Ingrid Bergman (happy) *Sigh* |
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After my last column on chick flicks, it occurred to me that a nice follow up would be to feature guy movies. My column had already run, so I couldn't put a call out to my readers, so instead I asked my guy friends and relatives. I even sent out a bulletin on Myspace. And while the results weren't exactly what you'd call scientific, I found out some very surprising things about guys (well, at least these guys). The first thing: many of them like the classics. The second surprising thing I learned is that for guys, explosions are not necessarily necessary to make a flick appealing. Hmm. Who knew? Although, one friend of mine from high school wrote to remark that her husband likes movies with airplanes and cheerleaders, but no word on what happens when he sees a movie with both airplanes and cheerleaders.
Forgive me for my uncharacteristic minimalism. This week, I get to list 
She's popular with the boys and the girls. |
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and recommend, without all that pesky defense.
THE THIRD MAN (1949)
A cool thriller, set in Vienna, and written by the brilliant and prolific Graham Greene.
NOTORIOUS (1946) Coincidentally, my favorite Hitchcock film and starring perhaps the most beautiful woman who ever lived, Ingrid Bergman.
KARATE KID (1984)
I just remember people adding "son" to everyone's name. "Deniseson." "Markson." "Melanieson." It was annoying. But at least Ralph didn't turn into an old man at the end of the movie. Or did he? I don't really remember. But either way, the bullying stopped.
LESS THAN ZERO (1987) Okay, so this wasn't volunteered so much as it was taken out of context. I was chatting with a co-worker who asked me if I'd seen it. He had just seen it again after many years and enjoyed it much more this go around. It's also more poignant now, he said, because Robert Downey, Jr. 
A good movie-- but Bill makes it a great movie. |
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followed down his character's path, what with the drugs and self-destruction and all. I told him I'd put on the queue, and I will, but it'll be a while. I still haven't watched VOLVER.
Most movies with Scarlett Johansson
None of the guys mentioned GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING. How odd. But since this is my column, I'm going to compromise: I mention that boys love Scarlett, and then I say which are her two best: MATCH POINT and LOST IN TRANSLATION. See? Win win.
Wes Anderson's movies, all of them (but especially BOTTLE ROCKET & RUSHMORE) for males ages 15-45, are as canonical as The Catcher in the Rye.
FOUR ROOMS (1995)
I think I actually saw this movie, but I'm going to take the following comments directly from Brad, a former student of mine. Brad says:
"Tim Roth, Antonio Banderas, Bruce Willis, Madonna, Marisa Tomei and Salma Hayek! Need i say more! Okay, I 
Bottle Rocket era Luke Wilson. He's improved with age. |
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will. Four different directors tying one story of a bellhop at an old-school hotel all together. These directors include Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Allison Anders and Alexandre Rockwell; and this movie has that Quentin Tarantino flavor that I'm sure any dude would enjoy."
Well, of course there'd have to be some gore, even with the most evolved of guys:
The GODFATHER (I & II, not so much III)
Scorsese. Think fast! What's Marty's favorite Rolling Stones song?
FIGHT CLUB 1999 (Spoiler Alert!)
I recently met a man, under 40, who had never seen FIGHT CLUB. He should be in a museum of rare specimen. Several years ago, I was having this convo with my friend TJ, and he hadn't seen it but he wasn't anti, because, he said, a movie that makes it so Brad Pitt doesn't really exist can't be all bad.
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| Take Your Queue From Du |
Every other Sunday
Semi-wholesome Midwestern girl and certified Geek Magnet offers her suggestions - often new, sometimes classic - for DVDs that are definitely queue-worthy.
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| Denise DuVernay |
9 out of 10 librarians think Denise is a hoot. The 10th one couldn't corroborate because she was dead.
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