FIve for Fighting

I am a movie junkie as in I watch a lot of them. My geeky friends and I all argue about the merits of this movie or that. So in that vein I offer two lists. One being five movies everyone loves that I hate. And in the other I will offer five movies that no one else seems to like but me.

Five films everyone loves but I hate.

Forrest Gump – Words can not begin to describe just how much I hate this movie. Pretentious beyond belief with a story line only the dimmest would enjoy. So boring and so right wing this move should be used to recruit kids to Bob Jones University. So bad, that I am ashamed when people I respect tell me they like this film.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy – In a word, boring. I wanted to like this simply because I was a fan of Peter Jackson when he was making Bad Taste and Dead Alive. Sadly, while these films look amazing they bore me to tears. I’d rather watch fly fishing on TV then to have to sit through any of these films ever again.

Titanic – I avoided this movie at the theater. Everyone and I mean everyone told me to go see it and how wonderful it was. Finally at long last I rented it and well, I was pissed. The beginning and last twenty minutes were fine. It was everything in between that made me see red. I could not stand the fake Romeo and Juliet rip off love story that Cameron forced. What a complete and utter crap fest which is sad because this movie could have been so much better.

Gladiator – What a complete and utter waste of time. A film so ludicrous that the fact it won best picture shows how far we have fallen as a society. When a film so flawed is given any award other then a razzie then we have some problems. This was a pointless, drivel fest and I never want to see it again.

Magnolia - They have not yet invented the adjective to describe just how much I hated this piece of shit. And trust me this is a piece of shit. I really liked Boogie Nights, Paul Thomas Anderson’s first film. So, I was kind of psyched when this one came out. I waited for it to come out on video and rented it. Sadly that is three hours that I will never get back. When it started to rain frogs I wanted to scream.

Now Five films I like but I am in the minority.

Crash – Not last years Oscar winner but the 1996 David Cronenberg film. It is about people who get sexually aroused during car crashes. It is not a film for the squeamish. However, this movie is one that stays with you. It is original and offers something very different and well thought out. Sadly, most people can’t get past all the grit to see that there is a good movie behind it all.

Unbreakable – I consider this to be M. Night Shyamalan's best film. I know everyone else thinks the Sixth Sense is. I don’t know a lot of people who like this movie. I guess it is a story you either buy or you don’t. Well, I bought into it hook, line and sinker. To me this ending was his best yet. Even if you are not a comic book fan this is a movie you should give a try.

Celebrity – You either love Woody Allen or you hate him. I love him, but I know a lot of other Woody fans that always criticize this movie. Well, I liked it. I liked it a lot. Kenneth Branagh did such a great Woody Allen impersonation in this film. He did Woody better then Woody has done it in years. There are great performances throughout this movie. In the end it is a sad story about an aging man going through a pathetic mid life crisis. Maybe it is just me, but I really thought it delivered the goods.

Mallrats – OK, I am a Kevin Smith fan. Still a lot of other Kevin Smith fans all think this is his one bad movie. Also, this movie tanked and I mean tanked when it was released. Well, I like this movie. As a matter of fact, this is the Kevin Smith film that has more of my heart then any of his other movies. Jason Lee is hysterical throughout as Brodie. It has a great dialogue and I after seeing the movie a hundred times, still laugh.

Dirty Work – A comedy has one goal if you ask me, and that is to make me laugh. Well, this movie did just that. I guess there aren’t a lot of Norm McDonald fans out there, but I am one of them. He is sarcastic and smarmy. But it works in this movie. Plus you have Artie Lange and some great lines from Jack Warden. My favorite being when explaining to Norm that he is his biological father, “Hey we didn’t have fancy birth control methods in those days, like pulling out.”