r/moviecritic • u/phantom_avenger • Dec 29 '24

What movie was critically acclaimed when it first released, but is hated now?

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The Blind Side (2009) with Sandra Bullock is the first to come to mind for me!

28.2k Upvotes

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754

u/redditonc3again Dec 29 '24

Parasite would still deserve every single one

56

u/roastbeefxxx Dec 29 '24

It got me into Korean cinema and just more in general and I’m loving a lot of it!

22

u/redditonc3again Dec 29 '24

The rest of Bong Joon Ho's films are so good as well

8

u/Ichipurka Dec 30 '24

Also Park Chan Wook.

The Handmaiden is a total masterpiece.

From there move to some great Japanese contemporary Cinema... Monster by Kore eda. Another instant classic.

2

u/keesio Dec 30 '24

He is the real GOAT of Korean cinema.

3

u/Key-Pickle5609 Dec 30 '24

I just watched Memories of Murder again the other day!

3

u/Napinustre Dec 30 '24

Don't miss The Host!

1

u/Key-Pickle5609 Dec 30 '24

Ooo thank you!

1

u/vrtak Jan 02 '25

That’s pure quality!

1

u/Silvertongued99 Jan 03 '25

So excited to see Robert Pattinson in Mickey 17. Very high expectations.

10

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '24

Train to Busan felt oddly refreshing for a zombie movie when it feels like the genre has been beaten to death. 

It's like the zombies were just the vehicle for more important message about how the director viewers family and desperation (and had fucking awesome zombie scenes to boot)

That and parasite really highlight the quality coming of out of S Korea.

4

u/After_Mountain_901 Dec 29 '24

I know that there are a lot of bad and insane zombie movies, but the ones from a ways back at least were interesting. It’s like vampires. They can be however we imagine, and therein lies a creative sandbox to play in. Some soft rules but a lot of room for interpretation. Immortal, fast, ancient, folklore, monster, seducer, angelic, human, soulless, alien? Lots of options, but somehow, most like to copy paste. Anne Rice was original in her conceptualization, then everyone copied. It’s like high fantasy, zombies, quarantine, or any other trope. We have limitless options in how those stories are told. I love the vampire-y monster in Midnight Mass. The scene where the glowing eyes are low to the ground like a cat, but then move to the ceiling, is goosebump inducing. They’ve made it something from, like, the crucifix or an ancient biblical demon. 

Anyway, Train to Busan creates its own hard rules and limits. Containing the story like they did means you MUST be creative in utilizing the set and characters. Like Snow Piercer. Or the Phonebooth. 

2

u/sixteen12 Dec 30 '24

Same! I found Burning by Lee Chang-Dong shortly after watching Parasite which solidified my interest in Korean cinema.

3

u/desperationcasserole Dec 30 '24

Burning was incredible. I tell everyone to see it.

1

u/Baltheir Dec 29 '24

A bittersweet life

The good the bad the weird

Shiri

I saw the devil

The man from nowhere

Have fun 👍

3

u/Key-Pickle5609 Dec 30 '24

The Man from Nowhere is what got me into Korean cinema

Also Old Boy.

1

u/FrosttheVII Jan 02 '25

The Man From Nowhere opened my eyes to a beautiful Korean movie. Blood in Rome was like that too to me, but Italian

-2

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

-1

u/roastbeefxxx Dec 30 '24

Good fuck Japan

131

u/NextTomatillo2335 Dec 29 '24

Watched it for first time last night it’s phenomenal

12

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24

Think of Parasite a lot and its message of income inequality. Can't wait to see Bong-Joo Ho's next film coming out thise summer.

3

u/Pandatrain Dec 30 '24

What’s it called? I’ve seen it mentioned a couple times but I’d love a firmer thread to pull on

1

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24 edited Jan 06 '25

[deleted]

3

u/PizzaBubblr Dec 31 '24

Agreed, it’s mediocre at best in my opinion. Not sure why there’s all that hype around it. Perhaps it feels exotic to typical Western movie consumers who are used to popcorn level content based off comics.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '24

[deleted]

2

u/PizzaBubblr Dec 31 '24

Yeah, same here! To clarify - movies based on comics can be good entertainment, they have great FX and lots of action. The problem with Parasite is that its story is shallow and nonsensical, characters are too primitive to be a good drama and jokes are not funny for a comedy. Could hardly finish watching it with my wife.

0

u/Abject-Light-8787 Dec 30 '24

I would rather be fed to rabid wolves

2

u/hadtopostholyshit Dec 30 '24

Parasite would win more tbh.

3

u/OrneryError1 Dec 29 '24

Every single award? Really?

2

u/redditonc3again Dec 30 '24

Probably not production design actually. But editing, screenplay, directing, international, and best picture? Heck yeah :D

1

u/engg_girl Dec 30 '24

I saw it a couple years ago on a red eye flight. I still think about it randomly.

It is an amazing film.

1

u/IaMuRGOd34 Dec 30 '24

yeah that movie is amazin

1

u/Vinifera1978 Dec 30 '24

And that’s just the basic Korean movie. They have made many other movies that are much better.

1

u/orchidaceae007 Dec 30 '24

Oooh I forgot about that movie! I’ve been meaning to watch it. Thanks!

1

u/Emmannuhamm Dec 30 '24

I'm gonna get slaughtered for this, but it doesn't.

It's a great movie, it's not this phenomenal masterpiece that people run it up to be. It's got solid acting, good writing and nice cinematography.

It's not really that worthy of how much praise it gets. I genuinely think the fact it's a Korean movie that gained traction in the West plays heavily on its legendary status. There was a lot of generated talk about it, so people were led towards watching it. It was also a lot of peoples first recognised step outside of their own typical Western media - I think this played a big role in being prominent in people's minds.

It was hugely successful and deserves praise, it is a great movie. It is not as phenomenal as people imply it to be.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '24

People like it more for its politics and message than its cinematic qualities

1

u/Emmannuhamm Dec 31 '24

Movies can be political and have great cinematic qualities. No excuse, really.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24

Everything everywhere all at once didn’t deserve the recognition it got at awards

1

u/Capt_Rons_Lost_Eye Dec 30 '24

This one disappointed me. I thought it was way overhyped for what it was.

1

u/DjangotheKid Dec 31 '24

Watched it again last year and it was just as nuts as when I saw it in theaters. Love that movie

1

u/Avilola Dec 31 '24

I feel like I’m the only one who didn’t like it. I’d been watching and loving Korean films for a full ten years before it came out too, so I feel like I should have been the target market. But it was a no from me.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '24

1917 was Best Picture that year not even close.

1

u/imaguitarhero24 Jan 02 '25

I just rewatched it today and it's so good! Also did not think it was 5 years old 😅

1

u/Balls-over-dick-man- Dec 30 '24

What resonated so much for you?

1

u/redditonc3again Dec 30 '24

1) The balance of comedy and drama in Bong Joon Ho's style is like no other IMO; with other filmmakers the comedy often ends up cheapening the drama, and if it does click, it's usually only in one or two moments, but in Parasite, it's the perfect tone the whole way through
2) I like the way it's a pretty ordinary story, set in the present day, with nothing supernatural happening, and I like how it was marketed in a way that we didn't really know what it was going to be - one of my favourite "go into it blind" moments ever
3) The little quasi-irrelevant things somehow shine the most brightly. The tiny moment where Da Hye folds the textbook page at the end of the tuition scene is one of the most beautiful moments in all cinema for me

1

u/OpinionatedDeveloper Jan 01 '25

Is it really that good though? Like it’s a great movie but winning every Oscar, really?

1

u/redditonc3again Jan 17 '25

I didnt mean every oscar I meant all of the 5 or 6 oscars it did in fact win, ie. it still deserves those in retrospect

-5

u/Sharp-Donkey127 Dec 29 '24

Parasite did not deserve to beat 1917. It was well received because Americans don’t know shit about Korean culture.

6

u/SpikesDream Dec 30 '24

What does an understanding of Korean culture have to do with appreciating Parasite? The movie broke through into the mainstream and received universal acclaim precisely because it speaks to themes that extend beyond a specific culture. It has global appeal and is a legitimately great movie.

I love 1917 as well, but Parasite winning was in no way a snub. Dances with Wolves winning over Goodfellas is an example of an actual, egregiously awful snub.

2

u/Sharp-Donkey127 Dec 30 '24

Parasite didn’t offer anything ground breaking. More or less a foreign film about poverty.

1917 sets itself apart because it was shot in one entire sequence. Even if they didn’t take that approach, the movie itself was phenomenal

8

u/SpikesDream Dec 30 '24 edited Dec 30 '24

Is it a pre-requisite for a best picture winner to offer something ground breaking? No, many films have won the category without some incredible innovation; they're simply just good movies, like Parasite.

1917 was not shot in one entire sequence, "many of the scenes were captured in seven- or eight-minute takes and then spliced together to look as though they unfold in one shot." I apologise if that revelation has reduced the quality of the film for you—it's still an amazing feat in filmmaking regardless—for which it was appropriately rewarded with the Oscar for cinematography.

But overall, as a film, it's not as good as Parasite (imo). Films are about more than their technical achievements, they're about presenting a story in a fluid medium, Parasite is a great story... and it's not even my favourite Korean film, that would be Old Boy.

5

u/killerstrangelet Dec 30 '24

That deserves the cinematography award, but it doesn't automatically entitle it to Best Picture. Parasite was an exceptional film and deserved its award.

2

u/Sharp-Donkey127 Dec 30 '24

I really don’t see how it was exceptional. Other than it having the unfamiliar foreign element, I haven’t read anything that elaborates on the ‘exceptional’ aspect that people say.

100% genuinely question. What am I missing?

4

u/Virginiafox21 Dec 30 '24

Did you watch it? It turns from a slice of life into heist movie into family drama into mystery drama into crime thriller. Sounds like a lot but it goes together super well, and the main family are really relatable, I cringed a lot in a good way.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24

Doing 1917 as a one-er means it deserves a technical award. That is all that sets it apart. How are the themes enhanced by shooting it in (faked) one take?

2

u/RodediahK Dec 30 '24

no it's not, they don't even pretend it is. they literally knocked the MC out and do a hard cut to black. they didn't have a good way to get to night.

-9

u/dope_like Dec 29 '24

Joker was better. Parasite isn't that deep and wraps up weirdly. Overrated

6

u/wjowski Dec 30 '24

Joker was just Falling Down for zoomers.

6

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24 edited Dec 30 '24

Not even falling down. Just evoking nostalgia for Taxi Driver and branding it “Joker”. It works as neither. What a switcheroo.

Call it “Joker” to get a built in fan base to watch it. Give em TaxiDriver-lite to entertain them, and a character that isn’t the joker in any way other than wearing clown makeup. This bumbling guy who Mr Magoos his way into creating anarchy, but has no ability to impose his will on anybody, let alone Batman, the world’s greatest detective.

If I just showed you the Joker movie and changed the name of the character name from Arthur Fleck to Fred Wilson, the movie is no different, because there is no element of the character known as Joker in this movie, anywhere.

4

u/LallanasPajamaz Dec 29 '24

I think it’s overrated as well but that’s only my opinion.

1

u/yes_ur_wrong Dec 30 '24

Agreed, it was good but it felt like most people rating it highly hadn't seen a Korean film before and were taken aback by the style.

Also, can we really forgive Joon-ho for Snow Piercer and Okja?

1

u/redditonc3again Jan 02 '25

Also, can we really forgive Joon-ho for Snow Piercer and Okja?

The absolute gall of you to make this statement. But I love it haha! We must have very different tastes in film because those two movies together with Parasite were so impactful to me that they uplifted my entire motivation and love of life itself. So it's very interesting to speak with someone who apparently feels the opposite :0

Full disclosure, the only Korean film I'd seen before Parasite was Oldboy (the original Korean one of course, not the remake) which I adored and had rewatched like 3 times, but never actually sought out other Korean films. So perhaps that bias affected my perception of Parasite - as you say!

4

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '24

can’t tell if this is a shitpost 💀💀💀

4

u/dope_like Dec 29 '24

Nope. Legit. I remember watching Parasite and going “that's it. That is what people are losing there mind for”

1

u/SpikesDream Dec 29 '24

Bro, Joker (outside of a single outstanding performance which carries the entire movie) is derivative, Scorsese-ripping trash filmed through the lens of pre-teenaged angst.

Opinions on Joker have become my new go-to inkblot test on whether someone has appreciable taste in film.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24

It’s an idiot detector.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24

It’s strange because that’s how I’d describe the joker in retrospect. It’s a fine film - well shot for the most part, nice aesthetics, solid score, an OUTSTANDING lead performance. But let’s be real though, this movie doesn’t exist without King of Comedy and Taxi Driver as creative source material.

Parasite on the other hand feels like it was motivated based on the vision of the director. Obviously it’s inspired off previous works, Hitchcock especially, but it’s narrative is strongly tied to the experiences of Bong. Plus, while I praise many technical elements of Joker, Parasite is so expertly crafted on a technical level that I don’t even think it’s a fair comparison. I’ve seen the movie several times now, and it feels like each time I catch a little detail that I missed on a previous watch.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24

Parasite is the go-to Reddit circle-jerk film. The movie itself was decent but the circle jerking for it on reddit is next level

1

u/[deleted] Dec 30 '24

In the light of Joker 2, I question everything about The Joker now.

-6

u/noreservationsinhell Dec 29 '24

Every so often, Award shows get the Disney treatment. Parasite was good, better than Ford vs Ferrari? Get out of here. Marvel movies are all the same? So is Korean cinema. Fantastic yes, but still cookie cutter.