Good Movies (and a bad one)

My fifth period class, which is called Contemporary Women Writers, had a really interesting discussion about whether it's possible to have just one movie that is your absolute all-time favorite. Some people claim it is possible, and maybe it is, for them. But for me, it isn't. So I will list a few of the movies that I have seen and liked. Maybe I'll even describe them. But I won't rate them. No comparisons. They're all good.

Harold and Maude- This is a quality movie. It's about a boy (Harold) who is, I believe, sixteen years old and obsessed with death. And it's about a woman (Maude) who is in her 80's and attends other people's funerals, whether or not she knows them. They fall in love... and the rest is history. Well, not really. It's a good movie.

The Graduate- My 60's class watched this movie together. We were supposed to look for elements of history. But really it's just a good movie. About a guy who doesn't have much direction in life, trapped in a stereotypically old-fashioned family. And he has an affair with a woman about whom he doesn't really care, named Mrs. Robinson. The soundtrack is all Simon & Garfunkel. (Ever wondered where the inspiration for their song "Mrs. Robinson" came from? Now you know. See, I did learn something in 60's class!)

The Thomas Crown Affair- I saw this movie in the theater recently, with my sister. I did not expect to like it, because I'm not really a fan of James Bond movies, and that was how I knew of Pierce Brosnan. But it turned out to actually be clever and amusing. And so satisfying! I like movies that are either truly satisfying or else not satisfying in the least. Not movies that try to be satisfying, but really aren't at all. Like The Bachelor. But I'll get to that.

Toy Story Two- I went to see this with an eleven-year-old girl that I babysit for, expecting it to be similar to the first Toy Story, cute but kind of dumb. Except it turned out that I liked the movie more than she did. A lot of the jokes went over her head, but I liked them. It's one of the best kids' movies I've ever seen. If it can really be called a kids' movie.

Boys Don't Cry- This movie is highly disturbing but very good. It's about Brandon Teena (Teena Brandon), a girl who wanted to be a guy and moved to a new town, living her life as a male. Things went well for awhile, but Brandon didn't do such a good job of picking his friends, and bad things ended up happening. It's an intense movie, but very good. And I hate how all the reviews give away the ending. I guess they think it's not the point of the movie, and in a way it isn't, but it would have made things more interesting if I had not known how things would turn out. So I'm not going to tell you the ending, in case you don't already know what it is.

The Breakfast Club- I saw this movie a few years ago, and I don't remember it all that well, but I remember loving it. I know it's about a bunch of kids who have detention on a Saturday with a teacher who's a total prick. And I know they rebel in some way, and it's really funny. But I don't really remember. I should watch it again. And you should watch it, too.

Silence of the Lambs- I watched this movie on an 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C., at three o'clock in the morning. Usually I don't like creepy movies that have blood or violence in them... but this one is so good.It's really well-done and takes a different angle than most movies of its genre. I love the ending, too.

The Princess Bride- I just saw this movie for the third time last week on the Cape Cod trip, and I was reminded of how incredibly good it is. The whole plot is just so amusing... even though I hate Wallace Shawn in general, and could have killed somebody when he showed up in Clueless, he really does a good job. I like the combination of a typical romance and comedy, and I like the unusual way the movie looks at the basic romantic drama type plotline.

Tank Girl- This is one of the movies I watched when I was at Jessie's house. It's based on a comic book- it's the year 2033 or something like that and there was a big metoer or something that hit Earth and now there are these evil people who control the whole world's water supply and just a few rebellious people who fight them, including this army of really amusing kangaroo mutant creatures. Wow, that really sounds like a bad movie, but it's actually really funny and good and.. yeah. Watch it and you'll see what I mean.

Empire Records- I'd already seen this movie, but it's just so good that I was excited to get to see it again with Jessie. The characters are all so good, it's funny and yet actually has a point, and everything fits together really well. It's one of those movies that would be totally awesome to watch with a few of my friends in particular. It's just a really well-put-together movie.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off- I know this is a classic, but I hadn't even seen it until a week and a half ago. Everybody probably knows what it's about already- a boy who skips school and drives around town with his best friend and his girlfriend. It's as good as everybody says and I see a little bit of Ferris and a little bit of Cameron in most of my friends, which is cool.

Rocky Horror Picture Show- What can I say? It's really funny, the music is totally awesome, the plot kinda confused me at first but Jessie had already seen it so she explained to me who was who when I got confused. I can tell that I'll be quoting that movie for years. "That's a rather tender subject. Would anybody care for another slice?"


At the moment, there is a movie which I consider the worst I've ever seen. This is excluding all little kid movies that I've watched with baby-sitting charges and all movies that I don't remember ever having viewed. But as far as I recall, The Bachelor is absolutely the worst movie I've ever seen. I didn't like Renee Zellweger even before I saw it, because I read an interview she did with Vogue, in which she managed to come across as a complete ditz. But the movie was horribly written. It lost my interest after about two minutes of viewing. It was cheesy and ended up with a horribly unrealistic, corny scene- fitting, though, for the extremely unrealistic premise that the movie is based on. Do not waste your money on this piece of crap unless you really feel like torturing yourself. Or if you're like the friend with whom I saw the movie- I don't know what she thought about the movie itself, but she informed me that she adored Chris O'Donnell's jawline. Riiight.

updated August 20, 2000