Junto Boys

DUDE'S REVIEWS

I'm halfway into my next list already so here is a catchup of the previous ten ranked in order of enjoyment:

PULP FICTION (1994)
It was well after midnight when this movie came on the commercial-free station. I figured I would just drift off to sleep during the slow moments which never arrived. It hasn't aged a bit and I know you've seen it so I won't bother with the review. It's on my list of top 100 films of all-time and if pressed, I imagine it would easily make the top five.

AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999)
I saw it in Orlando with Tom Freeman sleeping next to me. One of my all-time favorite films. It is as pitch-perfect as any movie I've ever seen and especially relevant as I inch towards my own midlife crisis. I hope I can go out with the same look of contentment as Lester Burnham.

PAN'S LABRYNTH (2006)
The best movie I saw that wasn't already on my top 100 list. This one just misses although I would recommend it highly as quality. There are some really beautiful sequences, especially the escapade with the Pale Man which is a classic scene. There is no happy ending, but in my mind it was poignant to believe that the fantastical story was the imaginings of a dying girl to give meaning to her life as her life fades. I was disappointed when listening to the director commentary that he meant it to have really been happening. If that is true then it is a much more tragic story.

NATIONAL VELVET (1944)
Sixty-some years on, it is still worthy viewing. There are plenty of slow talky scenes that don't play to the young ones so much but add up to nice emotional payoff for the mature audience. It's a good girl-empowerment story for daughters everywhere.

HOT FUZZ (2007)
Not as genius as SHAUN OF THE DEAD but worthy nonetheless. It's pretty funny that the hero figured out this convoluted land scheme motive when really all those people were killed just because they were annoying. In a way, this film is more clever than good - there is a smart sensibility behind it but it somehow doesn't add up to a classic. I still think it will be worth watching again in ten years.

THE HOAX (2007)
I saw this on the plane to Orlando while listening through the world's worst headphones. It was a struggle to hear all the dialogue but I enjoyed it all the same. Richard Gere always manages to be interesting and the plight of his character was really engaging. You rarely get to root for a guy whom you know is deliberately doing wrong unless he's some sort of gangster.

THE SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (1960)
Sure it's watchable but it's also kind of boring. I watched it with the kids in the Disney hotel. It's overlong and spends a lot of time wondering which brother is going to bone the girl. Everything comes a bit too easy for them and they never really appear too frightened of the pirates.

DISTURBIA (2007)
It got decent reviews and carried me through the first two acts before it all came crashing down in act three. Do we really have to discover the expansive subterranean suburban dungeon? And if he's got several rooms dedicated to dismemberment, then why is he chopping up the deer in the attic? Just to confuse the neighbors in case they're spying, I guess.

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006)
I watched this one with the Freemans on my first overnight. I have heard it described as the best movie ever about working. It just didn't ring true for me. The entire plot is - oh boy, the boss sure is demanding, our hero is never going to be able to keep her job, but oh boy, she comes through in the clutch, yay. Repeat ad nauseum.

THE MANHATTAN PROJECT (1986)
I'm cheating a bit here just to make my quota. This was on at Saunders' house and I paid enough attention to it to determine that I have indeed now seen it. It is standard '80s fluff in the wake of WARGAMES which proved that nerdy kids can save the world if only the stupid adults would take them seriously.