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ARCHIVED
TOPIC:
[ Line of Sight ]
DATE:
September 25, 2003
Movies
You Wouldn't Expect Me to Recommend, Part 2
 I
love good movies. While I love Star Wars, Raiders of
the Lost Ark, and Lord of the Rings, there's
much more to my favorite movies than what you might expect.
These movies (and those I mentioned last
week) are the kind of films that I'll watch any time.
If I'm flipping through the channels and I find one of these
movies on TV, I'll stop and watch the rest of it, no matter
how many times I've seen then before. Here are a few more
I really like, in no particular order and with no hope to
be complete. (The links below take you to each movie's DVD
page at Amazon, if you're interested in checking them out.)
Magnolia
Paul Thomas Anderson should get a lot of credit for even
making Magnolia.
Sometimes, incredible, unbelievable stuff just happens --
coincidences come together to produce results that can never
be explained. And that's the point of this movie.
And if you don't understand the ending, or if you think
that could never happen, you need to read Fortean
Times.
Dave
 There
aren't a lot of comedies on my list. Comedy is hard to do.
While my favorite comedy movie of all time is probably Ghostbusters,
you'd probably expect me to say that.
Dave
isn't a fall-down-on-the-ground-laughing kind of comedy.
Instead, it's a compelling one. The premise is that there's
a guy, Dave, who looks just like the president. The president
has a stroke and some underhanded folks in the White House
convince Dave to take his place. Of course, Dave is such
an upstanding guy that in that position, he begins to do
things his own way rather than how the corrupt political
heavies want him to.
What
makes Dave compelling rather than just schmaltzy is Kevin
Kline, whose virtues I extolled last week. Although they're
very different characters, Kline uses the same techniques
in Dave as he does in Silverado to create
an extraordinarily likeable character.
 A
Few Good Men
It's hard to image someone not liking this Rob Reiner-directed
film starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin
Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollack, and more. (Yeah,
I like "amazing cast" movies -- I enjoy seeing
good actors working together.) Although A
Few Good Men, a film about military justice, has
added at least one catch phrase into our lexicon -- "Truth?
You can't handle the truth!" -- I'm surprised it doesn't
get even more attention than it does.
It's
not just the acting that makes this movie great. It's well
written, the pacing is impeccable, and every scene is handled
just right. For an example of good writing and directing,
check out this movie and pay attention to Kevin Bacon's
scenes. Although he has a very small role, we see just enough
of him in his very limited screen time to learn that he's
not a simple one-dimensional character and is, in fact,
quite likable. Although it's a credit to the actor, I think
even more it's a credit to the director and the writer.
 It's
A Wonderful Life
Yeah, that's right. I'm an old softie. This Christmastime
standby has been one of my favorite movies for a long time.
Jimmy Stewart is amazing to watch in It's
a Wonderful Life. I think the fact that it has been
overplayed at the holidays and the fact that it has a corny
image makes people forget what an amazing actor he is in
this one.
As someone
once pointed out to me about It's a Wonderful Life,
while lots of movies can make you cry, this is one of those
rare movies that makes you want to cry out of happiness
rather than sadness. That's pretty cool.
 When
Harry Met Sally
It's
interesting that of all the directors I've mentioned here,
Rob Reiner is the only one to get two movies on my list.
I'd add a third, the Princess
Bride, except you'd expect me to recommend that
one. I don't like everything Reiner's done, but when he's
at the top of his game, he's amazing.
When
Harry Met Sally spawned its own genre of "too
smart for their own good romantic comedies," but really,
it's yet to be topped. Both Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan are
at their very best in this movie, both being funny and likeable
and unlikable all at the same time. "But I would like
to partake of your pecan piiieee..."
 The
Godfather
If
you're going to end a list, end it big, right? You don't
need me to tell you that The
Godfather is a good movie. Most critics put it on
their Top 10 list of all time. And rightfully so.
People
talk about Marlon Brando's and Al Pacino's performances
in this film, and they are great. It's the actors that get
a little less screen time that really round out the movie,
though -- specifically James Caan and Robert Duvall.
And
while you really should take them together, I almost think
that Godfather Part 2 is a better movie than Part
1. The fact that you're adding Robert DeNiro to the
cast certainly can't hurt, and it does some interesting
things both advancing the story and in prequel-like flashbacks.
What
movies do you like? Share your own classic picks in our
Line
of Sight message board!
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