IMO:

American Beauty: At its core, a half-assed '90s version of Ordinary People. Started out strong, but broke its own legs even before the ridiculous ending (although this was partly redeemed by Spacey's concluding monologue/VO). Annette Bening's character could have been potentially interesting but they turned her into yet another cliche bitch-harpy -- what a waste of talent.

Requiem For A Dream: I hate pretty much everything about this movie, don't even know where to start. If you think this movie is actually a compelling tragedy or an interesting depiction of the pitfalls of drug addiction, please tell me why.

American History X: Pandering piece of shit, seemingly unaware of the stereotypes it propagates. I learned nothing new about racism from this film. Preachy-ass dreck that pussyfoots around the more subtle, insidious forms of systematic oppression faced by people of color in the post-Civil Rights era. There is a reason why racists love this film, and it's not because they're too stupid to understand the simplistic, cliche "white supremacy is baaaad" conclusion.

The Hours: Virginia Woolf was a great writer, but this is just boring melancholic trash. Boohoo, more upper-middle-class white ennui. The only redeeming part of this film is Nicole Kidman's portrayal of Woolf, and other than her, the only character I could find sympathy for was the childhood version of the AIDS-infected gay poet. Perfect for Meryl Streep, one of the most overrated actresses in recent memory.

Fight Club: Terrible film, period. I would hate this even more than Requiem for a Dream if it wasn't for the (minor) commentary on how potentially useful social/political movements can be hijacked by cults-of-personality and nihilistic horseshit (a theme which is sadly undercut by the HORRIBLE ending, leading many of the angsty teens who worship this film to completely miss the point). A shit novel as well, I have nothing but contempt for Chuck Palahniuk.

There Will Be Blood: I liked this originally, but it doesn't hold up to repeated viewings. Daniel Day-Lewis is great as usual and there's some beautiful shots, but overall I find it boring and overwrought. Soundtrack blows, also.

There are many more, but these are the ones that really stick out in my mind because people talk about them a lot. (Except for The Hours, which almost nobody I know has seen but was praised by critics).

Honorable mention: Magnolia, which I found somewhat moving but really it was just a second-rate Short Cuts.

I loved this movie...Have not seen Ordinary people but I thought American Beauty was excellent...It did win best picture....

The way it was filmed especially, the acting, the music, the character development, the ability to convey the theme of American addiction perfectly, the incredibly disturbing and powerful ending...Were we watching the same movie???

Ed Norton kicks ass and I just really enjoyed it...


Regardless of the themes or anything else the way this movie was done was nothing short of awesome, the way it was filmed, the dialogue, the acting and you are literally the only person I have ever heard of not liking the ending...Even people who hated the movie thought the ending was cool...But I suppose if you hate Palahniuk than you're kind of biased opinion towards the movie...

Other than your opinion on the soundtrack (which was awesome) , you sound exactly like the movie critics..."great job by Lewis, and great filming but a little too slow"...

I would say Donnie Darko is extremely overrated, just didn't think it was that great and everyone seems to love it...Boondock saints is another, alright but gets too much credit.

Good list, I agree wholeheartedly with Beauty, Fight Club, American History X and Requiem for a Dream. Never saw the Hours or Blood.

Overrated list of people overrating recent movies:

Fight Club
American Beauty
Requiem for a Dream
American History X
Lord of the Rings
Donnie Darko

Dude, you missed out Lord of the Rings and Donnie Darko! Apart from that you overrated list is severly overrated.

In the case of these movies, the entertainment factor is about all I care about. I don't need a god damn movie to tell me what's right and wrong anyways. So overall, I don't give a shit about anything you said about them. Not meaning that insultingly, I can see what you're saying and why you're right, but the two of us are getting entirely different things out of these movies.

still,
Fight Club is definitely overrated, and American History X is a little bit spotty as well.

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I love Donnie Darko, but I do think it's overrated. Still highly enjoyable none the less.

Lord of the Rings overrated? The 3rd film won 12 fucking Academy Awards. It won every category it was nominated in, and tied Titanic for Oscars.

It's rated just fine.

American Beauty has some good titties. Never actually saw the movie, just downloaded the nudes.

No country for old men. The movie kicked ass but the ending pissed me off so much, that it makes me never want to see the movie again.

and also the fact that the op dosnt like requiem for a dream.

Titanic.

Only black man in vermont, what movies do you like?

If you think American Beauty, Fight Club and Magnoloa are overrated, you'd better have a damn good list of what you think is good.