What movies do you think are fascinating to watch even when they aren’t great? Someone in a popular online forum asked for suggestions of “Movies that are not good, but are fascinating watches because of how they aged.” They added, “I’m not talking about ‘so bad, it’s good’ movies, but films that have aged in a particular way that makes them very interesting.” Here are the top 12 suggestions from movie fans.
1 – Ghost in the Machine (1993)
Ghost in the Machine isn’t great, but one movie lover said it’s still fascinating. “The acting is mostly awful, the plotting is very bad, the premise is nonsense, but I love it for its 90s aesthetic, genre sensibilities, and view of the Internet/VR,” they explained.
2 – The Peacemaker (1997)
Someone named The Peacemaker, calling it “so so,” yet still an interesting watch. “The leads have zero chemistry and the plot was just laughable, however, I was roughly 12 years old and remember it being the first time I can recall hearing the word/understanding the concept of terrorism,” they said.
3 – American Beauty (1999)
“I put American Beauty in this category,” one movie lover shared. “I don’t think it’s good, though not wholly terrible. However, it’s a fascinating product of its time that could only have come out and been successful exactly when it was.” Another added, “The cinematography and lighting in that film remain astonishing.”
4 – Men, Women and Children (2014)
Another user asked, “Has anyone seen Jason Reitman‘s anti-internet screed Men, Women, and Children? How well did that movie age? The adult demographic the film portrays is likely more internet-poisoned now than their kids in developing media literacy techniques.”
5 – Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
“Live Free or Die Hard came out at the wrong time to do a cyber security theme, as this was just a few years before smartphones,” one film buff stated. “So having this modern movie dealing with all this fancy tech and then having them using dumb, chunky phones takes you out of it. So the film aged badly in that sense within five years.”
6 – Jennifer’s Body (2009)
“We watched Jennifer’s Body last weekend (good movie), and it is a time capsule of the late 2000s,” shared one person. “The haircuts, fashion, the villains being an indie rock band. It hit some nostalgia keys for me, being the same age as most of the cast in this one.”
7 – The Net (1995)
“The Net with Sandra Bullock is exactly this type of film,” shared one person. Another agreed, noting “The Net truly is a fascinating okay movie.” The technology is a blast from the past, but the story is not too bad.
8 – Citizen Ruth (1996)
Someone said, “Citizen Ruth is a fascinating peek into 90’s politics, with Laura Dern playing what can be read as a nasty parody of the tabloid welfare mom. Released the same year Bill Clinton gutted welfare. But she’s fantastic and makes the character real.”
9 – Freddy Got Fingered (2001)
Someone mentioned, “When Freddy Got Fingered came out, it was viewed as an absolute disaster. Now it’s being reappraised as a piece of performance art. Although it’s an interesting critical watch, some parts are too compelling for the movie to be that bad on accident.”
10 – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is boring, but I cannot deny it’s required viewing to understand race and cinema. My final paper compared it to Get Out during my first year of college,” one person shared.
11 – Wife vs Secretary (1936)
“Tons of films from the 30s, but Wife vs. Secretary is just wild,” a movie fan stated. “Beyond the title, Jimmy Stewart is presented as a good choice via a long speech about wanting to crush his wife’s dreams and many scenes of him jealously sulking.”
They added, “Clark Gable is presented as a good boss for casually destroying his assistant’s social life and denying her a promotion. It endorses emotional affairs. Jean Harlow is depicted as obviously more attractive than Myrna Loy. Just wild stuff.”
12 – The Siege (1998)
One movie fan noted, “Ed Zwick’s The Siege. A movie about terrorist attacks in New York City and a response from the U.S. involving racism against Muslims, military occupation, torture, and breaching of civil liberties, etc. It’s also a terrible movie, despite Denzel Washington‘s best efforts. How does a film about all that come out in 1998?”
Source: Reddit.