… but ended up enjoying a lot…
Little Nicky
Shallow Hal
Zoolander
yup, that one too.
Yeah, Shallow Hal occured to me before I read the thread.
Genius.
That and Anchorman are the high water marks for the current crop of comedy films that always have either Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller or Vince Vaughan in them.
They Died With Their Boots On.
seriously. But I’ll try to think of something contemporary and check in later.
Pride and Prejudice.
Sweeney Todd - the Johnny Depp version.
Slan,
D. 
Robot Monster
Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
Saw it this weekend (twice) with each of my kids. Brilliant.
I originally thought it was going to be another “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, but it’s much deeper.
That one I didn’t like, and knew I wasn’t going to like. How can you compete with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn? How?
Fyffer’s post just reminded me of one (not sure why):
Lemony Snicket’s
A Series Of Unfortunate Events
Thought it was going to be rubbish, but it turned out to be excellent.
I know why: A kid’s movie that turns out to have universal appeal, even wisdom beyond its years?
Eight Crazy Nights
The Brotherhood of Satan. A total shlock B-movie about an isolated small town - of course - populated with a coven that…um…what’s the word for it when you take up residence in a newer, younger body - someone else’s, of course - when yours is old and worn out?
Anyway, the one true gem amid the swill was the coven-master or whatever he’d get called. I don’t think there’s even such a thing, but, hey, they’re Satanists, not Wiccans. And it’s the Cineverse; they wear tacky crimson satin robe things at their rituals. But I digress. This fellow’s priest-ish character was inspired, and gave truly, truly great theater especially at the altar. I’m not kidding. It was almost sublime. No, it was sublime. I found myself thinking, Now here’s a promising career meeting a spectacular halt. I’m witnessing a riveting, beautiful, professional disaster couched in a B-movie. The humanity of it. And the incantations in general were believable and caught the ear. There was a real poetically rhythmic foundation in them. They sounded genuinely old.
The rest of it…meh. Predictable dreck. But I’d watch it again just for the “Satanic” priest. It was almost like it was two separate movies. Weird.
Return to Me. It’s worth watching just for the supporting cast, especially the four old farts at the restaurant.
…which produced one of the funniest Mystery Science Theaters ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-7MwvJ2vnM
“No, it’s not cool to make no sense; it’s cool to be surreal.”
so, ah…why do y’all watch movies that you don’t expect to like?
I didn’t expect to like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, but I got stuck watching it on a long bus ride to Manila, and found it rather entertaining.
that could save many a movie 