Two More Lists

Movies that don't receive enough credit

• A Page of Madness - this is a Japanese silent movie from the 20s that used editing techniques and bizarre narrative components that were singular to the time and didn't resurface anywhere in the world for another 30 or 40 years.
• Krull - the weirdest combination of sci-fi and fantasy, the best score, and the best claymation spider of any movie of the first half of the 80s. This movie also featured a very weird performance from Francesca Annis, perhaps best known as Roman Polanski's Lady MacBeth. Also look for Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane, who would each in the future take a divergent path from the combination of genre's in this movie. Neeson would appear as Qui-Gon Jin in the Star Wars prequels and Coltrane as that big fucking giant in the Harry Potter flicks.
• UHF - any movie that makes both a "Conan the Librarian" joke and extensive use of Gedde Watanabe belongs on this list. Oh, and it stars Weird Al.
• Cable Guy - I cannot emphasize this point enough. Excepting a few awkward moments, this is Jim Carrey's best performance. My dad can't watch this movie because Jim Carrey's character makes him uncomfortable. And this is from a guy who recommended that I watch Harold and Maude when I was like 10. There are at least 25 good solid out-loud laughs in this movie, and the soundtrack is a superb example of Corporate America's uncanny ability to compile soundtracks for comedy films in the mid 90s.
• Weekend at Bernie's - they perfected the "dead guy" movie with this one, to a degree that it has not even been attempted since. Silverman, McCarthy and Bernie (was that Robert Goulet under those shades? I hope.) were clearly the three stooges of the 80s.
• Bachelor Party - Tom Hanks' best film.
• Four Rooms - an increbile and mondo bizarro flick consisting of four interconnected vignettes directed by Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Allison Anders and Alexandre Rockwell. Tarantino's segment, right at the end, is probably my second favorite Tarantino venture. It's just a crazy movie, not even worth describing in any capacity except its insanity.
• I Heart Huckabees - I don't know how, but David O. Russell made an awesome and relevant movie that is overtly about existentialism. Not just existential issues, but existentialism itself. Holy shit. That's pretty much like making a good movie about calculus.
• Manhunter - William Petersen doing the Grissom thing 15 years before Grissom. They would remake this movie once Silence of the Lambs became a franchise. Red Dragon was good, but Grissom! Such a stone cold player.
• The Empire Strikes Back - I can't believe some of the hate that gets tossed in the direction of this flick. The rare appearance by 2-1B is worth the price of admission alone. Seriously though, this one was much better than the first one and probably better than Return of the Jedi. Did you know that in the DVD releases they digitally retouched the end of Return of the Jedi so that Hayden Christiansen would appear instead of the original Anakin Skywalker? I'm not exactly a huge fan of the franchise (maybe more of an Indiana Jones guy), but sheeeeeit.
  

Movies that recieve too much credit

• Garden State - I liked this movie. There was a funny scene in which a dude shot a flaming arrow into the air and scrambled around beneath it. Any message the movie had was lost in Zach Braff's attempt at micromanaging the movie into a pop culture juggernaut. Sorry, everyone in the world, but your favorite movie receives too much credit.
• The Godfather - see Diane Keaton. See Diane Keaton overact. See Al Pacino. See Al Pacino overact. See Marlon Brando. See Marlon Brando do absolutely nothing other than show up on set. This was that magical part of Brando's career during which he could commission $10 million just for not eating all the food at the craft services table before lunch.
• Old School - I loved this movie when it came out. Todd Phillips knows how to make extremely fun movies. Sadly, I go to school with 40,000 people who feel the same way and who are not shy about letting you know this at least once every two minutes. And like I said, this list ain't about the movies, but the credit they receive.
• Lost in Translation - another example of a movie that I really like, but just needs to be gotten over.
• Brian's Song - Gayle Sayers was just better anyway.
• Halloween - all the film nerds can fellate John Carpenter all they want, but it was a crappy movie with a crappy premise. Such a bad movie that the sequel with LL Cool J was actually a better movie.
• Saving Private Ryan - I said it.

PEACE! WE OUTTA HERE!