10 Movies You Constantly Have To Defend Hating
Ready your pitchforks, it's time to slaughter some sacred cows.
When it comes to discussing film, there is no such thing as objectivity. One person's Citizen Kane may be another's Battlefield Earth. There are, however, films out there that'll get you more than a few stern looks from across the table if you dare to give them even the slightest critique.
Just try telling your contemporaries that The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy is bloated, disjointed and littered with bland, one-dimensional characters; or that the fight choreography in the original Star Wars Trilogy is largely laughable and clunky. You'll be spending the rest of the evening on the back foot, having to justify your heresy.
That's not to say the following films are without merit. For many, in fact, the case is quite the opposite. A film that's considered a classic more often than not has good reason, but let's remember that valid critique is always on the table. So with all that said, please try not to take any of these entries as personal attacks.
10. American Psycho
American Psycho, Mary Harron's adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel, has garnered a huge cult following over the years and is widely considered to be a masterful piece of social satire, skewering a culture of greed, narcissism and consumerism. Christian Bale gives one of his most defining performances here, as the utterly despicable, irredeemable Patrick Bateman.
At least that's what everyone says about this film. I've tried to watch it several times now and haven't once managed to stay the course. From the outset, Bateman is unwatchably contemptible and the film flits directionlessly from one scene of nauseating unpleasantness to another. Watching Bateman murder a homeless man and kick his dog to death, abuse and mutilate a multitude of sex workers, and contemplate killing his secretary with a nail gun doesn't serve to justify any of American Psycho's intended satire.
However, any of these complaints will always be met with a chorus of "that's the whole point of the film, you just don't get it". And they're most likely right. On paper, the lack of any repercussion for the absolute worst that society has to offer sounds like an intriguing watch, but in execution it's just a miserable, arduous slog.