Film - A Kind of Top Five

Steve Taylor-Bryant discovers that some people on social media aren't as constructive in their film criticism as they could be...

I really shouldn't be allowed to read social media posts, my opinion of humanity is already pretty low, but I ventured onto Facebook today nonetheless. Oh dear.

A photo of an atomic bomb exploding, you know the one it looks like a mushroom, with big letters photoshopped onto it asking clickbaiters (or people if you prefer) to list the worst films ever made and why. There is enough negativity in the world without picking apart pop culture but I clicked the link anyway expecting the usual suspects to be listed - Batman & Robin, Waterworld etc. What I found "will shock and surprise you" except this time it did, and horrified me, made me question the entire education system, and made me wonder why I like stuff other people don't. You see top of the comments actually was The Usual Suspects! It's apparently considered confusing and, I quote, "a bit shit." Also listed were Scarface (drug dealers aren't like this in real life), The Godfather trilogy (why did the old man deserve that much respect), 2001: A Space Odyssey (apparently, quoting again, "fuck all happens"), The Ninth Gate (it's about books, no one needs a film about books), Natural Born Killers (another confusing film), Falling Down (apparently the dude is, quoting, "waaaaay 2 emo").

At this point I nearly stopped reading and should have been preparing my children for the end of the world as we know it, but I read on... and on... trust me the actual lack of understanding and stupidity never stopped... and on.

So, to show how different I am from just about everyone on Facebook it seems, I thought I'd list my top five favourite films that I enjoy watching from the list they consider the worst films ever.

5 - The Devils Advocate

Described on the Facebook list as anti-religious nonsense that they weren't expecting the devil to be in... despite his name in the titles. Favourite comment was "what's happened to Keanu Reeves he used to be good."

4 - Wild At Heart

Apparently far too confusing and a film that was "basically two hours of close ups of shoes."

3 - The Terminal

"I went to cinemas to watch it and fell asleep i was that bored (weird emoji thing)"

2 - Moulin Rouge

"Great costumes but it was torture watching that shite."

1 - Wizard of Oz

Despite the cultural relevance, ahead of its time filming techniques, beautifully shot story and lasting legacy it's apparently "very weird"

Everyone has an opinion and despite many people not sharing mine that's okay. Debate should rage about things, admittedly it should maybe rage about more important things, but debate is good. Debate however needs a valid point of view to work. What I consider a great film or a bad film will always have a valid sense of reason behind my thinking, perhaps the direction was a bit off, the CGI budget wasn't the best, the casting was maybe not thought through, you know the kind of thing... actual reasons why a film did or did not work for me. Words like "shite" and "shoes" do not deserve to be anywhere near that argument.