That was Better than Expected.

[Hellfire]

Since the thread I posted earlier has gotten some attention, lets do the opposite of it and be positive now. What are some movies or TV shows that you have seen that either had a bad reputation or no fanfare that ended up being awesome?

My pick? Running Scared.

I randomly picked it up at Best Buy a couple years ago for like $5, mainly because the cover looked cool. Fucking awesome, bloody and somewhat disturbing movie. It made me like Paul Walker, which is saying something. This led me to purchasing another movie....

Into the Blue

...staring Paul Walker. I should really stop typing, my respect for myself is slipping with every keystroke. Seriously. Anyways, I really like this too. I love a good treasure hunt movie, Jessica Alba looks phenomenal in a bathing suit, theres awesome scenery, guns, some bitch gets eaten by a shark, I mean c'mon, how can you go wrong?

I also like Timeline and Eight Below. The connection? Paul Walker. I hate myself. >_<

Now that I've admitted my mancrush on Paul Walker, I'll open it up to everyone else. What movie/TV show surprised you?

[YI]

"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"...one of my favourite films ever, knew absolutely nothing about it when I saw it, but it was during the time my mates and I would have some cider, go watch a film...it was generally shit, but we'd have a fucking laugh (we'd be those annoying bastards you get at the cinema to be fair)...we had no idea what to see cos what we were going to see wasn't on for like 4 hours, we were bored, and randomly decided to go see "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" based on a photo seen in a magazine;

...it was amazing, and possibly the only film we all actually enjoyed...I want to go to the cinema more...I've started going a bit more now, I get my student discount, it's quite cool.

[million$$man]

TV wise, Parks and Recreation......thought I would hate it, going into the show, but Poehler is funny....Even if it did steal the Office formula...

Movie wise, Frequency with Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel. It has mystery mixed with father-son relationship issues....Even if it had a hackneyed premise

[GoGo Yubari]

Even if it did steal the Office formula...

Does it really count as stealing when it's the same guys who made both shows?

[Jimmy]

Smallville. I used to hate Superman, so when I watched the first Season of Smallville on DVD I expected to dislike it - but it turned out to be quite awesome, actually. Also, Almost Famous. I picked it out of my Dad's DVD collection, knowing nothing about it, and it turned out to be quality.

There's loads to list, so yeah, I'll come back later.

[Nerf]

I can only think of recently, and Yes Man was a lot better than I expected it to be.

[Pesci]

A lot of films I've seen over the past couple of years. Before that I used to take the whole "amateur movie critic" view when I went to the cinema but when you're with a bunch of lads everything just seems funnier. I even enjoyed Meet Dave.

Oh, and The Inbetweeners x 1000000. I assumed it would be some shit appealing to the lowest common denominator since my mates liked it (back into amateur critic mode for this obviously) but it's fucking awesome.

Edited June 23, 2009 by Pesci

[Ruki]

I can only think of recently, and Yes Man was a lot better than I expected it to be.

Agreed there.

Also, watched Sex Drive on Friday night, I thought the movie was going to be shit, but it was actually pretty damn good.

[Matt]

Seinfeld, I really didn't think it'd be my thing but I love it.

[livid]

Live Free or Die Hard was a lot better than I was expecting it to be.

[Bigal]

Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.

What a movie.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

Pan's Labyrinth - I had read the reviews, but I wasn't expecting it to be such a good movie. Great stuff.

Dead or Alive - Good, mindless fun, way better than expected.

Dodgeball - Went to watch this with very low expectations, and I loved the movie.

I'll probably add more when I remember them.

Edited June 25, 2009 by Johnny Latino Heat

[apsham]

Freaks & Geeks.

Okay I mean, it's not like I was expecting it to be a bad show and all, even though I have heard mixed reviews.. but upon watching the first few episodes I understood that it was going to be a cringe worthy show filled with a bunch of characters that I really hated. Now over halfway in, everyone has redeemed themselves in one way or another and it actually sticks from episode to episode unlike a sitcom where people learn a lesson or something along those lines, and are right back to their old shit. I mean, sometimes that happens but there's a reason for it, a flaw in the character itself. It's cool but then again, this is what sucks about getting into a show thats about ten years old now and only ran for one season.. there's not a lot of it left but there's not anything more coming either.

Oh well, I hear that Undeclared is something to watch out for as well.

[livid]

Yeah I like Freaks and Geeks a lot but Undeclared is definitely the funnier of the two.

[Lint]

I agree with Yes Man and Live Free Or Die Hard

Hellboy and Hellboy 2 were both much better then I expected them to be

[jrtdot]

I can only think of recently, and Yes Man was a lot better than I expected it to be.

Yeah I like Freaks and Geeks a lot but Undeclared is definitely the funnier of the two.

Freaks & Geeks.

Okay I mean, it's not like I was expecting it to be a bad show and all, even though I have heard mixed reviews.. but upon watching the first few episodes I understood that it was going to be a cringe worthy show filled with a bunch of characters that I really hated. Now over halfway in, everyone has redeemed themselves in one way or another and it actually sticks from episode to episode unlike a sitcom where people learn a lesson or something along those lines, and are right back to their old shit. I mean, sometimes that happens but there's a reason for it, a flaw in the character itself. It's cool but then again, this is what sucks about getting into a show thats about ten years old now and only ran for one season.. there's not a lot of it left but there's not anything more coming either.

Oh well, I hear that Undeclared is something to watch out for as well.

This...never expected Yes Man to be good, was surprisingly wrong...and any Judd Apatow stuff for TV was also very good aswell, I loved F&G and Undeclared.

[Toe]

Babylon 5. It looked cheesy and bad, but I got the first season for very cheap and enjoyed it. Then, I found the rest of the series for cheap and found out the 2rd to 4th seasons are all fantastic.

[thatblindgeye]

I agree with Yes Man and Live Free Or Die Hard

Hellboy and Hellboy 2 were both much better then I expected them to be

Agreed on Hellboys. I remember seeing trailers for both movies and just thinking "Jesus that looks like a pile of shit that wont be interesting at all," but then I had FX on one evening and they had Hellboy on. Ended up rather enjoying it, so I then watched Hellboy II on demand and enjoyed it just as much. I would actually like to see a third one made now.

[NobBe Nobbs]

I wasn't expecting it to be bad, but I also wasn't expecting Sunshine Cleaning to be as good as it was.

[New Damage]

Cinderella Man. I'm not a fan of period crap set before about the 80s, but it was on whilst we were on holiday in the caravan and was the best that on, so we started watching it, and ended up seeing it all. Pretty good.