Oh My God, You Didn’t See That One???

That’s the exact response I got today when I told my friend about a certain movie I have never seen.  A movie, I guess, that the whole world has probably seen except for me.  Which got me thinking…although I tend to fancy myself an expert on all things movies, there are, in fact, a handful of movies that I have never bothered to see that everyone else apparently has.  WARNING:  Some of these may shock you, thus rendering the exact same reaction as my friend.

There’s Something About Mary (1998)

This is the movie that caused the title of this post.  Yes, I have never seen this movie starring Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz, even though it made a shiz-ton of money at the box office.  I’ve heard it’s funny, I’ve even heard it’s really good…yet I’ve never had the intense need to sit down and actually watch it.  Maybe someone day when I have lots of time on my hands and I’m really bored and it just happens to be showing on HBO…maybe I’ll watch it.  But I’m sure I’ll probably find something better to watch on Cartoon Network instead.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The hubbie ranks this movie in his top five faves, yet I’ve never seen it.  In IMDB’s top 250 movies of ALL-TIME, it sits at number ONE.  Yet I’ve never seen it.  One reason could be that when it came out I was 15 years old, and back then I probably wasn’t into seeing prison dramas with no cute boys in it.  Another reason could be that I have absolutely no idea what the movie is about.  I get bored just trying to read the Wiki article about it.  But apparently it’s a good movie, so I should just see it just to say that I have.  I highly doubt it’s better than Moulin Rouge, though.

The Notebook (2004)

This may be the greatest shock of them all.  A movie starring Ryan Gosling that I haven’t seen.  I mostly blame Nicholas Sparks for this one.  Not a fan of his work, plus someone always dies at the end.  And of all the different types of movie genres, romantic “chick flicks” are probably my least favorite.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some good ones out there (Love Actually, Notting Hill), but when The Notebook came out, I was still in my hardcore sci-fi/fantasy stage and thought it looked absolutely ridiculous.  Or maybe I was just jealous of Rachel McAdams.  Whatever, I’m sure I’ll eventually see it one day.  With a bottle of wine.

Die Hard / Lethal Weapon (1987-1988)

I lump these two movie franchises together because to me they are one in the same.  I’m sure they have different premises, but to me they are just action movies starring Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson where stuff blows up.  I’m not saying I don’t like action movies – in fact, there are some really good action movies out there.  And they’re usually more entertaining than chick flicks.  But I have to be in the right mood to watch stuff blow up, and…well…I don’t think I’ve ever been in that mood.

Lawrence of Arabia / Ben-Hur / The Ten Commandments / Spartacus

Again, I lump these four together because for some reason I associate them all with The Bible.  Growing up I always thought they were Sunday School movies, probably because they always seemed to be on around Easter time, and they always looked majorly boring to me.  And they still do, despite the fact that they’re considered to be “classics” that everyone should see.  Well, unless someone forces me to watch them, this girl probably never will.

American Pie (1999)

As with the first movie on this list, this was a comedy that just never appealed to me when I was 20 years old.  Which is probably weird, if you think about it, because it was about teens who were almost the same age as me, and I should be able to relate, right?  Well, no.  Because when I was 20 years old I was in my “independent and foreign film” phase, which made something as mainstream as American Pie look absolutely ridiculous to me.  But it’s probably really funny, and maybe now in hindsight I’ll be able to laugh.  If I ever see it.

That’s just a handful of the many movies that have been popular among the masses that I’ve never seen.  I could go on and mention about ten more Ben Stiller movies and just about every movie Adam Sandler has ever made, but I think I’ve made my point.  How about you guys?  Any obvious movies out there that shock people when you tell them you never seen it?

Happy viewing!