Hoosiers
Normally I hate to be blatantly manipulated, but when it comes to sports movies, I’m easy pickings. Sitting at the top of most sports fans’ list of the best sports movies is Hoosiers, a sentimental ode to the underdog that shamelessly plays to every emotion. I love Hoosiers for all those reasons, but I also love it because it’s got great performances and classic storytelling. It’s no wonder that director Richard Anspaugh also directed Rudy, another sappy sports favorite. I’m such a sucker.
Trailer:
About Last Night…
I refuse to take any grief here. This movie is as guilty a pleasure as they come and I’m not ashamed. I mean, how can anyone resist a melodramatic romance drama starring two of the ‘80s cheesiest but most beautiful actors, Rob Lowe and Demi Moore. Neither of them can act worth a damn, but there’s just something about their over-emoting and “look how sexy I am in these sweatpants” style of acting that is irresistable.
So I really wanted to write a review of the new ginormous blockbuster The Avengers, which I saw last night, but I am so massively uninspired and unmotivated to do so. I don’t get paid to do this—watching and writing about movies is my hobby, it’s something I love to do and if other people enjoy reading my posts then that’s icing on the cake.
My goal, for my pleasure and yours, is to cover two types of films: 1) the ones I WANT to see and 2) the ones I think I SHOULD see, both to broaden my understanding of popular culture and to maybe provide a little guidance for my audience, especially for a mainstream offering that you may be considering plunking down some hard-earned cash for—I’m happy to take that bullet for you.
And, no matter what, I usually am able to come up with something to say about every movie I see, bad or good and everything inbetween. But, for The Avengers, I seem to have hit a wall. I just don’t care. I’m tired. I’m tired of seeing the same thing and trying to come up with new ways of saying old things.
And here’s the irony of it all. A few nights ago I watched Take Shelter at home on blu-ray. Now THAT’S a movie I want to talk about. It is mesmerizing, powerful, intense, well-written, well-directed and features a staggering performance by Michael Shannon that was shamefully forgotten by the Academy. I’ll admit that it’s hard for me to really absorb movies when I sit and watch them in my living room, but this movie held me riveted and I was able to block out everything and everyone around me, which is quite a feat with all the comforts (and distractions) of home surrounding me.
The same thing goes for Melancholia, another film I watched not too long ago at home on blu-ray. Often referred to as a companion piece for Take Shelter, Melancholia is also a powerful, dark, riveting and incredibly intense movie about—for lack of a better non-spoiler term—the end of the world.
What I would have given to have seen these movies in the theatre instead of on a TV screen. I know I have only myself to blame because I chose to not find a place in my movie-going schedule last year for these films. In fact, I’ll be honest—Take Shelter sat on our shelf for three weeks before we finally were in the mood to watch it. Yes, Melancholia and Take Shelter are heavy experiences. But would I trade the derivative and mind-numbing experience I had with The Avengers for these dark, depressing, courageous and ORIGINAL movies? A million times over.
My point? I guess it’s to say this: you know what you’re getting with The Avengers. You don’t need me to say it. My joy and my job here, I feel, is to instead keep a look out for the wonderful surprises like Take Shelter and Melancholia and pass them onto you.
And when I’ve got nothing to say about a movie, maybe that’s all you need to know.
Back to the Future
Ah, 1985. The year Michael J. Fox ruined my life. Well, “ruined” may be too strong a word, but the actor’s influence certainly was felt in my life when I was 15. And I owe it all to Back to the Future. Yes, the movie is fantastic, and repeated viewings reveal it to be a genuine piece of pop culture artistry that stands the test of time. The movie was good, and it was huge back in 1985. Everybody saw it. And the friends of mine who saw it (all of them) seemingly agreed on one thing at about the same moment: I was the spitting image of Michael J. Fox. I don’t know if you know this, but by the time you’re 15, teasing becomes a genuine art form and you seem to utilize this tool as often as possible. Don’t worry, this wouldn’t classify as bullying—more good-natured ribbing, since, while saying I looked exactly like Michael J. Fox was sort of…humbling, nobody really intended it or considered it to be an insult. He was the most popular actor with teens at the time, after all. But it was, apparently, very funny to a lot of my peers and this source of amusement lasted a long time—at least in teenage years—and one I couldn’t even escape in the summer, as the kids at camp jumped on the apparently obvious bandwagon with even more vigor. Ah, it was all in good fun, but, to this day, I can’t look at Back to the Future without a little twinge of resentment. I mean, they couldn’t have gone with Lea Thompson instead?
Trailer:
Brazil
No, I didn’t see Brazil when I was 15. But later in life, after having lived with a devout Monty Python fan for a while, I was not able to keep secret for long the fact that I was a Terry Gilliam virgin. That was quickly rectified by a forced viewing of what is considered to be Gilliam’s masterpiece, Brazil. And, truly, film hasn’t been the same for me since. Brazil is the movie that opened my eyes to the concept of visionary filmmaking, and laid the groundwork for my appreciation of so many other filmmakers, like Stanley Kubrick, Tim Burton and Terrence Malick, and especially my favorite directors of all time, the Coen Brothers. Brazil was a watershed moment for me—I realized that my favorite movies aren’t the ones that can be shoved into one category: drama, comedy, romance—instead, I love movies that are odd and complicated and beautiful and smart and don’t tell me what to feel or think. If you’ve never seen Brazil, you owe yourself the trip down the rabbit hole.
Trailer:
St. Elmo’s Fire
This is my favorite John Hughes movie that isn’t a John Hughes movie. Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Mare Winningham and Andrew McCarthy were my icons of impending adulthood. Playing college friends trying to navigate the real world after graduation, they weren’t cool to me as much as they were fascinating and I couldn’t get enough of the trainwreck. I loved this movie so much that I even used it in a college film editing class assignment—re-editing the film down to 15 minutes. It certainly isn’t a great film, but there are times when you just want a movie to hit you in the right place at the right time.
Side-note, since we’re being personal: When I was in high school, the star wrestler on my school’s wrestling team broke his neck during a match, paralyzing him. His story captivated our school, as he fought to return to school, in his wheelchair, and had a great attitude and was an inspiration to everyone—even those of us who didn’t know him. I was so moved by his courage that I wrote a letter to Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 in a Long-Distance dedication (remember those?). It was read on the air and the song I dedicated? “St. Elmo’s Fire—Man in Motion” by John Parr. Yes, some things you just can’t make up.
Amadeus Tootsie may have been the movie that made me fall in love with movies, but this was the one that turned love to passion. It can’t be said in enough ways how Amadeus blew me away as a 14-year-old. I still consider it a masterpiece. Easily my favorite drama of all time.
Trailer:
Beverly Hills Cop
Everything Eddie Murphy once was is on display here in what I consider to be his finest performance. This was the first movie I remember so deftly blending action and comedy. Even in this moment I can’t pin it to one genre. So many movies since have tried to duplicate the formula, but nothing beats the original.
Trailer:
Country
The most underrated performance of Jessica Lange’s career. I suppose expectations were high after her double-nomination year of 1982, but this film deserved much more attention than it got. She rightfully was still nominated for her performance in this struggling-farmer themed movie, but it unfortunately got lost in the shuffle with Sissy Spacek’s The River and Sally Field’s Places in the Heart, two other heartland dramas starring Oscar-winning actresses. All three women were nominated for Best Actress (with Field winning), but I consider Lange’s subtle and strong performance to be the best of the bunch.
The Outsiders
I feel so bad for all the kids who didn’t grow up with The Outsiders. What more, really, could you ask for in a teen drama? My memory of this film is so vivid: the leather jackets, the greasy-haired dreamboats, the muscles, the fights, the cigarette packs in the armsleeves, the rolled-up jean cuffs, Ralph Macchio as the unlikely hero, Matt Dillon as the misunderstood stud, C. Thomas Howell as the sensitive poet, Patrick Swayze as the protective father-figure and Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruise as background eye candy—and that’s not even mentioning Diane Lane. I just can’t remember another cast like this one and another movie that reached right in and pulled my young guts out. I absolutely loved this movie, for every reason including the tragic melodrama that makes Twilight seem like kid’s stuff. Who needs vampires when you’ve got a young Matt Dillon.
Trailer:
The Right Stuff
I’m pretty sure I didn’t see this when it first came out, but I’ve seen it several times since and each viewing reminds me of what an American classic this film is. Based on the Tom Wolfe book of the same name, this movie about the original American astronauts is lyrical in tone and stirring in scope. It captures a place and time in our history in just the right way. You just can’t help but feel a bit more patriotic after watching The Right Stuff. And the great cast, including Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Sam Shepard, and Fred Ward doesn’t hurt either.
Trailer:
Scarface
Long before Showgirls, this cult/camp classic set the world ablaze with cheesy, over-the-top acting and obscenely graphic violence. But would this movie have even made a blip on the radar without Al Pacino as the star? I mean, it’s Pacino that makes this movie as watchable as it is—even if for all the wrong reasons. I obviously didn’t see this seriously demented movie when I was 13, but in the years since, I have come to appreciate it as outrageously entertaining machismo. From the classicly-‘80s Giogio Moroder soundtrack to the is-she-really-wearing-that dead eyes performance by Michelle Pfeiffer (a year after Grease 2!) to Pacino’s laughable accent, Scarface lives up to its reputation—and more.
When I was 12, I fell in love with movies. The year was 1982. Since then, movies have been my escape, my companion, my passion and a constant source of amazement, inspiration, wonder and profundity.
I’m 41 now and even though I’ve seen a lot of crap in the past 30 years, there are still moments in the theatre—like when I see movies like Hugo or The Tree of Life—that take me back to when I was 12 and remind me why I fell in love in the first place.
So, in honor of my 30-year love affair with movies, I am going to take a look back at each of the past 30 years and reminisce about the movies that moved me. We’re not talking about the movies that were my favorites or even the ones that I would consider the best of the year. Instead, this is going to be a very personal, extremely subjective list with only one requirement: these movies in some way mattered to me at the time.
I thought it might also be fun to take a look back not only at the movies that made a particular impression on me, but to look at the ones that didn’t—those movies that popular consensus now says are important or influential in some way but, for some reason, just didn’t resonate with me. And finally, I will use this space to admit here, in front of everyone, the movies I haven’t even seen yet. You may stop talking to me once you find out I’ve never seen Ghostbusters.
So, here we go. The first installment of 30 Years of Movies—the Movies That Mattered…To Me. We’ll start where it all began—1982—and count down to 2012 in weekly installments. I hope you enjoy it and that it might inspire you to go back down your own cinematic memory lane.
1982
The Movies That Mattered:
Airplane II: The Sequel
You always remember the first time you laughed your ass off in a movie theatre. The original may be the one everyone remembers, but I actually think there are more classic one-liners in the sequel. Whatever my sense of humor is—blame Airplane. There are kids who grew up on Monty Python or Saturday Night Live. I really feel I grew up on Airplane. The spoof genre really hit a chord with me and I honestly can’t remember laughing as hard at a movie as I did—and still do—with this one. Yes, I like to think of myself as sophisticated and cultured, but when it comes to what makes me really laugh—give me silly every time.
Favorite scene:
Frances
Because of its rating, I had to catch this one on video a few years later, but this was still the movie that solidified the legend of Jessica Lange in my young mind—one that still exists 30 years later. Her performance in Tootsie was the one that registered her in my consciousness, but it wasn’t until I saw her textured, aggressive, nuanced and riveting performance in Frances where I really understood what a massive talent she is and made me want to see everything she would ever do in the rest of her career. I just knew, then and there, that she would never let me down. So far, so good.
Grease 2
Yes, I did, in fact, see this movie 6 times in the theatre. I was young and stupid. But there was something about Michelle Pfeiffer in those leather jackets and the corny-but-catchy-tunes that I couldn’t get enough of. Would someone actually admit that they bought the soundtrack album and played the grooves out of it? Would someone actually admit that they knew every lyric of every song and even came up with lip sync routines to the numbers? No, nobody in their right mind would ever admit that.
Are you a hopeful screenwriter looking for the secret formula for box office gold? Well, I think we’ve finally found it. Three words: teenagers in peril. Well, yes, it is also recommended that you throw in a trio of central characters, preferably one girl and two boys. And I suggest you set up some sort of romantic triangle between the central characters—that would really help. And the setting must be somewhat fantastical—just enough to be familiar, but just absurd enough to be unreal. You of course would have to write a book first—and make it a series, that’s a must. But, mainly, build it all around the simple idea of teenagers in deathly peril. Then you may begin to print money.
First, there was Harry Potter, which was more peril, less romance. Then came Twilight, which was more romance, less peril. And now, perhaps the ultimate expression of teen angst, The Hunger Games, which is virtually no romance and all peril. And by far the most cathartic of the three.
The Hunger Games, really, has it all. Based on the first of Suzanne Collins’ trilogy of best-selling young adult books, the film, directed by Gary Ross, stays true to the novel (as much as it can) and features characters we root for in a premise we despise, triggering basic human emotions such as fear, loathing, compassion and excitement. Director Ross, however, does a good job of reining in his characters’ emotions and focusing instead on the overriding theme of this film (and Collins’ books): survival. And this is why the books and the movie succeed.
If you don’t know the premise of The Hunger Games, prepare yourself. Set in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic North American country called Panem that is under authoritarian rule, The Hunger Games is about an annual event meant to discourage civil unrest. Every year, two teenagers, one boy and one girl, from each of the 12 Panem districts are randomly chosen to play in the annual Hunger Games, which is a fight to the death. Twenty-four teenagers enter an arena, and one emerges alive. Oh, did I mention this was all nationally televised? Yes, it’s the ultimate reality competition. And you thought Survivor was stressful. click here to keep reading The Hunger Games »
True story: we entered the theatre last night for a showing of Friends with Kids and sat in front of two teenage girls who were huddled together in the back corner of the tiny theatre. They were obviously escapees from the Hunger Games throng that was consuming the lobby and every other crevice of the multiplex on this Friday night. It seemed to be the only place to go to avoid the frenzy, so I guessed they ducked into this theatre to protest or to avoid admitting to their friends that they really had no interest in bowing to the peer pressure. Either way, it was clear they weren’t there to see Friends With Kids because I heard them pull out their smartphone and dial up the trailer so they could know what they had ducked into. And, while watching the trailer, this is exactly what they said to each other:
“Hey, she was in Bridesmaids!”
“He was in Bridesmaids too!”
“OMG, so was she!”
So they stayed.
Want to know what this is called? The ripple effect.
Friends with Kids may have nothing to do with the breakout comedy hit of 2011, Bridesmaids, but the fact that four of the actors who were in Bridesmaids are also in Friends with Kids was enough to make these girls interested enough to sit through ¾ of the movie before leaving. And that’s something.
However, Friends With Kids couldn’t be more different from Bridesmaids if it tried. But talent is talent, and Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig and Chris O’Dowd (from Bridesmaids) prove that they can pretty much do anything. click here to keep reading Friends With Kids »
2012 may have started S-L-O-W-L-Y, but there are some movies to look forward to. Here are the ones I’m marking on my calendar:
The Hunger Games(March 23)
Much like I was with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I am so looking forward to the cinematic version of a book I couldn’t put down. I’m a little nervous about this futuristic, dark adventure being in the hands of the guy who made Seabiscuit and Pleasantville, but I’ll stay optimistic.
Directed by Gary Ross
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz and Wes Bentley.
The details have been under lock and key, but everyone has already pretty much figured out that this latest Ridley Scott sci-fi flick is a prequel to Alien. And as if that weren’t exciting enough, it stars Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender , Guy Pearce and Noomi Rapace. The future never looked so dark—or awesome.
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Wilson, Noomi Rapace
So I saw The Lorax last night. After an absolutely brutal January and February for movies, I finally felt it was safe to venture back to the cinema and give 2012 a chance. I was drawn in by the promise of Dr. Seuss magic, animated charm and colorful and vibrant characters—in brilliant 3D. And I got all of that, for the most part. But what I also got was a splitting headache, mainly from the bad production numbers and from the message being pounded into my head over and over and over and over. Now I understand that Dr. Seuss is all about simple morality tales. And there’s nothing wrong with that, especially when you’re trying to get through to kids. But it’s another thing entirely when that message isn’t tempered at all with nuance or variance—or subtlety. I can’t imagine the message wasn’t delivered in all its magnitude in the first fifteen minutes of the movie, which meant we were left with another 75 minutes of the same thing. Ok, we get it.
Still, I braved a theatre full of kids on a Friday night after a long week because I wanted to smile. And, in spite of all its simplicity and hammer-it-home morality, The Lorax is predictably adorable, fun to watch and gives you all the zip-bang action and bright colors that you need to keep a kid today entertained—or an adult just amused enough to not care about all the restless kids behind them.
I’m a sucker for cute characters, and The Lorax keeps ‘em coming. I wish, though, that The Lorax had been a little more “Seuss-ian.” When you think of Dr. Seuss, you think of really bizarre and odd creatures, ones that could come only from the imagination of one of history’s greatest children’s book authors. But The Lorax is just a little too middle-of-the-road, relying far too much on ordinary—human—characters to tell the story. And those human production numbers? Just kill me. While I’m all for kids embracing the musical genre, when you stuff big musical numbers into a movie just to fill time, it’s painful. Especially when you can’t understand a single word they’re singing.
Alas, The Lorax didn’t kick off 2012 with the bang I had hoped, but it certainly did make me smile and, sometimes, that’s all you really need.
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Are you a hopeful screenwriter looking for the secret formula for box office gold? Well, I think we’ve finally found it. Three words: teenagers in peril. Well, yes, it is also recommended that you throw in a trio of central characters, preferably one girl and two boys. And I suggest you set up some sort of romantic triangle between the central characters—that would really help. And the setting must be somewhat fantastical—just enough to be familiar, but just absurd enough to be unreal. You of course would have to write a book first—and make it a series, that’s a must. But, mainly, build it all around the simple idea of teenagers in deathly peril. Then you may begin to print money.
True story: we entered the theatre last night for a showing of Friends with Kids and sat in front of two teenage girls who were huddled together in the back corner of the tiny theatre. They were obviously escapees from the Hunger Games throng that was consuming the lobby and every other crevice of the multiplex on this Friday night. It seemed to be the only place to go to avoid the frenzy, so I guessed they ducked into this theatre to protest or to avoid admitting to their friends that they really had no interest in bowing to the peer pressure. Either way, it was clear they weren’t there to see Friends With Kids because I heard them pull out their smartphone and dial up the trailer so they could know what they had ducked into. And, while watching the trailer, this is exactly what they said to each other:
2012 may have started S-L-O-W-L-Y, but there are some movies to look forward to. Here are the ones I’m marking on my calendar:
So I saw The Lorax last night. After an absolutely brutal January and February for movies, I finally felt it was safe to venture back to the cinema and give 2012 a chance. I was drawn in by the promise of Dr. Seuss magic, animated charm and colorful and vibrant characters—in brilliant 3D. And I got all of that, for the most part. But what I also got was a splitting headache, mainly from the bad production numbers and from the message being pounded into my head over and over and over and over. Now I understand that Dr. Seuss is all about simple morality tales. And there’s nothing wrong with that, especially when you’re trying to get through to kids. But it’s another thing entirely when that message isn’t tempered at all with nuance or variance—or subtlety. I can’t imagine the message wasn’t delivered in all its magnitude in the first fifteen minutes of the movie, which meant we were left with another 75 minutes of the same thing. Ok, we get it.