Great films that sound dull on paper.
montyburns56
Posts: 2,011
Forum Member
✭✭✭
I was watching Apocalypto on TV last night, but I remember when it came out and from it's description it sounded like a really dull and worthy Oscar bait type of film, as opposed to a thrilling and brilliant piece of entertainment that it actually is.
So I was thinking about what other films sound like a bore fest from their description, but are actually really entertaining.
Shawshank Redemption is another one, because if someone has said to me "you'll really enjoy this 2 and half hour film set in a 1940s US prison" I would have thought that you were mad!
So I was thinking about what other films sound like a bore fest from their description, but are actually really entertaining.
Shawshank Redemption is another one, because if someone has said to me "you'll really enjoy this 2 and half hour film set in a 1940s US prison" I would have thought that you were mad!
0
Comments
I was completely turned off when I read it was a film about a schoolkid who wanted to drum. I then read some promising reviews and decided to watch it and was really impressed with the story, acting and also liked the music even though I thought jazz would be boring.
Bunch of salesmen sit in an office and try to get the best business leads.
I was going to suggest that one, so I'll go with Quiz Show about the fixed TV show 21 in the 50's.
Young guy doesn't know what to do in life, goes to therapy a bit, and is pretty good at maths.
5 teenagers spend a Saturday morning in detention!
Yes indeed. A masterclass in acting from Lemon, just imperious.
Another I thought sounded underwhelming but was fantastic is The Station Agent, where Peter Dinklage buys a disused railway station to live in. Wonderful, life-affirming movie, really moved me.
I'm trying to get people to watch that and they're like "a film about drumming???"
Same problem I had with Fight Club, trying to explain it as a film about men who meet up and fight.
Some films you just have to see to understand.
An American GI wanders around Kent, and who's pouring glue into women's hair? (A Canterbury Tale).
As with all narrative forms, the magic lies in the telling. For a very long time the alleged Best Film Ever Made was about an old man getting a bit weepy over a toy sledge. Hardly sounds thrilling, but in a way it epitomised the brilliance of the medium like no other.
12 Angry Men (1957)
Man has to deliver a car
2 blokes having dinner and talking .
The Music Box (Laurel and Hardy short) - Two blokes delivering a piano. Actually, quite a few L & H films sound dull on paper, but once those two get going.........
The Hustler and The Color of Money - People playing pool.
Hell Drivers - Lorry drivers transporting gravel.
You'd think from the title, it was a run of the mill western, but it's far from that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCVzzRXc5Ws
Oh wait you asked for movies that sound dull, not movies that sound like they'd never happen in the real world.