Movies are a shortcut to stories and for that reason are both more appealing and more of a letdown. But like all good drugs they are addictive. My DVD collection is well over 200 and always growing.
Here's a sampling of ones I like, there are many, many more I could add.
300 and Sin City
Let's put Frank Miller in his own category. The stunning visuals in both movies more than make up for their flaws as stories. Clive Owen makes a great anti-hero. And hobbit boy as a silent cannibal psychopath!?! Who can't love that?
I was a bit put off by the patriotism of 300, but I can't blame it for bad timing. The rhetoric used to get people off to war is always the same. The historian in me feels compelled to hate such an un-historical movie, but the storyteller in me loves the portrayal of the Spartans and the Persians the way the Greeks thought of them. These aren't historical people, these are the myths of the warrior Spartans and the mystical Persians. Sure, Sparta was undone by bribes, their priests weren't inbred freaks with naked oracles, the Persians didn't use rhinos and worship their kings. But the Greeks *thought* they did and that makes for a great movie.
The Abyss
I remember staring in awe at the trailer for this in the summer of 1989, right before my LDS Mission. I had a rush of anxiety at the thought that I wouldn't be around to see it when it was released! I went opening day, just a few weeks before I put on the white shirt and tie.
I have a morbid fascination with drowning, love computer-generated images (well, *some* of them), and was a big fan of Cameron, so a movie about underwater aliens!? How could I not love it?
Here's a sampling of ones I like, there are many, many more I could add.
300 and Sin City
Let's put Frank Miller in his own category. The stunning visuals in both movies more than make up for their flaws as stories. Clive Owen makes a great anti-hero. And hobbit boy as a silent cannibal psychopath!?! Who can't love that?
I was a bit put off by the patriotism of 300, but I can't blame it for bad timing. The rhetoric used to get people off to war is always the same. The historian in me feels compelled to hate such an un-historical movie, but the storyteller in me loves the portrayal of the Spartans and the Persians the way the Greeks thought of them. These aren't historical people, these are the myths of the warrior Spartans and the mystical Persians. Sure, Sparta was undone by bribes, their priests weren't inbred freaks with naked oracles, the Persians didn't use rhinos and worship their kings. But the Greeks *thought* they did and that makes for a great movie.
The Abyss
I remember staring in awe at the trailer for this in the summer of 1989, right before my LDS Mission. I had a rush of anxiety at the thought that I wouldn't be around to see it when it was released! I went opening day, just a few weeks before I put on the white shirt and tie.
I have a morbid fascination with drowning, love computer-generated images (well, *some* of them), and was a big fan of Cameron, so a movie about underwater aliens!? How could I not love it?
Addams Family
These movies came out after my LDS mission when I was feeling dark and alone. I loved the dystopian humor, the indulgent abnormality, the black comedy.
Blade Runner
Rented this on my 17th birthday. First rated "R" movie I saw out in the open (Terminator and Aliens get the honor of being my first rated Ro movies). My dad was very upset that I would interpret the letter of the law to my advantage. For years after (to this day for all I know) he would get angry if I saw any movie that wasn't PG-13 or lower. Pity, this film could have been a great bonding moment for us.
Of course he was a replicant, that's the whole point: "too bad the girl won't live. But then, who does?"
The Bourne Series
He's the perfect American James Bond: tortured, resourceful, and leaves a trail of destruction in his path. I read the first book and wasn't very impressed. But the movies made all the right changes. I think its something about Jason's ability to use whatever object will get the job done instead of fancy gadgets.
I'm more fond of the direction of the first movie, with its wide shots of Europe, but the second two are powerful enough stories to get me past the motion sickness caused by the shaky-cam, up-close-and-personal style.
The Constant Gardner
See my books section for my thoughts on Le Carre. This is probably the best book-turned-movie I've seen. The director captured the feel of the story but added his own flavor. Rachel Weisz (who was really pregnant with Darren Aronofsky's baby!) was the perfect Tess.
Grosse Pointe Blank
Rented this on my 17th birthday. First rated "R" movie I saw out in the open (Terminator and Aliens get the honor of being my first rated Ro movies). My dad was very upset that I would interpret the letter of the law to my advantage. For years after (to this day for all I know) he would get angry if I saw any movie that wasn't PG-13 or lower. Pity, this film could have been a great bonding moment for us.
Of course he was a replicant, that's the whole point: "too bad the girl won't live. But then, who does?"
The Bourne Series
He's the perfect American James Bond: tortured, resourceful, and leaves a trail of destruction in his path. I read the first book and wasn't very impressed. But the movies made all the right changes. I think its something about Jason's ability to use whatever object will get the job done instead of fancy gadgets.
I'm more fond of the direction of the first movie, with its wide shots of Europe, but the second two are powerful enough stories to get me past the motion sickness caused by the shaky-cam, up-close-and-personal style.
The Constant Gardner
See my books section for my thoughts on Le Carre. This is probably the best book-turned-movie I've seen. The director captured the feel of the story but added his own flavor. Rachel Weisz (who was really pregnant with Darren Aronofsky's baby!) was the perfect Tess.
Grosse Pointe Blank
Came out a few years before my own 10 year reunion (which I didn't attend). I love the adult version of teenage angst, turned absurd with him as a hired assassin.
Indiana Jones
Forget spacemen, cowboys, soldiers, little Jeffrey wanted to be an archaeologist! These movies were a subconscious motivation for my decision to study ancient history in college.
"I have very fond memories of that dog"
Kill Bill
I absolutely loved the Kung Fu TV series. It ran on re-runs on Saturday mornings when I was a kid. The faux-wisdom, pithy sayings, melodramatic flashbacks. The 12 year old in me was absolutely drawn to the Kill Bill series. Throw in Quinten Tarentino's dialogue and direction and you have a masterpiece.
Leon and La Femme Nikita
My brother turned me onto Jean Reno and the French action-movie genre. The hero seems so over-the-top that its almost impossible to believe that he dies in the end. Heroin-shiek French girl with a Glock? An under-age Natalie Portman? Who can't love that?
Ninth Gate
Never been a big Polanski fan, but Jhonny Depp as an a-moral rare book dealer caught up in something sinister and mystical really did it for me. Kinda disturbing that Polanski likes to film his wife (the succubus protector) having raunchy sex, but she *is* hot...
Pi
What is it about the search for patterns? Some people (myself included) find them where they don't exist, obsessively search for them and get a huge emotional reward for thinking they found them. The premise of this movie isn't so exciting when you consider that people have been searching for, and finding, patterns in the stock market since its beginning. Its not hard to find a pattern in the past, the difficulty is finding one in the future.
Still, I love a move about that obsession, the self-destructive drive to find the thing you are convinced is there, even if finding it destroys you. Aronofsky captured that feeling in the ground-breaking film style. The soundtrack will give you a headache, the cinematography will give you a seizure.
Watch it with as many relaxants as your body can handle, or, for a real walk on the wild side, watch it with as much speed as your body can handle.
Ronin
Robert De Niro? Jean Reno? Natascha McElhone? How can that cast go wrong? The dialogue is a bit cliche and the story isn't original, but the way it is told makes all the difference. Frankenhimer pioneered car-chase scenes and he gets to have lots of fun here.
Sneakers
Along with War Games (which was fun, but not very believable, even to a 13 year old) this movie heavily influenced my post-college career in computer security. Favorite scene is Robert Redford asking his people how to beat a card-swipe door lock, listening to their instructions on the headphone, then kicking the door in. Quite often low tech wins the day.
Truman Show
I've seen it enough times to see all sorts of plot holes, but as a Mormon boy I was raised to believe that God was always watching me. My world was surrounded by people trying to passive-aggresivly force me to be their little plaything. Its a poignant movie on many levels
I absolutely loved the Kung Fu TV series. It ran on re-runs on Saturday mornings when I was a kid. The faux-wisdom, pithy sayings, melodramatic flashbacks. The 12 year old in me was absolutely drawn to the Kill Bill series. Throw in Quinten Tarentino's dialogue and direction and you have a masterpiece.
Leon and La Femme Nikita
My brother turned me onto Jean Reno and the French action-movie genre. The hero seems so over-the-top that its almost impossible to believe that he dies in the end. Heroin-shiek French girl with a Glock? An under-age Natalie Portman? Who can't love that?
Ninth Gate
Never been a big Polanski fan, but Jhonny Depp as an a-moral rare book dealer caught up in something sinister and mystical really did it for me. Kinda disturbing that Polanski likes to film his wife (the succubus protector) having raunchy sex, but she *is* hot...
Pi
What is it about the search for patterns? Some people (myself included) find them where they don't exist, obsessively search for them and get a huge emotional reward for thinking they found them. The premise of this movie isn't so exciting when you consider that people have been searching for, and finding, patterns in the stock market since its beginning. Its not hard to find a pattern in the past, the difficulty is finding one in the future.
Still, I love a move about that obsession, the self-destructive drive to find the thing you are convinced is there, even if finding it destroys you. Aronofsky captured that feeling in the ground-breaking film style. The soundtrack will give you a headache, the cinematography will give you a seizure.
Watch it with as many relaxants as your body can handle, or, for a real walk on the wild side, watch it with as much speed as your body can handle.
Ronin
Robert De Niro? Jean Reno? Natascha McElhone? How can that cast go wrong? The dialogue is a bit cliche and the story isn't original, but the way it is told makes all the difference. Frankenhimer pioneered car-chase scenes and he gets to have lots of fun here.
Sneakers
Along with War Games (which was fun, but not very believable, even to a 13 year old) this movie heavily influenced my post-college career in computer security. Favorite scene is Robert Redford asking his people how to beat a card-swipe door lock, listening to their instructions on the headphone, then kicking the door in. Quite often low tech wins the day.
Truman Show
I've seen it enough times to see all sorts of plot holes, but as a Mormon boy I was raised to believe that God was always watching me. My world was surrounded by people trying to passive-aggresivly force me to be their little plaything. Its a poignant movie on many levels
