Worst First Date Movies

[alexxkay]

Here's an idea for a conversation. What was your most... 'unfortunate' choice of a movie to see on a first date? Why did you choose it, and what happened?

My first runner-up would be a movie that all my friends were raving about as one of the best movies of the year, but which I didn't know much of anything about. Pulp Fiction. *Not* what I was expecting! Good movie, to be sure, but one doesn't usually expect a date movie to have quite that much gleeful ultra-violence in it...

All-time worst would have to be Prospero's Books. The date in question was an actress, so I figured, "Hey, can't go wrong with Shakespeare." Actually, you can. While it certainly had some relation to The Tempest, it was fairly obscure. It had rather more nudity, excrement, and gore than one normally associates with this story, costumes that were beyond ludicrous (eight-foot wide ruffs!), and directorial choices that went beyond eccentric and well into insane. I mean, sure, Sir John Gielgud probably *is* the best actor in the cast -- but to have him read *all* the lines? Come *on*! This was one of only two movies I've ever attended where people actually walked out in the middle. I think only about eight people showed up in the first place, but half of them didn't stay until the end. Not a good omen for the relationship (though, as it turned out, a fairly appropriate one).

Comments

[ricevermicelli.livejournal.com]

My worst first date movie ever was "Celebration". I picked it because it sounded cheery and because I knew nothing about it, and I was on a kick where I thought it was best to approach film without prior information, so that I could have a first experience of the movie unadulterated by prior expectation.

"Celebration" is an experimental Swedish film about a guy who goes to his father's sixtieth birthday party and gives an after-dinner speech in which he reveals the sexual abuse his father inflicted upon him and his twin sister.

If I'd had half a brain, I'd have leaned over after that initial reveal and suggested we skip it and go get dinner. Unfortunately, I failed my intelligence check there. The guy called me the next day to say that he'd decided to chase someone else. I was impressed that he bothered to call.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I picked it because it sounded cheery and because I knew nothing about it, and I was on a kick where I thought it was best to approach film without prior information, so that I could have a first experience of the movie unadulterated by prior expectation.

You're not alone. I did the same thing with a stage show of "Cabaret." All I knew was the song, which is fairly cheery. I felt rather shell-shocked afterwards. Fortunately my date was in the same boat.