1. Ghostbusters - This is one of those concepts that you simultaneously wish you had thought of while wondering how anyone ever thought of it. A group of PhDs dedicated to fighting paranormal activity in a humorous way--what possible precedent is there for that? I was very, very close to including this on my list but decided on Baron Munchausen instead.
2. Do the Right Thing - A good movie, but at the end I didn't really know what Lee was trying to say to me. What was the right thing? Is the answer that there was no 'right thing'?
3. The King of Comedy - If I had had more to drink while coming up with my list this would definitely be on there. De Niro's finest hour.
4. Top Gun - My brother and step-mom like it and recommend this for a first date. I haven't seen it.
Whoa, whoa, is that it? Please tell me you're going to name some movies that I didn't already name myself (aside from Top Gun, that is).
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you really think The King of Comedy was De Niro's best performance? Maybe it's just because the character is so completely unsympathetic, but I never really thought of it as THAT great of a performance. I'd probably have to go with Taxi Driver as his best, although that's not really fair because it's probably a better part, and a better movie.
I thought De Niro's performance in 'King of Comedy' was one of his best, if only because it was different than most of the characters he's played. 'Taxi Driver', as you said, was a better all around movie, but KOC wouldn't have been as good a picture if De Niro wasn't in it. He played the role perfectly.
ReplyDeleteI thought 'Ghostbusters' was a great movie. My sisters and I would watch it all the time during the summer months up where we lived where there was nothing to do but watch trees grow and whittle sticks.
As for 'Do the Right Thing', I think the title was meant to be ironic. In the end, no one does the right thing; everybody's guilty in some way; and the things that the characters in the movie define as important in their little section of the world are actually very trivial in the larger scheme of things. I mean, in the middle of the film, the blacks and the Mexicans have a stand-off about whose radio is the loudest, and the black guy backs down and gives the Mexican guy this look of deep admiration and respect. Come on now, the Mexicans can have louder radios without any fight at all, but we burn down a white man's place of business because he has some pictures of white people on the wall.
Now you got me started on this movie again. I will cut it off here and save it for my next book.
And as far as 'Top Gun' is concerned, what a silly movie.
Well, we can all finally determine the true meaning of Do The Right Thing once and for all - since I just purchased it at Amoeba. It was $25 but it's a Criterion so I think it was worth it.
ReplyDelete