movies I didn't expect to love--but do
by blue_sock_monkey | created - 11 Dec 2012 | updated - 26 May 2013 | PublicWith my ratings & comments.
All of us have gone to at least one movie we expected to hate--maybe it's been praised so much, we assume it will fall short; or it's a genre we don't much cotton to; or the story sounds silly. And then as we watch, despite our preconceptions, something wonderful happens...
Please note that I am stingy with stars, and try to rate based on criteria more objective than simply "I loved/hated it"--a movie has to be really outstanding to earn an 8 or higher from me.
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1. Sunrise (1927)
Passed | 94 min | Drama, Romance
A sophisticated city woman seduces a farmer and convinces him to murder his wife and join her in the city, but he ends up rekindling his romance with his wife when he changes his mind at the last moment.
Director: F.W. Murnau | Stars: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston, Bodil Rosing
Votes: 53,838 | Gross: $0.54M
10/10 I usually don't like fantasy, or fables, or heavy-handed "universals"--but here I fell for every bit of Murnau's sorcery.
2. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Not Rated | 83 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
The Wolf Man tries to warn a dimwitted porter that Dracula wants his brain for Frankenstein monster's body.
Directors: Charles Barton, Walter Lantz | Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi
Votes: 19,562 | Gross: $4.80M
8/10 I've never been a fan of Bud & Lou, but this movie works for me from start to finish. Chaney gives his usual solid performance, and the transformation scenes are among the best of the Wolf Man series.
3. Stagecoach (1939)
Passed | 96 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo and learn something about each other in the process.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Andy Devine, John Carradine
Votes: 53,749
9/10 I hate Westerns--but this one I loved. 'Nuff said.
4. Enchanted April (1991)
PG | 95 min | Drama
Four English women, after World War I, who are unhappy with their lives, and their time away on vacation in a beautiful Italian villa.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Alfred Molina, Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, Polly Walker
Votes: 7,131 | Gross: $13.20M
8/10 A magical film even for those of us girls who aren't really into chick flicks.
5. Dodsworth (1936)
Passed | 101 min | Drama, Romance
A retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, Mary Astor
Votes: 10,198
9/10 Wonderful performances, beautiful cinematography. Any movie that can make me feel enthused about Sinclair Lewis is definitely something special.
6. Dance with a Stranger (1985)
R | 96 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A stormy relationship, complicated by the strictures of 1950s social class and gender roles, ends in death. Based on the life of Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in Britain.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Miranda Richardson, Rupert Everett, Ian Holm, Matthew Carroll
Votes: 2,972 | Gross: $2.17M
8/10 It's unrelentingly grim and sordid--but Richardson, Holm, and Everett are outstanding.
7. Oliver Twist (I) (1922)
Passed | 98 min | Drama
An orphan named Oliver Twist meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.
Director: Frank Lloyd | Stars: Jackie Coogan, James A. Marcus, Aggie Herring, Lewis Sargent
Votes: 941 | Gross: $4.36M
7/10 Yes, I know David Lean's version is vastly better. But this is startlingly effective, with fine performances by Chaney, Coogan, and, especially, Gladys Brockwell.
8. The Searchers (1956)
Passed | 119 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
An American Civil War veteran embarks on a years-long journey to rescue his niece from the Comanches after the rest of his brother's family is massacred in a raid on their Texas farm.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Ward Bond
Votes: 96,261
8/10 Wood looks like something out of an Estee Lauder ad, the humor is heavy-handed, and I am never quite sure where Ford stands on racism. But the movie makes me ponder important questions, and does so with inimitable style. Wayne is superb in an eerily unsympathetic role.
9. The Jewel in the Crown (1984)
TV-14 | 56 min | Drama, History, Romance
The sweeping drama about the ruling and ruled classes of WWII India, trying amidst the turmoil to come to terms with the drastic changes taking place around them, knowing that their lives will never be the same again.
Stars: Tim Pigott-Smith, Geraldine James, Wendy Morgan, Judy Parfitt
Votes: 2,418
8/10 Why would I want to watch 13 hours of film underpinned by British guilt over imperialism? Because this exceptional melodrama (and despite its many pretensions, it most certainly is one) has a compelling albeit implausible story and a strong script, the performances are memorable, and the location shooting can't be beaten.
10. And Then There Were None (1945)
Approved | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Seven guests, a newly hired secretary and two staff are gathered at a manor house on an isolated island by an unknown absentee host and are killed off one-by-one. They work together to determine who the killer is before it's too late.
Director: René Clair | Stars: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Louis Hayward, Roland Young
Votes: 16,637
8/10 Delightful black comedy based on Agatha Christie's best mystery.
11. Topsy-Turvy (1999)
R | 160 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Set in the 1880s, the story of how, during a creative dry spell, the partnership of the legendary musical/theatrical writers Gilbert and Sullivan almost dissolves, before they turn it all around and write the Mikado.
Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Jim Broadbent, Allan Corduner, Dexter Fletcher, Sukie Smith
Votes: 13,476 | Gross: $6.20M
8/10 This is one of those films everyone insisted that I would love, so I watched it in a contrarian "I'll show them" mood. But they were right. It's a grand romp exploring the first production of The Mikado, full of glorious music, clever dialogue, and meticulous period detail.
12. Safety Last! (1923)
Not Rated | 74 min | Action, Comedy, Thriller
A boy leaves his small country town and heads to the big city to get a job. As soon as he makes it big his sweetheart will join him and marry him. His enthusiasm to get ahead leads to some interesting adventures.
Directors: Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor | Stars: Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young
Votes: 22,906 | Gross: $1.36M
8/10 Slapstick for the slapstick-hater.
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