I thought Bright greatly exceeded what I was expecting, on Netflix. Will Smith movie

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS.

Not that I do not expect Tom Hanks movies to be good, but at one point I forgot I was watching a movie.

Big Fish

Hell or High Water is the only movie I've seen in the last couple of years that exceeded my expectations.

The Commuter

Only because I was expecting horrible and got some good meh.

Oh and let me throw in Up.

The adult themes they worked into a kid's movie were masterful, and the open8ng montage stands up against almost any movie scene for quality and depth.

This will always be Pulp Fiction for me. I went to see it on opening weekend with a couple of friends. I can remember the three of us laughing out loud during several scenes and everyone else in the theater were quiet.

Goat Man said:

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This will always be Pulp Fiction for me. I went to see it on opening weekend with a couple of friends. I can remember the three of us laughing out loud during several scenes and everyone else in the theater were quiet.

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Son't old enough to start watching Tarantino movies. Pulp Fiction is probably my #1 movie of all time. He loved Reservoir Dogs, Hateful 8, Inglorious Basterds...really didn't care for Pulp Fiction.

I think there are so many things in that movie that have been copied by the rest of Hollywood, it doesn't stand up to a new audience. I was blown away the first time I saw it in the theater.

Fury

I thought it would be good and I figured I'd enjoy it but I now consider it in the top tier of WW2 movies

The Catcher was a Spy. I had not heard of it but it had a solid cast and was worth the time.

taxpreparer said:

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CAPTAIN PHILLIPS.

Not that I do not expect Tom Hanks movies to be good, but at one point I forgot I was watching a movie.

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Look at me...I'm da captain now...

Marvel's The Avengers is probably the biggest one for me. Prior to that I had seen bits and pieces of the previous MCU films on tv. Really had about zero interest in super hero anything. Took my older son and his friend and I was completely blown away by how much fun that movie was. Since then I have seen 9 of the 16 released in the theater.

Already mentioned that well exceeded expectations:
Rogue One
District 9
Thor Ragnorak - previous Thor films were pretty mediocre so I wasn't expecting much but it turned out to probably be my favorite MCU.

Some of y'all are going way back, but in the spirit of the original question, I'd say "Game Night."

Only reason I watched it is because I was on a flight, so I was a captive audience. Based on the premise, I thought it would be mind numbing - like Adam Sandler level of cheese. But it was actually thoroughly entertaining and I was glad I watched it.

Run N Shoot said:

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The Catcher was a Spy. I had not heard of it but it had a solid cast and was worth the time.

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Perfect example of different strokes...

This one fell far, far below my expectations. In fact - for me - it was one of the worst movies I've seen the last few years. I normally like Paul Rudd but this was not his best effort - by a long shot.

Again, no offense intended.

Watched "Glass" on a plane last week, pleasantly surprised.

Hellboy 2. It's a sequel to a comic book movie but is so good.

hunter2012 said:

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Edge of Tomorrow- I went into it with super low expectations and left wanting to take my friends so I could watch it again.

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Yeah that one and oblivion bombed but are really pretty good.

Never in a million years would I think that I would give a sh*t about a movie on how Facebook began.

But "The Social Network" is one of the greatest films of the past two decades. It's mesmerizing.

cbr said:

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hunter2012 said:

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Edge of Tomorrow- I went into it with super low expectations and left wanting to take my friends so I could watch it again.

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Yeah that one and oblivion bombed but are really pretty good.

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Cruise rarely picks 'bad' films. They may not be huge hits, but they are rarely bad films. Take out Universal trying to force their "Dark Universe" crap into "The Mummy" and it's not a bad film.

"Yesterday"

Saw it last night. Had been very curious about but enjoyed it a LOT more than I thought I would.

What Dreams May Come was incredible at the time. I need to rewatch and see if it has the same Feels as it did in 1998.

Mad Max Fury Road
Quiet Place

The Town was way better than I expected. Just an incredible movie.

To stick with Affleck Boston movies, Gone Baby Gone is one I still think about. The last fifteen minutes... part of me still wonders what was right. Just rare to see a movie with an ending like that.

Oh and just for fun...

Think about the trajectory of Pitch Perfect. The movie did only 115m worldwide and was destined for the dust bin, but when it got to cable, enough people gave it a chance (with almost no buzz early) to warrant two sequels. So for that movie, I think millions were pleasantly surprised.

Goat Man said:

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This will always be Pulp Fiction for me. I went to see it on opening weekend with a couple of friends. I can remember the three of us laughing out loud during several scenes and everyone else in the theater were quiet.

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"Lol, the cop is letting him have it!!!"

Mystic River - solid cast but didn't know much about it. Tim Robbins was awesome in it

Out Cold - saw it in the theaters with a friend bc we were late to whatever we were supposed to see. Haven't laughed that hard for a movie I had never heard of

Under the Tuscan Sun, chick flick that's actually really great

Sbisa04 said:

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Secret Life of Walter Mitty - underrated. Really like the movie and the soundtrack is great.

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After reading this post I watched 2/3 of this movie last night on Netflix before getting tired and going to sleep. Tried to watch the rest of this today only to find out that Netflix had pulled it! Damnit!!

I read the plot synopsis to find out what happened. Based on the part that I did see it was a meh for me. Doesn't help that I can't stand Kristen Wiig.

The latest, most surprisingly good movie to me was A Star is Born. I didn't want to watch it AT ALL, but I told my wife I would take her. Holy cow...I was SO impressed with Cooper's singing and Lady Gaga's acting.

Its odd to me that people were surprised by a Pixar movie. Their track record is off the charts.

The Old Maid with Bette Davis

Aladdin shocked me because it was so good!

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer

I thought it would be a terrible movie and didn't even want to watch it, but man was that a good movie.

I just finished watching "A Quiet Place". Jeez that was stressful. But good.