1. The Breakfast Club (1985)

Code-name: Sporto

Writer/Director: John Hughes (RIP 2009)
Type: Brat Pack High School dramedy

Cast:
John "The Criminal" Bender- Judd Nelson
Claire "The Princess" Standish- Molly Ringwald
Brian "The Brain" Johnson- Anthony Michael Hall
Andrew "The Athlete" Clark- Emilio Estavez
Allison "The Basketcase" Reynolds- Ally Sheedy
Vice Principal Richard Vernon- Paul Gleason (RIP 2006)
Carl the Janitor- John Kapelos
[Honorable Mentions]
Brian's mom and sister played by Anthony Michael Hall's family members
John Hughes as Brian's father (at the end of the movie)

Write-up:
Introduction
Really IMDB? 7.9 out of 10?
While I believe there's no such thing as a perfect movie, it deserves at least a 9 on that scale.

Once upon a time, a long time ago [so long ago I cannot remember what year it was], my dad introduced me to this movie when it was on cable. Said it was a really good 80's movie. And eventually I fell in love with it.
Years later (I'd guess between 3-5), he got me the DVD for Christmas. To this day, it's still my favorite "surprise" present [something I didn't put on my list but the fact he bought it because he knew I'd like it... that's priceless]

The Story
[I'll include my trademark SPOILER ALERT, but I'm just gonna say now... if you hadn't seen this movie, shame on you. If you've seen it and didn't like it, well, we might need to talk about seeing other people]

It was Saturday, March 24, 1984. Five kids were doing detention at the Shermer High School library. All came from a different clique system and had different reasons for being punished. During which time, they're under the watchful eye of Richard Vernon, the authoritative vice principal.
At first, they react to one another as you'd expect. The popular kids has a kinship. The discipline case is making things difficult. The nerd is the only one interested in doing the assigned 1,000 word essay. And the quiet one doesn't say a word for the first half hour of the movie.

But as they start to spend time together, they realize they have more in common than originally thought. They have issues with their parents. They have issues with peer pressure within their clique and we, the audience, learn what brought each of them to this very room.

The Characters and Actors

I'd since seen Molly Ringwald in "Sixteen Candles," "Pretty in Pink," and (more recently), "The Pick-up Artist" (not one of RDJ's best movies). I also watched the first few episodes of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" to see what she was like grown up.
This still remains my favorite role of hers because she played the "rich girl" so well.
Claire cut class to go shopping and, naturally, believes that she's above getting thrown into detention. She also claims that her parents use her to get back at each other.
Growing up on the "other side of the tracks," John Bender focuses a lot of his energy on her in particular. But he eventually gets around to everyone in the room (with the exception of Allison, whom he defends a couple times). Clearly, this isn't his first rodeo. He pulled a fire alarm to get in here and his smart mouth winds up earning him 2 more months.
After he elaborates about his home life, an exchange naturally laced with sarcasm, his continual lashing out makes a little more sense.
Judd Nelson did this role so well that John Hughes didn't realize he was staying in character between takes. I'd since seen him in "St. Elmo's Fire" (where he is actually a pleasant good looking guy, shockingly) and in a few random cameos.

Also saw Emilo Estavez in "St. Elmo's Fire" where he spent the movie pursing Andie MacDowell... but Andrew will always be the character I'll identify him with (plus the fact he'd done his share of directing in recent years. Gotta love it when actors branch out behind the camera).
He's the jock. In this case, a wrestler. He comes to Claire's defense multiple times, but his posturing doesn't shake John Bender. Andrew got into detention for assaulting someone ("I taped Larry Lester's buns together") on his team. He believed his father was disappointed in him for never "cutting loose" on someone, but after this incident, he gets a lecture... since something like this could blow his scholarship.

Anthony Michael Hall, like Molly Ringwald, was part of the 80's "John Hughes" experience because they starred in multiple movies of his. Both were the only teens on set playing teenagers. The biggest difference: Anthony Michael Hall made the decision to escape typecasting sooner. He'd since played more adult roles. Ironically, he became the type of characters that beat him up in his "former life" ["Edward Scissorhands" is a prime example- totally unrecognizable after that growth spirit]
Unlike his character in "Sixteen Candles," Brian Johnson lacks the confidence and has more to him than just being the "weird kid." He's the nerd who prefers to color in between the lines than risk the destruction of his permanent record. He got detention for bringing a flare gun to school that went off prematurely.

Which leaves Ally Sheedy, who plays Allison. [Interestingly, she and Judd Nelson are a couple in "St. Elmo's Fire" that later breaks apart... their characters in this movie have much more in common]
For the first half hour of the movie, she doesn't say a word. Then when she starts talking, it becomes clear that she's a compulsive liar whose home life is unsatisfying. Of the group, she's probably the biggest oddball [probably the biggest reason she's my dad's favorite character]. Which makes it funnier when all of them run off to smoke pot and she's the only one not participating.
Judd Nelson appeared on "Psych" once. Ally Sheedy appeared a couple times as a pretty twisted villain that Shawn Spencer tangled with-- almost always on a season finale.

As for why Allison is in detention... the reason's so hilarious that I'm not even gonna say it. That's for everyone to find out or (those who'd seen the movie) to have a real LaughOutLoud moment while I continue.

Paul Gleason played a pretty good dirt bag in "Trading Places," but this was my first encounter with him. THE defining role. Definitely has a no-BS, take-no-prisoners attitude, and is chock full of good quotes.
Two good ones:
"don't mess with the bull, you'll get the horns"
and "when I get older, these kids are going to take care of me" [to which the janitor adds "I wouldn't count on it"]

Carl is such a small character, but he still makes his mark. Primarily as the person who serves as the listening ear for our aggrieved vice principal. And how he presents himself to the students... a little creepy.
Talking about how he looks into lockers, reads notes and listens in on their conversations.
Yeah, Big Brother is watching and he has a career in the custodial arts.

Let's Get Psychological
I touched on this in my "Ferris Bueller" review, but with "The Breakfast Club," there's more to the story.
It's always cool when you get to watch movies in class, especially ones that aren't educational on the surface, but you see them a different way afterwards.
We were covering Eric Erikson's personality theories in Psychology class. The last one was "Identity vs. Isolation," which was extremely relevant to us since it was a good high school theme.
While watching, we paid attention to the reasons why each of the teens got detention. And also noted that each have their own roles based on their upbringing and who their friends are. The principle goes that if you don't find who you are between the ages of 12-18, you might have trouble later in life.

Everyone experiences pressure from somebody.
Andrew gets pressure from his dad (evident to the point where Allison considers his "inability to think for himself" is his biggest flaw).
Claire gets pressure from her friends to go along with what they say. She also suffers from the off dynamic of her parents. When her mom tells her not to do something, she does it anyway because her dad says it's okay.
Brian gets pressure from his parents about his grades... something that ultimately leads to his getting detention.
John Bender comes from an abusive household. His dad burns him with cigars for spilling paint in the garage and gets him a carton of cigarettes for Christmas. Which explains why he lashes out at pretty much everyone who presents a challenge.
With Allison... things are different... she claims that she doesn't have any friends and her parents ignore her... to this day, she remains the most mysterious member of the quintet.

And where does that leave me?I like to think of myself as a combination of Allison and Brian. I felt like a weirdo who didn't really belong to a clique. I was in concert choir, auditioned for every play and musical, but never got a role. Not even a call-back.
I only had a couple friends, but with some of them, I always felt like I was on the outside of their social circles.

But regarding back story, I had the most in common with Brian. I don't always like myself, especially in high school.I felt so much pressure with my grades. I went through bouts of depression my freshman and junior years of high school when I was getting C's instead of A's and B's in certain classes. [Goddam honors courses!]

The Music

It's the 80's... my favorite musical decade/decade of pop culture in general... so obviously, the music is good.
But to my memory, only two compositions stand out. [Once I post this entry, I'll need to change that ASAP]

The first: "We are not alone" by Karla DeVito
This plays during the scene towards the end after the half hour long "therapy" session where they all cut loose and dance.
(And actually, when I listen to "I want you to want me," I think about this scene, especially how Claire kicks it up in those cute boots)

The second...
it kinda speaks for itself, but I'll go into anyway.

I can pick a #1 movie, but I'm such a connoisseur of music that it's literally impossible for me to pick "the best song ever"...
but "(Don't you) Forget About Me" is definitely top shelf.


You hear the song and you automatically think about this movie.
Simple Minds is a band synonymous with 80's music (and for whatever reason, I haven't checked into any of their other music). I find it hard to believe that people (Billy Idol among them) turned this song down, but then it wouldn't be as iconic without the voices of this Brit synth pop band (excuse me, Scottish new wave).

It would be several years until I heard the whole song. I only heard the parts we see/hear in the beginning and end of this movie.

My love for this song has also extended to other movies.

The moment in my "Easy A" review where I didn't elaborate on the awesomeness of the final scene...
What made that amazing movie one of my favorites...
Olive's wrapping up the end of her podcast and suddenly, this song kicks in and I was practically cheering in the theater :P if I remember right, it was just my mom and me.

"Pitch Perfect," I found to be a really badly written movie. Between all the vomit and the fact the acapella heiress has the Bellas literally singing the same songs at every competition.
After the 3rd or 4th time I heard the beginning of "I saw the sign," I wanted to smack her... "Glee" never pulled that idiotic crap
Anna Kendrick can sing really well and I loved her "Cups" audition.

Skylar Astin talking about "The Breakfast Club," Anna Kendrick crying at the end of the movie (the first time she saw any movie in its entirety), and the Bellas incorporating "(Don't you) Forget about me" in their final mash-up number... that saved the movie for me. I had to get the soundtrack just for that and I've since watched the movie a bunch more times...
just learned to look away during the vomit scenes (REALLY hope they didn't continue into the sequel).
I saw an IMDB message board question under ""Pitch Perfect" asking if people in the 20's even like The Breakfast Club. Frankly, I find that insulting... that's a big fact YES for me, clearly

And apparently it was nominated for AFI's top 100 movie songs :facepalm:
and also for their top 100 movies of all time...
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

Thank you, John Hughes, for your amazing writing!
As far as John Hughes movies go...
Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science, Some Kind of Wonderful...
...all have their moments, but they aren't at this particular caliber
but what makes "The Breakfast Club" outrank "Ferris Bueller"... it simply comes down to the script and the quotability.

With a few exceptions, I know "The Breakfast Club" backwards and forwards. I also incorporate more quotes from this movie into my everyday life than any other movie.
Most of which, my family (who loves this movie as well) knows and uses themselves.

One favorite: "Could you describe the ruckus?" which we say every time the word "ruckus" is uttered in dialogue. It's also the automatic response we use when one of us uses the word "ruckus"

Once or twice, my dad has used "Answer the question!" in the same tone the characters used when they were prodding Claire about her virginity
["No! I never did it!"... Allison- "I never did it either. I'm not a nymphomaniac. I'm a compulsive liar"]

My favorite: "I think your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling"
...I adapt this quote accordingly when I see two people who look like they've have a lot in common.

Other favorites include:
*"So it's social. Demented, and sad, but social"
*"I have such a deep admiration for guys who roll around the floor with other guys" (I once used this for a journalism assignment on wrestling)
*"I think I'm gonna try for a scholarship" (but gotta say 'scholarship' the way Judd Nelson did)
*"Well, Brian, this is a very nutritious lunch. All the food groups are represented. Did your mom marry Mr. Rodgers?" (when the situation calls for it, I do use the "food groups" line)
*John Bender's entire dialogue on "Life at 'Big Bry's house'" (I parodied this when Joe took over for Steve on "Blue's Clues")

Why is this my #1 favorite movie of all-time?

Where to even begin? And I spent nearly 3 years leading up to this point.

For starters, I'll focus on the movie itself.
It's one of those "perfect" movies where I would not change a thing about it.
The writing is solid. There's a perfect blend of drama and comedy. In fact, I think this is considered a "drama" but there's enough breaks in between to break the tension.
The pacing is solid, never too slow for too long. The scene that drags the most is the "circle therapy session" that lasts for a good chunk of the 3rd act, but even then, there are moments of relief in between to keep things interesting.

The acting is so good and the actors are so good in their roles...I wouldn't trade anyone for anybody. Change even one person, no matter how good the alternatives are, the whole dynamic would be thrown.

And it also has the best movie theme song EVER (...well, "Purple Rain" might still win out, but "(Don't you) Forget about me" is easier to put on the radio and fit into other movies).

As for beyond the movie... the overall impact it's had on me and my life... that's something worth celebrating with this "pristine" honor.

Thanks to a recorded VHS full of MTV music videos circa 1987 (thanks, dad!), I was a fan of 80's music at an early age.
"The Breakfast Club" cemented my love of 80's MOVIES when I was a teenager (maybe even earlier). Heck, it was one of my first adult movies (probably my first R-rated movie... other than the language and pot use, it could pass for PG13). Making the transition from cartoons to live action was hard for me, so this helped me realize that there is fun to be had with live action movies as well.

It introduced me to John Hughes... I still miss the guy terribly whenever I watch his movies... None really had this degree of *impact*, but the familiar faces made things easy.
Molly Ringwald especially. "Sixteen Candles" has its moments as does "Pretty in Pink."
Anthony Michael Hall might have even saved "Sixteen Candles" for me on a couple occasions. He kept things interesting ;)
The same can't exactly be said for "Weird Science." RDJ was the only reason I revisited it after the first time (going back at least 5 years previous). It's not bad once you accept that the "science" aspect can't be fully explained.

Perhaps more importantly, it introduced me to the concept of the Brat Pack.
The 50's had the Rat Pack (Frank Sintara, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. Joey Bishop, etc)
Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Will Ferrell and the Wilson brothers have the Frat Pack.
The 80's have the Rat Pack, which extends mostly to anyone who's been in a John Hughes movie.

St. Elmo's Fire, I once watched years ago cuz I thought it was a John Hughes movie...
It has 3 members of The Breakfast Club, but he had no involvement in it.
Andrew McCarthy was in Pretty in Pink, so that helped foster that illusion.

And if you want to extend beyond those first couple degrees, The Breakfast Club did eventually lead me to Less Than Zero.
The initial spark of interest came from The Bangles' "Hazy Shade of Winter" movie video, but the gaze of curiosity was widened by the involvement of Andrew McCarthy (who I had enjoyed in "Pretty in Pink") and RDJ (who I briefly glimpsed as part of the cast list, one of maybe 3 names I recognized)...
(at this point, I really should make that my next blog entry just so I can stop talking about it every other entry :P)...

I'm currently watching the pilot of "Glee"... first time I'm seeing it since the first time all those years ago... feels only right to revisit it since the final season starts next year...
I think I owe my love of "Glee" to this movie as well, but then, that's another entry altogether.

The End
And so my 101 favorite movies have all been accounted for...
and it's been a heck of a ride discussing them. In the case of some, revisiting them for the first time in years and others, getting to know them better after only one or two goes.

From this point forward, I hope to do one blog entry a week as I have been doing...
and what they're about, most likely, will not be predetermined.Everything from discussing new movies I saw (either in theaters or on HBO), covering award shows (Golden Globes and Oscars), to discussing the people involved in their making. Whatever piques my interest.

And I will also take requests... within reason. Meaning I'm not going to invest in a Neftlix account just to review a certain movie. ;)

Until next time...
 

101 Movie Project: Acknowledgements

I don't really have any idea how popular this blog is. How many people have actually read my entries and enjoyed what I've had to say over the past two years.

But before I get to my final movie, I feel some thank you's are in order.

All of these movies came to my attention for one reason or another.
Some were movies people recommended, others were favorites of my family.
Others...


it was all thanks to randomness and coincidence.
94. Singin' in the Rain
86. Bring it on
81. The Family Stone
79. Spanglish
75. The Prince of Egypt
68. Back to the future
46. Mrs. Doubtfire
42. Love Actually
37. Miss Congeniality
36. Clueless
28. Legally Blonde
19. Spider-Man
18. Ocean's Eleven
13. Ferris Bueller

All of a sudden, I feel like I need the music Jimmy Fallon plays during his "thank you notes" routine.

101. Little Miss Sunshine
- Thank you, Steve Carrel, for making me laugh in "Anchorman" and making me seek out your other movies
-Thank you, RDJ, for impressing on an interview that small films like this can make just as much an impact as blockbusters


100. The Holiday
-Thank you, "Sherlock Holmes" for casting Jude Law as Watson so I'd be compelled to seek out his other movies [this is still the only other one I LIKED]

99. The Wizard of Oz
-Thank you, childhood, for making this part of my movie repertoire at an early age


98. Anastasia
-Thank you, childhood, for another great movie and a wonderful soundtrack


97. Butch & Sundance
-Thank you RDJ and Jude Law for comparing your characters' dynamic [Sherlock and Watson] to these guys so I'll look into it to understand what they meant


96. Rebel without a cause
-Thank you, Lady Gaga, for referring James Dean in "Speechless" so I'd one day check him out


95. 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag
-Thank you, random coincidence


93. Angels in the Outfield
-Thank you, VHS of "The Lion King" for including this among the trailers


92. The Emperor's New Groove
-Thank you, Disney, for getting me hooked on renting your newest movie after they're released


91. Austin Power: The Spy who Shagged me
-Thank you, random coincidences
1) the movie playing at a family party in 2003
2)the movie being on TV after watching "The Exorcist" and using one of its quotes in hilarious fashion [even though it didn't help me sleep that night]


90. Fan Boys
-Thank you, HBO/Cinemax/Comedy Central, for randomly airing this movie and hooking me as an already established Star Wars fan


89. Confessions of a Shopaholic
-Thank you, "Wedding Crashers," for introducing me to Isla Fisher and encouraging me to look out her other movies [like with Jude Law, hadn't really found any/or any I'd liked]


88. Step-Mom
-Thank you, "Sucker Punch," for giving me my girl crush on Jena Malone so I'd give this movie another closer look


87. In the land of women
-Thank you, "The O.C.," for introducing me to Adam Brody (Seth Cohen) so I'd look into his post-O.C. movies [again, this is the only one I've found and it's probably for the best]


85. Just like Heaven
-Thank you, "Legally Blonde," for making me fall in love with Reese Witherspoon
-Thank you, Mark Ruffalo, for bringing me back to this movie more than just a couple times ;)


84. In Her Shoes
-Thank you, dad, for recommending this movie you saw in-flight


83. The Devil Wears Prada
-Thank you, "The Princess Diaries," for introducing me to Anne Hathaway and follow her to her other films [still my favorite non-Disney role of hers, but unlike the above, she's more than a one-hit wonder for me]


82. The Princess Diaries
-Thank you, mom, for convincing me to give this movie a chance [I was skeptical about it for some reason]


80. The Neverending Story
-Thank you, my 1st grade teacher Mrs. Skinner, for showing us this movie in class


78. Ghost
-Thank you, mom, for introducing me to this movie


77. Trading Places
-Thank you, Eddie Murphy, for being flippin' hilarious and bringing me here


76. Top Gun
-Thank you, USA Karate Centers, for playing the soundtrack during our drills


74. Willy Wonka
-Thank you, childhood, for airing this on TV frequently and making it another part of me


73. Batman Forever
-Thank you, Jim Carrey, for making me laugh in the mid-90's and bringing me here


72. Rain Man
-Thank you, Tropic Thunder, for referencing this movie in the "full retard" conversation
-Thank you, RDJ, for recommending watching this movie every couple years


71. The Hunger Games
-Thank you, Harry Potter, for getting me hooked on book-to-movie adaptations
-Thank you, Lions Gate, for making this trailers look so amazing I couldn't resist [even though I spent several months opposing the books, thinking I wouldn't like them]


70. A League of Their Own
-Thank you, mom, for recommending this movie


69. Bridesmaids
-Thank you, Ellen DeGeneres, for obsessing so much about this movie on your show that I had to see it to see if it was worth the hype [obviously it was]


67. Hell-Boy 2
-Thank you, Stockton animé club, for showing this movie


66. My Cousin Vinny
-Thank you, Ralph Macchio, for making me fall in love with you in "The Karate Kid" so I'd see your other movies [one of 4 good ones]


65. Inception
-Thank you, everyone, who hyped about this movie and its kick-ass special effects and dizzying storyline


64. Zombieland
-Thank you, Jesse Eisenberg and Emma Stone [something one of you guys did got me really excited about seeing this movie]


63. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
-Thank you, HBO, for airing this before Lady Gaga's "Monster Ball" special because you knew I had some time to kill beforehand ;)
-Thank you, Lady Gaga, for getting me to HBO that Saturday night


62. The Artist
-Thank you, RDJ, for introducing me to Charlie Chaplin and getting me interested in silent movies


61. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
-Thank you, Disney, for making this look amazing [although I can't quite explain how they did that]


60. The Hangover
-Thank you, my co-workers at the microbiology lab I used to work at for hyping about this movie when it was in theaters


59. She's out of my league
-Thank you, Tropic Thunder, for introducing me to Jay Baruchel


58. Charlie Bartlett
-Thank you, YouTube user, who posted "Robert Downey Jr. Freak Out Scene" which I found among dozens of RDJ clips in February 2011 [after I crossed over to "fangirl" mode]... I'd have posted their username, but the video no longer exists


57. School of Rock
-Thank you, Tropic Thunder, for convincing me to give this movie another look [like with "Step-mom," it facilitated the crossover from like to love]


56. The Great Dictator
-again, thank you, RDJ, for introducing me to Charlie Chaplin
-Thank you, YouTube, for posting it


55. Jurassic Park
-Thank you, dad, for taking me to see this movie when I was a kid


54. Sweeny Todd
-Thank you, Johnny Depp, for being amazing and this being another example of that


53. Phantom of the Opera
-Thank you, to my family, for us seeing this movie on Broadway


52. Freedom Writers
-Thank you, movie trailer makers, for making this look like an Oscar-winner [I still believe it should have gotten something]


51. The Avengers
-Thank you, RDJ, for getting me here
-Thank you, Marvel Studios, for releasing amazing origin story movies for "Thor" and "Captain America" to prep me for this bad boy


50. 12 Angry Men
-Thank you, "Hey Arnold," for paying homage to this movie in an episode [an allusion I eventually had to investigate]


49. SuckerPunch
-Thank you, Pocono Movieplex, for showing this trailer multiple times in late 2010 and cementing in my head it was something I HAD to see


48. My Fair Lady
-Thank you, my high school choir teacher Ms. Cloak, for choosing this musical for us to produce my junior year


47. Aladdin
-Thank you, dad, for picking this as my first ever trip to the movies


45. Romey & Michelle
-Thank you, Family Channel, for showing this movie


44. Road to El Dorado
-Thank you, movie trailer makers, for knowing how to promote this movie [great animation and more music from Elton John]


43. Spaceballs
-Thank you, to my family, for introducing me to this movie


41. Midnight in Paris
-Thank you, my oddball subconscious, for having me dream about being in a relationship with Rachel McAdams and cheating on her with Owen Wilson [as a result, I bought the movie without seeing it beforehand... best gamble I ever made]


40. Balto
-Thank you, childhood, for making this an integral part of me


39. 50 First Dates
-Thank you, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, for making this movie look good [and for the record, I have not seen "The Wedding Singer" and don't plan on it]


38. Mulan
-Thank you, Disney, for making this look so good in the trailers


35. The Hurt Locker
-Thank you, Avengers, for giving a reason to determine if this deserved Best Picture over "Avatar" [great movie, but the answer's still NO]


34. Black Swan
-Thank you, everyone, who raved about the lesbian sex scene in this movie
-Thank you, dad, for having a lot of good things to say about it


33. The DaVinci Code
-Thank you, dad, for recommending the book and later taking us to see the movie


32. Easy A
-Thank you, Pocono Movieplex, for showing the trailer for this movie in early 2010


31. Pretty Woman
-Thank you, mom, for recommending this movie


30. Some like it hot
-Thank you, mom, for recommending this movie


29. The Karate Kid
-Thank you, to my family, for thinking to rent this movie from the library to show me [as a newly minted karate student]


27. Mean Girls
-Thank you, Lindsay Lohan, for being awesome [the third and best of her movies I saw in that span of 2 years]


26. Fantastic Mr. Fox
-Thank you, HBO, for making this your featured Saturday night movie


25. Sherlock Holmes
-Thank you, Tropic Thunder, for introducing me to Robert Downey Jr. [and this being his next project after I discovered his awesomeness]


24. The Princess Bride
-Thank you, mom, for recommending this movie [despite whatever reservations I had]
-Thank you, my 7th grade art teacher, for showing this movie in class [don't know why we had movie days but we did]


23. Finding Nemo
-Thank you, Pixar, for never putting a foot wrong with your movies


22. The Nightmare Before Christmas
-Thank you, Kingdom Hearts, for making HalloweenTown one of the worlds


21. Anchorman
-Thank you, movie trailer makers, for making this Will Ferrell movie look freaking hilarious [outside Ron Burgundy, I'm still not a huge fan of his]


20. Avatar
-Thank you, everyone, who hyped about this movie and all its kick-ass visual effects


17. The Land Before Time
-Thank you, childhood, for having this be a huge part of it


16. The Lion King
-Thank you, Disney, for making this look amazing at the back of "Aladdin" [which, in itself, was amazing]


15. Beverly Hills Cop
-Thank you, my late uncle Jerry, for having this as one of your favorite movies [by the time I saw it, he'd been done for a couple years, but I think my renting it had something to do with him ;)]


14. Iron-Man
-Thank you, my aunt Susie, for lending us the DVD and recommending it


12. Stars Wars
-Thank you, mom, for introducing me to this movie and the Star Wars universe


11. Harry Potter
-Thank you, movie trailer makers, for finally convincing me to read the book [despite years of resisting for no good reason]


10. City Lights
-one last time, thank you RDJ, for introducing me to Charlie Chaplin
-and thank you, YouTube, for posting the movie


9. The Shawshank Redemption
-Thank you, people who voted like crazy for this movie for every possible Reelz Top 10 list this could be part of


8. Goodfellas
-Thank you, Duane Allman, for the "bird call' at the end of "Layla." [I fell so in love with the song, I saw it on YouTube multiple times, and read in the comments it was used in this movie for a montage]


7. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
-Thank you, James Lipton, for including this movie in your conversation with Robert Downey Jr. "Inside the Actor's Studio"


6. Inglorious Basterds
-Thank you, Showtime, for airing this movie on a Saturday night


5. Pulp Fiction
-Thank you, Quentin Tarantino, for making "Inglorious Basterds" so awesome I had to see this movie [which is touted as quintessential]


4. Purple Rain
-Thank you, dad, for making me sit through this movie even though it was already halfway over :P


3. Tropic Thunder
-Thank you, movie trailer makers, for making this movie look so hilarious I almost saw it in theaters


2. Spirited Away
-Thank you, The Academy, for giving it the Oscar for Best Animated Film [I might not have found the motivation to check it out otherwise]


Notable Tallies:
None of the Above- 14
Other celebrities- 13
Robert Downey Jr. [RDJ]-8
Other movies/TV- 8
Movie studios-7
Mom- 7
Dad-7
family, etc- 6
Tropic Thunder-5
Movie trailer makers-5
TV channels-5
Childhood-5
"everyone"-3
teachers-3Youtube-3
Theaters-2
Lady Gaga- 2


***
So this leaves me with my final movie... my family can probably guess by process of elimination but for everyone else [if an "everyone else" exists]... two hard hints


1) one of the main characters doesn't speak a word for at least the first 30 minutes
2) the movie's title is the last line

2. Spirited Away (2001)

Code-name: Haku

Writer/Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Type: Fantasy Japanese Animation

Cast:
Chihiro- Daveigh Chase
Haku- Jason Marsden
Yubaka/Zeniba- Suzanne Plushette (RIP 2008)
Lin- Susan Egan
Kamajii- David Ogden Stiers
The Baby- Tara Strong

Notable Award:
OSCAR- Best Animated Film

Write-up:

First Impression: Oscar Hate

At the 2003 Oscars, "Spirited Away" was one of five movies nominated for "Best Animated Film."

Others included:

• Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
• Treasure Planet
• Lilo & Stitch
• Ice Age

At this point, I believe I'd seen all of these movies. Or I had at least HEARD of them.
Ages before my blow-ups over "Brokeback Mountain" and "Avatar" losing, I was extremely vocal over "Spirited Away" beating out all these other movies...Now in hindsight, I don't think if I'd have considered "Treasure Planet" Oscar-worthy. And while the original was great, the sequels have diminished my opinion of "Ice Age."

But this was the skinny:I'd heard of all these movies BUT the movie that wound up winning... and I didn't like that at all. Plus the one scene they showed struck me as very strange (which, again in hindsight, was the tip of the iceberg)

So I guess part of me did want to see if the hype was worthy. Again, this was one of those life-changing moments...and my skepticism was immediately erased... and replaced with... well, all the words below for starters.
"I was enchanted to meet [all of] you"
I'm still trying to put together a visual display to go with my favorite Taylor Swift song "Enchanted"... but for now, this lyric fits this movie perfectly.
Some Spoilers...But Not All
So many enchanting moments and spell-binding characters. It truly felt like I'd crossed over into another world and saw something new, exciting and, more of all, special. This movie was just special. When we rented it from Blockbuster, I had to see it twice and I bought myself a copy not long after that.The first time in, for those not familiar with Japanese animation (aka animé), can be disorienting. I'd file this under "just go with what you see" because chances are few things, outside our main characters, get any sort of explanation. So it helps to have compelling characters you can count on to get you through it.
John Lasseter of Pixar Studios is a HUGE Miyazaki-phile so he gives introductions before all these movies. "Spirited Away," he believes to be his masterpiece... and I agree with him :P obviously (or I'd be discussing some other film right now)

We're introduced to Chihiro and her parents while they make the trip to their new home. She's... not your ideal protagonist... she's spoiled, apathetic and somewhat of a brat.
But that's the thing about starting at the bottom: the only way to go is up and the growth Chihiro experiences throughout this movie is staggering.They stop by what happens to be an abandoned fairground. Chihiro's parents help themselves to the food while she goes off on her own. She encounters a mysterious boy who warns her to leave before night falls.
She returns to find that her parents have been transformed into pigs and the fairground overrun with spirits and other strange creatures.Haku helps Chihiro get into the bathhouse (think of it as a spa for the spirits) where she needs to get a job to stay in this world until she's able to help her parents.
She meets the six-armed boiler man, Kamajii. He doesn't need any more workers (those animated balls of soots are to-die-for cute!!), but he asks [Chihiro's future bathhouse bestie] Lin to take her to the witch Yubaba.
Yubaba, with some convincing, agrees to give Chihiro a job and takes her name: henceforth calling her "Sen."

Chihiro's dependence on Haku begins from the fact he's her one connection to helping her parents. But over time, she goes grow to care about him, despite Lin trying to convince her otherwise. (We get a brief glimpse of the way she perceives him shortly after Chihiro gets her new name).
Likewise, the other characters (Lin, Kamajii, even Yubaba) grow fond of Chihiro as she does them.

After the Prologue (which introduces us to the main characters), the movie falls into two distinct parts.
Part One of the movie is Chihiro learning how to work in the bathhouse
And Part Two takes her from her main objective (saving her parents) to another-- saving Haku after he's made ill by a cursed seal he stole.

Haku
...right off the top, I'll say this. I don't remember much of my first impression until this point, but if I still had any reservations or skepticism about this movie winning the Oscar, they vanished the moment Haku appeared the first time.
As a teenager, I was very boy-crazy... both animated and in reality... and yeah, by animated standards, he was a good looking young man of 12-13 (I was 16 at the time).
But in the animé art form, a character is only as strong as their voice actor. I gave up on several animated series when the casts changed (one included my longest-standing animated crush).
The one time I tried watching "Spirited Away" in its original language, I gave up immediately after Haku opened his mouth... and the voice of a boy came out. Sounded like someone between the age of 5 and 9. Miyu Irino (who was also the original Sora in the "Kingdom Hearts" series pre-American translation) may have been the same age of Haku at the time but that's irrelevant.
Nor does it matter to me that Jason Marsden is twice Haku's age. I'd previously seen him as DJ's rebound boyfriend Nelson on "Full House." The fact he was rich did nothing for me. Really I didn't think much of him (other than the fact he was not Steve #DJandSteve4Ever), but after "Spirited Away," I had a change of heart. [btw, kudos to him for continuing to do voiceovers!] I cannot stress enough how crucial the perfect voice is for animé characters because they define the line of make and break.I mean, think about it. Haku had been in the spirit world, working as Yubaba's henchman for a long time. He knows this world like the back of his hand and is Chihiro's guide at the beginning of her character arc when everything is frightening and unfamiliar. That's something that requires a sense of maturity and knowledge.

As for the questions surrounding his character, whether he's all good or bad. Why he agreed to be Yubaba's henchman. Why he stole Zeniba's solid gold seal. If I had the time and energy, I could spin a couple theories to explain all that. (Never thought to do so, but maybe I should sometime)
But for now, I'll settle for this: Despite the hearsay abut him, questionable things he'd done, the sudden change in attitude he had after Chihiro became Sen (and went back to normal as if nothing happened the next morning)... there was not a single moment where I doubted him. You could say it was me being naïve, but with all that he'd done for Chihiro up to this point, how could he be bad?
And the ultimate pay-off is that Chihiro and I were right about him ;)

Kamajii
Easily the most eccentric character is Kamajii. When we first meet him, he seems a little strange and a little harsh, but deep down, he has a good heart. He asks Lin to take Chihiro to see Yubaba, claiming she's his granddaughter. He also comes through in a big way when Haku gets himself into trouble, giving Chihiro what she needs to help him.
He may not be her real grandfather, but he certainly fit the bill of the grandfather figure: authoritative but very kind.

Lin
Maybe it was because I was very much into Yu-Gi-Oh! at the time, but Lin immediately reminded me of Mai Valentine. Both are very strong female characters chock full of sarcasm. Looks aside, Lin surpasses Mai because she's not completely self-absorbed or materialistic.
They don't get off on the right foot at the beginning (although most of it is Lin complaining about escorting a human to Yubaba's loft... the bathhouse workers look human to me so I don't really get the distinction), but Lin is so impressed Chihiro got hired that she offers to help her with anything she needs.
The two of them make a pretty good team. Such an great friendship.
Yubaba
The witch who rules the bathhouse... for starters, she is UGLY. And in this striking animation style, she can be pretty intimidating  I mean, she can be downright scary when she's angry. And her magic makes it even worse.
But like all classic bad guys, she does have her weakness. Search me how a woman her age has a baby (nevermind that this baby is HUGE), but she's willing to do anything to keep her baby safe and happy. Including giving Chihiro the employment contract so she'll stop yelling (the same yelling that woke the crying baby).

Zeniba
Otherwise known as Yubaba's twin sister... yeah, I found that plot a little bit of a stretch, but just go with me on it. She sends her shikigami [I first learned this term in the animé series InuYasha] after Haku after he steals her seal. Within the same scene, she also transforms the baby and some other creatures in Yubaba's loft into different forms.
Initially, she appears as intimidating as her sister, but when Chihiro officially meets her (previously, it was a hologram projected by the shikigami), she winds up being the opposite. The "good" sister, if you will. As they get to know each other, she asks Chihiro to call her "Granny" and she really does come off that way (although, personally, I think they write this into the English translation to match the lip-flaps better).
Suzanne Plushette did the voice of both sisters so well (giving Zeniba a softer touch). My first encounter with her was "Lion King II: Simba's Pride" where she played evil lioness Zira.
(Strangely enough, I did NOT pick up the fact Jason Marsden did Kovu's voice until after seeing this movie)..

Noh-Face
Easily the most mysterious character in this movie (yeah, even though Haku is full of surprises, I still stand by this because Haku does some explanation).
Chihiro encounters him a number of times early in the film. He's this dark cloaked (at times even transparent) being whose face is his most distinct feature. Likely, he was dubbed after the Noh masks used in a form of ancient Japanese theater. He appears to appear at random, but after Chihiro lets him into the bathhouse (it was raining outside), a sense of Hell winds up breaking loose.
The workers are enamored by him because he can produce gold, but things quickly escalate. He gets large in size after eating all the food offered to him. He ends up eating a couple people. Because he only speaks a few lines (after eating the anthropomorphic frog... who might have been a human Yubaba transformed.. I don't know), his motives are never fully explained. Chihiro finds a way to fix the situation and he's able to get back to his normal self.
And it's nice that he gets his own happy ending towards the end.
Aftermath and After-Effects

I didn't have time to go into this before, but yeah... this is a very strange film. As is the case with a lot of animé, it's best to have a capacity to accept things as they are. Thinking too much about what's chaotic and what doesn't make sense mid-film only leads to headaches.
[My parents claim all of it was drug-induced as they always do with things that can't be fully explained]
I also didn't want to give all of the secrets away because it's worth experiencing visually.

I watched a lot of 4Kids animé series those days... Pokémon, Sailor Moon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, CardCaptors... and since a couple of my friends were into animé (and were no longer into any of the above), I was curious to brush up as well... but we fell out of touch before we could start a dialogue on them.
I credit those friendships with the reason I checked into my college's animé club (which got me some lifelong friendships and to Comic-Con where I met my favorite voice actress).
"Spirited Away" not only introduced me to the genius Japanese animation writer/director Hayao Miyazaki, but instilled in me a tolerance for the weird/unusual that helped me through most of the series we watched at the club.
There were still exceptions, of course. (Off the top of my head, Gantz, Abenobashi and Ninja Scroll... Fooly Cooly was part of that club as well, but repeated viewings have since conditioned me to that uniquely enjoyable brand of insanity).

The strangest parts in this movie, aside from Chihiro's parents becoming pigs...
1) the scene with the "stink spirit"
2) the three green bouncing heads that move as one entity, one of Yubaba's companions... that was never explained.. they're weird and they're just... there

I'd since seen 3 other Miyazaki films. (4 if you included 50-60% of "Princess Mononoke"... the excess commercials on Cartoon Network ruined it for me... been meaning to revisit for years).
Nauscaa in the Valley of the Wind was our first animé club film (I remember enjoying it but little else)
Kiki's Delivery Service (by far the "tamest" and another animé film I LOVE)
Howl's Moving Castle (great up until the 3rd act that surpasses even my limits for absurdity...again, an explanation would have been nice here).

Lastly, this movie receives my #2 for one very special reason:
It was the final piece to a story idea I'd been incubating in my head for some time. The idea of a classic good vs. evil story that featured mythical creatures... all that was missing was my hero.

In a way, "Nina and The Voice in the Wind" was my answer to the one question I had in my head after the movie ended:
Would Chihiro and Haku meet again?

Jonas is the culmination of many sources of inspiration. The most important being the pale blue eyes my 10th grade crush had. But what I got from Haku was a character misunderstood by those around him... and all it took was the right person to unravel the mystery.

The afternoon after I saw the movie, I penned what became my story's prologue. An evil sorcerer took control of two natural elements, threatening to throw the ancient world into chaos and is thwarted by an angel.
Jonas is that angel incarnated and by the end of my story, he fulfills his destiny...only this time, he has help.

After that story, I wrote a couple more. All in the fantasy/romance (ergo: romantasy) genre.
As if overnight, I went from being a fanfiction writer to someone with original fantasy work.
[from 2003-2008... then from 2009-present, I've managed one short story a year... no longer in the fantasy department, at least not in the general sense]

I'd spent the past 10 years with my first story writing, revising and trying to get it published with zero luck.
It's gotten to the point now where I feel like I need to start from scratch... which may well mean my title needs to change.
The whole "voice in the wind" concept was very vague to begin with and if you want to get technical, that was another "Spirited Away" allusion.
It's bad enough the way my two characters come together might be dubbed a "Twilight"-rip-off (even though I finished my first draft in 2005 predates it by 3 years)... and Mai Valentine practically makes an appearance as one of Nina's new friends (although technically a combination between her and Lin).

I put together a soundtrack and my writer's blog for the sake of promoting this story.
[http://romantasyland.blogspot.com... which I hadn't updated in forever and the last time I did was for a non-fantasy/romance story]
I don't want to give up on it after all this, but I gotta admit, there's a lot about that doesn't quite work.

[Edit: I've started work on a different version of it... giving Nina a little more of a back story than just her being the one person Jonas needs to be his friend]

I also used the name "Chihiro" for my heroine in an InuYasha fanfiction I wrote (and have since been trying to transition to something original because she's one of my favorite creations).

Coming Soon

My #1 favorite movie of all time...

And a review of "Mockingjay" whenever we go see it.

3. Tropic Thunder (2008)

Code-name: Dude within a dude within a dude

[:facepalm: I shoulda just stuck with "TiVo", so much simpler]

Director: Ben Stiller
Writers: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen
Composer: Theodore Shapiro
Type: R-rated Vietnam War Movie/Hollywood Comedy/Parody

Cast:
Tugg Speedman- Ben Stiller
Kirk Lazurus- Robert Downey Jr
Jeff Portnoy- Jack Black
Alpha Chino- Brandon T. Jackson
Kevin Sandusky- Jay Baruchel
Director Damien Cockburn- Steve Coogan
Cody- Danny McBride
"Four-Leaf" Tayback- Nick Nolte
Tugg's Agent Rick Peck- [Matthew] McConaughey
Studio Big Wig Les Grossman- Tom Cruise
[Honorable Mentions]
Bill Hader... his character's name is Rob Slolom... [I knew he was an SNL member and thought this would be the movie that took him beyond that]
Reggie Lee as Flaming Dragon member Byong [who later got a role as Detective Woo on "Grimm"]

Notable Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Supporting Actor- Robert Downey Jr
Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actor- Robert Downey Jr
Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actor- Tom Cruise

Write-up:

First Things First...

Now, this isn't me knocking Heath Ledger. I loved him in "The Patriot" and "A Knight's Tale" [heck, "Brokeback" as well]. His death was a tragedy that jostled me a bit when I was in college.
But I retain to this day that this was Robert's Oscar and there was no way Heath Ledger would have been in that conversation if he was still alive.

"Why The Dark Knight is OVERRATED" is an entry I've got planned for the future with Heath Ledger being the only thing in the (+) column.
The Joker was the only good watchable part of this movie. Doesn't mean I advocate for post-mortem Oscars...

This is how I see it:
My first experience seeing RDJ act was mind-blowingly amazing. It didn't feel like an actor playing a role. It felt someone who lived and breathed it, the likes of which I hadn't seen before.
I can watch "Tropic Thunder" now and still not see Robert. I see this hilarious character with most of the best lines in the movie.

The First Time

When "Tropic Thunder" came out in theaters, I seriously considered seeing it but ultimately didn't because I'd never seen an R-rated movie in theaters before.

I remember seeing the trailers, thinking they were freaking hilarious. But the one thing I couldn't wrap my head around was one particular quote. Maybe it was the exaggerated voice RDJ was going for in this role, but it took me a couple weeks to figure out he was saying:

"I'm a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude!"

Seriously, I think my head exploded trying to comprehend it. Maybe because it just sounded AWESOME... in a trippy nerdtastic sort of way!

But after seeing the movie, all of it came together... but still trippy

The only faces I recognized were Ben Stiller and Jack Black... all of that would soon change.

Finally saw this at my college's movie night Fall of 2008 (with my fellow animé club friend Andrew) and we love every minute of it. Laughed the entire time.

There was one cringe-worthy moment and it was when Jack Black dig through his loincloth ... I didn't know the [expletive] was going on there... when he pulled out a gun, I breathed a huge sigh of relief because it just didn't look right.

Another standout (other than RDJ) to me was Tom Cruise... who I had NO idea was in this movie until the end credits. I just saw this muscular balding guy who likes to groove to Flo Rida (I liked "Low" already but will forever associate it with this movie :P). The dance moves were so trippy good.

And if you wanna get technical, there was a LOT of trippiness in this movie...

The Story

 ...again... mind the spoilers

 This is a movie about making a movie based on a memoir by a member of the U.S. Army who was rescued from a Vietnam prison camp.

 ...But before we see any of this, we see 4 fake trailers starring the actors in this Vietnam movie.

* Alpha Chino's "Booty Sweat" commercial

*Tugg Speedman's latest installment of his "Scorcher" franchise- Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown ["who left the fridge open?"]
*Jeff Portnoy's comedy "The Fatties" (think "Nutty Professor: The Klumps")
*Kirk Lazarus's latest- "Satan's Alley" (think "Brokeback Mountain" but with monks instead of cowboys, co-starring "MTV Best Kiss Award winner" Tobey Maguire)

(btw, who do I see about getting these movies made for real? With RDJ channeling Russell Crowe in "Satan Alley's. Now that dude who's won Oscars!)

The first 10 minutes [mind you, I'm going by the director's cut version here] show a climatic finale set in the Vietnam War, an illusion that breaks when we see the director and crew-- this was a movie they were filming.

Apparently Tugg Speedman is having trouble with one of his lines and Kirk Lazarus storms off set in the face of Damien's lackluster directing style.

Everything is literally going wrong only one week into the shoot.

So the man behind the war memoir tells Damien to take his cast into the jungle to scare them into doing some real hardcore acting. He leaves us prematurely thanks to a random landmine in the middle of a clearing.

Ultimately, the movie does get made as planned. Tugg Speedman gets kidnapped by the indigenous people (I use this term cuz I don't know if they're Laotian or Burmese, it's never made clear) and the other actors have to rescue him.
Their exploits become the documentary "Tropic Blunder" that apparently earns Tugg an Oscar [his former captors, in an alternate ending, believe this is compensating for the "Simple Jack" Oscar snub].

The Characters

But everything that happens in between... that's what makes this gold. The actors (all playing actors) have to work together to achieve their objective. Along the way, there's a lot of butting heads, but also moments of clarity when their issues boil to the surface where they can resolve.

I'm still working on the notion of a drinking game because there are so many great running jokes in this movie :P

Let's start with the newbie: Kevin Sandusky

He's the epitome of the "good student"... he did all the work for this movie, read the book and script and was the only cast member to participate in boot camp.

Yet all the other actors can never remember his name :P one "fake" name he got was Radar... I didn't get the reference until I saw a couple episodes of M*A*S*H (this came about randomly but I wouldn't mind a revisit)

Ironically, he was the sanest member of the group and talks them down when "the dudes begin to emerge"

Hip-hop rapper Alpha Chino brings up his products Booty Sweat & Bust-a-nut for almost every reference the other actors make to their previous roles.

Pretty much every scene where he's attacking Kirk Lazarus for going too method with his character is hilarious. Great interaction between these two. Especially since it's a black man criticizing an Australian for playing a black man

Alpha Chino: I thought I just had to represent because they had one good part for a black man and gave it to Crocodile Dundee
Lazarus: Pump your brakes, kid. That man's a national treasure.

Then later in the movie, one of the indigenous points out that he's not the real Al Pacino, giving a laundry list of his best movies. Eventually this escalates into the final shootout, but I just lose it at this line from Alpha:

"Get the **** out of here, that's another dude all together!"

[And I'm not gonna lie, I saw "Dog Day Afternoon" and still want to see "Carlito's Way" because of that set of dialogue... if you'll notice, also, Bill Hader wears a hat that says "Scent of the Woman" at the movie location]

5-time Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus is a Australian method actor. So method that he doesn't drop character until after the DVD commentary. For the role of the African-American army Sergeant Lincoln Osiris, he goes to Singapore for a controversial medical procedure to have his skin tinted. Yep, he took Blackface to the extra mile, and more or less based his voice and dialogue on stereotypes.

In the epic climax scene, he has a conniption, completely loses character and realizes "I think I might be nobody"

But before that, there are too many good lines to list here. While not every word is intelligible (hell, I still haven't figured out a couple lines of dialogue), almost everything of his mouth... OMG... I can't help wondering how much improv went into that.

Jeff Portnoy is a gross-out comic actor who specializes in farts and an ongoing drug addiction. After losing his "supply" to a bat (totally out of nowhere!), he spends the whole "shoot" fielding withdrawal symptoms and carries himself as if no one else has any idea about it.

We have the dynamic duo of Cody (the special effects guy who might be a pyromaniac) and Four-Leaf (who, as it turns out, is the "Milli Vanilli of Patriots").

And the other duo of Les Grossman and Bill Hader (again, his character's name is Rob Slolom, but c'mon, it's Bill Hader)... Bill Hader's trying so hard to fall in line with Les on everything he does, but I don't think Les really respects anyone. Not even brownnosers like him. He's almost more hilarious than Tom Cruise in the Flo Rida dance scene, actually.

Finally, the final scene-stealer: McConaughey as Tugg Speedman's true blue best friend/agent, Rick Peck...

I already loved me some McConaughey in all those chick movies he did (Kate Hudson is intolerable in "How to lose a guy in 10 days" but I always come back for him), but this was the movie that took me over as a fan.

Supposedly this role was originally going to be played by Owen Wilson and later went to McConaughey... for a reason I don't want to go through here. In fact, it's something I completely forget about except when I muse about the "what could have been" scenario with this movie. I'm sure he would have been great, but... yeah, I'll say it again, I love me some McConaughey.
His running joke throughout the movie: making sure Tugg Speedman has TiVo... to the point where he flies off to the jungle to give it to him.

A Word about Commentary and Censorship

I'd only recommend it if you'd seen the movie so much that you know the dialogue well... or heck, I'd recommend it if you're not up for watching the movie and just want to be treated to a lot of good laughs.

Two sets of commentary exist on my Blu-ray but I'd only listened to the actors' commentary- Ben Stiller, Jack Black and RDJ [who is in character up until the ending credits!!]

They talk over almost the whole movie, but it's such good fun I don't really mind.

If I wasn't running long already, I would have mentioned on my "Purple Rain" entry that I refuse to see it on cable unless it's a VH1 or music channel. Saw a major hackjob on a low numbered channel that even cut songs in half.

With "Tropic Thunder," I cannot watch it on TV unless it's a movie channel like HBO.

a) because I hate the voice who dubs over Robert's cussing- sounds nothing like him

b) "the full retard" scene

As if Robert doing blackface wasn't controversial enough, there's also the scene where Kirk Lazarus explains to Tugg Speedman what went wrong with "Simple Jack," the movie where Speedman plays a "mentally impaired farmhand who can talk to animals"

I think I read somewhere that a website was created for Simple Jack and due to protests, it was taken down.

I understand why that's a heated topic, but to say "Never go full special" just sound STUPID to me... nobody outside this movie's edited version has ever used that phrase to describe someone going too method while playing someone with a mental disability.

"Watched a lot of 'special' people, all the 'special' stuff they did"...
it just doesn't work, I'm sorry

A Nod to the Writer/Director

I gotta single out Ben Stiller. 12 years prior to this movie, he had a small role in the Speilberg war movie "Empire of the Sun" where he had the lightbulb idea "what would it be like to actually make one of these Vietnam war movies?"
Great writing and great directing on his part.

Some of the jokes probably also came from Justin Theroux, who many know as Jennifer Aniston's steady fiancé. (Yeah, I know he acts occasionally, but whatever). After this movie's success, he was brought on to co-wrote the script for "Iron-Man 2." [After returning to the film a year ago, the first time I saw it since its release, I decided that this degree of humor didn't feel as natural in that capacity] 

The Genre

As far as the genre of movie goes, I'd only seen "Platoon." In part because it won the Best Picture Oscar in my year (1986) but also to see that infamous pose Tugg Speedman does in the movie.
:shudder: That movie did its joke all right, had me convinced that they were really out there in that harsh terrain at a difficult time in American history. I really liked Willem Dafoe in the movie, but when he died... thanks to Tom Berenger's character (another army member that went dark-side on him)... that broke me. I lost all sense of feeling in my body for the rest of the movie.

I still do plan on see "Apocalypse Now" just because it's another great Vietnam movie, but never again with "Platoon" thanks to what I call "The Oliver Stone effect."

I was fine with the "Wall Street" movies, but "Joy Luck Club" didn't agree with me either. Also part of the reason, as much as I like seeing RDJ's movies, I cannot think to see "Natural Born Killers." That'd probably destroy me for a week instead losing a single day.

War movies might be the more realistic version, but I think I'd rather revisit Tropic Thunder a million times in my life than have to deal with another brush with "Platoon"

More on Downey

I don't remember where I found a list of the most anticipated movies of 2009, but as I went through it, I zeroed on in Sherlock Holmes. He's a figure I'd always been curious but never thought to look into. I looked up the movie on IMDB and [zoom in] saw that Robert would be playing the main role.
After I loved Robert in "Tropic Thunder," I made a note of this... the following year, I'd see 3 of his movies (one being Sherlock Holmes)... then I went to full-blown fangirl mode in 2011 after "Less Than Zero"... perhaps in February I'll go into that in length.

My last entry, I mentioned Prince got me started with my blogging so I probably wouldn't be here with that...
but Robert reinvigorated my writing in 2011 and got me even more enthused about multiple aspects of film beyond the actors.. so I might not be here movie-blogging without him.

Because of how good he is in this movie (and how unrecognizable he is), the "fangirl" reflex doesn't come into play here beyond the "Satan's Alley" trailer. I can just laugh and enjoy everyone and how they interact.

It's also worth it to mention that this is one of the few of his movies my dad will watch with me :P the genre might contribute but I think it's because the script is so good and so funny.

On the Rest of the Cast

Brandon T. Jackson, I later enjoyed in the "Percy Jackson" movies (even though they were NOTHING like the books) and I'm still disappointed his "Beverly Hills Cop" TV series didn't get the green light on TV.

Jay Baruchel, I'd later go see in my first R-rated theater film "She's Out of my League"... also loved him in "Fanboys"... Didn't know he was in "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" (I saw that for Kat Dennings) and he was among the reasons I found that movie unpleasant (that plus Kat's girl friend hit too close to home for me- one of my college roommates was like that).
It disappoints me he quit acting (as far as nerdy guys go, he's really cute) but glad he still does "How to Train Your Dragon" movies.

On Jack Black: I liked "School of Rock," but I think this movie made me love it. Not just because Ned is a more pleasant guy to be around than Jeff Portnoy, but I just found more to appreciate about that character with my enhanced knowledge of music and movies.

Tom Cruise is also pretty hilarious in an unexpected way. One of my top 3 performances of his (along with "Top Gun" and "Rock of Ages"). There was talk of him doing a Les Grossman spin-off movie... whatever happened with that? That'd be cool... again, along with A "Scorcher" movie and "Satan's Alley"

Coming Soon

Two words: Hayao Miyazaki