There are a special collection of films that the masses tend to endlessly gravitate around; films that the collective human race are somehow pre-programmed to re-watch over and over again on a regular basis, for no reason other than: "This... again!" You know the films. Romantic comedies slapped with slightly suggestive two-word titles like Dirty Dancing and Pretty Woman. Lengthy, hopeful dramas with life-affirming messages such as The Shawshank Redemption. Mainstream flicks with just a hint of edginess, like Fight Club. And, of course... anything that Christopher Nolan turns out. Not that there's anything nothing wrong with these particular movies; they're popular for a reason, and people go back to them time and time again because they offer up a sense of tried and tested goodness - they're comforting, like your favourite hot meal. But whereas a lot of very popular motion pictures deserve their good reputations, there are some so irksome that you're left wondering why the heck everyone you know is so enamoured with them (and has been for ages). Seriously: what's going on?
8. The Hangover
For a while, it seemed like The Hangover was regarded as the greatest comedy movie of recent times, which doesn't say a lot for recent times. That's not to say that the movie - directed by Todd Phillips - wasn't funny in parts, but that it's intermediately amusing and trying way too hard to incorporate "crazy" moments, cameos and funny babies. There's nothing wrong with trying too hard, of course, because that is, at least, a whole lot better than not trying at all, but c'mon... this? This is the comedy movie that the world made metaphorical love to when it was first unveiled in 2009? First off, the characters are unlikeable: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis... a bunch of actual jerks. Chang is funny at first, sure, but he grates on you after, oh, four minutes of screen time. Then there's that super self-conscious piano song, and the fact that the premise is about as original as piece of buttered toast. Not to mention the movie also features a cameo from a convicted rapist (hello, Mike Tyson!). Thankfully, the sheer awfulness of its really bad sequel films dented the original's legacy somewhat, so now people are less likely to recommend The Hangover when you've got nothing to do on a Friday night. The Hangover is annoying, though; it wants to be an iconic comedy movie so badly that - for the most part - it's kind of embarrassing to watch.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
