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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Movies I Shouldn't Admit I Really, Really Like

Dirty Dancing: The movie every girl in high school loved. I have no idea why I like this movie. My wife doesn't even like it. But I do. Maybe its because I've seen it enough to know better than to put Baby in a corner...



The Little Mermaid: This is my favorite Disney movie, even though I'm well aware there are much better films in the catalog (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King). Ariel's yearning to belong always gets to me. Also, she's pretty hot for someone who's half fish.



Home Alone: For whatever reason, I can't help watching this every Christmas.


Point Break: The Swayze makes another appearance on this list* with my favorite awful action movie from a time replete with them. Patrick Swayze as an armchair Zen-spewing leader of a surfer gang that robs banks wearing rubber masks of former Presidents? Keanu Reeves as a wooden FBI agent romancing Lori Petty while falling under the Swayze's sway? Gary Busey eating meatball sandwiches? Sign me up!



Kindergarten Cop: Another terribly awesome gem from the golden age of action movies. Arnold barely kills anyone, the kids are annoying as hell, and the jokes aren't funny, but I love it. Maybe it's because while the jokes aren't funny, Arnold's delivery of them is. My dad and I, like many others, have gotten far too many unintentional laughs over the years from "it's not ah tumah!" alone. And Arnold's partner in the movie (Pamela Reed) cracks me up.


Titanic: The history buff adult in me tells me I like this movie because of its painstaking recreation of the ship and the feel of the era in which it sailed. The 17-year-old guy in me tells me I like this movie because of the spectacle of the sinking and the awesome effects displayed therein. The 14-year-old girl in me tells me I like it because of the doomed romance. I never know who is enjoying it at any given moment, but the movie does a great job of appealingto all three at once.



*I don't know who that says more about: me, or the Swayze.



5 comments:

  1. Great list!

    I haven't seen Point Break but should shortly since the old MST3K crew has riffed it.

    Kindergarten Cop is frickin' awesome! Probably my favorite Arnold movie next to True Lies, Total Recall, and Terminator 2.

    Dirty Dancing is a must for any generation. I actually prefer Jennifer Grey in this film rather than her post nose job look.

    Emperor's New Groove is the only Disney cartoon superior to the Little Mermaid. Then comes Aladdin.

    Dr.Bitz? Waiting for your list as well as your dudes you'd catch for . . .

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  2. Titanic was a terrible when I first saw it in the theater and it has only got worse with time. A long, boring snooze-fest.
    And the fact that the old lady at the end throws the Heart of the Ocean into the...uh...ocean...still pisses me off. Those guys had been searching for it their entire lives, and you bogart it and then throw it away! Lame!

    And don't even get me started on Point Break. It had a chance to be poignant and have a bit of irony at the end but instead the ending totally ruins a movie that was already close to unsalvagable. And then Keanu Reeves throws his badge into the ocean for no real reason except that cliches are cool. Lame!

    Maybe I just don't like people throwing stuff into the ocean. It's not very eco-friendly.

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  3. I think one of the things I love the most about Point Break is how it sounds like it's offering some deep meaning on the human condition, but then you think about what the characters are saying for half a second and you realize it's not meaningful, it's just nonsensical and/or cliche. And the ending is a perfect example of that.

    Of course, I realize I SHOULDN'T like that about any movie, but for some reason, I get a kick out of it in Point Break.

    Kindergarten Cop is probably my favorite Arnold movie after T2 and Total Recall. For some reason, I've never been a big True Lies fan. It's not bad, just kind of...meh. I dunno what it is. Maybe it's because I think Tom Arnold is my favorite part of the movie, and any movie where Tom Arnold is the best part I just can't get behind.

    Agreed that Jennifer Grey is much better pre nose job, in this and Red Dawn.

    Aw, man. Red Dawn. I should have put that on this list too. Except maybe it doesn't belong, because there should be no shame in loving Red Dawn.

    My wife loves Emperor's New Groove. I enjoyed it but it didn't stick with me. Though its certainly better than anything else they released around that time, until Lilo and Stitch.

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  4. Speaking as an adult who cared for up to eight preschool children at a time and trained babysitters and family day care home operators, children eight years old are certainly not qualified to care for five children younger than they are.
    --------------------
    hennry
    influencer

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  5. i always knew there was 14 year old girl in you.

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