I have learned a few things over the past couple of days. First, Percocet is freaking awesome. Second, there arenￜt enough Marlon Brando-related jokes to describe just how swollen my jaw is after having all of my wisdom teeth yanked out. And third, movies are the best thing when you have a ridiculous amount of time to kill. They break up the day nicely ￜ a couple of hours of entertainment between pain pills or the excitement of gargling with lukewarm salt water, something to take your mind off the fact that youￜre bored out of your head. Itￜs good stuff.
I got to thinking about the movies that I never get tired of, ones that make me pause every time I pass by them while flipping channels for some reason or another. They arenï¿œt always my FAVORITE movies, and most certainly arenï¿œt the BEST ones, but they have a consistent appeal that makes them perfect choices when Iï¿œm looking to kill time. Here are a few of them:
Rounders. A killer cast here, with Matt Damon sliding nicely into the role of protagonist. Ed Norton is his best friend / bad influence, John Malkovich as the best-named bad guy ever (seriously ￜ Teddy KGB? What could be cooler than that?), John Tuturro as Joey K(not silent)nish, and Martin Landau shining in a cameo role. Poker player turns law student turnsￜwell, poker player, this movie was responsible for bringing Texas Hold ￜEm into the spotlight to a degree that the professionals must still be baffled by. Itￜs also responsible for making every guy under the age of 45 think that given the right circumstances, he could totally make a living playing cards.
Crimson Tide. Again, itￜs all about the casting. Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman as, respectively, the XO and Captain of a ballistic missile submarine that is in the midst of a possible nuclear launch. The music really adds to this one, with a taut score that draws you in without taking the attention away from the actorsￜ performances. George Dzundza, James Gandolfini and Viggo Mortensen did some great supporting work here as well. This one bumped The Hunt For Red October off the list by being smarter, more suspenseful and not including any of the Baldwin brothers in the cast.
The Big Kahuna. This one is actually one of my favorite movies of all time. Itￜs a film adaptation of Roger Reuffￜs play Hospitality Suite. Not much plot to speak of, as it all takes place in ￜ you guessed it ￜ a hospitality suite over the course of less than 24 hours. The plot, such as it is, surrounds a trio of marketing reps for an industrial lubricant company and their attempts to close the deal of a lifetime with a potential client they havenￜt met. Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito and Peter Facinelli turn in three of the best performances Iￜve seenￜwell, ever. If youￜve ever traveled for business, youￜll recognize some truth here in the way Spaceyￜs character describes losing oneￜs identity while on the road, and the relationship between Spacey and DeVito is one of the best portrayals of male friendships I can think of.
High Fidelity. Adapted from the excellent book by Nick Hornby, this one takes us into the life of Rob Gordon (played by John Cusak), a struggling record shop owner whose life revolves around top 5 lists, obscure musical styles and his inability to make a relationship work with his girlfriend Laura. Interesting performances abound, with the hysterical Jack Black and Todd Louiso as Gordonￜs odd-couple like employees, Lisa Bonet reminding us that sheￜs pretty hot, and Tim Robbins as a conflict resolution specialist / upstairs neighbor from hell. Itￜs honest, quirky and cracks me up every time I see it. Worth watching just to see Jack Black singing ￜLet*s Get It Onￜ at the end.
The Princess Bride. Whatￜs this one about? Fencing. Revenge. True Love. Despair. And some of the best lines youￜll ever see in a movie, to boot. The exchange between Westley and Inigo, for instance: ￜYou seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you.ￜ ￜYou seem a decent fellow. I hate to die.ￜ And, of course, the immortal, ￜHello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.ￜ Anyone whoￜs seen this movie and not believed just for a moment that they could be that cool themselves just doesnￜt have enough imagination in them.
There are more, of course, but this is a good start. Now, if you*ll excuse me, I can catch Crimson Tide for free on Comcast*s On Demand, and I haven*t seen that one in quite a while…
**edited to fix a glaring error in the High Fidelity description, pointed out by a helpful reader**
