For me the first thing that comes to mind is Tales from Earthsea. I don’t think it’s excellent or anything and has plenty of problems but people act like it killed their dog. While it has its problems that have been covered extensively, I think it has a beautiful atmosphere and art.
IMO it would have been better received if it wasn’t advertised as an Earthsea adaptation and was just its own thing.
That’s how I feel about 2001 a space Odyssey. I’m sure it was amazing for it’s time, but it’s so dry and boring. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to torture themselves watching it. I know tons of people love it, I just don’t get it.
Yup I watched this for the first time recently as well, it’s in the top 50 films ever made yet I don’t know a single person that actually thinks it’s a good film.
It’s unusual in that it requires a bit of extra work to really appreciate how absurdly rich and deep that one is. It’s honestly fascinating. And it looks like it was made 30 years ago, which is an absolutely monumental achievement considering it was made over 50 years ago.
Though I can of course completely understand it when people don’t want to have to read books and listen to Ted talks about a movie to figure it out.
2001 is definitely what I call a watch once film. It’s worth watching based on it’s artistic merits, and appreciating the groundbreaking for it’s time practical cinematography. But the film is definitely super dry, and not quite entertaining. When the intermission comes on, actually take a break and talk with someone or refresh yourself. The ending is also kind of nonsense taken at face value, it’s a film to be discussed, not really enjoyed.
For those reasons I say it’s worth a watch, only really once.