Sean,

I'm not sure we were supposed to find much of the behavior heroic in the film. I thought that I was supposed to be left with "man, that's a really fucked up movie" and not the notion I was supposed to respect the choices the main characters made.

I said before the characters did some colossally stupid things on all sides. This was not close to anything that would happen in reality.

I actually can't remember the woman in the red dress, but car compacter guy was a murderer. From Big Daddy's perspective, he died like the other henchmen in the organization. None were spared.

Raise The Red Lantern

Cor, I highly recommend this, if only for its sheer gorgeousness (if that's not a word, it should be).

There are definitely films on those lists that I dislike tremendously, notably Forrest Gump.

Favorite comments from my 1994 diary:

Forrest Gump -- "Strong performances but overall a depressing, not uplifting, film. Schmaltzy. The quick changes of music (perhaps to sell a great soundtrack?) were extremely distracting."

Pulp Fiction -- "Very influenced by French film, notably Godard. The best script that I can remember. Brilliant."

I have a soft spot for Titanic because my friend's husband shot it and won his Oscar for it. But it's a terrible film on many levels. The cinematography was cool, though!

I distinctly remember sitting in the theater watching Forrest Gump and knowing that it was a much beloved film and that it would win Oscars and thinking what utter crap it was.

I have a soft spot for Titanic because I liked it. I saw it when I was living in Paris and thus really avoided lots of the hype that I believe occured here. (Ditto for The Blair Witch Project, which I think suffered even more from hype-syndrome.) I'm not even sure I knew how long it was going to be (or I might not have gone to see it).

Titanic is gross for romanticizing a huge disaster, but it was also really, really pretty. Just to see the virtual rebuild of the ship was eye candy. Plus Kate Winslet nude -- always a plus in my book. And the costumes were gorgeous.

The scene with the band playing still makes me cry every time, too.

Titanic is gross for romanticizing a huge disaster

Huh, I never would've made that critique. Most romance seems to prefer a dramatic historical backdrop like Casablanca/WWII, or Atonement and WWI. It really is Life or Death, and the World is at Stake.

I only watch Titanic for the Kate Winslet factor (with a side of Kathy Bates chewing the scenery).

I saw Forrest Gump in the theatre with my mom, and we walked out of there with completely different opinions of the film--Mom loved it, I hated it. I thought it was Baby-Boomer-idolatry of the highest degree and just self-indulgent.

Blair Witch Project I saw before I heard too much hype and it freaked me out completely. I did love all of the backstory that the writers did via fake documentaries on SciFi channel.

Titanic = Theoden King!

The fact that they glossed over how many people died, and why, to focus on a fictional love story, seems a little gross to me.

Lots of movies get made with a huge world-at-stake backdrop, but no one decided to throw a budding romance into Schindler's List. World War II is one thing, the actual death camps are another.

Jack and Rose meeting might have been an interesting tragic romance if they met beforehand and he died on the ship on the way to her, or vice versa. But when hundreds of steerage passengers, including children, are overlooked and left to die, Rose and Jack getting their sexing on is a little strange.

That said, I still watch it. It's very pretty to look at.