Overrated Films and TV

angloconvoy · Post by **angloconvoy** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 12:51 am

Was Sunshine hailed as a masterpiece? I saw it on a plane once. It was like one of the weaker episodes of new Who.

The American Office fails for me as a sitcom in it's own right too, because it feels like at times it aims for the documentary style, but it's trying to be ultra wacky at the same time.
Please note I am not bashing American sitcoms. Many of them are specifically designed to be brainless affairs (like Two and a Half Men) but they can still be enjoyable in their own right. And some are actually at times clever and well done (I maintain that Modern Family is much more of a spiritual successor to the UK Office than the American Office).

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 9:34 am

Ooh, must check out Modern Family then. I love the UK version of 'The Office' and really got into the US version. Its definitely more wacky and outlandish. I've reached the end of season three now, and its starting to wear a bit thin. I'll purchase the fourth season (because its cheap on Amazon) to see if it completely goes over the edge and then i'll stop.

I didn't really know about 'Modern Family' though, the only other one I'd heard about that always gets rave opinion on message boards is 'Arrested Development'. The reason I haven't touched that is because it looks vaguely similar to 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' which I hate.

[Edit] Just remembered one thing I really hated from the 2004 DVD editions of the original Staw Wars trilogy; replacing Boba Fetts brilliantly nasty voice with the Maori bloke Temeura Morrison who played Jango Fett. He's got a good voice too, but I miss the original raspy one who said his chilling lines in 'Empire Strikes Back'. Ah well, its on the original theatrical version I suppose.

Wildrider · Post by **Wildrider** » Fri Apr 29, 2011 3:47 pm

I'm actually quite fond of the American Office, Dwight is ridiculous to the point of being unrealistic compared to Gareth, but the main love unrequited love story is played very well. The main point being Carrell is far less cringe worthy and much more of a loveable buffoon than Gervais, but it works if you don't try and draw a direct comparison. Which is always going to be difficult, I find myself rooting more for Carrell's character than Gervais's version.

'Sunshine' is a pretty good film, I'm unaware of it being hailed as a hard sci-fi masterpiece though, but it's beautifully shot and scored and has great performances from Murphy and Evans in there. Although I will conceded the silly ' heat haze/sunburn' villain is ridiculous, I didn't even know it was Mark Strong until I read it in an interview, sun makes you crazy yo!

As for Star Wars, years of worship at the altar of Lucas left an insatiable appetite for all things EU, I remember hoovering up countless books as a youth. Although the anti-climax of 'The Phantom Menace' irreversibly curbed my enthusiasm, I actually like the additional CG to the original trilogy, the added sheen lends a nice continuity of sorts to the films as viewed as a six piece in terms of visuals/technology.

On a side note, I watched 'The Clone Wars' movie and enjoyed it far more than I thought I would, I may just invest in the series, you never forget your first love.

Prowl1984 · Post by **Prowl1984** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 4:54 pm

I always found the Superman films to be a tad overrated. First one's alright and i suppose at the time it was all very impressive but I haven't bothered re-watching them since i was a kid. 24 also annoys me...first 2 seasons were great but then it got to the point where you're thinking "how many epic cliffhanger's can one guy have in a day?"

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 5:53 pm

[quote="Prowl1984"]

23.

Prowl1984 · Post by **Prowl1984** » Sun May 01, 2011 2:12 pm

Ahhh Touche...

Dead Man Wade · Post by **Dead Man Wade** » Sat Jul 23, 2011 7:10 am

Cliffjumper wrote:Life of Brian is good, and in places really, really good. Holy Grail's awesome when you're 16, but pretty tiring after a while. Meaning of Life is a Farrely Brothers film with Oxbridge accents.

Quoted for truth.

Frasier - Hated this show from the get-go. The fact that you talk about opera and wine doesn't change the fact that you're producing a fair to middling sitcom, full of insufferable characters.

Big Bang Theory - Same reason as Frasier. Heard nothing but great things about this show, but happened to watch a couple of episodes on a flight, and vowed never to watch it again.

Broken Lizard - Their movies are mediocre, at best. Occasionally, they'll hit upon something that's funny, which is then driven into the ground by the army of twits that go around repeating it incessantly.