Movies

I find the discussion of a single favorite movie to be unfair as often times it is difficult to select one above all others. So many movies can be favorites for different reasons; why force someone to choose? Instead, ask someone what would be a few of their favorite movies. Though, if I had to pick one, my favorite movie would be The Shawshank Redemption starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

Last night I was faced with a very difficult decision. Do I sit and bore myself to tears watching a horribly boring Sunday night NFL matchup? Or do I peruse the select few other channels I ever watch for a reprieve? Luckily I opted for the latter as I flipped to AMC and caught "Shawshank".

This is a feel good movie. Though some of the subject matter is not the most upbeat, the overall theme of the movie is hope. The movie portrays life in a prison in the 1940's as Andy Dufresne (Robbins) befriends Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding (Freeman). The movie stresses perseverance in the face of adversity and emphasizes how we can better our lives by focusing on the little things, the simple pleasures in life. Obviously the movie takes adversity to an extreme through prison life as it's vehicle, but the message is clear.

Interestingly enough, this movie was adapted from a novella by Stephen King, though do not expect a horror film when you watch The Shawshank Redemption. And you should watch The Shawshank Redemption...

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Mel Brooks, where are you!?!?!

It is downright criminal that this movie is not available on DVD. Arguably the greatest comedic mind the film world has ever seen has almost his entire resume on DVD, yet no Robin Hood Men in Tights. This has bothered me for so long. I check now as often as once a month, though before I would check once weekly in hopes of finding one day that there was a release date.

When will the madness end? The point was made to me by another person tonight that the movie is not available on DVD as if it was news to me. I now know I am not the only one in search of Robin Hood Men in Tights.

What does it take to begin placing requests for it's production? Who must I write?

I pride myself on my DVD collection. Without Robin Hood Men in Tights, my collection is incomplete...

Mel...help me out.

This movie was crazy. There is no other way to put it. I've never been more impressed and more confused and liked a movie so much. I'm not sure I can even call this a movie. The term animated poetry seems more appropriate. They drop some knowledge on you in Innocence. The animation was unbelievable, thought at times it looked that they were just showing off. There were a few cut scenes that did not need to be 3d rendered, but at a few points they will take your breathe away with the detail. Though as the credits roll you stay in your seat stunned as you try to figure out what just happened, there is no negative feelings toward this movie. It was great. Batou was a beast, maybe a little more of him fighting would have made me a little happier.

Check it out.

While we're on the topic of ageless, classic movies...we were on the topic of ageless, classic movies, weren't we? Last night I popped in one of my absolute favorites. The Sting, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford (best onscreen duo ever?), is a movie that I could watch over and over. Well, I do watch it over and over.

What could be better than watching two guys down on their luck attempt to pull of the "big con?" Both Newman and Redford play the same characters for which they are known. Newman is the older, wiser mentor to a younger, foolhardy Redford.

I put this movie in last night with a buddy (Wil) who wanted to watch a movie that would keep him guessing until the very end. He likes mysteries and he likes having to figure out what is going on. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy the film and said it was an excellent choice by me. I have been impressing upon him that he needs to see this movie for sometime now and last night he told me that after seeing the movie he finally understood why I said it was so good.

Movies about the confidence game and grifting are hard to do well. You have to make sure that the audience follows along with the grift, but only to a certain extent. The Sting is my favorite movie in this design. If you like the genre, I do recommend Confidence and Matchstick Men.

Two movies with which I am not as familiar, though am told are also worth checking out, are The Grifters and Paper Moon.

If you've not seen The Sting, you really should. And if you have seen it, you should watch it again.

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So I am actually admitting publicly that I saw "Little Black Book." This is the movie with Brittany Murphy and Ron Livingston.

The good thing is that I have a newfound crush on Brittany Murphy. The bad news is that I actually had to sit through this movie. For roughly twenty minutes this movie wasn't bad. As soon as she begins to actually go through his stuff in digging up his past, the movie makes a drastic turn for the worse and never recovers. This flick could have actually saved itself from being so bad if it ended about 3 minutes sooner than it actually does. It just went too far.

I'm picking the next one...

Alien v. Predator.

Saw this yesterday. I have to say, as a fan of Alien and a fan of Predator, I will still skeptical to see this movie. It looked like sci-fi garbage that was just the next film in the line of crossover characters like the mistake that was Jason v. Freddy. I was, however, pleasantly surprised at how entertained I was in AVP. Sure I had my complaints, but that is expected.

Alien v. Predator will not win any awards in 2004...but it was still fun to watch and entertaining almost from start to finish.