What this fellow said. Never give up! Never surrender!

By Grabthar's Hammer!

...what a savings.

If we ever get a Galaxy Quest "reboot" like the new Ghostbusters I may actually lose it.

Okay, one film:

Schumachers BATMAN & ROBIN! (1997 - I actually remembered the year)

I saw this one a few years ago, due to boredom. Didn't really expect much. Had of course heard it being bashed by angry batmo-fanboys 'back in the days'. (Still happens today, where its IMDB page is filled with one star reviews)

But wow - what a movie! The batmo-creditcard, batnipples and all is just so, well, batshit insane. It was really brave of Schumacher to go full-blown camp at a time where everyone expected superheroes to be dark and gritty.

Even today, it's so much ahead of its time. It has the same anarchistic and cartoony drive as CUTEY HONEY, MECHANICAL VIOLATOR HAKAIDER, MACHINE GIRL or MASK THE KEKKOU. Movies which manages to capture the rythm and spirit from comics/manga.

Oh, another one, Guardians of the Galaxy. Quite surprised I liked it after so many bloody super hero movies.

If anything it was a throwback to the Batman of the 60s, just without any of the charm.

Galaxy Quest. I remember expecting a low brow sci-fi ripoff with lots of dick jokes (though there was that bit about Sigourney Weaver's nice boobs). It turned out to be a very well made, tongue-in-cheek comedy/sci-fi adventure film.

I'm also glad they never did a sequel/reboot. It would have sucked.

IMO, it's quite the homage to Star Trek. It's done with intelligence, respect, creativity, and humor.

Galaxy Quest was the first DVD I ever bought.

Silver Linings
Don't mess with Zohan
Shooter
Scott Pilgrim (YEAH!)
The Bourne Legacy
Crank
Inside Man
Killer Elite
The Descent
Attack The Block
The Woman in Black
Michael Clayton
Bad Lieutenant (especially because of N. Cage; I don't like him much but he's GREAT here!)

Edge of Tomorrow, I was expecting something, not the Full Metal B!tch and Killer Cage from All You Need Is Kill.

Dredd, was expecting another average remake like Total Recall, was not that at all.

Tron Legacy - I wasn't expecting whatever that was. That was f**king cool.

Rambo 4 - Would have watched anymore Rambo, but I wasn't expecting the single greatest Rambo film of all time, thank you Sly Stallone.

I feel somewhat ashamed that I didn't go to see Dredd in the theaters thinking that there is no way it could be good. When I finally did see it on tv it turned out to almost offensively amazing. Then I checked to see if there would be a sequel and discovered that the film did very poorly and a sequel was unlikely :(

At least you were honest on this one.

<span class="bold">The Sting</span> (1973)

I saw this the first time as a small kid, I think my big brother rented it.

A movie placed in the "old times" (1930s) with Robert Redford and Paul Newman... I was expecting a total uninteresting yawn-fest, especially for a little kid like me. As if someone asked me to listen to the whole repertoire of Frank Sinatra or something, you must be some old fart to enjoy it.

Lo and behold, I loved the movie from like 10 minutes onwards, and just couldn't stop watching it. I rate it to top 5 movies I've ever seen. The movie was fully worth all the praise and prizes it has received. Full of surprises, hilarious at times (like when Paul Newman just burps while playing poker with the baddie, comedic genius) etc.

It is noteworthy especially because the movie is so detailed that you easily get lost in its story if you don't watch it with full attention, yet that didn't prove to be a problem for me as a kid. Outstanding.

<span class="bold">Brazil</span> (1985)

All I knew about the movie beforehand was seeing some trailer of it before another (VHS) movie, and it seemed like some incomprehensible mess, artsy-fartsy movie with no point. I don't even remember how I ended up seeing it, again someone probably rented it just because... and it also ended up being one of the best movies I've ever seen. There are so many things to love in the movie, and somehow the story also resonated with me.

<span class="bold">Mononoke Hime</span> (1997)

I've never been a big fan of japanese anime, but then I can't say I had seen that much of it either. I really loved this movie, I was surprised how detailed the characters were (no one was e.g. inherently evil, there just were people and characters with different motives and traumas), and I liked how refreshing the whole Japanese mythology felt, e.g. animal gods which might also die by humans, etc.). A very interesting, charming and mysterious movie.

<span class="bold">Tonari no Totoro</span> (1988)

I was expecting even less from this as from Mononoke Hime, some children's movie from Japan. I guess it was that, but it was also absolutely charming even for an adult. I really enjoyed watching the movie.

<span class="bold">Zoolander</span> (2001)

I recall only seeing some movie posters of it with Ben Stiller lying on the ground, and kept thinking "What crap is that? Pass...". Yet when I much later saw it on TV, damn I found it funny. I laughed my ass off.

Some mentioned e.g. Adam Sandler, and considering how much hate he seems to get as an actor, I'm often surprised how much I like many of his comedies. Like "You Don't Mess with the Zohan", I felt it was a hilarious movie overall, and I got lots of laughs watching it. Yes, I even liked Adam Sandler acting in it.

Also, quite often I am pleasantly surprised when watching:

- kid's movies (e.g. Shrek movies, Toy Stories, Monsters, Inc. etc.)
- many so-called romantic movies, or date movies

I usually have a strong bias against them, thinking I am definitely not part of their target audience... yet I am often quite pleasantly surprised. Well, not for the Bridget Jones movies, they were just as meh as I expected them to be and I can clearly say I didn't find them interesting because they were rather aimed at single (aging) women, something that I am not.