Since we all clearly have too much time, name a movie that going in you were sure would be garbage but you ended up loving it.

I'll start. Son-in-Law. A movie about Pauly Shore going to the country. By any conceivable measure, it should be atrocious. Instead, it is awesome. Maybe one of my favorite comedies of the 90s.

Damn that's actually a great call out.

Guardians of the Galaxy

A talking racoon
A walking tree
A green chick
And Andy Dwyer from Parks & Rec

...in space.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/82349f1c7a45618236ac7a3b8ffb0011/tumblr_mpccq7kRbc1qa8t6fo1_400.gifv

The Room

First thing that comes to mind is Army of Darkness

Brian Earl Spilner said:

---

Guardians of the Galaxy

A talking racoon
A walking tree
A green chick
And Andy Dwyer from Parks & Rec

...in space.

---

Joe Dirt

Valley Girl (1983)

The typical 80's plot of two people from opposite sides of the tracks who manage to work-out their differences and find true love. Not to mention the fact that the whole Valley lifestyle thing was just a passing fad that you would think would only appeal to southern Californians. But the movie was darn good.

And rule #1

Big trouble in little china
Superbad - the 5 millionth movie ever made about high school losers trying to get laid

My problem with GotG is that once the previews hit, and then the reviews came out, my expectations changed with it.

Locke is one that comes to mind. I thought there was no way that movie could be any good and that the critics were just being highbrow.

Avengers.

The only MCU I had seen up to that point was Iron Man (which I thought was pretty cool) and Captain America The First avenger (which I thought was so so). I took my older son, six at the time, and one of his friends. Never been a comic book movie guy. Had the time of my life.

Edit to say that this is probably not a good entry here. Considering what Disney/Marvel was up to and the cast and crew that been assembled for Avengers, there is simply no reason to believe it "should" have been awful. I just had no idea I could get that in to a comic book movies.

Kids movies is another great category. I was completely 100% detached from kid stuff until I actually had one. Movies seen in the theatre like Toy Story 3, Despicable Me, or Wreck it Ralph, completely blew me away as to how high quality the kid/family stuff coming out of Pixar or Dreamworks was.

21 Jump Street

Yeah on kids movies, Up had one of the most poignant adult scenes in recent movie history - 10 minutes or so with almost no dialogue. So many adult themes in that movie.

But for a real answer...

Joe Dirt

And it s a classic now, but at the time if you heard the basic plot, who would have thought the blues brothers would be an all time great?

Tremors

EOT

Dirty Dancing

Lots of ballroom dancing
Unattractive female lead with a super annoying sister
Period piece set in borng Pocanos locale
Abortion plays a major plot role
Terrible soundtrack

Somehow the movie was a huge hit and I liked it even though I didnt admit it to anyone at the time

Joe Dirt and Tremors are classics. I'd add Anchorman and I really don't care for Ferrell's schtick.

Groundhog Day should be terrible but is fantastic.

Game of Thrones isn't a movie but it is my best one. Sci-fi, dragons, lots of incest. There's a place for that to be mildly popular (like the books were for 20 yrs) but the show had no business becoming the most important show on TV for the decade.

Bloodsport

Completely agree with Groundhog Day.

Also, the movie Phonebooth is good. Almost the entire movie is a dude in a phonebooth.

Yeah the plot sounds odd...
But a lot of people don't know that The wizard of Os series was the Harry Potter of its day, among the most popular books of the time. The movie was greatly anticipated. The book had sold one million copies before the movie came out. and there had already been a broadway play.

Robocop

Jay & Silent Bob movies

Any Rambo after First Blood (okay 2 was good, beyond that ugh)

The Wrong Missy (sides still hurting)

Not an incredible movie, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised by Detective Pikachu. My kids wanted to see it, and I had no expectation that I would enjoy it.

Ag Since 83 said:

---

21 Jump Street

---

Absolutely.

And 22 Jump Street is one of the greatest comedic sequels ever. It's beyond amazing.

GiveEmHellBill said:

---

Ag Since 83 said:

---

21 Jump Street

---

Absolutely.

And 22 Jump Street is one of the greatest comedic sequels ever. It's beyond amazing.

---

the end credits of 22 jump street should be required if you want to become a US citizen.

Electrical_Ag said:

---

Not an incredible movie, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised by Detective Pikachu. My kids wanted to see it, and I had no expectation that I would enjoy it.

---

I'll add Sonic the Hedgehog to that. Not great, but way better than I thought it was going to be.

The Transporter.

However, it IS terrible AND awesome.

I typically hate certain genres like sci-fi, fantasy, and horror because I struggle suspending disbelief. I usually end up thinking the movie that everyone else loves is dumb. But I LOOOVE horror comedies (and some that verge on fantasy or sci-fi comedies)...because they're SUPPOSED to be dumb. They're usually low budget with absurd plots, but they're often quite brilliant.

Some of my favorites (there are others; I just can't think of them right now):
Bubba Ho-Tep
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Zombeavers
This is the End
They Live
Shaun of the Dead
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse
Maximum Overdrive (not sure if this one's supposed to be funny or not, but it is)

Orange County
Evolution
Joe Dirt

Goon

Idiocracy

I'll add another. The plot of Road House is nothing short of ridiculous. But it's a classic and sucks me in every time it's on TBS on a random Saturday afternoon. And it gave us the wisdom of Red - "Got married. To an ugly woman. Don't ever do that. Sucks the life right out of you."