10 Great Movies It’s Cool To Hate

You know the drill: a movie is released, lavished with praise from critics and mere mortal moviegoers alike and rakes in a tonne at the box office. It might even nab an Oscar or two or at least a spot on a few Best Films of (insert year here) lists. In short, the general consensus is that we have just witnessed a great piece of cinema.

Soon enough though the tide starts to turn and out of the woodwork crawl the cynics to tear the movie down. Admit it: the inner hipster that lurks inside all of us has done it. A film becomes wildly popular or exalted as the best thing ever and the very mention of its name triggers a hearty eye roll from us.

But just because a film is well-liked and – dare we say – a mainstream success it doesn’t mean it’s not a great film too. Yet there are a tonne of movies out there – truly great movies too – that get a lot of unnecessary hate.

And something needs to be done about that...

James Cameron’s Titanic occupies the unique position of simultaneously being one of the most loved and most hated films in cinema history. Then the most expensive movie ever made, Titanic broke box office records and swept the board at the Academy Awards but almost as soon as adoration was heaped upon it a horde of haters crawled out of the woodwork to dis it at every opportunity.

Some of the criticisms levelled at Titanic are justified. Cameron did indeed often favour artistic licence over historical and technical accuracy and it was far cry from the films we were used to from Cameron like Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. And yes, Titanic’s flock of female teenaged fans were incredibly annoying.

But let’s ignore our inner cynic and be honest for a moment: it’s actually a brilliant film. It’s grandiose and romantic and a true modern-day epic. Go on, admit you love it.