More “boring” iconic movies, according to our readers
A previous piece on movies everyone claims to love but secretly finds tedious brought a wave of pushback. Most of it circled the same two titles. One reader put it bluntly: “Why did Dr. Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia not make your list?” Fair question. Genuinely fair.
Round two. Five films this time, built straight from that feedback.
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
Nearly three and a half hours long. David Lean’s Russian epic drew mixed reviews upon release, with critics at the time complaining that it trivialized history despite its sweeping visuals. Reputation’s grown since. Plenty of modern viewers still find the pacing a genuine test of patience, though. Doesn’t matter how gorgeous the snow looks.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Lean’s other desert epic. Shows up on more than one list of masterpieces audiences quietly find exhausting rather than riveting. The scenery’s undeniable. Nobody argues that part. The pacing asks a lot of viewers expecting something closer to modern adventure filmmaking, and many just don’t have it to give.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Twenty-five minutes of prehistoric apes. No dialogue. That’s the opening. A choice that reads as deliberate meditation to some, pure endurance test to others. Nothing about the pacing was accidental. Doesn’t make it any easier to sit through on a first watch, though. Not even close.
Citizen Kane (1941)
Widely called one of the greatest films ever made. Thirteen Oscar nominations. A reputation that shaped the entire medium, full stop. Also, according to more than one critical retrospective, drags through stretches of flashback-heavy dialogue that read more like filler than plot. Both things are true at once, apparently.
Barry Lyndon (1975)
Kubrick again. Eighteenth-century period piece. Scorsese’s called it his favorite film the director ever made. Gorgeous to look at, meticulously composed, and still a tough sell for anyone expecting the pace of Kubrick’s more famous work. Different animal entirely.
The bottom line
None of these five are bad movies. That’s exactly the tension here. A film can be a genuine achievement and still ask more patience than most people are willing to give it on a random Tuesday night. That gap, between respect and actual enjoyment, is where this whole conversation keeps landing. Every time.
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