Happy Thursday, everyone! That’s a weird sentence to type, especially as it’s technically Monday right now. I missed out on last week’s topic of Cold War so I’m being extra-organised this week. Before I begin, let me remind you that Thursday Movie Picks is hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves, check out her blog if you’d like to join in!
This week’s theme is Movies You Thought You’d Hate But Ended Up Enjoying, suggested by Brittani at Rambling Film. This is going to be such a fun and varied week, I can’t wait to read what everyone else chose! It was reasonably difficult to think of 3 movies, only because I tend to avoid movies I think I might hate. If I do end up watching one I normally do hate it, which to be honest is fun to blog about but it’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised by a movie!
Here are my choices this week…
It Follows (2014)
It’s not that I thought It Follows was going to be a bad movie – in fact, I chose to watch it because it got great reviews – but it was approaching Halloween a few years ago and I was desperate to start watching more horror movies. I was expecting to find myself watching behind a cushion for a while before giving up and turning it off but I was gripped. It scared the pants off me and haunted me for at least a week afterward but it was so good! I definitely recommend it to any other scaredy cats out there like me wanting to dip their toes into the genre.
The Boxtrolls (2014)
I was so salty when the Oscar nominations came in and The Lego Movie didn’t get any love. In my mind, it was the winner so it was a huge snub, and the fact that The Boxtrolls, a movie I’d barely even heard of was there was just despicable. So much so that I vowed to boycott the movie and never watch it. I don’t know why I gave it a chance, in the end, maybe I wanted to prove to myself how undeserving it was but I absolutely loved it when I finally gave in!
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Maybe it was Henry Cavill (I just don’t like him that much) or maybe it was something else, but I wasn’t bothered at all by the trailers for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. It just looked like another average action movie to me and I’d seen a lot of them around that time so I just kind of forgot about it. It was only when multiple people raved about it to me after it’s DVD release that I gave it a go and really enjoyed it. It was so funny, and Henry Cavill was actually amazing, and I was sold in literally the first 5 minutes.
I think what I’ve learned this week is that between 2014 and 2015 I was very grumpy and didn’t give enough movies the chance they deserved! I’m much more open-minded now.
Often Off Topic 
nice list as always Allie
I actually DID hate all 3 of those films 🙂
BTW, even though u missed last week, what would u think ur 3 CW films would be?
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War movies have never been my usual go-to movie so I’m not sure if I’ve seen any involving the Cold War! I did watch Saving Private Ryan though for my Blind Spot choice this month so I’m making steps to change that!
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I’ve only seen It Follows which I loved. I’ve heard good things about The Man from U.N.C.L.E though, maybe some day.
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It is definitely worth a watch! So much funnier than I thought it would be.
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I’ve only seen It Follow, however, I found it rather boring 😦
The Men from U.N.C.L.E. looks quite interesting, though!
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You should definitely give U.N.C.L.E. a try, it’ so much fun!
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I’ve only seen It Follows and I loved it the first time. The ads for the other 2 did not impress me but Ill give them a shot.
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I think unless you have a love for animation The Boxtrolls might not appeal, but The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is some silly fun at it’s very worst!
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The animated film, Strange Magic, is an example of this for me.
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Ooh that’s a new one to me, I’m going to look it up!
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It’s an animated film that looks horrible so I went in with zero expectations, so that probably helped, lol!
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It Follows is awesome. Glad you liked it. I was also pleasantly surprised by The Boxtrolls. I mean, it’s not anywhere near as good as The Lego Movie, but I enjoyed it. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. was just meh to me.
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Yeah, I think I’ll always be a little salty that The Lego Movie wasn’t nominated, but at least I’m not blaming The Boxtrolls anymore!
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Oh It Follows is so great! Definitely one of the better horror films released in the last few years
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I keep trying to recommend it as a great start for people like me who have never really been into horror movies!
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Well now, perhaps I should give Man from U.N.C.L.E. a go. I remember looking at it, but never feeling the urge to click “play”. And I’ve heard of Boxtrolls, but I brushed it off. Same as with The Book of Life. Will now reconsider. Speaking of The Lego Movie, it’s my I thought I’d hate but ended up loving movie. Initially perceived it to be a cash grab, toy commercial in disguise kind of movie. But it was actually a hilarious, awesome movie!
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You know I actually felt very similar when they first announced The Lego Movie! I think I was sold once I saw a trailer but to begin with it was like ‘urgh, how are they making a movie out of this?!’
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I didn’t realize The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was funny–I’ll have to give it a try. Last night, I had the unpleasant experience of watching a movie that I adored when I saw it in my twenties, and upon rewatching, absolutely hated it. The worst was that I was raving to Ken about how great it was, and then we were both like, “This movie is stupid.” Sigh.
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Oh no! I bet you’re wishing you never rewatched it now! What movie was it?
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It was Legend, directed by Ridley Scott!
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I actually felt the same way about IT Follows and horror movies really aren’t for me. Loved the Man from U.N.C.L.E surprisingly as well. Though I figured going in between the guys and Alicia’s wardrobe it would be worth it!
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Great write-up. Funny thing, I dreamt about Henry Cavill last night :))) I asked him to take a photo with me, he said he wasn’t allowed right now, but that he would do it anyway for me. Random, I know! But coming back to your post, I really liked Man from UNCLE, too, definitely one of Guy Ritchie’s best.
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Ha! I love that – why would he not be allowed to?! Dreams are so weird!
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I’ve only seen the Man From Uncle which I found clever, sophisticated and witty. I hope they make another because the leads work well together. I have not seen the others and I get scared easily so I will pass. Even the photo you show scares me
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I’m not gonna lie it was a terrifying movie, but in a quiet, creeping kind of way rather than blatant and in your face!
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Haven’t seen It Follows and want to.
I agree, I sort of expected an average action movie with The Man from U.N.C.L.E. too, but it turned out really good and funny.
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