Here’s a good one to generate some conversation today:
For me, a have more than few, but I’ll give you my list of “well I wasn’t expecting that”…
Inside Out (2015)
This was my first born daughter’s first movie, and I can remember her at 1 watching the whole thing with intensity as she sat on her granddad’s knee. It’s a great memory, but to be honest, I had no idea the movie was going to be as good as it was. A movie that follows a young girl named Riley as her family moves across country and away from her friends, and her emotions (pictured above) as she is processing the change internally. Great story, good characters, and very, very relatable for anyone who is a parent or who is a kid.
National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
I had seen Animal House and was well aware of the National Lampoon’s franchise, but I didn’t know what to expect when I went to go watch it with my dad at the theater on summer day in 1983. It was so good that it was horrifying when a local lightning storm killed the power to the place, but we were given rain checks and returned to watch it in its entirety the next weekend. Still one of those movies I can watch over and over again, like the Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
I can recall watching the trailers and thinking “what the hell is this”, so I honestly waited for it to get somewhere cheaper to watch which meant Blockbuster. Man, was I pleasantly surprised. To date, it remains one of the most quotable movies of my time and is a standard quote generator for GTP and GTP Refugees.
Signs (2002)
I went to go see this against my will, kind of, because I’ve never been a big sci-fi fan and I absolutely can’t stand The Sixth Sense. This, to me, was the best of all Shyamalan’s films, and as far as a sci-fi movie goes, I have to say the first time Merrill sees an alien on TV from a town in Mexico had me shooketh. Less about special effects and more about a good cinematic techniques, it’s one part disturbing and one part inspiring, with an interesting intertwining arc of faith and why all things happen for a reason, good or bad.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. This film had some hype as a cult classic so I didn’t see it when it was released, but did watch it at the old dollar theater off Alps with a group of buddies from UGA. Man, was I hooked. Great soundtrack, great characters, great stories. It’s 2.5 hours long and it could’ve been five more for me. I walked out genuinesly shocked, nauseated, energized, but, more importantly, entertained.
Some others that were better than I had thought it’d be:
- Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
- Inception
- No Country for Old Men (only because screen adaptations usually let me down, and I’m a McCarthy fan)
- Black Hawk Down
- The Hateful Eight
- Catch-22
- Rounders
- The Cooler
- The Italian Job
- Ocean’s Eleven (with Clooney and Pitt)
- Fight Club
How about you? Have any memorable movies that you didn’t think would be imprinted in your cinematic DNA?
I have never seen The Big Lebowski. No clue why I haven’t, but need to watch it.
I was a huge Chevy Chase fan as a teenager. So I love Fletch, the Vacation series, Modern Problems, Foul Play, etc. We even skipped school as a group of Senior guys to have a few beers and take in a matinee of Fletch Lives. We all signed out of school with excuses like, “doctor appointment with Dr. Rosen Rosen” or “having 7th fetzer valve checked.”
Top Gun was a movie I wasn’t expecting anything from when I saw it at the beach with my family the summer it came out. The sequel was even better I thought. Another rainy day on a beach trip movie surprise was E.T. for me. Had no clue what it was going to be about and obviously loved it.
Just my humble opinion here, but it felt like Maverick was satisfying someone’s desire to make Top Gun over again with modern day effects and cinematography. It’s pretty much a rehash of the first one but with improved camera angles and I did think they did a good job of adjusting the story enough to mix nostalgia with a “where are they now” kind of moment.
Tom Cruise is either certifiably insane or one of the greatest actors of all time. Probably both, but to have the cast actually in the planes and going through training just to film it, tip of tha cap to that. I didn’t know the P-51 Mustang in the movie was actually Cruise’s and he piloted it himself in the scenes.
“The Missouri Breaks” I’d never heard of it until I started watching with my father one Saturday. Now it has become one of my classics. If you haven’t seen it, try it. Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson just starting out.
Napoleon Dynamite. My wife and I had every opportunity to turn it off and watch the news, but we stuck with it and at the end of it, we were pleasantly surprised that we really enjoyed it.
I went into that one with decent expectations. It was better than I had imagined it would be, though. Just a great, fluid story with a lovely happy ending.
I submit to you:
True Romance
Rushmore
Didn’t have any expectations & loved em both.
I watched True Romance after Pulp Fiction as I had heard it has some Tarantino ties in it, and man it didn’t disappoint.
Also should’ve added to my list Leon the Professional. Oldman was creepy good in it.
Tie – The princess bride / American Pie – my side hurt when I walked out of the theater.
For kids’ movies, no doubt, it’s Zootopia. I laughed my ass off after thinking we’re just going because it’s Disney. I still don’t see why Disney didn’t build their first Zootopia themed land at Animal Kingdom instead of Shanghai.
Agree on Inside Out. My kids saw it at midnight on a cruise we were on when it was released. They loved it even though they cried their eyes out.
I’m not a big movie guy, so I’m probably not the best here.
Black Panther – I thought it would be pretty good. I didn’t think I would think it would be at the top of the MCU for me.
Field of Dreams – I thought it was overhyped, but damn, if the dust content in the room didn’t go up dramatically when Dad showed up in the corn field.
Michael
The Usual Suspects.
Definitely.
“The Incredibles.” Saw this without son when he was about eightyears old. I wasn’t expecting much but it had some really funny stuff in it. My son was walking around for weeks saying “Where is my super suit?”
Love The Incredibles. Another Pixar movie where the best lines are delivered to the adults in the theater instead of the kids.
“No capes.” — Edna Mode
And the movie later shows why.
Cool Hand Luke
The movie ‘Cars’ was around for a year or so until I watched it with my first grandson. You don’t expect a kids movie to reflect on ‘Americana’ to that extent. We must’ve rewatched it a couple dozen times since then with the next 3 grandkids. Maybe everyone knew how good it was and I was just oblivious until seeing it myself.
Cars is great. Another Disney/Pixar masterpiece.
What the Mouse did with Cars Land at California Adventure is incredible. When the sun goes down and the lights come on, you think you’re in Radiator Springs. I only hope what they do at Magic Kingdom isn’t akin to Cars 2 and 3 on the big screen.
Just rewatched Cars again after finishing Route 66. In addition to being a fun movie, it’s a great homage to the Mother Road.
I don’t know if I’d say it was a good movie, but James Gandolphini’s character in 8mm made me him so much that I have refused to watch anything else with him in it since.
That’s a movie you can watch only one time, if you can finish it. Yeesh.
*made me hate him so much.
Damn I’ve got to stop typing without my glasses on 🤦♂️
Super 8, Stardust, A Passage to India, Blood Simple, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Almost Famous.
I would’ve said those two Coen Brother movies, but by the time I got to them I was already a Coen believer. Fargo, Raising Arizona, Big Lebowski, and the one that cinched it was No Country. They are just super good.
Super 8 that was way better than i expected. Excellent selection.
Monty Python Holy Grail
Pink Panther with Peter Sellers
Aliens 2
Pulp Fiction
Cars
Hunt for Red October
Cat Ballou