10 Great Movies It’s Cool To Hate

Routinely hailed as the greatest film in the history of cinema, it’s not too hard to see why Citizen Kane might put off modern audiences. When you’re constantly bombarded with the fact that Citizen Kane is without a doubt the best thing ever and anyone who disagrees is a cultural ingrate and just doesn’t get it, it’s annoying and kind of alienating. In fact, it almost makes you want to hate it.

But film snob puffery aside, Citizen Kane is a landmark movie. Even if you can’t stand its outdated feel and admittedly slow pacing, it’s influence is undeniable. Those techniques that we scoff at as commonplace nowadays – deep focus, the invisible wipe, flashback, nonlinear narrative – were truly trailblazing back in 1941. Not to mention it was pretty ballsy back then in its takedown of one of America’s most influential men.

Like it or not, you can’t deny that Citizen Kane is the Citizen Kane of … uh … Citizen Kanes.