Movie Night (Updated 11/16/03)
On Sunday, May 26, my life changed. I found out that I was not whole and complete because I had missed out on a major part of American culture: Movies. So, to help me become a better person, my friends helped me compile a list of movies that I have yet to see. To undertake this huge task of watching all of these movies, (over 250) I will start planning “Catch Tommy Up on Good Movies” parties at my place. If you wish to join us or have an addition to the list, email me.
Movies Now Seen:
Requiem for a Dream - Everyone kept telling me how horribly depressive the movie was. I guess some part of my brain decided to flip the switch and force myself to be amused. Yeah, there were some pretty upsetting parts, but I thought the best character was the fridge. Had me rolling around in laughter.
Twin Peaks (TV Series) - “Who Killed Laura Palmer?” Saw the pilot. Sorry Matt, but it just didn’t catch my attention.
Tommy the Musical - “Tommy’s Cool, OK?!” That was one of the posters seen in the movie. I think that I finally found my life mantra. Pretty decent movie. Kinda confusing at times, but keep your eyes open for the cameo appearances. Le Dernier Combat (Luc Besson) - Don’t see it. I don’t even think it was done by Luc Besson. We ended up fast forwarding through the whole thing just to see if there was a surprize ending. Nope. BASEketball - Trey Parker and Matt Stone can get away with just about anything now. I think they were granted Diplomatic immunity in Hollywood, but the news never got out. This movie was wrong in about 200 different ways. All of which had us laughing and me on the floor rolling around. All that and the best site gag ever. Go see it. Don’t tell your mom. Cure - Japanese psycho killer movie. Imagine killing your wife or some random stranger and then slice an X into their throat…why? Because you were hypnotised and it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Deliverance - Wow. This was one of the movies I felt that I had to see because it was a classic, but wouldn’t be that good (i.e. Soylent Green), but it was surprisingly delightful. Delicatessen - French movie done by the same guy as Amelie. Another dark French comedy. But not nearly as distrubing as Man Bites Dog. Pitch Black - Van Diesel and aliens. What else can I say? I fell asleep halfway through it. Man Bites Dog - This movie had nothing to do with dogs and everything to do about a dark French comedy with a killer who’s making a documentary about himself killing people. It got really gross at time. Not for the faint of heart. The Specials - Oh my Lord! Talk about one of those movies, that prove you can’t judge a DVD by it’s cover. Lee pointed this movie out to me while at Movie Trading Company and we both scoffed at it, thinking it would be really stupid. I then suggested we watch it…because it would be really stupid. And that it was. But in a really funny good humored way. I now own that DVD. Amazon Women on the Moon - By the creators of Kentucky Fried Movie. Sketch Comedy. But not nearly as good as KFM. The Godfather - Wow. Another Classic, which I thought would be lame. Just as intense now as back in the 70’s. Now I must see Parts 2 and 3. The Perfect Storm - Once again, George Clooney amazes me. I keep relating him to his GQ, stereotypical macho, handsome guy that doesn’t have much acting ability, but I think he did really well in this. Of course, watching it with my dad might have had an influence since he was a fisherman and my dad and I have gone out shrimping and fishing sometimes together. French Connection - As part of the Falgout Family Food Festival, Rusty brought over this movie. My dad and Lee’s dad ragged the rest of us that had never seen of it and how great the car chase scenes were. Note to possible future viewers: There are no car chase scenes. The oldies of the group (Mom, Dad, Lee’s Dad) enjoyed it. The youngies (myself, Lee, Rachel, Allison, Rusty, Sarah, Valerie, Matt) agreed that it was a very boring movie. City of Lost Children - A French movie. Very bizarre. Had one of the same guys as from Amelie. I’m sure that I would have liked it a lot more if I was in the mood for it, but I wasn’t. So, it left a bad taste in my mouth. Not a movie I would watch twice, so it just might stay there for a while. Four Rooms - 95% of the way into this movie, I didn’t get it. It’s a Quentin Tarantino flick, but you’ve really gotta strap yourself in for the long ride tho. But I promise, it’s worth it. Mulholland Dr. - Uhh…what was that about??? Like most of David Lynch’s stuff, it doesn’t make much sense, but you can tell that there’s a deep involved plot behind it, but that would take too much brain power to figure out. And besides, after seeing, it you feel like your brain is mush, so good luck. It was a very interesting movie, because I like bizarre twisted stuff like that, but it even made my head go pop. Oh yeah, and there was an interesting lesbian scene in there. Most of the guys were cheering when it happened, because Mr. Lynch was messing with you the whole time building up the tension between the two main female characters. Many lewd jokes from the peanut gallery followed. The Legend of Speed - Another “Midnight Asian Movie”. Not nearly as good as Attack the Gas Station, but still a quality movie. To state it quickly, it’s like a Japanese “Fast and the Furious” Attack the Gas Station - This is part of the “Midnight Asian Movie” festival held by the Asian Film Festival of Dallas. For those that aren’t in the know, at the Magnolia theatre, they show a FREE Asian movie at midnight. This is one of the funniest movie I’ve seen in quite a while. So much so, that I’m purchasing it. Let me know if you’d like for me to have a showing of it as I’d be more than happy to. Seven Samurai - #8 on imdb.com’s Top 250 Film list. The Magnificent Seven is based off of this move, but in a more modern tale. I really enjoyed this movie, even though it was very lenghty and the plot advancement took a few hours. It was an over-all really good movie. Another black and white movie. Dr. Strangelove (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb) - Bizarre. This is the late Stanley Kubrick’s last movie before 2001, and was done in black and white. It was quite boring at the beginning (I fell asleep), but picked up in a very twisted way at the end. Thankfully, we had a real Dr. Strangelove buff with us watching and told us about the neat behind the scenes about the movie. As a classic, I recommend it.
Das Boot - INTENSE! This is THE ORIGINAL sub movie. U571? Feh! So much of what you see nowadays in movies is nothing more than a copy of this original German movie about a WWII U-boat and the hell (psychological and physical) that it’s crew went through to fulfill on it’s orders above and beyond what my mind can comprehend. It also covers the mistakes made by the German army at that time and how they weren’t too happy with Mr. Hitler at that time. Good movie.
Human Traffic - This was recommended by “Rusty” as a movie that’s not great, but when you’re finished, you’ve got a huge grin on your face because it’s a happy movie. How true he was. Yet another movie that came out as a big surprise to be a good flick. There’s no protagonist/antagonist conflict, but it’s a movie that when it’s done, you’re left smiling and feeling good about life.
Pi - I remember seeing the poster for this movie right after Se7en (one of my favorite movies.) came out and thought, “Wow…just another rip off.” Well, I was wrong. It’s not a rip of off that great movie, but a very strange movie by Daren Aronofsky about a mathematical genius who is obsessed with determining a sequence of number that has some vague connection to that infamous number Pi.
SLC Punk - Amazingly enough this was a REALLY good movie. I was expecting it to be full of bad acting and other not so great classic movie-isms, but the acting was really good and so was the plot (The trials and tribulations of an angst ridden anarchist growing up in Salt Lake City (SLC)…home of the Mormons.)
Go - Previously watched. I think I was one of the few people that enjoyed it. It follows one of my favorite quotes, “Life begins at 3AM.”
Soylent Green - Not a great movie, but a small portion of my life is complete because I’ve now seen Charleston Heston yell, “Soylent Green is People!!!” Fight Club - GOOD MOVIE! Makes me want to start my own Fight Club…but I wouldn’t tell anyone about it.)
Harry Potter - Despite the negative publicity for it being a children’s book, this was a really good movie. I highly recommend.
The Sweetest Thing - Typical movie of women discovering live, love, men and why they’re still single. Engh…
Oceans 11 - Really good movie thus proving that Julia Roberts will be eternally beautiful.
North by Northwest - Good Alfred Hitchcock movie. Not my type of movie tho. But definitely one of those that I’m glad that I’ve seen.
O Brother, Where Art Thou - Apparently, this movie is based on Homer’s “Oddessey”. I haven’t personally read the Oddessey, but I know that it’s mostly based on Mythology. Thankfully, I did have some people who knew it and was able to point out the parallelisms out to be. (I like hanging out with smart people.) Definitely a good movie…I bet the soundtrack is good too.
Monster’s Inc - Not to be confused with Monster’s Ball. This is the animated movie by Pixar. One of the things I love most about Pixar are the short movies that they put at the front of each of their feature movies. This one had me rolling around laughing. All together, it was an amazing movie. Just make sure to watch it all the way through the credits.
The Man Who Went Up A Hill And Came Down A Mountain - I learned a bit of English trivia watching this movie. All Hugh Grant movies have a love scene in them. Yup. This one too. A quaint movie with a nice pretty plot and filled with human spirit. And the girl from “Run Lola Run”…a movie I haven’t seen yet.
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2001: Space Oddsey
The Cook the Thief His Wife and Her Lover
The Shining
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes This is Spinal Tap
Raising Arizona
Chocolat
Clash of the Titans
Doom Generation
Logans Run
The Gods Must be Crazy
Movies To See
Tron
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Old Yeller (Am I going to cry at the end of this?)
Taxi Driver
Bonnie and Clyde
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Rashomon (Japanese Movie)
Lord Rama
Brazil
Subway (Luc Besson)
The Big Blue (Luc Besson)
Yamakasi (Luc Besson)
Groove Tube Supercop
Orgasmo
Devil’s Advocate
Krull
Phare Du Four
The Adventures of Barron Von Munchausen
The Barber
Being Light
When Harry Met Sally
Grave of the Fireflies (Anime)
Highway 61
Nil By Mouth
Kafka Shindler’s List
In the Name of the Father
The Name of the Rose
Full Monty
Green Mile Young Frankenstein Full Metal Jacket
American History X
Defending Your Life
Fist of Legend Groove
Nowhere
Fucked
U-Turn
Pushing Tin Casablanca
Eating Raul
African Queen
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
One Flew Over the Cookoo’s Nest
Carrie
Chinatown
9 1/2 Weeks
Body Heat
All the Presidents Men
Moonstruck
The Last Castle
Butch Cassidy
Behind the Green Door
The Sting
The Hustler
The Great Escape Being There
With 6 & an Egg Roll
Sex, Lies & Videotape
Multplicity
The Longest Yard
Rush
Heaven Can Wait
Michael
Dog Day Afternoon
Scarface
Tha American President
Notting Hill
A Knight’s Tale
Frankenstein
Silent Movie
Grand Canyon
Fahrenheit 451
Mr. Mom
Author Author
The Rose
The Road to Morocco
Platoon
The Others
Sex and the Single Girl Gidget
Regarding Henry
Animal Farm
Fletch
Forever Young
Powder
The Patriot
City of Angels
Time Machine (original)
Starman
Enemy Mine
Star Chamber
Andromeda Strain
Breakfast Club
M. Butterfly Sleeper Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex, but Were Afraid to Ask
Westside Story
Jesus Christ Superstar
Godspell
Hair
Big Wednesday
St Elmo Fire
Paper Moon Beaches
Private Benjamin
A League of Their Own
Them
Dawn of the Living Dead
Misery
Suspect
Fatal Attraction
The Jerk
Women Behind Bars
Last Dance
Green Beret
Billy Jack
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion
The Truth about Cats and Dogs
While You Were Sleeping
Entrapment
Groundhound Day
What About Bob?
Stake Out Fargo
Dangerous Liasons
To Sir with Love
Zorro the Gay Blade
Romancing the Stone
Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead
Pacific Heights
Prince of Tides
What Lies Beneath
The Deep
Ed
Pushing Tim
Arthur
Micky and Maude
Benny and Joon
Bound
Decadent Night in Tokyo Paper Chase
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
The End
High Anxiety Midnight Cowboys
Space Cowboys
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Pollack
Diner
My Dinner with Andre
American Graffiti
Ordinary People (Have I seen already?)
Same Time Next Year
MASH
They Shoot Horses Don’t They Out of Africa
The Natural
Rudy
Turning Point
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
For the Love of the Game
Donny Bosco
Bridget Jones’ Diary
Jason and the Argonauts
Fritz the Cat
The Boxer
Wild Things (I recommended this to myself for the Denise Richards/Neve Cambell apperance.)
The Bound
Dangerous Choice
The Color Purple
Blue Lagoon
Yellow Submarine
Black Rain Wild at Heart
Giant
Iron Giant
Citizen Kane
Trading Places
The Piano
Living Out Loud
Copycat
One Joint
9 to 5
9 Months
Rain Tree County
The Committments
Twilight Zone
Family Disturbance
My Life In Pink Wings of Desire
Elizabeth
Timecode
Cube Ghost World
Dead Again
The Tall Guy
Dial M for Murder
Midnight Cowboys
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
The Apartment
Todo Sobre Mi Madre
Killing Zoe
Dangerous Liasons
Bad Movies to See:
Dr. T. & the Women
Desperate Living - John Waters