My Beloved Movies: Ready When You Are, Raoul

Thirteen Days

“John Paul Jones?!?” Just a solid movie about a scary chapter in our history. I don’t usually like these kinds of historical re-creation movies, but this one is pretty darned good.

Top Gun

Come on, it’s Top Gun. It’s maybe the coolest movie ever made. I’m even excited for the abjectly awful sequel coming out.

Touch of Evil

Orson Welles is a genius. I don’t even mind Charleston Heston playing a Mexican cop. It’s complex. It’s trippy. And that opening shot. Masterful.


Transporter 2

The great debate amongst Transporter fans, which is better Oil Fight or Hose Fight. Oil Fight from the first Transporter is clearly better, but nothing beats the abject silliness of its successor. White ninja Jason Statham fights his way through Miami to save a little kid. It’s basically a live action cartoon. And it’s one of the first movies my wife and I bonded over.

True Lies

James Cameron is the master of big action, and this is his funniest outing. Schwarzenegger never gets enough credit for his sense of humor. He’s always down to make fun of his tough guy persona. The terrorists do not age well, but their bumbling almost makes up for it. Almost. It’s like technology, versus horse.

The Usual Suspects

My investment in this movie wanes as time passes. Technically, it’s brilliant, but it’s boring. And honestly, not much happens. It’s a well-crafted magic trick. The editing is brilliant. But once you’ve seen it and digested it, you can be done with it. But I truly loved it for a time, so it belongs here.

WarGames

I’ve seen this movie so many times, it has to be here. It was just always on TV, and I never turned it off. No better way to teach a child about mutually assured destruction.

Who Am I?

Jackie Chan’s finest film. It’s funny. The stunts are almost Buster Keaton level. The rooftop fight at the end is one of the best ever put to film. I actually saw that fight first, then had to look up what the movie was that led up to it. And the English dub of Jackie standing on a roof screaming “Who am I????” makes me laugh every time. Best detail of the movie? Before he loses his memory, his character is just named Jackie Chan. So good.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Another from the VHS collection. We recorded this from The Disney Channel, preceded by a making-of documentary, which I love almost as much as the film. Nothing beats a smart, well-made children’s movie. Too often, children’s entertainment panders and talks down to kids. This movie isn’t afraid to be dark at times, and the way it pairs darkness with silliness is spot on.

Y Tu Mama También

The summer before I left Boston to go to college, I saw this movie with my closest friend. It was a tough summer. Two of our other close friends went on a road trip, meaning it was just the two of us, and we got on each other’s nerves. A lot. I drove him three hours to see the girlfriend I, at the time thought, he stole from me. And he dawdled so much that morning, I was exhausted by the time we got there and crashed my car. I blamed him for a long time. But we watched this film about two best friends realizing they loved each other, and none of that mattered. We were going to be going our separate ways after being such big parts of each other’s lives for so long. Some of you reading this will know who I’m talking about, and it will come as a shock to none of you that even though we’re thousands of miles apart, I still love him. I’m not a best friend kind of person, but he’s the closest thing to a best friend I’ll ever have.

Zombieland

But enough of that sentimental crap. Let’s shoot some fucking zombies. Two zombie comedies came out around the same time, this and Shaun of the Dead. Shaun is clearly the better film, but I love Zombieland more. It was a joke in the Zombieland 2 trailer that the four main leads have all been nominated for Oscars, but that’s what elevates this film. It’s first-rate actors having the time of their lives shooting a balls to the wall action comedy. And like I’ve now said many times, nothing hits me like father-son stories, and a bunch of misfits finding family in each other. Now, let me just push your hair behind your ear.