To ask for your worst viewing experience in cinema or theatre?

[LouiseBrooks]

Inspired by another thread where people are dissing one of my favourite recent films (please go over there if you want to moan about that one ). Which other film or play did you utterly loathe?

Mine:
Film - Out of Africa. Streep's ridiculous accent, Redford's (who I normally love) awful miscasting, the fact that I knew they had messed about with the facts. Michael Kitchen was great though . My Streep fanatic friend left at the interval since she hated it more than me.

Theatre - Blood Brothers. Absurd story and awful songs.

No, not realism at all. So many of these examples are people trashing art they would never have been interested in anyway: the fault lies with them for not reading the description of what was in store.

I haven't got the slightest interest in JRR Tolkien's work/genre, so I wouldn't submit to either reading or viewing it. But I certainly wouldn't declare that the books or films were shite: people who are madly enthusiastic about that sort of thing really rate them, and that's fine.

I do happen to enjoy musicals, especially from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I didn't rate La-La Land, for many reasons, all of which are valid, because I am measuring it against other examples of the genre. If somebody who wanted to see Guardians Of The Galaxy but found it full up and reluctantly went to see La-La Land instead, then declared it to be shite...nope, sorry, that's not a proper or informed review.

National theatre can either be great or awful. Group of us went to a play about digital media about 10 years ago and it was pants. Luckily only one act. DP spotted one of the actors afterwards and asked what it had been about and they said that they didn't know. Japanese dancing also terrible. One eyebrow moves every five minutes

The Idiots. Offensive claptrap. One of only two films I've ever got up and walked out on.

(the other one was Wayne's World. Nuff said)

Mrs Brown.

Was so, so dull. Normally I love historical stuff but this was just dreadful.

Usually I'd just get up and leave but was with a friend and her parents (was about 15) and had to stay put.

I was astoundingly bored, the bad acting was cringey and I remember feeling really trapped. Bit like Alex in A Clockwork Orange. Total overreaction but I was a teen.

It's given me a lifelong aversion to Judi Dench. Feel very stressed out and have to leave the room when she's on. It's almost a phobia.

Oh finally, someone who feels the same way about Dench. It's like the Emperor's New Clothes. I can't bear her.

She's fucking awful.

Standing bolt upright with a rigid expression on her face talking in a faux-posh accent isn't acting!

She must have some dirty secrets about the industry. Why is she in employment? There's people in Hollyoaks with a broader range of acting skills.

At the theatre must be 'The Beautiful Game' Ben Elton musical, cringed the whole way through it...

Another vote for Lord of the Rings at the Cinema, fell fast asleep, bored senseless

‘Whatever Works’. Woody fucking Allen - I detest him and everything he does.

‘Mamma Mia’. Utter dross.

I don’t get the Judi Dench love either. She’s the same character over and over. And that cringeworthy colonialist bullshit in Marigold Hotel, or whatever it’s called.

Titanic - booooooooooring. Yawn.
Perfect Storm and Final Destination. Pretentious bollocks.

District 9 or whatever that film about aliens is called from a few years ago!

Mrs Brown's Boys movie (love the series but the film was horrific)

Movies I've walked out of are Meet Joe Black & the first Batman with Christian Bale.

Fifty Shades of Shite & Fifty Shades Shiter were both... well shite... but I'll still go see Fifty Shades of Absolute Shite when it comes out 🙈

Theatre was High School Musical at the Edinburgh Playhouse... the kid behind me had shoved her feet through the tiny gap in the seat & tapped out the beat to every fucking song on my arse whilst the adults with her sat talking all the way through!

Sideways. I got the absolute rage about that film. I'm not very good with overly indulgent films about middle aged men having a mid life crisis, finding beautiful women who will put up with their crap and it all coming good in the end ( cf everything Woody Allen has ever done.)
I was stuck in a cinema with two male friends who LOVED it. I had to sit on my hands I hated it so much.

Theatre-Billy Elliot, I left at the interval.

Went to see Cats as a 9 yo Brownie, loved it then. Loved the music and found it all v intriguing. Probably as a middle aged musician would not find it so appealing now.

Oh and theatre - By the Bog of cats with Holly Hunter was dreadful. Also a play that had Liza Tarbuck in it about 15 years ago. We left at the interval it was so bad.
I think I remember leaving a Ben Elton play as well.

Mrs Doubtfire. Dreadful. Cinema full of people guffawing at the only joke which is 'ha ha man in a dress'

Magnolia. Friend bought tickets for the 11pm showing. Fuck knows why. Bastard film didn't start until 12 and it's 3 miserable hours long ... in Camden Odeon, the most uncomfortable cinema invented. It is a supremely terrible film.

Lady I honestly never got the Woody Allen's attraction. Intellectual, art, my arse. His movies always felt like 60s or 70s pseudoartistic experiments where tou need a manual to know what to think about it. I read and watched some pretty heavy intellectual stuff, during my studies and even enjoyed some of it but Woody Allen is not my cup of herbal tea.

Theatre,

1. the Miser. Everyone said it was so funny and that they loved it. It was like a third rate panto. We left at the interval.
2. Much ado about nothing at the Old Vic with Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones. Most of the cast were inaudible and the acting was grim. We didn’t leave but mainly because we’d been looking forward to it so much and couldn’t quite believe how bad it was.

Clandestino
I know, right? Allen seems to fall along gendered lines in my experience - a lot of Men love his films and a lot of women seem faintly baffled by the whole thing.

Evita at the Liverpool Empire with Marti Pellow. He was dreadful - so wooden he was a fire hazard. And the audience had a lot of Wet Wet Wet fans who giggled every time he was on stage. An awful night out - not helped by a fracas in the station before we even got there!

Film: Gravity with Sandra Bullock and what a load of bullocks it was too. And it won something like seven oscars. Literally nothing happens - so dull.

Theatre: I agree with others Blood Brothers was such a disappointment and I absolutely love Willy Russel but BB was dreadful.

Most movies i see at the cinema are kids ones in fact all. Most boring one was lego movie. Uggh everything is awesome. Nope didn't think it would ever end.

I walked out fo Loving Vincent last night. CSI Vincent, more like, and the effects got boring and began to hurt my eyes.

Film: sucker punch. The worst film I’ve ever seen. Has no plot and is mainly girls running around in bikinis.

Theatre: the umbrellas of Cherbourg. Dire.

Name changed as this is outing.
We were at an evening showing of one of the Narnia films. We are very near the front of a large cinema...2 young couples are 2 rows in front. They're playing around chatting etc. They're sitting girl, boy,boy,girl.
Eventually one of the girls disappears and you can see her back bobbing up and down. Yes she is giving her boyfriend a blow job as he's sat next to his mate. The other girl notices and exclaims loudly 'eh you're a pair of dirty bastards ' and storms over to some other seats. Her boyfriend laughs and eventually moves. The bobbing continues. Eventually it stops and we return to the film. No shame.