revolutionized so many things about film that it's not even funny. While of course a lot of it seems basic and obvious now, the idea to use deep focus lenses, to have a narrative that jumps around, having a montage show time lapses were all brought together in that film and are still used today in nearly EVERY film. Will always be a classic for me.

The Godfather literally revitalized the entire "Mafia" genre and also put a new spin on it by making the mobsters human beings instead of just evil men or people with a screw loose. Without it, there would be NO Goodfellas, no Sopranos, no Breaking Bad and for that alone, the movie earns its place. It is a very pensive movie in spots and Goodfellas is much more entertaining and fast-paced, but in my book you need The Godfather to have Goodfellas.

Finally, Star Wars. So much about it has become a joke and rightly so. Lucas has completely destroyed a lot of what he created, either be constantly and needlessly adding more and more effects or by just becoming a lazy storyteller, but the original film, as well as Empire Strikes Back are about as close as it gets, for me, to true movie magic and fun. It's because of Star Wars and Jaws that the blockbuster now exists. Granted, that's definitely a mixed blessing, but without Star Wars, you wouldn't have LOTR, Indiana Jones, Independence Day, the Batman series, etc, etc.

I have no problem with people not liking any of the above movies, because taste is personal, but all three of these movies should at least be respected for what they were and helped create.

As for me, I'd say that I've never fully understood the appeal of certain films, like "Dances With Wolves" or "Crash" as both seemed way too obvious and preachy.

There have been plenty of novels that I didn't really enjoy, specifically the work of Joyce and F Scott Fitzgerald.

To each their own.

Take care all.

Miriel

07-21-2011, 12:11 AM

I studied Citizen Kane in film class so I have an appreciation for all that Citizen Kane did to revolutionize filmmaking. But just purely on an entertainment level, it is booooring.

Del Murder

07-21-2011, 12:36 AM

I like most stuff, especially acclaimed stuff. Except Ulysses. Blech. (sorry Champ)

Actually most Shakespeare is annoying too, at least the non-dummed down versions. The plots themselves are interesting. Basically anything written in prose is annoying.

Pike

07-21-2011, 12:48 AM

Citizen Kane revolutionized so many things about film that it's not even funny. While of course a lot of it seems basic and obvious now, the idea to use deep focus lenses, to have a narrative that jumps around, having a montage show time lapses were all brought together in that film and are still used today in nearly EVERY film. Will always be a classic for me.

I 100% agree that Citizen Kane was a brilliant film and I'm quite aware of its influences. It is certainly one of the all-time greats. I do, however, think a few other similarly brilliant films are better. Personally, that is! This was one of those great old debates that everyone had a side in when I was in school. :monster:

I do feel privileged that I got to see so many good movies in school. "Film school" may have been the worst financial decision I ever made but dang if I didn't see a lot of great flicks.

FFIX Choco Boy

07-21-2011, 12:49 AM

Nicholas Cage and Denzel Washington suck, too. I'm really a pretty big pessimist when it comes to movies and the like.

Laddy

07-21-2011, 01:00 AM

Citizen Kane is my favorite film. There, I said it and I mean it. :colbert:

Pheesh

07-21-2011, 01:19 PM

Denzel Washington suck,

D: Not cool, dude, not cool at all!

fire_of_avalon

07-23-2011, 09:29 AM

I am leaving this thread forever. All the hate for Salinger. He's my homeboy. Weren't you ever angsty teenagers?

Rye, I dunno how you feel about my taste, but if you want some serious good Vonnegut read Breakfast of Champions. People talk about how books save their lives, but that one totally would for me.

NorthernChaosGod

07-23-2011, 10:45 AM

No, I was never an angsty teenager. I don't hate Catcher in the Rye though.

demondude

07-23-2011, 01:25 PM

I was an angsty teenager and I liked it. :riiight:

sharkythesharkdogg

07-23-2011, 02:12 PM

I haven't actually read it. It just sounds like it panders to teen angst, and well, I'm not really in that target demographic. Thanksbutno.

Stephen King has plenty of works I found to be lame. He has some very good books, but I'd say the majority I've read are not. Needful Things comes to mind.....bleh

Slothy

07-23-2011, 02:35 PM

I read it when I was a bit of an angsty teenager and I didn't care for it at all. I didn't mind the very last few chapters as much as the rest of the book. It was probably about ten years ago that I read it so I can't remember specifics, but I recall it being the point in the book where Holden stopped seeming like a stupid kid to me and actually grew up a bit. Sadly whatever good I managed to find in those last few chapters didn't lessen the fact that I was bored senseless for 90% of the book.

Pheesh

07-24-2011, 10:31 AM

I read it about 4 times when I was 11-12, and I haven't read it since. Looking back I don't really even remember what made it appeal to me at the time. I'll have to get a copy and re-read it again.

Madame Adequate

07-24-2011, 07:43 PM

The Catcher in the Rye is a great book and you are all plebeians if you disagree. :colbert: Okay seriously, I suppose I would liken it to the Citizen Kane discussion - it may not be something particularly enjoyable, but it is supremely important.

I agree with Rye, Vonnegut is nowhere near the genius people seem to think he is. Cat's Cradle is fairly good, but I don't like Timequake, Breakfast of Champions, or Slaughterhouse-Five much at all. He has good ideas, but I can't stand how he writes. (This does not apply to Harrison Bergeron, which is a tremendous little story.)

Araciel

07-25-2011, 06:16 PM

Rye, I dunno how you feel about my taste, but if you want some serious good Vonnegut read Breakfast of Champions. People talk about how books save their lives, but that one totally would for me.

My favourite.

I Took the Red Pill

07-25-2011, 07:07 PM

Actually most Shakespeare is annoying too, at least the non-dummed down versions. The plots themselves are interesting. Basically anything written in prose is annoying.I think you mean anything not written in prose. Shakespeare's plays were metered in unrhyming iambic pentameter (though there were small sections written in prose, but it would be strange if you were specifically calling those parts annoying).

Prose - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prose)

I really disliked the movie Gran Torino.

Shiny

07-26-2011, 04:45 AM

I also disliked that movie and I didn't like Million Dollar Baby either.

Madame Adequate

07-26-2011, 06:32 AM

What.

NeoCracker

07-26-2011, 07:58 AM

Lady Gaga, Bob Dylan, Titanic, FLCL, Blue Seed, Blue Gender, GodFather, Good Fella's, Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed, Gundam Seed Destiny, Inuyasha, Owl City, Godsmack, Elder Scrolls, Assassin's Creed, Resident Evil, Megaman 1-7, Final Fantasy II, VII, VIII, and X, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 1 &2, L. A. Noir, and Halo.

That tlist should cut it for now. :p

Laddy

07-26-2011, 09:19 AM

LOL @ Lady Gaga, Owl City, Inuyasha, Gundam, and Godsmack.

:colbert: at Bob Dylan, Titanic, FFVII and IV.

NeoCracker

07-26-2011, 10:58 AM

FF IV isn't on my list, but for some reason XII is, which is horribly wrong. I should change that to VIII, whixh is what it was suppose to be. :p

Pike

07-26-2011, 04:25 PM

This whole thread reminds me of the time I told Hux that I thought Warcraft 3 had fairly mediocre gameplay and he refused to talk to me for like twenty minutes

Burtsplurt

07-26-2011, 06:00 PM

This is probably really bad, but I only read 100 or so pages of To Kill A Mockingbird. I couldn't get into it.

I'm pretty ashamed of this post. :(

Pike

07-27-2011, 06:43 AM

I had to read a book called "Bridge to Terabithia" in fourth or fifth grade or something; apparently it's one of the all time classic kids' books or something.

I didn't like it at all. AT ALL.

I dunno, maybe it would be different if I read it now, but at the time, I was not a fan.

TRUEFACT: I disliked about 75-80% of the stuff that was required reading in school.

edczxcvbnm

07-27-2011, 08:41 AM

The Godfather
Good Fellas
It's a Wonderful Life
2001
Full Metal Jacket
Taxi Driver

Also, in general, I don't like the Beatles.

When it comes to books, The Great Gatsby is a terrible novel. The paper I was forced to write in school was titled "Who to do?".

Pike

07-27-2011, 04:09 PM

When it comes to books, The Great Gatsby is a terrible novel. The paper I was forced to write in school was titled "Who to do?".

It's a pretty fantastic game (http://greatgatsbygame.com/), at least!

fire_of_avalon

07-28-2011, 05:07 AM

For some reason I came back to this thread, and then MILF stabbed me in the heart.

NeoCracker

07-28-2011, 06:03 AM

Thinkiing on it, outside of a couple songs, Lonely Island is crap.

champagne supernova

07-28-2011, 06:09 PM

My heart was stabbed when Gatsby was added here. If anyone says Lolita, I might die.

EDIT: It was stabbed more when I played the Gatsby game. I want to find whoever thought it was a good idea to make a game based on Gatsby so I can beat him with The Great Gatsby NES cartridge.

I Took the Red Pill

07-28-2011, 09:13 PM

EDIT: It was stabbed more when I played the Gatsby game. I want to find whoever thought it was a good idea to make a game based on Gatsby so I can beat him with The Great Gatsby NES cartridge.It's a joke, really. It was never released as an NES game; it was created, as far as I can gather, in 2011. So cool yo' jets, homeslice.

Shiny

07-28-2011, 10:41 PM

This is probably really bad, but I only read 100 or so pages of To Kill A Mockingbird. I couldn't get into it.

I'm pretty ashamed of this post. :(

The best stuff is really after the first 100 pages imo.

Pheesh

07-28-2011, 11:13 PM

Thinkiing on it, outside of a couple songs, Lonely Island is crap.

Agreed.

Raistlin

07-29-2011, 12:57 AM

Lord of the Rings book trilogy -- slow-moving verbosity at its finest. I appreciate what Tolkein did for the fantasy genre, but by themselves the LotR series is mediocre.

Catcher in the Rye -- overrated, annoyingly angsty, and boring.

The Great Gatsby -- more overrated and boringness.

Atlas Shrugged -- I enjoyed The Fountainhead, but this book had terrible pacing, poor development, a ridiculously simplified and repetitive message (even for Rand), and was just godawful boring for long stretches.

Lots of crap from AP English that I have tried to purge from my memory (like Jane Eyre or anything by Jane Austen). Notable exceptions are various works of Shakespeare and <i>You Can't Go Home Again</i>, which I unexpectedly enjoyed.

For more modern stuff: A Song of Ice and Fire is overrated and was apparently written by zombie Robert Jordan.

The Da Vinci Code -- poorly written, weird pacing, and an absurd plot masquerading as something based on actual scholarship (which it's not).

Madame Adequate

07-29-2011, 01:47 AM

I'm not a Catholic, I'm not a Christologist, I'm not even religious, and The Da Vinci Code makes me immensely angry by its mere existence.

Miriel

07-29-2011, 01:55 AM

I'm not a Catholic, I'm not a Christologist, I'm not even religious, and The Da Vinci Code makes me immensely angry by its mere existence.

Is The Da Vinci Code even acclaimed though? The biggest accolade it has to its name is the fact that it sold a lot of copies and was a crowd pleaser for the type of people who buy books at the supermarket.

I just assumed that was what we were focusing on critically acclaimed work and the critics shat on Da Vinci Code. If you want to get into stuff that has general mass market appeal, I don't think this thread would ever end.

Rye

07-29-2011, 03:49 AM

To Kill A Mockingbird is so lovely though. ;_;

Wolf Kanno

07-29-2011, 04:33 AM

Just to add a little more lowbrow works... in the realm of comic books, I hate the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix saga in X-Men and the fact every single reboot of the series has to try to recreate it (and sadly try to find new ways to incorporate it despite most of these revamp series tend to ignore the Shi'ar and other cosmic entities, which makes their justifications of having Phoenix show up just plain sad.) but dear christ people, it wasn't even that good. Just two years of "what the fuck?" in the X-Books, ending with the triumphant removal of the two blandest characters in the entire franchise. I'm starting to think that all Cyclops and Jean Grey fans grow up to work on the X-Men books, cause they can't leave them alone, despite Claremont and other writers trying desperately to write these two characters out of the series several times.

I also would like to add the films:
It's a Wonderful Life

Born Free (throw in the book as well)

Saving Private Ryan - the action scenes are great, and the first part of the movie is amazing but overall, I don't really see what the big deal was.

Requiem for a Dream - a very boring movie with a depressing ending.

Boys Don't Cry - See above.

Forrest Gump - I still plan on getting revenge on those teenage bastards that forced me to watch this when I had to go to a retreat with family. :mad:

Ghost in the Shell and Akira, cornerstones of anime films but not nearly as good as the books they are based one. I can give Akira slack cause its incredibly long, but GitS ripped out Shirow Masemune's charm and turned it into a dead serious philosophical mess. The fact they tried to make all his characters look realistic didn't help either, the character designs are awful compared to the original. So basically this is the classic, "The Book is better than the film adaption" rant most nerds make.

Music:
Despite my love of all things 80s that doesn't extend to one band, Bon Jovi can go to hell. Can't stand their twangy rock style. Also Adele is awful. I have to listen to her at work all the time and I can't believe people willingly buy her albums.

Madame Adequate

07-29-2011, 05:37 AM

Slothy

07-29-2011, 12:12 PM

Just to add a little more lowbrow works... in the realm of comic books, I hate the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix saga in X-Men and the fact every single reboot of the series has to try to recreate it (and sadly try to find new ways to incorporate it despite most of these revamp series tend to ignore the Shi'ar and other cosmic entities, which makes their justifications of having Phoenix show up just plain sad.) but dear christ people, it wasn't even that good. Just two years of "what the fuck?" in the X-Books, ending with the triumphant removal of the two blandest characters in the entire franchise. I'm starting to think that all Cyclops and Jean Grey fans grow up to work on the X-Men books, cause they can't leave them alone, despite Claremont and other writers trying desperately to write these two characters out of the series several times.

To be fair, Jean's at least been dead in main continuity for almost ten years (barring a short lived resurrection in a mini-series that I don't think many read), and Cyclops has been more interesting for about as long. Coincidence? Probably not.

Music:
Despite my love of all things 80s that doesn't extend to one band, Bon Jovi can go to hell. Can't stand their twangy rock style. Also Adele is awful. I have to listen to her at work all the time and I can't believe people willingly buy her albums.

To the first, I've always been at a loss for why anyone enjoys Bon Jovi. To the second, I actually like her voice. Now if only she could write a song that wasn't a steaming pile of shit to go along with it I'd better understand why she's as popular as she is. Mind you, that seems to be the way with popular music. One steaming pile of shit after another with me wondering why the hell people like it. There's a reason I can't listen to the radio. Ever.

Odaisé Gaelach

07-30-2011, 02:00 PM

2001: A Space Odyssey. I got bored after the first fifteen minutes and watched Ghostbusters instead.

Rayman 3. They really ruined him in this one. :(

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Some of the worst story and characters I've ever seen.

Radiohead. They're just shit.

Wolf Kanno

07-30-2011, 07:58 PM

To be fair, Jean's at least been dead in main continuity for almost ten years (barring a short lived resurrection in a mini-series that I don't think many read), and Cyclops has been more interesting for about as long. Coincidence? Probably not.

I find Scott is still pretty boring, even with his new "edgier" attitude about running the X-Men after Xavier stopped running the show.

As for Jean, you cannot tell me Hope isn't Jean or somehow connected to Jean. :p

Hot Shot

07-31-2011, 11:54 AM

Shakespeare is overated imo, I mean he's not bad, he's just meh.

300 was a boring film. It had a cool visual style, but the plot was one that left you wanting for more. I think it's because people talked it up so much.

And finally, Harry Potter. I just hate it. I can see why a kid would like it but I dunno why anybody above the age of 14 would like it. JK Rowling is a terrible writer and she doesn't bring anything new or interesting for me. The same goes for the Twilight Saga (although I've never watched or read any of it, it just seems tit to me)

Slothy

07-31-2011, 07:47 PM

As for Jean, you cannot tell me Hope isn't Jean or somehow connected to Jean. :p

Not denying that at all. But there was still a long run with no Jean, and as a result, more Emma. And at least if this does turn out to be just another Jean resurrection, it wasn't as simple as Jean's back. Why? The Phoenix did it.

champagne supernova

07-31-2011, 08:45 PM

And finally, Harry Potter. I just hate it. I can see why a kid would like it but I dunno why anybody above the age of 14 would like it. JK Rowling is a terrible writer and she doesn't bring anything new or interesting for me. The same goes for the Twilight Saga (although I've never watched or read any of it, it just seems tit to me)

Not saying that JK Rowling should be considered a great writer, but she is infinitely better than the Twilight writer. Maybe because on a scale of 1-10 of ability to write, Stephanie Mayer (I think that's her name) would score a 0.

Edge7

07-31-2011, 08:50 PM

Aw... but I love Baccano...

When it comes to books, The Great Gatsby is a terrible novel. The paper I was forced to write in school was titled "Who to do?".

It's a pretty fantastic game (http://greatgatsbygame.com/), at least!
All I need is a Monte Cristo game, my life will be complete!

Anyway, keeping to the topic, I gotta say that Romeo and Juliet bored me to tears. I didn't like Romeo, and if I can't sympathize with the protaganist, I can't get into the story.

Wolf Kanno

08-01-2011, 04:25 AM

NeoCracker

08-01-2011, 04:31 AM

I'll agree with you on Akira, even though I never read the Manga.

I enjoy the movie, don't get me wrong, but it fails on so many levels.

Mostly on giving you a basic Idea of what the fuck just happened.

Wolf Kanno

08-01-2011, 04:48 AM

The movie can't really explain everything cause half of the cast is either absent or rewritten, and there is a ton of back information that is left out. Granted the manga had its own moments where nothing ever gets explained, like how Kanaeda disappears in volume 3 after Akira levels Neo Tokyo and then literally falls from the sky back to the ground in volume 5 with no memory of what happened and then just goes on like he hasn't been missing for a few months. Tetsuo is also a much less sympathetic character in the manga than he is in the film.