Mad Max: Fury road far exceeded my expectations.
I'd heard good things about the movie, and actually went in with reasonably high expectations of it, and it completely amazed me anyway. Just an incredible spectacle of a film.
Bullet Train was fun as hell.
Edit: I just realized that I saw John Wick based on, "Hey I want to see a movie today. John Wick? No idea what this is, but if it's in IMAX it might be fun!"
It was.
Train to Busan. Shit was INTENSE.
Zoolander. Thought it looked bad from the trailers. I was wrong.
Both Prey & Bullet train I was expecting average action movies, and both ended up being some of my favourite movies last year with great rewatchability.
They Cloned Tyrone was an unexpected gem from Netflix of all places.
At first Asteroid City got my attention with it's title. But after watching the movie I am amazed and wondering why are movies like this not more successful.
Bullet Train. I didn't know what to expect going into it really, but it turned out to be a super fun movie.
The Super Mario Bros Movie. I pretty much put it on expecting to be disappointed, as video game based movies are almost universally terrible, but ... I actually had a good time and really enjoyed all the reference humor.
Demolition Man - I was expecting a dumb violent scifi action flick - which it was, but it also had a great scriptwriter and some really funny, witty lines in it which was an unexpected treat
Wolf of Wall Street. Mainly because I saw it on a whim pretty much as soon as it came out, and didn't really have any expectations. Holy fuck what an entertaining and hilarious film, three hours long and not a single boring minute. I've not seen it since but I consider it my favourite film regardless.
Snowpiercer - I was expecting typical scifi channel fare, and got to watch an elaborate and thoughtful science fiction movie.
Kung Fu Panda
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I just watched Oppenheimer. I went in with no expectations, but a solid grasp of the history (except I did not know Lewis Strauss's role in the clearance hearings, so that was good to learn).
I was deeply moved by the film. I have never conceptualized the person that Robert Oppenheimer was. Being a scientist working in the nuclear industry, I owe him a lot. And I find he was someone to look up to; and I also empathize with him as a person. I'm definitely not as brilliant as he was, but there are parallels between us personally and in our careers to date (albeit on a much smaller scale for me!). I understand the struggles he went through regarding his position on nuclear weapons. I believe he was someone who lived in contradiction (by seeing pros and cons to every stance, moral benefits and burdens) and was ok with living with the controversy internally... Much like quantum mechanics provides in general.
I just finished Host last night.
I had low expectations because of the Zoom format of the movie. I expected it to be real cheesy and low quality.
But man, I was blown away. The Zoom video chat made the whole thing feel more real and once the scares started, they really didn't stop. It's only a 50 minute runtime, so it's short and sweet. Even when I knew what scares were coming, they still got me.
Prisoner -2013 The movie that got me into thriller movies
The unbearable weight of massive talent - 2022 Wasn't expecting much but turned out to be my favorite Nick Cage movie
The vvitch - 2015 I've never been big on horror movies but this one ended up being one of my favorite movies
I guess Adam Sandler's Punch Drunk Love. Sandler is known for being a buffoon but did a serviceable acting job here.
Frailty. Starring and directed by the late, great Bill Paxton. 20 years later this one still sticks with me. Best to go in without knowing anything about the plot.
Grosse Pointe Blank - I was expecting a cheesy action movie. That is in there, although it's a better than it has any right to be. And at the same time it manages to be a good romantic comedy. The script and the cast nail the human side of the story. (Except for Dan Akroyd, who I have never liked in anything.)
Renfield was hilarious in an Army of Darkness kind of rediculous horror way. If that's your thing.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.
I loved the original videos, but doubted it would make a good movie.
Run Lola Run
It's one of a handful of non English films (subtitled) that I've watched... I forget how I ended up watching it, but it really was an awesome flick.
Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts. I was cautiously optimisic about this movie, and I had one hell of a fun time watching it.
Pacific Rim and Blade Runner 2049.
Pacific Rim was the first GDT movie I watched and was blown away that I could like mech/Kaiju so much.
Blade Runner 2049 was one I went in with low expectations because of how much I loved the OG even if Villeneuve had directed a ton of excellent movies prior. Came away with 2049 probably being my fav movie of all time.
Left me horrified and speechless. Amazing Dutch movie!
True Stories. After 40 years I still watch it every few years to make sure it's still wierd. Excellent social commentary.
Mostly it's the ones I didn't hype for. Didn't watch trailers or knew any plot.
Like when I watched some of the IMDb top 250 just one by one without really looking what the movie is about except its setup (the Good the Bad the Ugly - Western, Twelve Angry Man - court case etc).
After big let down of suicide squad i stopped caring about trailers and now enjoy much more movies.
Not a movie, but digimon adventure 1. I loved it as a kid watching all the digimon fights. I watched it again later in life and it was even better when I noticed all the character development.
Rise of Skywalker - after the previous one, I expected to hate it, and was only seeing it to be done with the series. But I actually loved it.
I know it's goofy as hell, but it just felt like a proper Star Wars movie to me, it was fast, fun entertainment and it undid a lot of things I hated in Last Jedi.
