As a moviegoer for more than 70 years, I’ve seen some great movies, some not so great, some really bad ones, some trying but failing to be deep and meaningful, some reveling in their shallowness. I was born the year The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind were released. My mother started taking me to the movies shortly after that. I saw some movies that were definitely not PG rated. I can still remember being afraid of The Thing and delighting in An American in Paris.

Many times I disagree with the critics. I can’t call them and tell him what I think of their reviews, so now that there is an internet for anyone to babble on I add my voice. I’m sure there are many of you who will disagree with my assessments. I hope to hear from you. I especially want to hear from those of you who agree.

Sometimes I don’t understand what the critics are thinking when they rave about certain movies. Ditto when the Academy awards an Oscar to them. They must get caught up in hype and box office. These are my 10 films that were over-rated.:

1. Forrest Gump. This wasn’t just a movie about a stupid person, it was a stupid movie. The characters weren’t likeable. There was no character development. There was no tension or drama. It was just one vignette after another.

2. Lost in Translation. Ho. Hum. And it demeans the Japanese people.

3. The Departed. This was Shakespeare on steroids. A rehashed plot overacted (except for Damon and Sheen). Scorsese let Nicholson run amok—his death scene was hilarious. A really silly movie.

4. Inglourious Basterds. Why, oh why did anyone make this movie? It makes no sense to distort history so blatantly. And it trivialized the Holocaust. Bad form.

5. Munich. Can’t tell you much about this movie because it was shot in the dark.

6. Thelma and Louise. This movie proved that women can be nitwits as much as men. Why did that need to be disclosed? A road movie to nowhere. And Brad Pitt reminds me of Mighty Mouse.

7. Hurt Locker. A decent movie, but worthy of an Academy Award? I don’t think so.

8. There Will Be Blood. There should be. And it should be Daniel Day Lewis’s. It was quite painful watching this performance.

9. English Patient. Boring, boring, boring.          

10.  Brave Heart. Just one big, bloody mess. The blue face was rather nice though.

Also rans: No Country for Old Men, Shakespeare in Love, Lord of the Rings, and Missing.

I didn’t see Titanic or Avatar, but I suspect they were over-rated.