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Movies You Didn't Finish

post #1 of 369
2/8/09 at 1:48am
Thread Starter 
Another thread makes me curious to know what films you gave up on or couldn't get through, for whatever reason.

I ask because I can't offhand recall one; I'm tragically committed to finishing a film if I start it. Discuss here what films on which you decided to cut bait.
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post #2 of 369
2/8/09 at 1:50am
None, unless you count watching a bit of something on TV before changing the channel when the commercial comes.
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post #3 of 369
2/8/09 at 1:55am
I often record movies that play on TCM, not always knowing if I'll actually watch them. I'll give them a chance and if I'm just not in the mood for the particular film, I'll turn it off and delete it. Often these are Big Important Movies, but I figure I'll get around to them eventually.

Whether or not I finish a movie depends on how much stake I have in it. I don't pay for movies on TV, so I have no problem turning them off if I don't like them. If I'm at a movie theater, though, it's very rare I'll walk out of a movie before it ends, or during it at all (bathroom breaks = bad filmgoer!). I sat through the entirety of Next, knowing full well that it wouldn't get any better.

The only movie I can recall walking out before it ended was Cats & Dogs, which my parents took me to see. Since they were my ride home, I had to wait until it was over anyway before I could go. I decided that standing in the lobby was better than watching that film.
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post #4 of 369
2/8/09 at 1:55am
I don't keep a list. But I remember walking out on Hannibal in the theater. And giving up on The Motorcycle Diaries because of the slowness and the dvd kept skipping.

But when you say committed. Do you mean you'll sit in front of the tv of the entire time or would you do stuff while the movie is going on?

But if you're looking at a dvd and find the movie to be just excruciating shit? Why give yourself the grief?
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post #5 of 369
2/8/09 at 1:57am
Ten minutes into Southland Tales and I was done.
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post #6 of 369
2/8/09 at 1:59am
Exactly, if you cannot stand the movie and it is unwatchable? Why do it?
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post #7 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:00am
Thread Starter 
I'll cop to checking my cell during a movie at home, but that's it, really. I made another thread about pausing and watching a movie over two days and being on the internet during a movie and such. I just didn't empathize with any of it and was curious to know if my habits are in the minority.

Honest curiosity, not calling you out from the other thread, Ed. Just in case it came off that way.

Not being to stand the first ten minutes doesn't seem a horrific enough experience for me to turn off a movie, I guess. Haven't seen Southland Tales yet, though. I might have turned off some z grade horror shit in my youth - Three On A Meathook, maybe? or Sledgehammer?

I think I might be self-filtering my selection process more these days, not sure. I've watched shit movies, but my expectations were in check for them. I guess if I was astonished by how shit something was, I'd change the channel. I don't think I ever walked out of a movie in theaters since American Werewolf in London on my 11th birthday, because I was scared and crying.
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post #8 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:04am
Two that I can think of off the top of my head...

The Chronicles of Riddick: I've watched worse films all the way through, so I'm not sure what caused me to not be able to endure this for more than the hour I managed. Just couldn't do it. Not even the allure of Alexa Davalos was even enough to make me finish it.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer: I got pretty close to finishing this but then I suddenly remembered that a giant, purple hatted Galactus was not actually going to show up in the end. Saw no reason to prolong the pain.
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post #9 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:04am
No, it's fine. I don't see this as a call out. It's just an approach to movie watching I don't subscribe to.
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post #10 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by erik myers View Post
Ten minutes into Southland Tales and I was done.
See, now you missed some fantastic stuff there in the following 2+ hours. That movie got much worse.
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post #11 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:07am
Yeah, Southland Tales is worth enduring. Legendarily bad.
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post #12 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:08am
Once again, I want to see something if it's good. If it's shit and I'm not there for comedy. I'm not going to waste my time.
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post #13 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:10am
Legendarily bad usually equals "comedy will ensue" for me.
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post #14 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:12am
Ed, you gave up on Mad Max a half hour in. It's an acknowledged classic. That's just a lack of movie-watching discipline.
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post #15 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:13am
Southland Tales was wonderful.
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post #16 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:15am
Wonderful? Yes. Bad? Yes. Bless its little heart.
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post #17 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:15am
There's a discipline to film-watching? You're serious? By that logic, if I start a book no matter what the length or how long it is, I must finish it one sitting. What nonsense.

I understand you need to see a film before you can formally criticize it. That's one thing, but to be casual. The "rules" if there are any are far looser if non-existent.
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post #18 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:17am
I've NEVER walked out of a movie in theaters. If I pay $10 to see a movie on the big screen, I'm going to get my moneys worth damn it.

DVD/internet streaming is another story. Sometimes its just that I start a movie too late at night, fall asleep, and by the time I get around to watching it again, I've lost interest. Most recent example I can think of was GERRY. I was in the mood to watch it at the time, watch the first 45 minutes, and never got back around to it for one reason or the other.

I think the other thing is that if too much time passes, I feel like I need to start over in order to remember what was going on, but then that means...well..I'd have to start over. This is even more common with TV seasons.
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post #19 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:25am
Oh, just remembered another one. Has anyone ever made it through Begotten?
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post #20 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
Oh, just remembered another one. Has anyone ever made it through Begotten?
Quote:
Originally Posted by IMDB Plot Summary
God disembowels himself with a straight razor. The spirit-like Mother Earth emerges, venturing into a bleak, barren landscape. Twitching and cowering, the Son Of Earth is set upon by faceless cannibals.
I want to go to there...
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post #21 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:31am
Couldn't finish it. Interesting, but I began to feel like having seen 20 minutes of it is probably like having seen the entirety of it. So I stopped at 20 minutes. I should probably finish it one day so that I can begin conversations with "Yeah, I've watched Begotten all the way through. Have you?".
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post #22 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:38am
It's only 78 minutes. If only if there were something approaching an affordable copy available on Amazon, I'd snatch that up.
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post #23 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:42am
I couldn't finish Melinda & Melinda watching it on DVD. The whole comedy/tragedy hybrid fell apart without any comedy.
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post #24 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
It's only 78 minutes. If only if there were something approaching an affordable copy available on Amazon, I'd snatch that up.
Yeah, it's only 78 minutes. But 20 minutes into it, 78 minutes of Begotten didn't seem like such a good idea as it did 20 minutes before.
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post #25 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:48am
Begotten Trailer

Needless to say, I wasn't marked.
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post #26 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
Yeah, it's only 78 minutes. But 20 minutes into it, 78 minutes of Begotten didn't seem like such a good idea as it did 20 minutes before.
Thanks - now I do remember a movie I didn't finish. Think I got about as far as you did.
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post #27 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:54am
*Puts on my boxing gloves*

The Foot Fist Way. Shit just wasnt funny.

Bring it.
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post #28 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:58am
First Five Minutes of Begotten

For those interested. /derail
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post #29 of 369
2/8/09 at 2:59am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Closer
The Foot Fist Way. Shit just wasnt funny.
C'mon, more info. How much of its 85 minutes did you watch?
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post #30 of 369
2/8/09 at 3:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
Oh, just remembered another one. Has anyone ever made it through Begotten?
Yes, and it's sat on my DVD shelf ever since, awaiting another visit that'll likely never come.
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post #31 of 369
2/8/09 at 3:09am
Behold! He Who Finished Begotten stands before us.
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post #32 of 369
2/8/09 at 3:15am
Thank you, thank you. I suffered for your sins, and I didn't even get a fucking religion for it. Edit: I'm watching 'The Demon' (1979) right now, a pseudo-slasher film with Cameron Mitchell, and I am perilously close to popping this shit right out of my DVD player. That doesn't mean I won't finish it, I will, I fucking bought the thing, but it's been a shitty weekend and my tolerance for drudgery is low tonight.
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post #33 of 369
2/8/09 at 4:06am
Jack.
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post #34 of 369
2/8/09 at 4:54am
I had an interesting experience with Southland Tales. I rented it from Netlflix, and the slip said the runtime was 1 hour and 46 minutes. I was furious when I realized that this was a typo, it was actually 146 minutes. I stuck through it. I was richer for it though. Southland Tales is required viewing for anyone who wants to make films. It makes you get off your ass and start something, because you know, you FUCKING KNOW, that you cannot make ANYTHING worse. Anything you make is going to be a masterpiece compared to this shit.

I'll confess to not getting through A Woman Under The Influence. I respect and admire Cassavetes, but this one just caught me on a bad, impatient day.
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post #35 of 369
2/8/09 at 5:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbott & Prospero View Post
Behold! He Who Finished Begotten stands before us.
Now is that a good thing or a bad thing ? I feel like I have seen enough by watching the trailer. 78 minutes of it seems like an endurance test.
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post #36 of 369
2/8/09 at 6:35am
Barcelona. I just wanted the spoiled rich kids to stop babbling and admire the scenery.

School of Rock. Granted this was a midnight screening, but I tired quickly of being expected to buy Jack Black's character as a charmer despite zero onscreen evidence. I promised myself to stay until something funny happened (thank you, Joan Cusack), then went home.

Last Days. Knew where it was going, didn't care to follow.
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post #37 of 369
2/8/09 at 7:06am
Bullitt
The Glimmer Man
Boat Trip
My Bodyguard
Under the Cherry Moon
Pretty in Pink

I've since finished all of Bullitt and appreciated it for what it is, but that first attempt was like a visit to Snooze City!

I give up on movies ALL the time. It is possible for movies to suck, and there's almost always something better to do. Like watch Lethal Weapon 3 for the 60th time.
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post #38 of 369
2/8/09 at 7:08am
Wow. Some of you guys have skipped out on some pretty good movies. But I guess it's not really notable if you stop watching a movie that's shitty in conventional ways.

Speaking of grainy black and white endurance tests, I did stop watching Guy Maddin's The Saddest Music in the World. Maybe it was just the mood I was in; it certainly has some admirers whose opinions I respect.

For Your Consideration was one where I'd just had enough of Guest's shtick. I was no longer laughing, so I figured why keep watching?
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post #39 of 369
2/8/09 at 9:05am
There's only one i've walked out on in a cinema. Men in Black 2. Half hour in perhaps? I wasn't paying to see it and the ensuing pizza was far more satisfying. I've seen it in it's entirity since.

I can't think of anything i've had on DVD that i've skipped though. I nearly pass on quite a few, but I let them run and I'll end up only partially taking it in. Sometimes they redeem themselves with a great ending.
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post #40 of 369
2/8/09 at 10:36am
I'm surprised that tideland hasn't been mentioned. I watched about 20 mins of it and just found it unbearable and couldn't get through the rest of it. I am a fan of Gilliam's work but this was his worst film..
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post #41 of 369
2/8/09 at 10:42am
Wow, I really need to try Begotten some day. That trailer was... something else. Some pretty surreal quotes from critics in there:

"These visions of suffering give way to equally impassioned images of rebirth"
"Makes Eraserhead feel like Ernest Saves Christmas"
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post #42 of 369
2/8/09 at 11:11am
Couldn't watch :

The House Bunny
Took a couple of viewings to get through Superbad
Amazing coinsidence of Southland Tales, maybe I'll give it another go
Seven Samerai, not because I can't see it but because I can find the time

It's strange normally I'm money on finishing films, even sat through Love Guru, not as bad as critics say just ininspired like you've seen it before, and Revolver, I don't care I love the elevator scene.
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post #43 of 369
2/8/09 at 11:24am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gen. Bulldog 54 View Post
Couldn't watch :

Seven Samerai, not because I can't see it but because I can find the time
Quote:
It's strange normally I'm money on finishing films, even sat through Love Guru
I think I found that "time" you were unable to find...
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post #44 of 369
2/8/09 at 11:34am
My wife goes through 'phases' where she feels the need to watch Lifetime/WE channel movies, especially while we're eating ia meal. I'm happy to say that I've NEVER finished one of those: once I'm done eating, I'm fucking GONE.

The only MOVIE-type movie that I haven't finished yet is 'The Maltese Falcon'. We had to stop in the middle of it due to something coming up. We just haven't gotten back to it yet.

ETA: Just remembered another one: 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. We turned it off after about 20 minutes. It turned out that we just weren't in the mood for that kind of movie and we haven't revisited it since.
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post #45 of 369
2/8/09 at 11:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by darkroot View Post
I'm surprised that tideland hasn't been mentioned. I watched about 20 mins of it and just found it unbearable and couldn't get through the rest of it. I am a fan of Gilliam's work but this was his worst film..
The odd thing about Tideland is that every criticism of it is based upon things like "unbearable" or "unpleasant" rather than anything to do with the merits of the film itself.
If you have the stomach for the singularly black humour upon display, it's an amazing film.

Anyway, as far as I go, there are a couple of films where I've sat down to watch them with family, had them stop partway through because something came up, and then had them decide to watch the rest when I wasn't around. Only ones I can immediately recall were The Shipping News and Little Miss Sunshine.

I also found myself sufficiently annoyed by the narrative style (and rather excessive Hollywoodisation of the book) adopted by High Fidelity that I gave up after a few minutes, which isn't something I think I've ever done otherwise.

Begotten I mean to at least attempt to watch.
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post #46 of 369
2/8/09 at 11:47am
Dammit, thought of one more that we couldn't finish: 'The Pink Panther', Steve Martin version. I think that we stopped about 45 minutes into it; 'Shoah' was funnier.
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post #47 of 369
2/8/09 at 12:28pm
I actually only stopped one (DVD), A Knight Tale, got thru 90% and ..it did not click with me.

Told my friend about it..and they came over the next day..and we watched the whole thing!

Almost walkewd out of a free showing of Napoleon Dynamite...I was actually counting the number of folks I would have to pass to get out.

I usually watch a movie till the credits roll (if on DVD or in a theater)
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post #48 of 369
2/8/09 at 12:34pm
Damn, what is it with Southland Tales? I've tried to watch it twice.

It's bad, sure. But I can usually sit through shit.

Is there anyone who has seen the entire film?
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post #49 of 369
2/8/09 at 1:35pm
Just remembered lasting about one scene with Wild Wild West. It was being projected in the wrong aspect ratio and I didn't have the energy to educate the popcorn monkeys on duty.
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post #50 of 369
2/8/09 at 1:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raynis View Post
Is there anyone who has seen the entire film?
Threads You Didn't Finish
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