A2Z W/O - A list of random movies, good and bad
Jun 03 '05
The Bottom Line It's just a list...take it or leave it.
This is my entry for the A to Z Write-Off hosted by Romasuave. For more info, visit http://www.epinions.com/content_4364279940
About Schmidt is a really depressing and boring movie starring Jack Nicholson. I recently watched it expecting great things since it was so high on so many critic’s lists, but I was let down.
Before Sunrise and its sequel, Before Sunset, are two of the best romantic movies ever. Both films star Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as an American and French couple who spend one great night together in Vienna, then meet again in Paris nine years later to discuss their lives. Absolutely brilliant.
Cube is an independent horror film about a group of people stuck inside a giant cube floating in the space. The cube itself is shaped sort of like a giant Rubik’s cube and the group must try to figure their way out of it. This is a very smart and twisted movie that’ll keep you guessing. Math whiz folks will love it, too.
Dazed and Confused was a movie I watched dozens of times right after I got out of high school and while I was beginning college. It is set in Texas in 1976 and takes place on the last day of school. The whole movie is just about the people entering senior year and thinking about the future and still having fun while they can. Despite the drug use, this is a great movie.
Existenz stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law and is about a couple who get stuck inside a virtual reality computer game. This is a very weird movie, but a fun experience, especially if you are into role playing computer games that aren’t about dungeons or dragons.
Fight Club was a life-changing event for me and my friends when we all saw it one night. We went in expecting some kind of underground boxing movie with Brad Pitt and ended up seeing something so profound and original that we still talk about this movie today. Tylder Durden should be President!
Gigli is a notoriously bad movie starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. I’ve not actually seen it and don’t plan on watching it any time soon, but I wonder if it is really as bad as people say it is.
High Fidelity stars John Cusack and is based on a novel by Nick Hornby. It is about a music-obsessed guy who decides to go revist the ex-girlfriends from his five worst break-ups and fight out what went wrong and what he did wrong. This is the ultimate romantic movie about a guy learning a thing or two about love.
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of the greatest action-adventure movies ever made. It is loaded with Biblical references, fights with Nazis, and some great action sequences.
Jackass: The Movie is based on the MTV show and features a lot of stuff they couldn’t show you on MTV. Now you know if MTV won’t air it, then it must be pretty bad. One of the highlights is watching a guy take a dump in a hardware store toilet, then tell the visibly upset manager that he just wanted to test it out.
Kinsey is about the famous sex researcher who stirred up much controversy with his good sex books. It stars Liam Neeson and was nominated for numerous awards.
Love Actually is a wonderful romantic comedy about a wide cast of characters and the different natures of love as experienced through those characters. If you like romantic comedies, this one has it all.
Mystic River is one of those movies with an all-star cast that was nominated for and won many awards, though I have no idea why. It is a dismal drama with a bad ending and I don’t see why this was so praised.
Nightbreed is a horror movie from the 80’s and is based on a story by famed author Clive Barker. It is full of great and weird monsters and special effects.
O Brother, Where Are Thou is a brilliant retelling of Homer’s classic story Odyssey, but this time set in the 1930’s Mississippi Delta. Written and directed by the Coen Brothers, this movie is an all-around treat with a wonderful soundtrack.
Predator is one of my all-time favorite movies about an alien hunter that meets its match against a group of mercenaries in the South American jungle. It combines all the best elements of great action, horror, and science fiction for one hell of a movie.
The Quick and the Dead was a box office flop, even though it was directed by Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) and starred many actors who would go on to become A-listers, such as Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio. It is a western about duelists in a town run by a dirty lawman played by Gene Hackman. Sharon Stone also stars.
Ran is famed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s take on Shakespeare’s King Lear. I heard a lot of good things about it, but found the movie to be overlong and rather boring.
Spaceballs is the ultimate movie parody because it takes on Star Wars. It was made by Mel Brooks and features a great cast and many funny scenes. Rick Moranis as the Darth Vader spoof called Dark Helmet is hilarious. Bill Pullman also stars as a Han Solo knock-off.
The Two Towers is the Empire Strikes Back of the Lord of the Rings movies. It has the best action and seems to be the favorite among most other LOTR fans I’ve spoken with. The big battle at the end is just plain awesome.
Underworld was a pretty neat movie about a war between vampires and werewolves. It stars Kate Beckinsale in a tight leather outfit and she does Kung Fu. What more do you need to know?
The Vikings is a 1958 movie starring Kirk Douglas. It is a little long, but has a pretty awesome castle siege at the end and an even better duel. It is cool to see movies before there was CGI.
Whale Rider is an excellent movie set in New Zealand and tells a wonderful story about destiny and the human spirit. It is a little slow getting started, but the ending will dazzle you.
X-Men 1 and 2 were two of the best recent superhero movies, bested only by the two Spider-Man films. I really hope the quality continues with X-Men 3 because two directors have already left the project.
You Can Count On Me stars Laura Linney as a sister who tries to guide her younger brother after their parents are killed while they were both pretty young. She has a son herself, and it is an interesting story about maturity and responsibility.
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman is an interesting Asian film about an aging Ronin who helps clean up a town. The blood is all done with special effects so that it would not appear too gory, but the action was still pretty cool.
There you go…a list of random movies from A to Z. Hopefully I didn’t pick too many of the same ones from other contributors of this write-off.
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