Eric: Yes, it's a shame, I love it out there. But now I'm in Washington, DC and while I will miss the superior weather, hamburgers, and attractive women, I will have the opportunity to learn a lot more about our nation's government. So it's pretty much a wash.
Eric: Your civic focus is indeed admirable. Now let's talk movies. Seen anything recently?Eric: I saw the newest Harry Potter with Rich last week. I gotta say, I just don't get why people love these movies, especially people who don't read the books. This movie was especially bad, it was like 2 hours of exposition. The kid who plays Harry has only two expressions, scared and scared-but-determined. I never get all the talk about how dark and layered these movies are; I happen to think they're very superficial. Rowling's books are long, and chock full of detail - the movie is a rushed-but-also-numbingly-slow glance at what seems like 100 different characters. And Harry isn't growing meaningfully, other than two minutes devoted to un-illustrated nightmares and him being bitchy with his friends. Without real character development, all we have is an episodic TV show where Harry always escapes death in the end. Anyways, I'm done watching these movies. No need to try to convince me otherwise.
Eric: Well, I won't try, since as you know, I agree with nearly everything you ever say. Care to comment on any other summer movies?Eric: Spiderman 3 was loaded with unintentional laughs. The woman seated next to me even left before the movie ended, causing another eruption of laughter in the theater. I love that Kirsten Dunst's role was that of a bad actress. How convenient to be able to play yourself in a movie.
Eric: You're being very negative. When Tobey Maguire was crying out that couples should work through their problems, I was honestly moved to tears.
Eric: That is because you are an idiot.
Eric: Fair enough. Any recommendations?Eric: If you're willing to watch a documentary, "Hoop Dreams" (1994) is about as good a movie as I've ever seen. It's long, but I promise it's worth it. It nominally chronicles the lives of two inner-city Chicago kids chasing a dream of basketball stardom, but that description doesn't do the film any justice. Some people more versed in movies describe this a bit better.
Eric: You know I'm not watching any documentaries. I want a fun recommendation.
Eric: You're such a simpleton. Well, how about "Out of Sight" (1998), Steven Soderbergh's take on Elmore Leonard's story of a bank robber who falls in love with the US Marshal (Karen Sisco, in case anyone ever saw that TV show) he kidnaps. It's baffling to me that "Ocean's Eleven" could be so popular while this other Soderbergh movie is so unknown. The movies share a certain comic sensibility, and the material is heightened by an electric, hilarious cast including George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez (this was pre-J. Lo, she was really very appealing then), Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Steve Zahn, Isaiah Washington, Catherine Keener and Albert Brooks. It has an astounding 92% fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com, plus a pretty cool cameo from everyone's favorite Batman, Michael Keaton. I'm sure you'll like this, I don't know anyone who doesn't.Additionally, here's my favorite movies each year from 1994-2004, plus one movie whose popularity baffles me. Why that time period? I don't have to explain myself to anyone, so there.
1994
Favorites: Hoop Dreams, Shawshank Redemption, Quiz Show
Baffling: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - I just don't think I get it. Some moments are mildly amusing, but I fail to see why this is an iconic film for my generation.
1995
Favorites: Se7en, Usual Suspects
Baffling: Babe - I guess every now and then an animal movie has to be a hit.
1996
Favorites: Swingers, Shall We Dance, Jerry Maguire
Baffling: Twister. I cannot think of a single good thing about this movie. It was 1996 when I first learned that people will watch anything if it's marketed well.
1997
Favorites: L.A. Confidential, Good Will Hunting, Wag The Dog (I often wonder if I am the only person to like this movie a lot)
Baffling: The Full Monty. Yet another universally "hilarious" movie I think is mediocre.
1998
Favorites: The Truman Show, Rush Hour, There's Something About Mary. 1998 is an incredible year for movies. The year includes Rushmore, The Big Lebowski, American History X, Pleasantville, Gods and Monsters, Dark City, Elizabeth, Saving Private Ryan, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the previously mentioned Out of Sight.
Baffling: The Waterboy. This was the beginning of the end for me with Adam Sandler. Like, I should not have to pay theater prices for production value this low.
1999
Favorites: The Sixth Sense, Being John Malkovich, Toy Story 2
Baffling: The Mummy. I'm not above big special-effects blockbusters, but this just wasn't anything special to me. Oh, and I obviously despise The Blair Witch Project.
2000
Favorites: The Contender, High Fidelity (sad what's happened to Jack Black, isn't it?), Crouching Tiger
Baffling: None of the popular stuff really disgruntles me, the closest being Erin Brockovich and Scary Movie
2001
Favorites: Shrek, Black Hawk Down, Ocean's Eleven
Baffling: Lord of the Rings. I hear Dave Ruttenberg loves this movie though.
2002
Favorites: Adaptation, Bourne Identity, About a Boy. 2002 was sort of a thin year for movies, as I looked at the list I even considered putting Far From Heaven on here.
Baffling: My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I think maybe I needed to be 45 years old to appreciate this fully.
2003
Favorites: Mystic River, Big Fish, 21 Grams
Baffling: Hard to pick anything.
2004
Favorites: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Incredibles, Maria Full of Grace
Baffling: National Treasure. To all the people who told me to watch this, insisting it wasn't as stupid as the preview made it appear, I just want to state officially that this is a really stupid movie.
Okay, if you've made it this far, you deserve to have a say in my next "Suspending Disbelief" entry, where I go into incredible detail on the improbability of a given movie. Here are the choices: Drumline, Speed, Above the Rim, Independence Day. Voting at the top right.
9 comments:
scary movie only "disgruntled" you? it was by far the WORST blockbuster i have ever seen. the worst movie i have ever seen is still pootie tang. big ups to anybody who sat through that POS.
and nobody claimed that the plot of national treasure wasn't stupid. the movie was just a pleasant surprise for being entertaining and not being utterly unwatchable.
Scary Movie isn't really THAT popular, so while it sucks, it's hard to get all worked up about it, because so many people agree that it sucks.
I vote for Independence Day. Even though you can apparently upload a virus to alien invaders via a Mac, it was one of my favorites.
I like most of your favorites, but you're bashing on some of good movies. The Mummy was great seeing it in the theater. It felt kind of like Indiana Jones. I can't wait until the 4th one comes out. Babe is awesome.
The sequels to those movies... now those were some piles of crap.
Sadly they're making a new National Treasure movie...somehow the plot is even more implausible. Also, when I vote for Speed, my vote represents all things Keanu Reeves...minus the matrix movies, but not his acting in them.
I fucking hate Camiseta Personalizada.
oscar folks got this one backwards: mystic river sucked. fast times was way better (maybe 1 thousand times better) ... phoebe cates circa 1982 is hottest female of all time. am i weak for putting '77 sally field and '84 apollonia (is there any other vintage) as my possible #2 and 3?
Did you know it is "sally field" not "sally fields"?
sally field '77 is your number 2? how old are you? seventy-five?
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