There are quite a few famous movies I haven't seen, because I admitedly have fairly limited taste. While I DON'T limit myself to just Disney, there are many genres I know from experience that I simply don't care for. Since I hate the experience of watching movies and not liking them, I am pretty selective about what I watch, and even more selective about what I buy. I generally stick with G and PG-rated (and the occasional PG-13) "family films" that fall within the genres of Animation, Fantasy, Animal Films, Musicals, and period/literary films, depending on the story.
I prefer escapism over "realism", and Happy Endings are pretty much mandatory for my tastes, as I feel things very deeply when I watch movies, as if they are real. But this makes the happier parts more happy! I want to be EURPHORICALLY UPLIFTED by movies. I don't like sad, "dark" and "edgy".
Also, I don't care for excessive violence, gore, crudeness, explicitness, or nudity, so that pretty much leaves out most PG 13 and R movies, as most of those have one or more of these elements. Not for any religious reasons, this is just my taste! It's more about seeking out things that enhance my inner child. If I accidentally hear about a shooting/murder in real life, I want to always be deeply saddened by it, and not be cold and hardened to these things by seeing so much of it in movies. My general rule of thumb is, if I wouldn't take a child to see it, I don't care to see it!
Anyway, I seem to have a pattern of not seeing some of the highest-grossing films of all time, such as:
Titanic - I already know from history that this will have a VERY sad and unhappy ending, so with my tastes, why invest the time in this only to end up feeling sad and depressed by it?
The Dark Knight - I didn't care for the first Nolan reboot. I liked the Burton ones better (especially the last two more campy ones directed by Joel Schumacher ). And yet I didn't care for any of those NEARLY as much as the camp fun of the Adam West Batman tv series and film. With the reports of this one being the darkest, most violent Batman yet, it was so easy for me to skip this. When I want a Batman fix, I'd rather go with THIS:
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="
http://www.youtube.com/embed/4mdKrNT29kE" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<iframe width="640" height="390" src="
http://www.youtube.com/embed/9d8srLbNih0" frameborder="0"></iframe>
<iframe width="480" height="390" src="
http://www.youtube.com/embed/RLZQ3OLEJWE" frameborder="0"></iframe>
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2 - Potter has simply gotten too DARK for my taste. I absolutely LOVED the first 3 Potter films, where we get to enjoy the sense of wonder and charm of Harry's introduction into the world of magic, and things are solved neatly and with no tragic deaths. (other than Harry's parents, but like fairy tales, these occur BEFORE the start of the story). And how awesome was that "time turner" ending in #3, where Buckbeak is saved and Sirius is set free! What a PERFECT, UPLIFTING ending when Harry flies off on Buckbeak. That moment was the peak of my Potter interest. They seemed magical and safe, and I looked forward to the 4th with great anticipation (I've never read the books, so I didn't know what was coming).
Sadly, there would not be any triumphant moments like that perfect ending of 3 in the next three films. Ever since that idiot Voldemort (I said his name!) appears in the 4th film, they have taken a turn away from what I loved about the first three - starting with the tragic death of Cedric which ENDS the fourth film and sends audiences out of theatres depressed and on a sad note. No uplifting Happy Ending in 4, 5, or 6, and Rowling seems intent on killing off as many beloved, innocent, good characters as possible. I read enough spoilers about 7-1 to know I would NOT have liked it, as even MORE beloved good characters die in the last book than in 4, 5, and 6 combined (where's the time turner now?)
So, as I slowly saw EVERYTHING I loved about the first 3 films disappear in the next 3, I've called it a day and prefer to remember Potter for the first three films, which, again, I LOVED. In hindsight, I should have stopped watching after my disappointment with the unhappy ending in 4, but I gave 5 and 6 a blind shot as well, (without investigating any spoilers) and experienced the same disapointing, diminishing returns that I did with #4. The bottom line is, the series started with a charming and innocent sense of wonder at this magical world, sprinkled with fun little scenes of life at Hogwarts, and it turned into something MUCH MUCH darker and less "family-friendly", arguably significantly darker than the original Star Wars trilogy and even Lord of the Rings.
Others' mileage may very. I am not used to watching PG-13 movies (and definitely not Rs), so the level of violence, darkness, sadness, and tragedy in 4, 5, and 6 was quite shocking and unenjoyable for me! Note that I am NOT blaming the filmmakers as I know that they are simply being faithful to the books.
Avatar - There isn't really any specific reason why I haven't seen this. I was borderline about whether the story appealed to me or not, and haven't gotten around to deciding whether I want to watch it when it comes on basic cable TV.
These are but a few examples of well-known contemporary blockbusters that I haven't seen. My explanations are not meant to start a debate or offend anyone who enjoys these movies!