Genius Archives - 9to5 (dot cc)

Posts Tagged Genius

2 results.

Tuesday’s Coming: The Top 10 Films of 1988

by Al on March 2, 2015 at 6:13 pm

Posted In: Blogs, Homepage, Movies, Tuesday's Coming, VAGRANTS

In continuing with my ongoing revisiting of past years in the world of cinema, I will now explore the year 1988, which was the first year suggested to me by a reader after last week’s post. If you want to pick the year I’m doing next, tweet at me!

Art

THE TOP 10 FILMS OF 1988

#10: Fright Night II
In the first and only sequel on this list, we praise the incredible follow-up to 1985’s Fright Night, which picks up precisely 3 years later. How fitting! In this one, Roddy McDowall exits a psychiatric hospital convinced that vampires don’t exist, and then discovers a bunch of vampires. A slam dunk on all fronts.

#9: Brain Damage
A man wakes up one day with a weird tumour on his head. Wait, no, that’s not a tumour, it’s a living parasite named Aylmer! And it’s gonna feed him hallucinogens via his brain, and he’s gonna get addicted to them! What’s that? Aylmer demands human victims? He’s not gonna actually kill people, is he? Oh, he is? Tons of people? Cool.

#8: Young Einstein
Shane Adamczak co-stars in this absolutely spot-on re-imagining of Albert Einstein’s life, in which the genius invents both rock n’ roll AND surfing, and goes on to save the world from Charles Darwin, whose incompetence nearly causes a nuclear reactor to blow up. This film, of course, is best known for being the launchpad to Yahoo Serious‘ career.

#7: My Stepmother is an Alien
Dan Aykroyd is a widower in search of love, whose main occupation is a series of attempts at communicating with other life forms in outer space. One day, Kim Basinger falls from the sky and seduces him. 48 hours later, they are married. Basinger then attempts to learn inter-stellar communication secrets from Aykroyd, while trying to hide her alien nature. Hilarious “I don’t know what human behaviour is” gags ensue! Meanwhile, tiny Alyson Hannigan and tiny Seth Green go on a date! A 5-star family film.

#6: Cocktail
Tom Cruise, smug jerk, charms all the ladies and mixes a few drinks. A feast for the eyes, a vicarious feast for the mouth.

#5: Buster
Before fully engaging in his mildly successful career as a musician, Phil Collins had an incredible run as an actor, highlighted by his performance in this film. Collins stars as Buster, a petty thief who forms a gang and robs a train, and then escapes to Mexico with his wife with all their winnings. Unfortunately, his wife hates the beach – the tension is palpable. Whatever will become of them? You’ll have to see it to find out!

#4: Funny Farm
Chevy Chase, a New York sports writer, moves to a small town with his wife in order to write a novel. All is well until the townspeople begin imposing endless bills on the two newest residents, trying to chase them away, and forcing Chase and his wife to put their house back on the market. However, after a while, Chase decides that the small town life is fine by him, and pays every resident 50$ to let his family live in peace. A delightful romp, by all standards.

#3: License to Drive
Corey Haim and Corey Feldman fuck up a Cadillac. Need I say more?

#2: Purple People Eater
I’ve always wondered why hit novelty songs don’t get turned into movies. Take this film as a prime example of why it should be done more often! A young Neil Patrick Harris stars as an animal-loving outcast who is forced to spend the summer with his grandfather, whose escalating rent is causing him stress. One day, a one-eyed, one-horned Giant Purple People Eater falls from the sky, and searches for a rock band to join. He & Harris hold auditions, form a band with other children, and raise money for grampa. Absolute gold.

#1: Tapeheads
Inspiring a generation of future filmmakers, Tapehead pits John Cusack and Tim Robbins against THE WORLD, as they try to follow their artistic vision and make really cool music videos. Meanwhile, somebody sneaks an incriminating video of a high-ranking politican into their personal vaults, causing the FBI to storm their studios, to the great surprise (and trauma) of both gentlemen. How will they deal with this pickle? Will their music video-making career survive? So many questions, so brilliantly answered. An easy pick for the top of the crop of 1988.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9dBiw7xfVU&w=420&h=315]

An honourable mention goes to Earth Girls Are Easy, because why not.

-Al

Irritate Your Loved Ones by Sharing

└ Tags: 1988, 1988 movies, Alyson Hannigan, Aylmer, Brain Damage, Dan Aykroyd, Family Film, Genius, John Cusack, Murders, My Stepmother is an Alien, Neil Patrick Harris, Phil Collins, Purple People Eater, sci-fi, Seth Green, Shane Adamczak, Tim Robbins, Tom Cruise, Top 10 Movies, Yahoo Serious, Young Einstein

Comments Off

Tuesday’s Coming: The Top 10 Films of 2001

by Al on February 23, 2015 at 5:09 pm

Posted In: Blogs, Fine Arts, Homepage, Movies, Tuesday's Coming, VAGRANTS

I used to enjoy making year-end lists of my favourite movies and records of the year, until I started looking back at them. When I wrote them, I believed in the rankings I assigned, but as time passed, I changed my mind about a lot of my choices. Really, it takes a while to know which films and records are truly great, and really stand the test of time. And so, I will now undertake a dumb challenge: For the next few weeks, I’m gonna make retroactive top 10 lists, arbitrarily picking years, and picking THE GREATEST CINEMATIC CREATIONS from those years. Suck it, Oscars.

Colin Farrell, stealing the show in “American Outlaws”.

THE TOP 10 FILMS OF 2001:

#10: Saving Silverman
One of several brilliant comedies to make this list, and an instant classic upon its release, Saving Silverman takes slot #10. Who could forget this film’s wonderful plot? Jason Biggs plays in a Neil Diamond cover band, and dates an abusive girlfriend. In order to fix his life, his bandmates kidnap his girlfriend, and force Biggs to reunite with his high school sweetheart, who is about to take her final vows as a catholic nun. Pure genius through and through, and it most certainly holds up 14 years later.

#9: The Glass House
Whatever happened to Leelee Sobieski? She was making tremendous career choices in 2001, starring in two movies from this very list. In The Glass House, she played a 16-year-old whose parents die, forcing her to move into a house made of windows with estranged neighbours of the family name Glass. Get it? It’s a Glass House, in every way. The new guardians turn out to be creepy drug addicts who steal her inheritance. Such poetry, such wonder. A natural hit.

#8: One Night at McCool’s
Take one story, tell it from three different perspectives, and try to make every perspective funnier than the last. Try as you may, you will never succeed quite as much as Stan Seidel did when he wrote this masterpiece of a crime-based comedy. And with Paul Reiser taking third billing in this splendid cast, who would have expected any less?

#7: Shallow Hal
Jack Black gets hypnotized in an elevator and now sees skinny beautiful people everywhere, instead of regular or bigger folks. Because of this, he falls for Gwyneth Paltrow, despite her weight. A true work of genius, this film manages not to make it seem like only skinny people are attractive, and certainly doesn’t encourage the notion that hypnosis can solve all your problems. Total gold.

#6: American Outlaws
With the tagline “Bad is Good Again”, this film had every indication of excellence, and did not disappoint. This one’s an easy standout from the era when Ali Larter was in a thousand wonderful movies, with every one of her releases blowing our collective minds. This attempt at telling the story of Jesse James is, quite easily, the best one that ever made it to film.

I’m sure many people caught baseball fever in the summer of 2001 because of this guy!

#5: Summer Catch
Freddie Prinze Jr. dreams of playing big-league baseball, but is constantly distracted by Jessica Biel. It’s a true underdog story full of ups and downs, and crammed with delightful romance. Hey, with Hank Aaron and Ken Griffey Jr. in your list of cameos, you know it’s got to be a great baseball film.

#4: What’s the Worst That Could Happen?
It’s no surprise to see this film making the cut. After all, the chemistry between Martin Lawrence and Danny DeVito in this film was such and incredible sight, that the pair went on to star in a plethora of further comedies after this juggernaut debut. I’m sure you’re all quite familiar with its sequels, “What’s the Worst That Could Happen 2: Even Worse” and “What’s the Worst That Could Happen 3: Children of the Worst”, both of which enjoyed tremendous box office success.

#3: Get Over It
Time and time again, people attempt to adapt Shakespearian works for the screen, and while many of those attempts fail horribly, this one absolutely soared. Ben Foster stars as a high school student who lands the lead role in a play in order to impress an ex-girlfriend. He is, of course, aided by his two best friends (Sisqó and Colin Hanks). Throw in a stellar performances by Carmen Electra and some malfunctioning pyrotechnics, and you’ve got the recipe for a classic!

#2: Joy Ride
Leelee Sobieski strikes again! This time, she’s one of three teenagers who play a prank on a trucker named Rusty Nail who turns out to be a murderer. If you somehow missed this one in 2001, get your hands on a copy now, and prepare to spend 97 minutes on the edge of your seat – this one’s a nail-biter!

#1: Sugar & Spice
How this one was Oscar-snubbed is beyond me. Five teenage cheerleaders watch a flurry of heist movies, and decide to commit a few robberies themselves, since one of them is pregnant and in desperate need of money. I have to applaud the writers on this one, for managing to make these crimes and all following criminal procedures perfectly legitimate and realistic in this absolute blow-out of a thriller (with comedic edges). I make a point of re-watching this one every year around homecoming, as should you!

2001 was a hell of a year. What year should I re-visit next?

-Al

Irritate Your Loved Ones by Sharing