Everyone out there has some kind of best of list, or top ten, or more. Well I am a whore, so I will do the same. Here are some must see movies from my collection. If you have see them great, if not go get them. And please comment and tell us what you think.
COMEDY
The Big Lebowski –
The tale of one man’s struggles (Jeff Bridges – The Dude) to get his rug, that ties the room together, back from the Chinaman that peed on it. Enlisting the help of his bowling buddies (John Goodman: Walter Sobchak and Steve Buscemi: Donny Kerabatsos), an adventure ensues to regain the rug. Turns out The Dude was mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski whose wife has been ‘kidnapped’.
Memorable Scenes: Several, but I will point out a few to save space
Walter, a gut toting Jew convert, uses a ringer, a briefcase full of his undies to fool the ‘kidnappers’, the Nihilists. Then during an exchange later in the movie with the nihilist, he asks for the undies back.
Jesus Quintana (John Turturro) performing a dance with his bowling ball while the Gypsy King’s Hotel California Plays. His exchange with Walter during the semis of the bowling tournament simply has to be seen to enjoy, it ends with this memorable line. ‘You said it, man. Nobody fucks with the Jesus.’
When the Chinaman and the Blond Treehorn Thug enter The Dude’s home, while he is in the tub smoking out, one of the thugs holds up The Dude’s bowling and asks, ‘What the fuck is this?’. The Dude responds the only way The Dude can, ‘Obviously you’re not a golfer.’ Classic
Memorable Quotes: Too many to mention, but I will add one of two
Walter Sobchak: I told those fucks down at the league office a thousand times that I don’t roll on Shabbos!
Walter Sobchak: Fair! WHO’S THE FUCKING NIHILIST HERE! WHAT ARE YOU, A BUNCH OF FUCKING CRYBABIES?
Jesus Quitana: Let me tell you something, pendejo. You pull any of your crazy shit with us, you flash a piece out on the lanes, I’ll take it away from you, stick it up your ass and pull the fucking trigger ’til it goes “click.”
Auto Circus Cop: [the Dude asks the Auto Circus Cop if there are any leads on who stole his beater car] Leads, yeah, sure. I’ll just check with the boys down at the crime lab, they’ve got four more detectives working on the case. They got us working in shifts! Leads!
In closing, this is one of the funniest movies ever made. Directed and written by the Coen brothers, the same Coen Brothers that recently won a crap load of awards for No Country for Old Men. John Goodman should have won a shit load of awards for his Walter Sobchak character. Jeff Bridges is The Dude, a perfectly played character. And the extra characters and misadventures make this movie the first on my must see list. And I challenge anyone to watch this movie and not want to sip on a White Russian.
DRAMA
This is a tough category, but it being an election year, I will go with my favorite political movie of all time.
The Contender -
A political thriller about a female senator that is nominated to become Vice President. Played perfectly by Joan Allen, Laine Hanson, is a victim of vicious attacks on her personal life by the political powers that are opposed to the President’s (Jeff Bridges, just weird that he is in both movies I have written about) views and party affiliation. Hanson, recently shifted from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, and we have seen in real life the problems this causes. A confirmation committee is lead by Rep. Sheldon Runyon (Gary Oldman), who has another candidate in mind for the position Gov. Jack Hathaway (William Petersen). Others making a splash in the movie, a no mustache Sam Elliot (who also was in The Big Lebowski) playing the role of Kermit Newman, Chief of Staff for the President and Christian Slater (He of Pump Up The Volume Fame, and Kuffs) playing the role of a younger Representative with Grand Political Aspirations.
Memorable Scenes:
President Jackson Evans bowling in the White House basement while eating on a Shark Steak Sandwich. Here is news that is shocking, apparently when you are the president you can get anything you want. Weird.
President Jackson’s speech to Congress, where the climax of the film takes place. I won’t spoil it for anyone, but it is a moving and impassioned speech that is sorely lacking in today’s political arena.
Memorable Quotes:
Kermit Newman: (Wanting some dirt on Shelly Runyon) I want something EMBARRASSING! Something sexual! Little boys, midgets, that sort of thing! Cows! I don’t give a goddamn!
President Jackson: (Pointing to Shelly Runyon) …pointed my finger YOUR way, and asked “Have you no decency, sir?”
In closing, I feel that The Contender is one of those hidden gems. A movie that might have flown under your radar or a movie you might have seen in passing. But this is a quality movie and a must see in this election year. Give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed.
ACTION
Wow, this is a hard choice. I wanted to go with one of the Bourne Films, especially last one, but I will go with a classic, a movie that flew low and then burst onto the scene about 9 years ago.
The Matrix
I’m sure everyone out there reading this has seen the movie. But I recently re-watched it HD, and it is truly incredible, a must see on that format. The story revolves around a hacker named, Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves), also known as Neo. He is approached by a band of rebels that are trying to expose the reality of the world that he is living in, and they have chosen to wage war on the controllers of this ‘real world’. Pulling Neo into the rebellion, believing he is The One, will help bring down the oppressing system of the Matrix and freedom for all humans. Leading the crusade is Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), and by his side is his loyal follower Trinity (Carrie Anne Moss). And directed by The Wachowski brothers.
Memorable Scenes:
How about the opening scene, where we see cops storming what looks to be an abandon building, then encountering a black leather clad Trinity. She then spins around, flips a chair with her foot into the face of one officer, rises up in the air, in a scene that has been repeated ever since in crappy spoof movies, the camera spins around her while she hovers in the air and delivers a well timed kick to another officer, as shots begin to be fired upon her, she races up the wall running horizontally to try to escape. Figuring out what is going on, Agent Smith and others begin to pursue Trinity, which leads to another amazing visual effect of her jumping across buildings, flying through a window, racing out the door and to a nearby telephone booth where the phone is ringing. Exhausting.
Another memorable scene, we find out what happens after you ingest the red pill. Neo, wanting to see how far the rabbit hole goes, takes the red pill from Morpheus’ hand, and begins to notice a mirror. When he touches the mirror it sticks to his finger, and then begins to crawl up his body, finally pushing its way down his throat, when he awakens, he is truly awakened, as he is now in The Real World.
Memorable Quotes:
Neo: (after watching Morpheus make the jump across 2 buildings, we did a little nod to Keanu’s past fame as Ted) Whoa!!!!
Neo: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge bullets?
Morpheus: No, Neo. I’m trying to tell you that when you’re ready, you won’t have to.
Agent Smith: Never send a human to do a machine’s job.
All in all, this is a great cinematic experience. And at the time changed the Box Office, like Star Wars before it, the following for this movie was incredible. SO what is a studio to do, make sequels, and in there lies the problem. The Matrix was a prefect stand alone movie, and I’m sure it was meant to be that way, but one could not ignore its popularity, and the public (geeks) demanded more from this universe, and they were treating to 2 more sequels and a number of games, all of which sucked. So much so, it stains the greatness of this movie, what was cool became goofy, and the nerds turned on it. Each movie still doing great at the box office, but far less than the original story. In all, watch this movie again, in HD if you can, and truly enjoy it for what it is worth, a crazy, mind boggling pseudo sci-fi adventure that helped changed visual effects in the movies forever. And also made one of the directors become a cross dresser.
I will continue the list…. Later
