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1 year ago
11
"I threw on Contact about five years ago expecting nothing more than a fun little first contact flick. Did not expect to have my mind blown by what’s basically the father and mother of Interstellar and Arrival and it’s every bit as epic as both of those. And I consider myself quite the film geek. I had heard nothing about it. And it continues to fall through the cracks."
1. "The first Pirates of the Caribbean. For a movie based on a theme park ride, it surpassed a lot of expectations."
Disney
"My first screenwriting professor used Jack Sparrow’s first appearance onscreen as an example of a great character introduction. Cut to almost 20 years later and I STILL reference that scene when explaining screenwriting basics to up-and-coming writers/interns. The whole film is a well-crafted popcorn flick, buoyed by some excellent performances."
2. "The LEGO Movie had no right being as good as it was. It's a movie adaptation of fucking colorful bricks."
Warner Bros.
"Felt that way about The LEGO Batman Movie. Didn’t expect much but ended up really liking it."
"LEGO Batman is legitimately one of the best Batman movies ever."
3. "I was 100% expecting the Dungeons & Dragons movie to basically be a discount fantasy Marvel flick but I enjoyed it far more than I have any recent Marvel movie. It felt like it had a certain sincerity, a charm I've often found missing in other similar movies."
Paramount Pictures
"All the jokes in that movie landed...
'I’m the guy that needs to be there in case the plan fails so I can come up with another plan.'
'So you make plans that fail?'"
4. "Fifteen minutes into Puss in Boots: The Last Wish I said 'Wait, is this amazing?'"
Universal Pictures
5. "I got dragged to the first Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie because I do not typically care for superhero flicks. But when the second one came out, I was the one insisting that we see it in theaters."
Sony Pictures Entertainment
"Whether you like superhero films or not, this film was a master class in animation. Just saw the sequel last night and wow, blown away again."
6. "Stardust. Streamed it randomly with my girlfriend one night cuz we thought it looked lame, enjoyed every second of it, and was surprised at how many familiar faces were in it."
Paramount Pictures
7. "District 9, I was shocked by how much I enjoyed it. (Consequently, I was shocked by how little I liked Elysium. I guess the former got my hopes too high for the latter.)"
Sony Pictures Entertainment
"My car was in the shop for a few hours, I just walked over to a nearby theater and watched a matinee of it blind. Never even heard of it. Had an awesome time.
The mechanic saw it and we were gushing about it afterward, saying we really look forward to District 10. Still waiting haha."
8. "Galaxy Quest. I expected a mid-level sci-fi comedy. Instead, I saw what could be the best Star Trek film ever."
Dreamworks Pictures
"Galaxy Quest is a masterpiece and so underrated. Never Surrender: A Galaxy Documentary is basically all the Sci-Fi royalty (actors/filmmakers) talking about how amazing it is and absolutely worth a watch if you haven't seen it."
9. "Dredd. The tragic part about this is, while it's still really good, nobody now will see it in 3D like it was intended. The slow-mo, the drops, and my god the Gatling gun scene, all made that brief 3D fad worth it."
Lionsgate
10. "The Cabin in the Woods, the trailers made it seem like a generic horror film. Which my wife is fond of but I’m not really, so when we sat down to watch it only to find out it was a fun subversive comedy it was a great surprise."
Lionsgate
"Yeah, The Cabin in the Woods totally caught me by surprise. The trailers made it look like a basic horror, but it's the best horror satire since Scream, IMO. Really fun movie."
11. Prey, the Predator movie. Honestly just watched it because we were tired and didn't have the brainpower for anything other than what looked like mindless action. It was sooooo much better than I imagined, and totally engrossing."
20th Century Studios
"Best since the original. Absolutely loved it. I hope they keep using this formula of Predator vs. Time Period. I want to see a group of Templars or Vikings face off with a Predator."
12. "Edge of Tomorrow. I was meh on Oblivion and expected similar but it ended up being one of my favorite Cruise films of his career."
Warner Bros. Pictures
"I think Edge of Tomorrow is the greatest video game movie of all time. I know it’s not based off a game but it plays just like one. All the struggles we’ve had dying and playing over and over again just to find the right way to win."
15. "The Jumanji sequel with the Rock, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. I watched it a while after it came out on Netflix because I didn’t have high expectations, but honestly, I loved it. It was like the perfect fun movie to me."
Sony Pictures Entertainment
"It honestly goes to show how great Johnson is when he isn't taking himself too seriously and just has fun with it. He's got comedy chops and can even play goofy characters as seen in this and the sequel."
16. "Mine is 21 Jump Street. Expected it to be a mildly amusing but standard action flick. Instead, it was effing hilarious."
Sony Pictures Entertainment
"Also 22 Jump Street. Expected it to suck like most comedy sequels. Instead, it might be funnier than the first."
"The choice to make the sequel to the 'tired reboot of nostalgia franchise' a love letter to sequel tropes was genius. Both movies are better satirical breakdowns of Hollywood nonsense than Hail, Caesar! set out to be."
17. "Game Night was way better than it should have been."
Warner Bros. Pictures
"One of the tightest, smartest comedies in the past decade. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, either."
18. "Guardians of the Galaxy. I went into it not expecting very much, having not read the comics, just knowing that the guardians were 'B'list' at Marvel. My challenge to the movie going in was I dare you to make me care about a CGI raccoon and tree. I ended up loving the movie – it was funny and had endearing characters."
Marvel Entertainment
"Maybe because I am getting on a bit, am over tired, and have kids but christ the scenes with baby rocket and his friends in Guardians 3 had me in tears every time. I absolutely cared about the characters, CGI or not."
19. "My Cousin Vinny. A friend recommended it, and recommendations usually don’t end well for me, but this movie was so freaking good! It really is one of those chilled movies you can watch over and over again."
20th Century Studios
20. "Ready or Not had absolutely no business being as good as it was."
SearchlightPictures
21. "I didn't like the Scott Pilgrim comics and I didn't have much faith in anyone, even Edgar Wright, to make a good movie out of them. I saw it four times. Always have faith in Edgar Wright."
Universal Pictures
"Edgar Wright is one of the few creators that I will always watch whatever they put out, and I'll do it blindly because I know I'm going to enjoy whatever it is. This was cemented after watching The Sparks Brothers. I'd never even heard of Sparks, why should I watch a documentary about a band I've never heard of? Will never question that again!"
23. "Pitch Black. It was advertised as a quasi-horror film, that ended up being an amazing sci-fi flick!"
USA Films
"I remember when that movie first came to cinemas. I had no idea what to expect from the movie, no idea if it was gonna be good or not. But me and a friend had some time to kill that evening and he was like, 'let's go watch that movie.'
I'll never forget it. It was the first and ONLY time ever that the entire cinema was completely empty except for us two. I guess the movie wasn't super popular. But man did I have fun watching it. It was pretty awesome back then."
24. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes. That entire trilogy is fucking great. Koba may be one of the greatest non-human antagonists in the last decade."
20th Century Fox
"I still sometimes lookup the scene where Caesar first says NO, and I still get chills every time I see it."
25. "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol is an impeccable action film, from someone who very much dislikes Tom Cruise."
Paramount Pictures
"Love him or hate him Tom Cruise does know how to make a good action flick. M:I movies could have easily faded into irrelevancy but the crazy mofo just keeps upping the ante."
26. "Detective Pikachu. Thought it was just gonna be a dumb cash grab Pokémon movie, but I saw it because the VFX looked great and because of Pokémon nostalgia… But then was fully engrossed and really enjoyed it."
Warner Bros. Pictures
"Just yesterday my daughter was watching YouTube videos and one was a part of this movie. I stopped the videos and found the movie to watch immediately. It was so good."
27. "The Muppet Christmas Carol, which is the greatest version of A Christmas Carol. My wife loves this movie and when we first met and she wanted to watch this I just rolled my eyes. Ten years later and we have a DVD copy, a digital copy, and it’s on Disney+. It’s a must-watch every Christmas."
Disney
"Truly one of the best movies of all time. The pacing, performances, and special effects were so perfectly applied. My favorite special effect in all cinema is the time tunnel from the ghost of Christmas past, where the world twists and then untwists itself. Sometimes it's the little details that make an effect good, and all the ray tracing and subsurface scattering in the world doesn't make up for it."
28. "The Princess Bride. And I've seen that cycle repeat time and time again. So many people see the title or the summary and basically become Fred Savage. But when you watch the movie, it converts you. When I was a kid, I didn't want to watch some sappy movie with princess and bride in the title. No way. And then I saw it. And when I would try and get other friends to watch it, same thing."
20th Century Fox
29. "I threw on Contact about five years ago expecting nothing more than a fun little first contact flick. Did not expect to have my mind blown by what’s basically the father and mother of Interstellar and Arrival and it’s every bit as epic as both of those. And I consider myself quite the film geek. I had heard nothing about it. And it continues to fall through the cracks."
Warner Bros.
"If you are also a reader, I highly recommend the book. It's got way more nerdy details and... I won't say anymore. It's just worth it."
30. "John Wick. Grabbed it from a Redbox while I was out of town for work and didn’t have anything to do on a Sunday. Obviously, I was pleasantly surprised."
Lionsgate
—2_72
"This would be my answer. Nothing in the first movie's marketing really screamed out anything other than 'bog standard action flick.' We saw it in theaters since we had nothing else to do and free tickets. Completely surprised by how good it was."
31. "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. How could a movie about an 18th-century naval vessel be exciting? Boy, was I WRONG."
20th Century Fox
"I blew it off when it first came out (like most other people), but after finally seeing it years later I was pissed at myself (and most other people) because it could have been the start of an epic series if more people had seen it in theaters."
32. "Mad Max: Fury Road. I expected it to be enjoyable, but not the absolute masterpiece it is."
Warner Bros. Pictures
"I saw this in theaters with three of my friends. When we walked out I was overwhelmed with how awesome of an experience it was. My friends thought it was meh. I have new friends now."
33. "My family and I only watched Knives Out because it was the only thing we could all agree on watching one night during lockdown. None of us knew anything about it beyond seeing the poster for it in a theater earlier and reading the plot synopsis, so we had no/low expectations for it. Turns out it’s one of my favorite pieces of cinema."
Lionsgate
"Similar experience here. I watched it on a plane ride. Knew nothing about it, just wanted to kill some time. Ended up loving it! Such a fun movie."
34. "Drive. I remember the trailer making it look like a knockoff Fast & Furious and I was very surprised at how good it was."
FilmDistrict
"Same. A Ryan Gosling movie, thought it was going to be a love story with a heist sub plot. Was on the edge of my seat the whole movie."
35. Finally, "Surely, Paddington 2 is the ultimate answer here."
Warner Bros. Pictures
English (US) ·