Rewatching My 100 Favorite Movies - Update 1

Rewatching My 100 Favorite Movie – Update 1
 
I decided to rewatch my 100 favorite movies of all-time. What those are, you can check HERE. I watch them in random order, there is no rhyme of reason there, just watching those movies I love so much.
 

1/ 100: The Shape of Water
Wonderful but vicious fairytale by Mexican horror master Guillermo Del Toro. It’s set in the 1950s in a secret army compound. There, the FBI captures a South American water creature and subjects it to cruel tests. The mute Elisa, who cleans the compounds with her friend Zelda, finds interest in the creature when she discovers him and something beautiful blooms between the two. Check out my review HERE .
 

2/ 100: High Fidelity (2000)
This film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s bestseller of the same name is set not in London but in Chicago. There Rob runs a snobbish record store, which is only visited by the true purists. The wandering thirty-something has an almost pathological record collecting frenzy and consistently categorizes everything by a top five, whether it’s music or women. When girlfriend Laura trades him for another, Rob finds out that there’s more to collecting than vinyl. Check out my review HERE .

 
Still to watch: 98

00s Movie Review - High Fidelity

Director: Stephen Frears
Genre: Drama/ Comedy/ Romance
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2000
Starring: John Cusack, Jack Black, Iben Hjelje, Joan Cusack, Lodd Louiso, Lisa Bonet, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tim Robbins, Lili Taylor, Sara Gilbert

Description: Rob (John Cusack), a record store owner and compulsive list maker, recounts his top five breakups, including the one in progress.

Review: Everyone who grew up in the eighties, early nighties, recognizes something in Rob Gordon and his store Championship Vinyl. Rob is a 30-something guy, dresses okay, pays his bills, has a good education but is also a little stuck in life. And he is especially crazy about music, all sorts, preferably vinyl or cassette tape. Rob doesn’t care about his career, he rather works with his friends. Of all the important things that happen in his life, he makes top five lists. You might call it juvenile, but it can also be called authentic.
“High Fidelity” is the adaptation of the book by the British author Nick Hornby. The record store moves from North London (book) to Chicago (movie), but that’s not a problem.
John Cusack plays Rob Gordon. I’ve always had a thing for Cusack and I think this is the movie that it all began with. Rob is a sympathetic guy, he doesn’t really do a lot of useful stuff but you like him anyway. Rob just does what he likes to do. The fun thing about “High Fidelity” is that Rob breaks the fourth wall. He talks to the camera, to us viewers, making us a part of his story. Rob is in the middle of a break up with Laura and through flashbacks we see that it’s probably his fault it ended. John Cusack is perfect as Rob, who here portrays one of my favorite male movie characters. Jack Black is fun as Barry, an exhibitionist music freak who wants to be in the music business himself.
“High Fidelity” finds a good balance between humor and drama, but is mostly carried by the music and the meaning of it in the character’s lives. I think it’s an underappreciated movie, more people should love it. As Rob, I’m an avid top 5 list maker and “High Fidelity” is definitely in my top 5 of all-time favorite movies!

Rating: 5/ 5

What's in a Movie Year - 2000

Taking a look at the year 2000, picking my 10 favorite movies from that year in random order.
 

High Fidelity
This film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s bestseller of the same name is not set in London but in Chicago. There Rob runs a record store, which is only visit by the true purists. The wandering thirty-something has an almost sickly record collection and consistently categorizes according to a top five, whether it’s music or women. When girlfriend Laura trades him in for another, Rob finds out there’s more to it than collecting vinyl. It’s a fun comedy, with one of my favorite movie characters ever played by John Cusack and some great supporting roles by Jack Black and Tim Robbins.
 

Requiem for a Dream
Widowed and unorthodox mother Sara Goldfarb is firmly convinced that she wull be invited to one of her favorite TV shows. She swallows amphetamines to lose weight, so she can wear het red dress when the big day comes. Son Harry, like his friends, is also on drugs. It’s a smart big-cuty story by Darren Aronofsky and it uses hypnotic imagery and music. A fantastic movie, with some disturbing scenes that makes it hard to watch. But a definite must-see.
 

Unbreakable
David Dunne is a security guard who realizes after an accident that he is never sick and never got hurt. He’s unbreakable. He meets the owner of a comic book store, who is the complete opposite: he has an extremely fragile body. Visually “Unbreakable” is very intriguing and the story is really strong. One of M. Night Shyamalan’s best film to date.
 

Snatch
A crime comedy in which the story of Franky Four Fingers is interwoven with storylines around Bullet Teeth Toney and the boxing Irish gypsy Mickey. Franky steals the diamonds where the American Avi and the Russian criminal Boris the Blade are looking for. Director Guy Ritchie is a fun film, in the style of his earlier succession “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”. It’s dazzling, funny and edgy. I especially love Brad Pitt as the boxer, with a crazy Irish accent.
 

O Brother, Where art Thou?
A magnificently played and photographed adaptation of Homer’s epic Odyssey, starring George Clooney as Everett Ulysses. At the end of the thirties he escapes from a chain gang with loser Delmar and hot head Pete. According to a blind prophet they will find a fortune, but not the fortune they are looking for. Chained together they head for the adventure and meet a cyclops, sirens and a devilish lawman. The film also has a beautiful soundtrack. One of the most underappreciated films by the Coen Brothers I believe.
 

Gladiator
Roman general Maximus defeats a northern barbarian army, but is then betrayed by Emperor Commodus. He is sold as a slave and then has to work as a gladiator. Although historically not accurate, “Gladiator” is a beautiful film with a great performance by Russel Crowe.
 

Cast Away
FedEx manager Chuck Noland ends up on an uninhabited island after a plane crash and spends years in solitude. Due to loneliness Chuck starts talking to a Volleyball, which he calls Wilson. Probably two thirds of this film contains constant music, which is highly unusual for a big Hollywood movie. Since it’s mainly Tom Hanks on screen, and only he can make us cry over a volleyball.
 

American Psycho
Director Mary Harron decided to adapt the controversial book “American Psycho” by Bret Easton Ellis. The book has excessive violence and although the film is also very violent, it stayed relatively mild compared to the novel. The film is about the white-collar serial killer Patrick Bateman, as a symbol of the cynical, greedy eighties. But the horrific violence is not explicitly shown. Christian Bale is fantastic in his role, one of his best performances.
 

Billy Elliot
A young boy in a deprived British neighborhood can’t box, be he can dance. It’s a form of expression not accepted here for men. The boy is forbidden to dance, but he perseveres anyway. Billy eventually succeeds and has a better relationship with the people around him. “Billy Elliot” shows a well-known formula, but fortunately a sympathetic one.  
 

Final Destination
Alex feels disaster is in the air, on the eve of a flight and school trip to Paris. Everywhere he looks, Alex sees and feels signs of something bad happening on the flight. When panicking on the actual plane, he and some of his classmates are taken of the flight. And soon after the plane takes off, it explodes. It sets the tone of a film that shows a lot can go wrong in life. Since they have cheated death, death is coming for them one by one. It’s started a series, but this is still the best. And it has some gruesome and original deaths in it.

 

Five to Watch - Movies Starring Jack Black

“The house with a Clock In Its Walls” is now playing in theaters and it stars Jack Black, one of my favorite funny guys. He doesn’t only seem like an all-around down-to-earth nice guy, he is genuinely an actor I love to watch. I decided to create list of five films, that I find worth watching. Somehow they are underrated or overlooked.

Bernie
In small-town Texas, the popular mortician Bernie Tiede strikes up a friendship with Marjorie Nugent. She is a wealthy widow well known for her sour attitude. When she becomes controlling and abusive, Bernie goes to great lengths to remove himself from her grasp. Jack Black plays the role of Bernie and it’s easily one of Black’s best performances. It’s a weird true story, but this movie took me by surprise. It’s highly overlooked.

High Fidelity
Set in a record store, that doesn’t get a lot of costumer’s. It follows Rob, the store owner portrayed by John Cusack, who’s dealing with some problems. Jack Black plays the role of Barry, an exhibitionist music freak who wants to be in the music business himself. “High Fidelity” finds a good balance between humor and drama, but is mostly carried by the music and the meaning of it in the character’s lives. I think it’s an underappreciated movie, more people should love it. As Rob, I’m an avid top 5 list maker and “High Fidelity” is definitely in my top 5 of all-time favorite movies!

The Big Year
Three fanatical bird-watcher, played by Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin, spend an entire year competing to spot the highest number of bird species. I loved the theme, it’s a feel-good film. It could have easily fell into the ridiculous comedy trend, where everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. Luckily that didn’t happen and this film felt fresh and I really enjoyed it. It’s such an underrated film.

Be Kind Rewind
Mos Def and Jack Black play tow bumbling store clerks, who inadvertently erase the footage from all of the tapes in their video rental store. In order to keep the business running, they re-shoot every film in the store with their own camera, with a budget of zero dollars. This is a film that probably doesn’t speak to the younger crowd. Us 80s and 90s babies, we know what the phrase ‘be kind rewind’ mean. Because how annoying was it that you lend a VHS tape to someone and they’d return it to you without rewinding it. The cheap ways to recreate expensive special effects of some of our favorite movies. Those are the most fun parts of the film, when they are shooting the movies. Sometimes hilarious. And for someone who is creative herself, I can appreciate the creativity behind it all.

Orange County
Shaun Brumder is a local surfer kid from Orange County, played by Colin Hanks. He dreams of going to Stanford to become a writer and to get away from his dysfunctional family. Somehow mistakes are made and Shaun doesn’t get into Stanford. With the help of his brother Lance, a role by Jack Black and his girlfriend Ashely, he tries to do everything to get into the school. I don’t think there are a lot of people that even know this film. I know my friends haven’t, which is such a shame. It’s a good film, with great humor and fun characters. Like Jack Black’s Lance, he is hilarious as Shaun’s useless and lazy brother. I’ve seen it many times, there was a time I rewatched it several times a month.

Top 5 Thursday: Breakup Movies

We’ve all been there: bad breakups. In movies it’s also a common theme and here are the five best movies about breakups.

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Jason Segel wrote this very touching and funny comedy, that also happened to be hilarious. Oh and yeah, this is that movie where Jason Segel gets naked.

 

 

4. Silver Linings Playbook

There’s nothing sadder than watching someone refuse to accept the end of a relationship, but that’s what makes the burgeoning romance between Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence’s manic lovebirds so powerful. It’s only once Cooper’s character learns to let go of the woman who abandoned him he can see the woman who’s right in front of him.

 

 

3. Crazy Stupid Love

Love can go crazy, make you crazy, it simply makes people crazy. After his wife wants a divorce, because she slept with her boss, Cal Weaver befriends playboy Jacob. Jacob teaches him how to talk to women and how to get a woman home. It’s such a great comedy, with a fantastic cast.

 

 

2. (500) Days of Summer

It was a sleeper hit. “(500) Days of Summer” alternates between the good and the bad moments between Summer and Tom, even though they seem like the perfect pair.

 

 

1. High Fidelity

Rob Gordon is going through yet another breakup and he even lists his top 5 breakups of all-time. And that’s why it got my attention. “High Fidelity” isn’t just the best breakup movie, it’s one of the best movies ever.

 

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: The War of the Roses, Blue Valentine

Top 5 Thursday: Movie Voice-Overs/ Narrations

Nothing tells the story of a movie like a good voice-over. Some of the best movies made use a voice-over, and I decided to pick my favourites. Here they are.

5. Richard Dreyfuss in “Stand By Me”

It’s like reading a book. You see the story of a young Gordie and the adult Gordie tells you the story.

 

4. Edward Norton in “Fight Club”

If there wasn’t any voice-over, the majority of the first act would be in complete silence. His sarcastic, droning voice has different functions. It fills in gaps, it lets us get to know him, is adds a lot of humour.

 

3. Ray Liotta in “Goodfellas”

Henry Hill is the main character and we follow his life as a gangster. His voice-over is very powerful.

 

2. John Cusack in “High Fidelity”

Like me, he loves making lists. That’s what I love the most about his narration. Rob Gordon actually break the fourth wall a couple of times, when speaking directly to us, knowing there’s an audience watching him.

 

1. Morgan Freeman in “The Shawshank Redemption”

How can I not go with this? Morgan Freeman’s voice always suits me, it sounds so calm. It’s a great way to tell a story, true the eyes of the best friend.

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: Matthew Broderick in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, Robert De Niro in “Taxi Driver”, Malcolm McDowell in “A Clockwork Orange”

Top 5 Thursday: Movies from 2000

Another year of movies, this time 2000. Here are the best movies from that year in my opinion.

5. Return to Me
Maybe just a guilty pleasure, but I always liked this romantic comedy. I think especially Minnie Driver’s character warms your heart.

4. Cast Away
Tom Hanks’ performance is phenomenal, as always… When you just read the synopsis you think how can a man who’s been stranded on a deserted island with a volleyball called Wilson be interesting. Well, Mr. Hanks does it!

3. Memento
The way the story is told is so original. At first you don’t know what the hell is going on, but eventually all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

2. American Psycho
A total mindfuck in the end. Did he actually kill all those people? Patrick Bateman is so self-obsessed, that I actually have to dislike him. But he is so cynical, that he’s one of the best created movie characters.

1. High Fidelity
This is actually in my top five of all-time favorites. John Cusack is one of my weaknesses whom I think is underappreciated. My brother doesn’t get his appeal like I do, but I just love this guy. Especially in “High Fidelity”, where he makes lists of everything, just like moi!

They Almost Made the Top 5: Shanghai Noon, X-Men, Billy Elliot, Snatch, Chocolat, O Brother, Where Art Thou and Memento

Top 5 Thursday: Male Movie Characters

I did a list like this with my favorite female movie characters, so now it’s all about the guys.

5. Andy Dufresne (“The Shawshank Redemption”)
Andy is such a quiet man that nobody notices his brilliance. What a genius this man is.

4. Forrest Gump (“Forrest Gump”)
He comes of as stupid and many people call him that, but Forrest Gump accomplished more in his life than most of us. And the way Forrest sees the world is so much easier and less complicated.

3. Rob Gordon (“High Fidelity”)
He can be a douche sometimes, but there are so many things about Rob Gordon you can't possibly hate.

2. John McClane (“Die Hard”)
Talking about a real man. He swears, drink, smokes. You just gotta love John McClane.

1. Indiana Jones (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”)
I like an adventurous man and he actually makes history class interesting. I would love to travel around the world with Indiana Jones.

They almost made the top 5: Bob Harris (“Lost in Translation”), Tom Hannon (“(500) Days of Summer”), Ed Bloom (“Big Fish”), Gil Pender (“Midnight in Paris”), Adam Lerner (“50/50”), Driver (“Driver”)

Top 5 Thursday: Movie Character I Would Date

Off course there are some handsome actors I would date. But do you really know him? In a movie, you really get to know a character, so I made a list of movie characters I would date.

5. Mr. Darcy from “Pride & Prejudice”
This man should be on every womans list. Secretly we all dream of our own Mr.Darcy, a man with manners and respect for women.

4. Indiana Jones from “Raiders of the Lost Ark”
Off course! I love Indy, because he so adventurous and has a great sense of humour. How great would it be to go on a vacation with Indiana Jones?

3. Rob Gordon from “High Fidelity”
I know he's a bit of a douche sometimes, because certain relationship problems he didn't handle very well. But we have a lot in common. He has a passion for music and movies and he loves making lists. Well, I'm a sucker for that!

2. Tom Hannon from “(500) Days of Summer”
Tom is a very kind man, someone who enjoys the little things in life and finds beauty in the strangest places. I think I should be lucky to have him as my guy.

1. Noah Calhoun from “The Notebook”
Just like Allie, I think after meeting him I couldn't really think of any other man. He's practically perfect.

They almost made the top 5: John Grogan from “Marley & Me”, Robbie Hart from “The Wedding Singer”, John McClane from “Die Hard”, Edward Bloom from “Big Fish”, Patrick Verona from “10 Things I Hate About You” and Grigg Harris from “The Jane Austen Book Club”.

Movie Tip #15 - High Fidelity

Director: Stephen Frears

Starring: John Cusack, Jack Black, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusack, Iben Hjelje, Lisa Bonet, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lili Taylor

Description: High Fidelity follows the 'mid-life' crisis of Rob (John Cusack), a thirty-something record-store owner who must face the undeniable facts - he's growing up. In a hilarious homage to the music scene, Rob and the wacky, offbeat clerks that inhabit his store expound on the intricacies of life and song all the while trying to succeed in their adult relationships. Are they listening to pop music because they are miserable? Or are they miserable because they listen to pop music? This romantic comedy provides a whimsical glimpse into the male view of the affairs of the heart.

Review: It's one of my favourite movies. It's known for it's strong dialogues and monologues and his extravagant characters. The story is very simple and to the point, but the way it is brought to us is phenomenal. John Cusack plays a wonderfull role (also one of my favourite movie characters) and Jack Black is hilarious in his own way. I like the music in the film and how the guys talk about it. And Rob makes top fives for everything, that's just great. BTW this movie is based on a book written by Nick Hornby. This story is a little different, but also worthed.