I have a friend who pretty much hates everything popular, and loves anything that’s not. I agree, a lot of crap films, books, etc. get attention when they shouldn’t, while a lot of great films, books, etc. go unnoticed. However, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, art gains notoriety because it really is good.

The Dark Knight would be one of those films. No, it’s certainly not the second coming of Christ that some made it out to be, however, it IS one of the best films of 2008. (although, it’s helped by the fact that this has been an abysmal year for film)

How popular something is shouldn’t really even come into the equation when judging it. And just as it makes me angry when people assume if something is unpopular, it’s not good… it annoys me just as much when people assume that if it’s popular, it must not be good.

I have a friend who pretty much hates everything popular, and loves anything that’s not. I agree, a lot of crap films, books, etc. get attention when they shouldn’t, while a lot of great films, books, etc. go unnoticed. However, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, art gains notoriety because it really is good.

The Dark Knight would be one of those films. No, it’s certainly not the second coming of Christ that some made it out to be, however, it IS one of the best films of 2008. (although, it’s helped by the fact that this has been an abysmal year for film)

How popular something is shouldn’t really even come into the equation when judging it. And just as it makes me angry when people assume if something is unpopular, it’s not good… it annoys me just as much when people assume that if it’s popular, it must not be good.

Plus I must admit that it is not until more recently that I have been going back and watching great movies. I’m talking some classic Brando and Newman films. These are the kind of films that maybe a year or two ago I would never even consider as favorite movies because I never watched them. So at the time if someone said name the best 10 movies I would have not included any of these movies. I think that is what is happening with a lot of younger people now; they don’t have a lot of respect or knowledge of movie history. Thus most of these top ten lists (best shootout in a movie, best car chase, best whatever) seem to include only movies from like 1998 to now, like movies never got made before 1998.

I guess what I’m getting at is that some people make way too big of a deal on making movies number 1, like it matters. “Man I’m so cool because I rated TDK a 10 on IMDB, and then gave Godfather a 0.” Why in the world would you care that TDK is not higher then The Godfather? It does not make a difference. It is not like if TDK was to be higher rated then The Godfather I would be like “Oh yeah IMDB says TDK is a better movie then The Godfather, well I guess it is then.” I would make my own personal opinion about it, not just take other peoples words for it. Oh and TDK is NOT better then The Godfather, sorry.

Plus I must admit that it is not until more recently that I have been going back and watching great movies. I’m talking some classic Brando and Newman films. These are the kind of films that maybe a year or two ago I would never even consider as favorite movies because I never watched them. So at the time if someone said name the best 10 movies I would have not included any of these movies. I think that is what is happening with a lot of younger people now; they don’t have a lot of respect or knowledge of movie history. Thus most of these top ten lists (best shootout in a movie, best car chase, best whatever) seem to include only movies from like 1998 to now, like movies never got made before 1998.

I guess what I’m getting at is that some people make way too big of a deal on making movies number 1, like it matters. “Man I’m so cool because I rated TDK a 10 on IMDB, and then gave Godfather a 0.” Why in the world would you care that TDK is not higher then The Godfather? It does not make a difference. It is not like if TDK was to be higher rated then The Godfather I would be like “Oh yeah IMDB says TDK is a better movie then The Godfather, well I guess it is then.” I would make my own personal opinion about it, not just take other peoples words for it. Oh and TDK is NOT better then The Godfather, sorry.

im glad you agree The Godfather is overrated. Too many people and critics (some who havent even seen it yet..yes they exist) tout that movie as the greatest of all time. Im sick of it.
I see your point about IMDB’s flawed movie list. I think all movie lists are flawed. Soon as you begin to place a movie on a higher pedestal than others, you’re creating a situation where others begin to rate movies, which in turn leads to lists like AFI’s movie list & empire’s best 250 list etc etc

(for the record, my favourite movie is Bladerunner. It is not the greatest movie of all time. But then again, nor is any other movie)

im glad you agree The Godfather is overrated. Too many people and critics (some who havent even seen it yet..yes they exist) tout that movie as the greatest of all time. Im sick of it.
I see your point about IMDB’s flawed movie list. I think all movie lists are flawed. Soon as you begin to place a movie on a higher pedestal than others, you’re creating a situation where others begin to rate movies, which in turn leads to lists like AFI’s movie list & empire’s best 250 list etc etc

(for the record, my favourite movie is Bladerunner. It is not the greatest movie of all time. But then again, nor is any other movie)

Good review.

Good review.

Why did people say ‘The Dark Knight’ was better than it really was? Why was it overrated? Sequels usually aren’t. Even the soundtrack was overrated. What soundtrack has its own website?! And for anyone who thinks that soundtrack is amazing, didn’t they listen to the first one? It’s pretty good too.

I can’t answer the why question. Maybe it’s partly because of the tragic death of Heath Ledger. Maybe the response would have been the same no matter what. Whatever the answer, there’s no excuse for it. You could say that there’s no harm in it, but I would profusely disagree. It’s extremely harmful.

If we start judging movies as either great or terrible with no in between, we start losing the ability to judge what makes films great and what makes films terrible. Suddenly, all the good aspects of films, along with the bad aspects are looked over. Maybe no one does want to watch average movies, but that’s what most films are. The fact that some people have lost sight of that fact, does not provide the next generation of filmmakers with any incentive to make a truly deserving great film, when an okay film is good enough to be considered as such.

Why did people say ‘The Dark Knight’ was better than it really was? Why was it overrated? Sequels usually aren’t. Even the soundtrack was overrated. What soundtrack has its own website?! And for anyone who thinks that soundtrack is amazing, didn’t they listen to the first one? It’s pretty good too.

I can’t answer the why question. Maybe it’s partly because of the tragic death of Heath Ledger. Maybe the response would have been the same no matter what. Whatever the answer, there’s no excuse for it. You could say that there’s no harm in it, but I would profusely disagree. It’s extremely harmful.

If we start judging movies as either great or terrible with no in between, we start losing the ability to judge what makes films great and what makes films terrible. Suddenly, all the good aspects of films, along with the bad aspects are looked over. Maybe no one does want to watch average movies, but that’s what most films are. The fact that some people have lost sight of that fact, does not provide the next generation of filmmakers with any incentive to make a truly deserving great film, when an okay film is good enough to be considered as such.

When a movie is said to be perfect, nearly perfect, or one of the all time greats, I think its easy to consider that overrated. Like currently, The Godfather is considered in like, the top 3 of all time greatest movies. If I think it would be more accurately placed at say, 6th or 7th, then its overrated, at least to me. I think the biggest problem comes when a movie is pushed as “one of the greatest” or “the greatest” rather than just being “great.”

When a movie is said to be perfect, nearly perfect, or one of the all time greats, I think its easy to consider that overrated. Like currently, The Godfather is considered in like, the top 3 of all time greatest movies. If I think it would be more accurately placed at say, 6th or 7th, then its overrated, at least to me. I think the biggest problem comes when a movie is pushed as “one of the greatest” or “the greatest” rather than just being “great.”

What films do you think are perfectly rated? I’m having a hard time fathoming the notion
that the Godfather is overrated, so I was just curious.