"Why are you smiling?" "I know something you don't"

I had mentioned my top five favorite movies of all time and Talmidel (note the Theophoric appropriation of the name) says:

I'm a bit disappointed that your top 5 does not include The Princess Bride.

Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Revenge. Giants. Monsters. Chases. Escapes. True love. Miracles.

What more could you ask for?

;-)

I had forgotten about that one. So I revise. Here's my top 5 favorite movies of all time.

1. Ben Hur
1a. Jesus Christ Superstar
2. Small Soldiers
3. The Apostle
4. Saving Private Ryan
4a. Dave
4b. Princess Bride
5 Spy Game

Quick notes on the movies:

Ben Hur is only sullied by the fact that he has become a shill for the NRA, otherwise, how could it not be the most powerful movie of all time.

Jesus Christ Superstar, I rest my case.

Small Soldiers. I do need to do a post on this movie. It is a funny movie, but the philosophical aspect is what really does it for me. It is a metaphor for existence. We are so sure that we are the focus of all existence, when in fact our worlds our bounded by our experiences and we are in no position to make grand statements about the whole of existence as we frequently do, especially in the Catholic Church.

The Apostle-get the movie. Robert Duvall is a genius. I don;t know why I am in love with the movie, but it really touches home. At least rent the darn thing before you make any judgments.

Saving Private Ryan. Powerful stuff. One movie, I don't quite get tired of watching.

Dave. Goes down very well. One of the best feel good movies out there. Very clever and funny. My favorite line, "Thank you for doing this, Ellen."

Princess Bride. I have to say I was forced to watch this movie. You would not catch me watching something like this in a million years. I am embarassed to say that I was ROTFLMAO. "Why are smiling?" "Because I know something you don't"

Spy Game. This movie is a thrown back style spy movie. Excellent. It stars Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. I remember when it came out in the theaters, I could have cared less. As far as I was concerned, it was Mr young and sexy teams up with Mr distinguished and sexy, young ladies feast your eyes. Of course, I'm not a lady and I was not interested. I think I rented the movie out of boredom and I was blown away. There was none of that Ocean 11, we're-all-so-sexy eat your heart out, smugness. It was a solid acting performance, plain and simple. What are you still doing here, go get the movie!!

Honorable mention, Jimmy Stewart in Alfred Hitchcock's "Rope".

For my weekend viewing pleasure, I have rented the much discussed Village and for my mindless, blow it up, no plot entertainment, I got Papparazzi (I know, I have no standards). I do want to check this Papparazzi movie to see if it would qualify as a suitable movie for Bad Movie nite.

Bad Movie nite is a great idea when you have a few friends over. Rent a bad movie that's entertaining and have fun: laugh at the dialog, plot turns, stupid jokes, of course pizza and beer help things run smoothly. It is impotant to rent a movie in which the people actually take themselves seriously, that's what makes it funny.

Bad movie nite recommendations.

1. Deep Blue Sea. This is the ultimate bad movie nite. You will laugh your butt off at and yet be entertained. It is about a ocean-based research facility in which they studied sharks. But somehow the sharks became smart and . . . music . . . the hunters became the hunted. Stars LL Cool J and Samuel L Jackson. A++ bad movie nite.

2. Mission to Mars with Gary Sinese, Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle, etc. It is about a rescue mission to mars which goes awry. You gotta see this to believe it. A bad movie nite potential.

3. The Mangler. Yes, that's right, there is a movie called the Mangler. It is a Stephen King psychological horror type, but it is so ridiculous that is funny. B+/A- bad movie nite potential.

4 Guess what movie, "if I'm not me, then who the heck am I?" Case closed.