The 10 Most Polarizing Films Of The Last Decade (1999-2009)

Just found this list. Thought I'd share it with you guys.
Link: http://unrealitymag.com/index.php/2009/06/11/the-10-most-polarizing-movies-of-the-last-decade/


The Fountain (2006)


People who love it say: The Fountain is a beautiful, deep, moving love story that knows no bounds, in addition to being a visual masterpiece. If you don’t love it, you simply don’t understand it.

People who hate it say: The Fountain is a pretentious, art school film with no real substance other than a theme similar to that in The Lion King. It’s slow and the pacing is terrible.


Vanilla Sky (2001)


People who love it say: It’s a mind-bending science fiction piece that transcends its own genre, accompanied by an incredible soundtrack.

People who hate it say: Tom Cruise annoys me, his character is generally unlikeable, and the payoff at the end of the film wasn’t worth the wait.


Eyes Wide Shut (1999)


People who love it say: Stanley Kubrick is a genius and Kidman’s performance is perhaps the best of her career. The themes of cheating psychologically - as opposed to physically - and the pain that a lover can cause simply by dreaming have a definite gravity that Kubrick recognized and expounded upon brilliantly.

People who hate it say: Tom Cruise annoys me and this film was simply an excuse for Kubrick to shoot a bizarre orgy. There’s little suspense, and in the end, nothing really happens.


The Blair Witch Project (1999)


People who love it say: It’s a truly terrifying film, it feels “real,” and the fact that you never really see the Blair Witch only serves to make it scarier.

People who hate it say: It gave me a headache, I was nauseous, and there was nothing remotely scary about it. Some kid facing a corner? Big deal.


Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)


People who love it say: Michael Moore is a genius and not afraid to speak out against injustice. This film shows what a doofus George W. Bush really is, and he should be tried as a war criminal.

People who hate it say: It’s all just a bunch of skewed, cherry-picked, liberal propaganda bullshit, and anyone with a camera and editing equipment can twist facts into anything they like.


Moulin Rouge! (2001)


People who love it say: It’s a colorful, fun, enchanting musical with great songs, an awesome score, and breathtaking visuals.

People who hate it say: It is an utterly unwatchable, nonsensical pile of filth that only women would enjoy. Musicals suck, anyway.


The Village (2004)


People who love it say: Shyamalan has succeeded in making a period piece, and his trademark twist ending works this time. The audience is guessing the outcome the entire film and when it finally arrives, they’re floored. Shyamalan’s use of color shows his attention to detail and development as a director.

People who hate it say: Shyamalan is a one-trick pony, knowing nothing but twist endings, and the ending to The Village is utterly unbelievable, unrealistic, and ridiculous. God forbid he’d make the monsters terrorizing the villagers real.


Crash (2005)


People who love it say: It’s a rare type of film that puts life in perspective and shows us that we really should put aside our petty differences to make this world a more enjoyable place. The connection of all the film’s characters is brilliant, and it’s wonderful to see how everything comes together at the end.

People who hate it say: The movie inaccurately presents the concept racism, dressing it up as straightforward issue with zero wiggle room for discussion. It’s melodramatic as hell, and the characters are linked together simply because it seems like a clever thing to do.


A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)


People who love it say: It’s a modern sci-fi masterpiece, exploring the question that guys like Asimov and Dick have been asking for years: just what does it mean to be human?

People who hate it say: It’s long, boring, and the future world of robots and a flooded Manhattan are too bizarre to give the audience any feeling of connection with the characters.


Watchmen (2009)


People who love it say: It’s a crisp film that is incredibly pleasing not only to the eye, but to the mind as well. Zack Snyder’s direction brings the viewer into the Watchmen universe, and the representation of superheroes is a refreshing and different angle than what we’ve been spoon-fed for years.

People who hate it say: It was unfilmable to begin with and it doesn’t compare with the graphic novel.

Am I the only person on here that likes Crash?

And The Blair Witch Project is still one of the scariest movies I've seen in my life. That image of the guy standing in the corner while the camera is lying on the floor is one of the few scenes from a movie that comes automatically to mind whenever I'm in a dark room by myself.

a half-baked art-school concept that somehow managed a nearly $40M budget.............. HATED


a shot-for-shot remake of a BETTER film.. any new contributions were weak, silly and unnecessary.... HATED

Spoiler:

brilliant movie.. induglent, yes--but that was the point.. LOVED


a novel idea.. genuine scares.. great idea.. LOVED


Partisan-politics and Pop-science is killing the DOCUMENTARY (as a genre) and, most likely, the world itself.. HATED


never saw it (and i don't care to).... MEH


never saw it (and i don't care to).... MEH


if hollywood is capable of auto-fellatio, here it is.. check out the awards.. HATED


dreck. words cannot describe this abortion of a film. HATED


everything was there.. it WORKED.. it wasn't perfect, but it was damn-well close enough.. LOVED

Liked:
The Fountain
Eyes Wide Shut (wow, Kidman's got a nice butt)
Fahrenheit 9/11
Moulin Rouge
The Village
Crash
A.I.
Watchmen

About Average:
Vanilla Sky (only watch it for Kurt Russell)

Hated:
The Blair Witch Project

I would have also included Southland Tales. Either people find it a masterpiece or self-indulgent propaganda.

Its funny because I would say I agree with both sides on ALL of the films except Moulin Rouge (loved) and Crash (hated). All the others are great movies but deeply flawed as is explained by the hated side.

Liked:
The Fountain- for all the reasons NSpan hated it. It was a art-school grad film, but what vision to see it realised. You also don't see too many films dealing with the subject of death in cinema.
Eyes Wide Shut- Indulgent and slow, and Kidman borders on awful, but it's a fascinating portrayal on the perversion of sexuality to make it into an issue of power.

Was meh about:
A.I- It starts well, but feels overlong
The Blair Witch Project- it's a gimmick that works well after one viewing, but no more
Fahrenheit 9/11- interesting in parts but Moore shoots himself in the foot with clumsy arguments and choosing (failed) entertainment over authenticity

Hated:
Moulin Rouge- too camp, awful performances, non-existant plot, awful vocals, pure style over substance
The Village- another movie that exists only for a twist. Shame, as the performances were solid
Crash- preachy, patronising crap
Watchmen- terrible performances, the "conspiracy" at the end doesn't make sense (the comic was different), an overuse of slow-mo music-driven sequences, poor pacing. Basically, if someone, maybe anyone else directed it it would have been vastly better
Vanilla Sky- a mess of a film


I wouldn't say Southland Tales is a split film, I've only known one or two who liked it, and dozens who detested it.

Other films I would include are:

No Country for Old Men (many people hate the ending)
The Assassination of Jesse James... (many found it slow- in fact I've never seen so many walkouts in a cinema, and that includes INLAND EMPIRE!)
Mulholland Drive/ INLAND EMPIRE (nonsensical junk or poetic arthouse? Lynch has always split critics and the public)
Napoleon Dynamite (some think it's a cult classic, others don't get it)

The most walkouts I've probably ever seen on a film was Speed Racer. Another film that polarizes viewers (a lot of people hate it but it has its fans, such as Quentin Tarantino).

numbersix_99 wrote:
Fahrenheit 9/11- interesting in parts but Moore shoots himself in the foot with clumsy arguments and choosing (failed) entertainment over authenticity

At least it beats the glut of pro-Bush documentaries that were rushed into production afterwards. Those were nothing more than foot-shooting parties.

Also, someone on the Internet mentioned that it was the most polarizing film of all-time. I can agree there.

Another addition: Death Proof. Either people think it's another Tarantino masterpiece or a boring talkfest with tough-talking women.

Buscemi wrote:Another addition: Death Proof. Either people think it's another Tarantino masterpiece or a boring talkfest with tough-talking women.

from what i've seen, most of the people who bothered to give it a second-viewing have either lightened up or converted altogther

Buscemi wrote:

numbersix_99 wrote:
Fahrenheit 9/11- interesting in parts but Moore shoots himself in the foot with clumsy arguments and choosing (failed) entertainment over authenticity

At least it beats the glut of pro-Bush documentaries that were rushed into production afterwards. Those were nothing more than foot-shooting parties.

Also, someone on the Internet mentioned that it was the most polarizing film of all-time. I can agree there.

It's all propaganda to me... If it's a pro-something film, then technically, its propaganda.

baleted

So, can we seriously remove the naked pic of nicole kidman.. this forum has become pretty much entirely NSFW lately. I don't mind it myself but I don't have time to surf here while I'm at home, so I am around exclusively at work, and basically its become too much of an effort to avoid NSFW content with the avatars, and then this, there's no point to even try.

BanksIsDaFuture wrote:Am I the only person on here that likes Crash?

And The Blair Witch Project is still one of the scariest movies I've seen in my life. That image of the guy standing in the corner while the camera is lying on the floor is one of the few scenes from a movie that comes automatically to mind whenever I'm in a dark room by myself.

I liked Crash and Blair Witch is in my Top 5 Horror movies of all time list.


The Fountain: Liked but Aronovski's weakest effort. (that I have seen)
Eyes Wide Shut: Have not seen yet but I am not averse to watching it
Fahrenheit 9/11: Loved. Propaganda is entertaining since that is all any political speech, film is. There is no such thing as fact when dealing with politicians.
Moulin Rouge: The musical that helped me to like musicals.
The Village: I liked it but It was way less than Signs or Sixth Sense.
Crash: Liked. Sure it beats you over the head with its message but a lot of people are stupid and beating them over the head is the only way to get a message through to them.
A.I.: Have not seen. I am not a fan of Asimov's work being watered down into movie format.
Watchmen: Liked but the Director's cut is a bit better. Still needs some work to be a true adaptation of the GN but it was a great effort.
Vanilla Sky: Great movie but the original was 3.629 times better.
The Blair Witch Project: Awesome. The ending made my hair stand up. That hasn't happened since watching the Exorcist.

In terms of polarizing that is tough to call. I would have to say that 911 and Blair Witch have the most divided crwods with 911 having the edge because nothing riles people up like politics.

becs wrote:So, can we seriously remove the naked pic of nicole kidman.. this forum has become pretty much entirely NSFW lately. I don't mind it myself but I don't have time to surf here while I'm at home, so I am around exclusively at work, and basically its become too much of an effort to avoid NSFW content with the avatars, and then this, there's no point to even try.

good enough?

Did I miss the pic of Kidman? Was that an avatar or something?

Click on the spoiler.

becs wrote:So, can we seriously remove the naked pic of nicole kidman.. this forum has become pretty much entirely NSFW lately. I don't mind it myself but I don't have time to surf here while I'm at home, so I am around exclusively at work, and basically its become too much of an effort to avoid NSFW content with the avatars, and then this, there's no point to even try.

This combined with your avatar is hilarious.

Sorry bout that, btw And once again, say Hi to The Man for me.

I'm pretty sure my Bettie Page avatar is safe for work. She's wearing something.

I changed it.

See how gentlemanly we all are. We got rid of a great butt shot for one of the women on the forums. Pat on the back to Banksy.

So does that mean that Nicole Kidman's butt wins the "Polarizing" argument??? LOL

I really hated The Village and The Fountain. Blair Witch was alright I liked Watchmen Havent seen the others.

I thought that for a one time viewing The Village was pretty good. I wouldn't watch it again, though.

Besides Moulin Rouge, which I haven't seen, and Watchmen, which I hated, I love all of the movies on that list and I get shit from most of my friends for most of them, so I have to agree. I'd also put Lost in Translation and Elephant on there. Most everyone I know either loved or hated both of those.

Yeah, Lost in Translation is definitely one (I personally thought it was very pretentious)

And you'll probably have toadd Inglourious Basterds