Classic or crud?

Did you love or hate that cult hit? Members of Salon's community, Table Talk, weigh in with their cinematic picks this week.

Published September 7, 2007 9:40AM (EDT)

Private Life

Things I don't get.......

Raspberry - 11:02 am Pacific Time - Aug 27, 2007 - #6511 of 6630

I don't get why everyone I know seems to think that The Princess Bride is one of the greatest movies of all times. I watched the first 30-45 minutes of it with my family and had a few little "heh" laughs, but I had no interest in seeing it much longer. I think this happened with it at least once before.

Heidi Lynn - 11:05 am Pacific Time - Aug 27, 2007 - #6512 of 6630

It's not a knee-slapper, but it's a lovely, clever movie with loads of memorable, quotable moments.

Conni - 11:38 am Pacific Time - Aug 27, 2007 - #6513 of 6630

The torture scene bothers me so much that it ruined the entire movie for me.

Why yes, I do get a little too vested.

Jenni P - 11:42 am Pacific Time - Aug 27, 2007 - #6514 of 6630

But ... Westley was only mostly dead.

Heidi Lynn - 11:44 am Pacific Time - Aug 27, 2007 - #6515 of 6630

Dead or not, being tortured is No Fun.

Verbal Remedy - 03:07 pm Pacific Time - Aug 27, 2007 - #6516 of 6630

I don't get people who think The Matrix is, like, groundbreaking sci-fi, man.

Or that Austin Powers was funny.

But Princess Bride? Personal Top Ten List.

I don't get why humans have different/individual senses of humor.

BurstOfLethargy - 03:07 pm Pacific Time - Aug 27, 2007 - #6517 of 6630

I never really got The Princess Bride or Buckaroo Bonzai, which were each considered unutterably cool when I was in college (in the '80s). But they're all right. I don't, like, begrudge anyone a good time with them!

I remember liking The Matrix OK, but I remember almost nothing else about it.

Chronica - 03:09 pm Pacific Time - Aug 27, 2007 - #6519 of 6630

I don't get The Princess Bride, either. A dear friend lovingly passed on his copy of the book to me, with a personal inscription, even. Every few years I try again to read it and can't get farther than 3 or 4 pages. I barely remember the movie.

JoMN - 03:44 pm Pacific Time - Aug 27, 2007 - #6521 of 6630

I love The Princess Bride, but I admit that I didn't really get it the first time I watched it. I don't get why I watched it again after the first "meh" viewing, but I'm glad I did because it's one of my favorites.

I also love Buckaroo Banzai and was crushed when 16yo tried to watch it with me and after 20 minutes declared it "Really stupid."

Sir Realist - 11:07 am Pacific Time - Aug 30, 2007 - #6535 of 6630

Well, it is an alternate existence you have to buy into. Sort of like Brazil. I tried to get my kids to watch it when they were really too young. NOW they think it's genius.

BTW: One of YS's favorite movies now is Naked Lunch. So he's into weird.

ShannyFan - 11:12 am Pacific Time - Aug 30, 2007 - #6537 of 6630

Love Brazil.

Sir Realist - 11:14 am Pacific Time - Aug 30, 2007 - #6538 of 6630

Probably the masterwork, so far, in a career of genius.

MariaC - 11:39 am Pacific Time - Aug 30, 2007 - #6539 of 6630

Hate Brazil.

I actually turned off my hearing aids partway through and let TonyC watch the rest while I read a book. He didn't think much of it either.

Sir Realist - 11:47 am Pacific Time - Aug 30, 2007 - #6540 of 6630

Like I said, it's something you either tune into, or don't. Time Bandits, on the other hand...

Sky Bluesky - 09:31 pm Pacific Time - Aug 30, 2007 - #6541 of 6630

I think I've seen Brazil, but it didn't stick. Loved 12 Monkeys, though, for all its weirdness. And I think I liked Time Bandits, but hace mucho tiempo since I've seen that.

Mabel I Sez - 09:37 pm Pacific Time - Aug 30, 2007 - #6542 of 6630

I think I would have liked Brazil if I hadn't been a completely stoned 18 year old when I saw it. Unfortunately the MaryJane (or whatever the kids are calling it these days) gives me the old goldfish-memory, rendering even the simplest films incomprehensible.

I had the same experience with Short Cuts, except then I was a stoned 35 year old.

Vinca Minor - 10:04 pm Pacific Time - Aug 30, 2007 - #6543 of 6630

I expected to love Buckaroo Banzai and hated it instead. Brazil I found excellent but chilling.

Alecto The Night Owl - 11:25 pm Pacific Time - Aug 30, 2007 - #6545 of 6630

I love Buckaroo Banzai. For an entire summer, Speedracer and I got it from the library Ever Single Weekend. And I drop Monkey Boy lines to Starbuck - he just looks at me like I have a third hand growing out of my forehead. God, I can't wait until he moves out!

ShannyFan - 07:12 am Pacific Time - Aug 31, 2007 - #6546 of 6630

I liked it, mostly, but I saw La Jetee at an impressionable age, and it was so much more powerful than 12 Monkeys.

Heh, speaking of stupid movies, I love Caddyshack. I avoided it for years because it looked so stupid, but when I finally saw it, I knew it was stupid. But I loved it.

Jenni P - 07:57 am Pacific Time - Aug 31, 2007 - #6548 of 6630

I liked both Brazil and 12 Monkeys and I'd like to see them again as a stoned 40 year old. : ) Anybody wanna share?

I've never seen Le Jetee, but I'm gonna put it in my Netflix queue.

Sir Realist - 08:16 am Pacific Time - Aug 31, 2007 - #6549 of 6630

Caddyshack is a classic. Avoid the sequel.

Baron Munchausen, too. Classic, I mean.

Mendocino - 08:56 am Pacific Time - Aug 31, 2007 - #6551 of 6630

Caddyshack, Animal House, Airplane, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, etc. are some of my most favorite movies.

Sir Realist - 10:54 am Pacific Time - Aug 31, 2007 - #6554 of 6630

Caddyshack actually contributed the word "noonan" to the language.

Heidi Lynn - 10:57 am Pacific Time - Aug 31, 2007 - #6555 of 6630

...which is nice. ;>

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