Most boring film ever?

[adeUK]

Walkabout

This is especially boring when there's just one particularly good reason for watching it. I remember "secretly" videoing it as a teen; thank goodness for fast forward!!

[TimR]

Originally Posted by Wee Sonny MacGregor Have to agree. In the 30s Tolkein, C S Lewis and Charles Williams formed a club called the Inklings which met every week at a pub in Oxford. They used to read extracts from their latest literary efforts to each other. C S Lewis is supposed to have commented on one of Tolkein's readings "oh no, not another effing elf".

No - Lewis would never have said that. That was said by Hugo Dyson.

[TimR]

Cleopatra. The one with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and Rex Harrison.

It is bearable until Harrison is killed. When Caesar dies, the whole film just keels over and drops dead in its tracks.

Roddy Mcdowell deserves some sort of special award for creating an intelligent character in the midst of the rest of this mess. Even Elizabeth Taylor didn't look as beautiful as she did in films like Ivanhoe and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. (In Ivanhoe she is stunning) She just looked pretty and sort of chubby and bored. Pretty and chubby do not make up for bad acting.

My tolerance for big historical epics is usually without limit. I even enjoyed Waterloo. But Cleopatra broke even my tolerance (although the first part has some unintentionally funny moments - I like the bit where she hides in a carpet and gets dumped on the floor in front of Rex Harrison. That scene made a woman in my family laugh uncontrollably. We watched that scene several times.)

The other tolerance-breaker was The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, with Alec Guinness and Sophia Loren and Stephen Boyd. I looked forward to it. I ignored the critics. I often enjoy epics that others dislike.

But it was a terrible, boring film: this one put me into a numb state for so long that I lost the will to leave.

[David Challinor]

Crumbs, leave Walkabout alone. Widely seen as a great, memorable film. It just proves that teenage boys should not be left alone with it and a video player with ff/review button. It is class ...I'm off to see watch percentage rottentomatoes.com and other critics' sites give it.
I bet it beats your fav film's percentage....!

[TimR]

Originally Posted by David Challinor Crumbs, leave Walkabout alone. Widely seen as a great, memorable film. It just proves that teenage boys should not be left alone with it and a video player with ff/review button. It is class ...I'm off to see watch percentage rottentomatoes.com and other critics' sites give it. I bet it beats your fav film's percentage....!

Interesting. I would agree with you about Walkabout, but I know people who despised it.

It seems to be a sort of "lightning rod".

[Moor Larkin]

Originally Posted by TimR No - Lewis would never have said that. That was said by Hugo Dyson.

I had no idea who said what, but it did seem a bit like the kettle and the pot and a colour issue.

Lewis seems more likely to have been fawning........

[TimR]

Originally Posted by Moor Larkin I had no idea who said what, but it did seem a bit like the kettle and the pot and a colour issue. Lewis seems more likely to have been fawning........

Fawning! C.S. Lewis? Those are fighting words!

But perhaps not on the most boring film thread....

[Joenoir]

Just to say I didn't find either Gosford Park - Helen Mirren & Maggie Smith (who I don't normally like) are particularly good - or A Passage to India - with a beautiful performance from Peggy Ashcroft - to be boring.

[TimR]

Originally Posted by Joenoir Just to say I didn't find either Gosford Park - Helen Mirren & Maggie Smith (who I don't normally like) are particularly good - or A Passage to India - with a beautiful performance from Peggy Ashcroft - to be boring.

I would agree. But I cannot think of any film made by either David Lean or Robert Altman that was boring. I thought Ryan's Daughter was a failure, but a fascinating failure. I was never bored.

[batman]

Originally Posted by TimR I would agree. But I cannot think of any film made by either David Lean or Robert Altman that was boring. I thought Ryan's Daughter was a failure, but a fascinating failure. I was never bored.

Ryan's Daughter is IMHO a good film. The atmosphere and performances (apart from the unfortunate Christopher Jones) were superb. It is a trifle too long though.

I enjoy most of Lean's films but Passage To India left me cold. The only interesting bit was in the caves, but I was aseep in the cinema by then and missed it! I watched the film again and simply found it tedious. There were a few good performances but as a whole it was very dull.

I would place Dr Zhivago in that category as well ..... a few good performances but they can't sustain the film over three hours.

With regard to Robert Altman .... A Wedding, McCabe and Mrs Miller and Buffalo Bill feature on The Bat's snooze list!

Bats.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by Moor Larkin I had no idea who said what, but it did seem a bit like the kettle and the pot and a colour issue. Lewis seems more likely to have been fawning........

Lewis never fawned to anyone in his life

Steve

[TimR]

Originally Posted by batman Ryan's Daughter is IMHO a good film. The atmosphere and performances (apart from the unfortunate Christopher Jones) were superb. It is a trifle too long though.

The atmosphere is impressive, but I thought the epic production didn't fit the material. It was really just a soap in a spectacular package. I wanted details about what was going on in Ireland at the time!

I enjoy most of Lean's films but Passage To India left me cold. The only interesting bit was in the caves, but I was aseep in the cinema by then and missed it! I watched the film again and simply found it tedious. There were a few good performances but as a whole it was very dull.

Yes - it isn't a very likeable film. But I thought it was impressive in many ways. Judy Davis was outstanding, but not likeable either. It was a cold film - I would agree - but there are things in it that are genuinely outstanding: the recreation of British India (Oh - whatever happened to film makers who knew how to recreate a whole world! ) and the acting of Peggy Ashcroft, which was one of the bets performances I have ever seen.

I would place Dr Zhivago in that category as well ..... a few good performances but they can't sustain the film over three hours.

Zhivago is one of my favorites, although I can't really defend the film in many ways. Certainly as a historical film, it is filled with inaccuracies, and that ice house in the middle of nowhere is just weird.

But the first time I saw it - in a theatre on the wide screen when it was re-released here in the 80s - I was completely caught up into it. It could have continued for another three hours, as far as I was concerned. I have seen the first 30 minutes of it about thirty times.

A well-made epic is my favorite type of film, and David Lean was the master.

[batman]

Originally Posted by TimR A well-made epic is my favorite type of film, and David Lean was the master.

I like a good 'epic' and Lean certainly came up with some corkers.

My favourite Lean's are Brief Encounter, Oliver Twist and Lawrence of Arabia.

Another 'epic' that failed to impress me was Barrabas with Anthony Quinn .... terrible stuff!

Bats.

[TimR]

Originally Posted by batman I like a good 'epic' and Lean certainly came up with some corkers. My favourite Lean's are Brief Encounter, Oliver Twist and Lawrence of Arabia.

Classics all.

Another 'epic' that failed to impress me was Barrabas with Anthony Quinn .... terrible stuff!

I had forgotten that one. Anthony Quinn chewed the scenery in anything he made - a great big ham with a side order of baloney, served with relish....

That wasn't quite an epic in my book. It didn't make the grade.

[batman]

Originally Posted by TimR I had forgotten that one. Anthony Quinn chewed the scenery in anything he made - a great big ham with a side order of baloney, served with relish....

Strange to think that Quinn won several awards for playing Stanley Kowalski on stage after taking over from Brando .... while Brando won none. He also pipped Brando for the Oscar in Viva Zapata. It's a funny old world.

Bats.