Cinecast Mailbag (8/31)
We promise not to spend too much more time on the response to our Top 5 Overrated Movies list, but it provoked so many heated -- and articulate -- responses that it seems a shame not to share them.
Guys –Great e-mail, JH -- particularly for the method it offers our madness. And yes, Adam and I likely will get around to an "Oscar Mistakes" Top 5 next March. But hopefully we'll remember to offer an "Alternative Oscars" list in addition. The Cinecast Top 5 lists are supposed to be about celebrating what we like, making our "Top 5 Overrated" list a rare exception. I do disagree with JH's suggestion that including Mel Brooks movies and "Holy Grail" on the overrated list is "beside the point." Adam and I didn't just choose movies that make people laugh; we chose films that have been installed in some kind of comedic canon -- making them totally legitimate candidates for overrated designation.
One of the interesting things about your overrated movie list (and the Premiere Magazine list) is that it can be grouped by who overrates the movie. I would categorize it roughly in the following ways, though certain films fall into more than one list:
1) Overrated by the Academy: Making this list is like shooting fish in a barrel. There are dozens of over-acted, bloated, self-important movies that for one reason or another were Oscar bait in a certain year. Examples mentioned: “Forrest Gump”, “Terms of Endearment”, “Driving Miss Daisy.” I would add “The Color Purple” and the egregious “Dances With Wolves.” While Premiere loaded up on this type, you guys pretty much skipped over films like these – to your credit. Save them for your “Oscar mistakes” Top 5, which I look forward to hearing. [See Adam's Mailbag from 8/25 for more on this subject.]
2) Overrated by film historians: These are movies that may have struck a cultural chord or broken new ground technically or thematically, but haven’t aged well. Examples you often hear are “Easy Rider,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” and “The French Connection.” I think movies like “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Spanking the Monkey” will join this list.
3) Overrated by younger film critics: These are the edgy movies you guys (especially Sam) went after, and good for you, because they’re the ones most beloved by your audience. I really like a couple of the films you listed, especially “Fight Club,” “Barton Fink,” and, to a lesser extent, “Royal Tenenbaums,” but at least you’re bold. I would put on this list “sex, lies and videotape” (which fascinated me for its minimalist style when it came out, but has a story that falls apart on repeated viewings), or anything by Todd Solondz or Neil LaBute.
4) Overrated by geeks: These are the comedies that are memorized and quoted ad nauseum that defy any critical scrutiny. You saved the top spot on your list for movies of this type, which is great for starting an argument but is really beside the point. I happen to agree with you on Mel Brooks, but really, the only criteria for judging these movies is whether audiences like them, and both Mel Brooks and Monty Python pass this test with flying colors. [Adam adds: The only criteria for judging these movies isn't whether "audiences" like them, but whether "you" like them (i.e. did they make you laugh?)
Thanks for all your continued work. --JH Lanier
Adam and I have made the point a couple times on recent shows that there's a difference between hating a movie and declaring a movie overrated. That may be true, but I completely sympathize with listeners' feelings of hurt and betrayal when they heard a favorite movie on our Top 5 Overrated list. And I even sympathize with those listeners who were so angry at some of our picks that they stopped listening to the show altogether. Premiere had one of my favorite movies of all-time on their overrated list -- Robert Altman's "Nashville" -- and my first thought was: "Well, obviously they're complete morons." It didn't matter that their list contained four or five others that I completely agreed with; their inclusion of "Nashville" felt like a personal affront.
Assembling a Top 5 Overrated Movies list is, I now realize, a potentially self-defeating exercise for a fledgling podcast like Cinecast. It could only succeed if it offended; but, having offended, have we endeared ourselves to listeners in equal measure? I guess, in the end, we were equal opportunity offenders. We offended the Academy, we offended the film historians, we offended the young critics, and we offended the geeks. And really, at the end of the day, isn't that what counts?
Sam
