Termites vs. White Elephants

[BurtWorm]

If you know film criticism, you may have read Manny Farber's essay about Termite art and White Elephant art. The latter describes the kind of big, bloated self-important movies that Hollywood and other world cinemas churn out to win awards. Termites are little pictures that don't give a shit what anyone thinks of them; they just want to be good movies on their own terms. An example of each might be Ben Hur vs. Pickup on South Street.

Your task in this thread is to give one or more examples of each, and maybe offer a little explanation of why you think they belong to each category. To make it more interesting, it doesn't have to be about movies alone. This concept applies to every artform. You'll get extra points for originality and idiosyncrasy. E.g., everyone knows Titanic is a White Elephant...or do they?

[BurtWorm]

1. For example, this thread is a termite.