My Beloved Movies: Who’s the Wild Man Now?

Regarding Henry

This movie is so schmaltzy, but I love it anyway. It’s never too late for someone who lost his way to find his way home.

Renaissance Man

God, even more schmaltz, but whatever. This movie is the reason I can do the Feast of Crispian speech from memory. It’s dumb, but it’s just so watchable.

Rudy

Okay, R-movies, enough with the schmaltz. But come on, who doesn’t love this movie? The real life guy came to visit my middle school, and he seemed like a nightmare to be around. But this movie tells the story so well, and there is not a more noble moment in a sports movie than the “dress in my place” scene.



Rumble in the Bronx

Jackie Chan is a god of physical comedy. This movie is pure joy beginning to end. It’s just Jackie at his Jackie-est, tossing his body around for our amusement. And he broke his ankle during filming and just kept going, so good.

Run, Lola, Run

Once this film starts running, it never stops. It’s such a simple story, told in as many creative ways as possible. And I guess Franka Potente is a smoker, so she was dying throughout the whole shoot. I guess sacrificing your body for my amusement is a theme of this entry.

Saw IV

Starting with Saw III, I saw all of them in theatres. I don’t really love horror, but the Saw movies are just the right level of goofy. Starting with part four, the series committed to a world with so much promise. It’s by far the best in the series, and it kept me hooked for 4 more films with diminishing returns.

Shadow of a Doubt

Hitchcock puts his obsession with murder right up front with this one. Joseph Cotton is the perfect Hitchcock leading man, and Teresa Wright is amazing as his foil. It’s just so tongue and cheek in all the right ways.

Shaolin Soccer

Not only is this the most balls to the wall sports film ever made, Stephen Chow manages to infuse the same insanity into the characters relationships without sacrificing their humanity. Kung Gu Hustle is better known, but this is my favorite. Mui declares her love for Sing, and Sing is just like, “What? No. We’re lifelong friends.” It’s heartbreaking and hilarious.

The Shawshank Redemption

The ultimate “found it on TV” movie. You could just turn on a TNT all day marathon and keep it on in the background. It flows from chapter to chapter and sucks you in without you even realizing it.

Sherlock Jr.

Speaking of sacrificing your body for my amusement, Buster Keaton broke his neck while shooting this film. You can see it. He hits a train track neck first, gets up, and runs into the distance. This film started my obsession with Keaton. He inspired me to make a Keaton-style silent film in college, which won me an award. Every physical comedian owes something to Keaton. We wouldn’t have Jackie Chan without Keaton. We wouldn’t have Stephen Chow without Keaton. My favorite Keaton is actually a short called “The Goat,” but this is a stand in for the entire Keaton collection.