Friday, October 13, 2006
TOV'S TOP TEN MOVIES...AND SHORT REVIEWS OF A FEW
I once compiled a "favorites" list of my all-time movies at Yahoo!....and thought I'd go ahead and share a bit of it here today! Those from my "Wild At Heart" Men's Bible study Week one sharing already heard of a few of my favs...but let's get a more in-depth look inside my brain, shall we?
10. The Fugitive(1993 drama/thriller) Starring Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones
9. There's Something About Mary(1998 comedy) Starring Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz
8. Gladiator(2000 Drama/Action) Starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix
7. Top Gun (1986 Drama/Action) Starring Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis
6. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980 Science Fiction) Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford
now...the top five, with a couple of reviews within...and a couple other Movies I have reviewed, and where they rank in my top 60 so far...
5. Planes, Trains and Automobiles(1987 Comedy) Starring Steve Martin, John Candy
4. Red Dawn(1984 Action/Drama) Starring Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen
The year is 1984...
Reganomics is in full swing...The Soviets have mirrored the U.S's boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics by foregoing competition in Los Angeles....22 Americans are freed from Cuba, thanks to Jesse Jackson's visits with Fidel Castro...Although "Glasnost" continues between Reagan and Gorbachev...the Red phone continues to be a focal point in the buildup of nuclear weapons between the two Superpowers...so the question lingers...If this country were to be invaded, would untrained civilians.... who the majority of would not have any idea about military tactics.... have enough fiber to grab their firearms and engage in guerrilla warfare against enemy forces that have been trained in the art of combat? The recent War against Terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11 re-raises the question...and though the storytelling in this movie is a bit cheesy by today's standards...it is well worth a look towards many issues that face us as a society today...the place of teenagers remains stereotyped as beneath adults...but this movie goes on to tell the story of a small group of smalltown valued teens that the plot says can overcome an army....not the most believable story...yet it helps those of their age watching to better understand what it takes to become an adult...patience, sacrifice, and love and family values! Something that, In my opinion, has been dwindling in the past two decades of the buildup of information technology, cell phones...and advanced partying!
3. Pulp Fiction (1994 Drama) Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson
If not faced with the unneccessary stereotypes of Drug users and underworld dealings...this movie gets #1 ahead of my favorite comedy and action/suspense films.
Classic Dialogue...including Marcellus Wallace's(Ving Rhames) discussions of laying out pain and prophesy, Jule's(Samuel Jackson) Thumping Bible verse killings and thoughts about life while in a pressure-packed scene in a diner at the end...and the cool, swimming direction of the Wolf(Harvey Keitel), when he comes to clean up a bloody mess!
The interesting way the scenes shift in time and location throughout the film, yet are able to be tied in together... also makes this movie different than any classic I have ever seen.
2. Dumb and Dumber (1994, Comedy) Starring Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels
1. Predator (1987 Action) Starring Arnold Swarzennegger, Carl Weathers and Jesse "the body" Ventura
Only thing I'll say about the number one choice....saw it on the big screen when I was only 16...so suffice to say....it was a memorable first view....a scary concept...an alien that hunts humans like humans hunt animals.....WHOA!
and here are a couple others on my list you should read about...
30. The Cable Guy (1996 Dark Comedy) Starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick
This Movie is Darkly funny, but the two main charachters(played by Carrey and Broderick) ...give it just the right "twist."(the password is "nipple!")
Jim Carrey plunges into the demonic as a cable-TV installer ``who can be your best friend or your worst enemy.'' Seemingly babysat by the boob tube as a child...the disturbing mixture of psychopath and lonely soul bred from his mother's ignorance lights up the screen with his lispy, yet comedic dialogue.("would you like some ju-uuice?"..after informing his would-be friend Steven Kovacs(played by Matt Broderick)that he brought and paid for a prostitute, rather than a "chance" meet-and-sleep. Chosen by the cable guy to be his buddy/victim, the earnest Kovacs is also the only character to root for in this movie. The film, directed by Ben Stiller, takes a promising leap when it suggests that everybody is a slave to the tube...which in this digital age...is not that bad of a suggestion...Steven is shown nursing his broken heart by watching Tony Robbins infomercials and relentlessly channel surfing. He even uses the TV as an aid in getting his girlfriend back. One of the funniest moments(besides the basketball game, where Carrey's charachter uses a bent-over player's back to sky to the hoop for a slam-dunk the rim and shatter the backboard to the sound of Filter's "Hey Man, Nice Shot")...was the "battle" scene at the theme restaurant "Medival Times" when the Cable freak re-creates dialogue from the season 2 episode of the original Star Trek series, "Amok Time"..where Spock appears to kill Kirk in a Vulcan mating ritual-related battle....music and everything! Hilarious!
If you like cheese and have extensive TV trivia knowledge...and are entertained by the wackiness of Carrey to the straight-man-type Broderick...you'll love this film!
54.(even though I own the DVD among only about 8 total)
Blackhawk Down(2001) Starring Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana
It was a terrifying day in early October, 1993 that will not be forgotten by me! Reading the Novel from Mark Bowden...and the firsthand account by captured Pilot Michael Durant..in his book "In the Company Of Heros"...and numerous other accounts written...has educated me on the events surrounding "Operation:Restore Hope"...The U.S. was looking to keep strutting it's feathers following successful operations in Grenada, Panama, and Gulf War I in 1991 amongst other conflicts. After all, a genocide of starvation was in progress and had been seemingly neverending since the overthrow of socialist Dictator Siad Barre in 1991. Clan Leader Mohammed Farah Aidid and his Habr Gidr mates were taking as many pot shots at relief workers and QRF's as possible...with Khat-chewing gunmen with no-care attitudes mowing down thousands of innocents. The mission to capture two of his high-ranking officials in the volatile and dangerous Bakara Market on 10/3/03 turned quickly south after Wolcott's Blackhawk went down, with Durant to follow shortly. The bravery from ALL the soldiers...including Postumous Medal Of Honor Winners Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon...is well documented, if not so different from Bowden's written accounts.
Despite the differences...including names, like the Gung-Ho Desk Clerk...and placings...like Seargeant Matt Eversmann...who was with McKnight's convoy in the book...but leading his own team in the book....I found this to be an emotionally compelling movie...with Acadamy Award Winning Sound Effect editing...and a masterfully done, though quickly put together-from-what-I-understand Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer...
If you like action and Drama...this movie has it all..."Rangers Lead the Way...All the Way.." and NSDQ!(Night Stalkers Don't Quit!)
and I can't resist how dissapointed I was with the final installment of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy...nonetheless at number
60. Star Wars: Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith(2005 Science Fiction) Starring Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen
*****spoiler alert****
"Hello, I'm Senator Palpatine. I'm a Sith Lord. My race is known for lying and deception. Could I interest you in a dubious solution to all your problems?"
Anakin says: "durrr..Sure! Even though I actually have no reason to believe you...I am compelled to deny my lifetime of hard work, training, and benevolence in exchange for a vague promise about a cure for a potential ailment my wife may have, based on a premonition from a 20-second dream sequence!"
Meanwhile...Yoda says "feel the force AROUND ME!"...EVEN THOUGH I'M ABLE TO DETECT EMOTIONAL CHANGES IN SOMEONE'S PERSONALITY(ie: fear in his pupils and fellow jedi), I WAS SOMEHOW UNABLE TO DETECT A CONSPIRACY INVOLVING SOME TWO QUADRILLION STORMTROOPERS AND EVERYONE IN THE FRIGGIN' REPUBLIC!"
I didn't think it was possible to be more unimpressed with Star Wars. Today, I stand corrected. If you were unfortunate enough to hear your stupid co-workers yammering on about Lucas' latest technically driven episode, you might have heard them saying something like "I didn't like the first two, but this one was good!" When I ask why, these people have trouble responding because it's hard to talk with George Lucas' hypnosis fully entrenched since 1977! Perhaps the question I should be asking is "why didn't you like the other two movies if you liked this one?" Nothing has changed. You have the same vacant-looking actors running around, aimlessly bumping into things, an army of stupid, sensitive robots, and dialogue clumsy enough to warrant putting a handicap sticker on George Lucas' car. To Lucas' credit, he was tacitly shamed into not giving Jar Jar any talking lines in this movie. With Jar Jar's character no longer speaking to annoy you, Lucas filled the void by giving every robot in the movie stupid toy noises. So instead of doing something cool like having the robots chase after screaming children, they bitch and moan and say things like "ow" when they get their prosthetic limbs chopped off. Even worse are the idiots who scarf down these sub-childish morsels of comedic relief, playing into Lucas' shallow theatrics!
Even after pointing out these serious problems with the plot, Star Wars diehards will still try to get you to admit one thing: "you have to admit that the special effects were good, right?"
NEWS FLASH: Episode III had no special effects.
They're not "special effects" anymore when they're found in EVERY SCENE. Lucas has done the seemingly impossible: he has made something that was once so unique that people called it "special" by name, and turned it into something so ordinary that nobody raises an eyebrow during a scene where a guy is having a sword fight on the back of a giant beast. By the way, I have to admit that the creature design was very creative in this episode; modeled after frilled lizards and ticks, Lucas tapped the well of innovation dry on this one. Congratulations Lucas, we don't care about "special" effects anymore!
In conclusion, I just want to ask "IS IT REALLY THAT HARD TO COME UP WITH A COOL STAR WARS CHARACHTER NAME ANYMORE? GENERAL GREVIOUS?!! What, Lucas?...were you tired of thinking up awesome names like "Lord Dooku" and "Nute Gunray" for your bad guys? Why not just call all your characters "Evil" and "Bad" next time? All Grievous needed was a monocle, and a large black moustache that he could twirl as he cackled "I'll get you, if it's the last thing I do!"
What a dissapointing ending to an otherwise kick-butt original classic sci-fi series!
and there you have it! Now go enjoy the movies in a heated theater near you this winter!
10. The Fugitive(1993 drama/thriller) Starring Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones
9. There's Something About Mary(1998 comedy) Starring Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz
8. Gladiator(2000 Drama/Action) Starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix
7. Top Gun (1986 Drama/Action) Starring Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis
6. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980 Science Fiction) Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford
now...the top five, with a couple of reviews within...and a couple other Movies I have reviewed, and where they rank in my top 60 so far...
5. Planes, Trains and Automobiles(1987 Comedy) Starring Steve Martin, John Candy
4. Red Dawn(1984 Action/Drama) Starring Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen
The year is 1984...
Reganomics is in full swing...The Soviets have mirrored the U.S's boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics by foregoing competition in Los Angeles....22 Americans are freed from Cuba, thanks to Jesse Jackson's visits with Fidel Castro...Although "Glasnost" continues between Reagan and Gorbachev...the Red phone continues to be a focal point in the buildup of nuclear weapons between the two Superpowers...so the question lingers...If this country were to be invaded, would untrained civilians.... who the majority of would not have any idea about military tactics.... have enough fiber to grab their firearms and engage in guerrilla warfare against enemy forces that have been trained in the art of combat? The recent War against Terrorism in the aftermath of 9/11 re-raises the question...and though the storytelling in this movie is a bit cheesy by today's standards...it is well worth a look towards many issues that face us as a society today...the place of teenagers remains stereotyped as beneath adults...but this movie goes on to tell the story of a small group of smalltown valued teens that the plot says can overcome an army....not the most believable story...yet it helps those of their age watching to better understand what it takes to become an adult...patience, sacrifice, and love and family values! Something that, In my opinion, has been dwindling in the past two decades of the buildup of information technology, cell phones...and advanced partying!
3. Pulp Fiction (1994 Drama) Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson
If not faced with the unneccessary stereotypes of Drug users and underworld dealings...this movie gets #1 ahead of my favorite comedy and action/suspense films.
Classic Dialogue...including Marcellus Wallace's(Ving Rhames) discussions of laying out pain and prophesy, Jule's(Samuel Jackson) Thumping Bible verse killings and thoughts about life while in a pressure-packed scene in a diner at the end...and the cool, swimming direction of the Wolf(Harvey Keitel), when he comes to clean up a bloody mess!
The interesting way the scenes shift in time and location throughout the film, yet are able to be tied in together... also makes this movie different than any classic I have ever seen.
2. Dumb and Dumber (1994, Comedy) Starring Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels
1. Predator (1987 Action) Starring Arnold Swarzennegger, Carl Weathers and Jesse "the body" Ventura
Only thing I'll say about the number one choice....saw it on the big screen when I was only 16...so suffice to say....it was a memorable first view....a scary concept...an alien that hunts humans like humans hunt animals.....WHOA!
and here are a couple others on my list you should read about...
30. The Cable Guy (1996 Dark Comedy) Starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick
This Movie is Darkly funny, but the two main charachters(played by Carrey and Broderick) ...give it just the right "twist."(the password is "nipple!")
Jim Carrey plunges into the demonic as a cable-TV installer ``who can be your best friend or your worst enemy.'' Seemingly babysat by the boob tube as a child...the disturbing mixture of psychopath and lonely soul bred from his mother's ignorance lights up the screen with his lispy, yet comedic dialogue.("would you like some ju-uuice?"..after informing his would-be friend Steven Kovacs(played by Matt Broderick)that he brought and paid for a prostitute, rather than a "chance" meet-and-sleep. Chosen by the cable guy to be his buddy/victim, the earnest Kovacs is also the only character to root for in this movie. The film, directed by Ben Stiller, takes a promising leap when it suggests that everybody is a slave to the tube...which in this digital age...is not that bad of a suggestion...Steven is shown nursing his broken heart by watching Tony Robbins infomercials and relentlessly channel surfing. He even uses the TV as an aid in getting his girlfriend back. One of the funniest moments(besides the basketball game, where Carrey's charachter uses a bent-over player's back to sky to the hoop for a slam-dunk the rim and shatter the backboard to the sound of Filter's "Hey Man, Nice Shot")...was the "battle" scene at the theme restaurant "Medival Times" when the Cable freak re-creates dialogue from the season 2 episode of the original Star Trek series, "Amok Time"..where Spock appears to kill Kirk in a Vulcan mating ritual-related battle....music and everything! Hilarious!
If you like cheese and have extensive TV trivia knowledge...and are entertained by the wackiness of Carrey to the straight-man-type Broderick...you'll love this film!
54.(even though I own the DVD among only about 8 total)
Blackhawk Down(2001) Starring Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana
It was a terrifying day in early October, 1993 that will not be forgotten by me! Reading the Novel from Mark Bowden...and the firsthand account by captured Pilot Michael Durant..in his book "In the Company Of Heros"...and numerous other accounts written...has educated me on the events surrounding "Operation:Restore Hope"...The U.S. was looking to keep strutting it's feathers following successful operations in Grenada, Panama, and Gulf War I in 1991 amongst other conflicts. After all, a genocide of starvation was in progress and had been seemingly neverending since the overthrow of socialist Dictator Siad Barre in 1991. Clan Leader Mohammed Farah Aidid and his Habr Gidr mates were taking as many pot shots at relief workers and QRF's as possible...with Khat-chewing gunmen with no-care attitudes mowing down thousands of innocents. The mission to capture two of his high-ranking officials in the volatile and dangerous Bakara Market on 10/3/03 turned quickly south after Wolcott's Blackhawk went down, with Durant to follow shortly. The bravery from ALL the soldiers...including Postumous Medal Of Honor Winners Randy Shugart and Gary Gordon...is well documented, if not so different from Bowden's written accounts.
Despite the differences...including names, like the Gung-Ho Desk Clerk...and placings...like Seargeant Matt Eversmann...who was with McKnight's convoy in the book...but leading his own team in the book....I found this to be an emotionally compelling movie...with Acadamy Award Winning Sound Effect editing...and a masterfully done, though quickly put together-from-what-I-understand Soundtrack by Hans Zimmer...
If you like action and Drama...this movie has it all..."Rangers Lead the Way...All the Way.." and NSDQ!(Night Stalkers Don't Quit!)
and I can't resist how dissapointed I was with the final installment of the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy...nonetheless at number
60. Star Wars: Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith(2005 Science Fiction) Starring Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen
*****spoiler alert****
"Hello, I'm Senator Palpatine. I'm a Sith Lord. My race is known for lying and deception. Could I interest you in a dubious solution to all your problems?"
Anakin says: "durrr..Sure! Even though I actually have no reason to believe you...I am compelled to deny my lifetime of hard work, training, and benevolence in exchange for a vague promise about a cure for a potential ailment my wife may have, based on a premonition from a 20-second dream sequence!"
Meanwhile...Yoda says "feel the force AROUND ME!"...EVEN THOUGH I'M ABLE TO DETECT EMOTIONAL CHANGES IN SOMEONE'S PERSONALITY(ie: fear in his pupils and fellow jedi), I WAS SOMEHOW UNABLE TO DETECT A CONSPIRACY INVOLVING SOME TWO QUADRILLION STORMTROOPERS AND EVERYONE IN THE FRIGGIN' REPUBLIC!"
I didn't think it was possible to be more unimpressed with Star Wars. Today, I stand corrected. If you were unfortunate enough to hear your stupid co-workers yammering on about Lucas' latest technically driven episode, you might have heard them saying something like "I didn't like the first two, but this one was good!" When I ask why, these people have trouble responding because it's hard to talk with George Lucas' hypnosis fully entrenched since 1977! Perhaps the question I should be asking is "why didn't you like the other two movies if you liked this one?" Nothing has changed. You have the same vacant-looking actors running around, aimlessly bumping into things, an army of stupid, sensitive robots, and dialogue clumsy enough to warrant putting a handicap sticker on George Lucas' car. To Lucas' credit, he was tacitly shamed into not giving Jar Jar any talking lines in this movie. With Jar Jar's character no longer speaking to annoy you, Lucas filled the void by giving every robot in the movie stupid toy noises. So instead of doing something cool like having the robots chase after screaming children, they bitch and moan and say things like "ow" when they get their prosthetic limbs chopped off. Even worse are the idiots who scarf down these sub-childish morsels of comedic relief, playing into Lucas' shallow theatrics!
Even after pointing out these serious problems with the plot, Star Wars diehards will still try to get you to admit one thing: "you have to admit that the special effects were good, right?"
NEWS FLASH: Episode III had no special effects.
They're not "special effects" anymore when they're found in EVERY SCENE. Lucas has done the seemingly impossible: he has made something that was once so unique that people called it "special" by name, and turned it into something so ordinary that nobody raises an eyebrow during a scene where a guy is having a sword fight on the back of a giant beast. By the way, I have to admit that the creature design was very creative in this episode; modeled after frilled lizards and ticks, Lucas tapped the well of innovation dry on this one. Congratulations Lucas, we don't care about "special" effects anymore!
In conclusion, I just want to ask "IS IT REALLY THAT HARD TO COME UP WITH A COOL STAR WARS CHARACHTER NAME ANYMORE? GENERAL GREVIOUS?!! What, Lucas?...were you tired of thinking up awesome names like "Lord Dooku" and "Nute Gunray" for your bad guys? Why not just call all your characters "Evil" and "Bad" next time? All Grievous needed was a monocle, and a large black moustache that he could twirl as he cackled "I'll get you, if it's the last thing I do!"
What a dissapointing ending to an otherwise kick-butt original classic sci-fi series!
