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Predator, 1987
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Top Gun, 1986
I was thrown off by the macho men playing beach volleyball with Kenny Loggins in the background. Totally not badass. Also, “Take My Breath Away” is not a good song to play in any situations, but it was heavily featured in roughly 65% of the scenes. I was dumbfounded the entire film.
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Fargo, 1996
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Hellraiser, 1987
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Blade Runner, 1982
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Blade Runner, 1982
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“Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” (1988)
There just aren’t enough good things to say about this film, and I’m completely bummed that I wasted 22 years by NOT seeing this movie sooner.
One viewing and it’s already firmly in my Top 10 Favorite films.
I can’t properly review this film as I was pretty much just overwhelmed by awesome, so I’ll just talk about the two problems I had with the movie.
Every bland, boring bitch named Jessica who has used “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way!” as their ‘favorite quote’ on any social media site. I know it isn’t the movie’s fault, but it just drives me nuts. Now that I’ve actually seen Jessica Rabbit in action (sploosh, right? I feel creepy for saying that about a cartoon, but daaaamn), it seems completely ludicrous for ANYONE to try to bite that character’s line. Ugh!
OK, so a legitimate issue with the movie-
Every character that died died a truly awful death. A guy got steamrolled (didn’t kill him but seems like unnecessary torture), an innocent ‘toon shoe who was super-cute got melted for no reason, hell, EVERY ‘toon that got melted died in an incredibly painful way! The weasels who laughed themselves to death? That shit would HURT. For a movie that was dark at times but generally incredibly entertaining and fun, it was incredibly off-putting to see characters die so awfully for very little reason.
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Boogie Nights (1997)
Boogie Nights is one of the films that I’ve added to my list not through a recommendation but due to the fact that I keep hearing about this movie. When I looked up the cast, I was hooked and made it a point to get the movie as quickly as possible.
I was sold as soon as there was a long shot of Heather Graham rolling away on those skates of hers, but the entire movie kept me entertained. Well, the entire movie save for Diggler’s ill-fated musical ventures. What is with famous people wanting to be singers, anyhow? Eddie Murphy, The Hoff, Shaq… So I’m reaching, but fuck, shouldn’t karaoke be enough?
Despite the running time (155 minutes, hot damn), it was compelling and fascinating throughout. Full of interesting characters and winks back to how ridiculous the styles of the 70’s and 80’s make the movie fun enough to follow, even if you don’t care too much about a story about a guy who doesn’t have any skills or redeeming characteristics other than a giant dick.
This cleared up the source for countless .gifs I’ve seen scattered all over the internet, and I secretly feel a bit relieved whenever I figure one of those out. Makes me feel a bit more like I’m getting the joke…
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Predator (1987)
Dennis and Mac watch Predator like, three times a week. I have a few friends who have to do the “Dillon, you son of a bitch!” manly high-five/handshake thing. Every guy who enjoys being a guy has seen this movie.
So, I had to see it, and it was one of the first films added to my list.
Roughly 98% of the movie (so everything with a guy in it) was met with my reaction of
(thanks, Kate Beaton!)
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Airplane!
Airplane! was one of the first films to be crossed off of my list way back when I started this project. I’d only heard that Leslie Nielsen was in it and knew nothing else going in.
Still hilarious 30 years later, it doesn’t require nostalgia or youthful enthusiasm to enjoy it as an adult. Unexpected, raunchy laughs come fast and often. It’s also interesting to look back and see how travel used to be; it’s just as chaotic now but then you had a much more relaxed time of it! Save for smoking on the plane and food poisoning, I’d prefer that more planes were actually like the one in this film.
The entire plot can be summed up in a sentence- Former fighter pilot must overcome fear of flying to land a plane with an ailing crew.
Unusually, such a thin plot is incredibly welcome as it allows for more punchlines, more off character setups, and ample time for flashbacks that are just as bizarre as that’s happening on the plane. Robert Hayes was the lead character, sure, but every scene was stolen by increasingly bizarre background characters.
It’d be nice to have more comedies around like this today, but it’s a pretty specific form of comedy. Hopefully there won’t be a painfully weak remake coming up any time soon…
