My five under-rated movies

Stolen from Sheila. Here are five movies that I feel didn’t get their fair shake.

eXistenZ: David Cronenberg’s 1999 movie about virtual reality and our perceptions of what’s real and not.

Cronenberg made a name for himself in the ‘70s and early ‘80s making cerebral and just-plain odd horror films. He jumped tracks in 1988 with Dead Ringers, a really bad psychological/horror/mess-with-your-head fest. In 1991, he transposed Naked Lunch to film -- a brave effort that didn’t entirely fail. eXistenZ follows much of the same feel as Naked Lunch but, since it’s Cronenberg’s world and not Burroughs’, it comes off more genuine.

The performances by Jude Law (one of the first movies I took notice of him) and Jennifer Jason Leigh give good performances in some of the weirdest scenes they have ever been in.

IMDB Money Quote:
Ted: It hurts. I think it's infected.
Allegra: No, it's not infected. It's just excited. It wants action.
Ted: But I really don't think I want action! Me, I mean. The bearer of the excited bio-port.

Willow: I would have never thought this movie would have been under appreciated, but I was listening to Glenn Beck today and they mercilessly tore into this movie. I couldn’t believe my ears. Am I alone in liking this movie”

This is, to me, one of the most perfect hero quest movies ever made. It follows the pattern perfectly and provides enough drama and action to fill anyone’s chalice, yet it’s still okay for children. Very entertaining.

IMDB Money Quote:
Sorsha: What happened to "You are my sun, my moon, my starlit sky"“
Madmartigan: It went away.
Sorsha: Went away” "I dwell in darkness without you," and it "went away"“!
Madmartigan: Yeah.

Crossroads: No. Not the Brittney Spears journey to stupidity, this Ralph Macchio vehicle was made in 1986. It’s the perfect celluloid version of The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Basically, the devil plays guitar against a naturally gifted guitarist. His soul hung in the balance.

While generally an okay movie, what catapults this movie into the “amazing” category is the guitar fight at the end. Representing the devil was Steve “the best guitarist on the planet” Vai. Somehow we were supposed to buy that Ralph Macchio could outplay Vai. But the Mach had a secret weapon -- Ry Cooder actually played all of his guitar licks.

Now, a Cooder-Vai showdown is a bit more of a match. Though I still think the match was pretty close to call, as far as actual playing was concerned. What happens though is that Vai messes up while playing and blows the competition.

IMDB Money Quote:
Eugene Martone: Hey Willie, look at this hat. All I need is a Mississippi string tie and I'm ready to roll!
Willie Brown: Yeah, you need a lot more than THAT.
(Ed. Apparently, in the ‘80s, if you had the right kind of hat, you could mystically play guitar. Man, I wish I could find this hat.)

Punch Drunk Love: You know, I want to say that I don’t really like Paul Thomas Anderson movies, but, looking at his list of flicks on IMDB, it’s not true. I like most PTA movies, I just don’t like Magnolia. Anyway, I thought this was a home run.

I like everything about this movie, especially the fact that my sister-in-law gets violently upset if I mention it whenever we talk about good movies. And, really, what more can you say than that.

IMDB Money Quote:
Lena: Oh... I'm sorry... was that like a secret pudding”

Jersey Girl: I do not understand why this movie is so universally despised. I mean, yes, I do understand that both Ben AssChin and J-ennifer Lo-pez are in it, but, amazingly, I actually liked them in this movie.

Part of this, I guess, has to do with the fact that I really like Kevin Smith and was really happy to see him do something outside his standard wacky comedy mold. Secondly, being the father of a couple of little girls, the movie really hit home with me. Being there for your children, putting their needs before your own, really struck a chord with me.

IMDB Money Quote:
Ollie: Do you have any questions about what you saw?
Gertie: [thinking hard] Do you have what Brian has?
Ollie: Yes.
Gertie: [after thinking hard again] Is it as big as his?
Ollie: Sadly, yes.