My Favorite Movies That Nobody Else Like
1997’s A Life Less Ordinary
Plot summary: A cleaning man(Ewan McGregor) takes his boss’ daughter(Cameron Diaz) hostage after being fired and replaced by a robot. Meanwhile two angels(Holly Hunter & Delroy Lindo) try to get this unlikely couple to fall in love.
Why I like it: What a great cast. Besides McGregor, Diaz, Hunter and Lindo you also get great character actors Dan Hedaya, Stanley Tucci, Ian Holm and Tony Shalhoub. All under the watchful director’s eye of Danny Boyle who later went on to direct 127 Hours and the Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. Cameron Diaz gives the best performance in the movie as the spoiled rich girl who is capable of anything. The soundtrack is another part of the movie that I like very much. A quirky movie that I never could figure out where it was going….but I enjoyed the ride.
Why people do not like it: The angels are some of the strangest angels to ever appear on movie screens. The movie does not seem to know what kind of movie it is….sometimes it is a comedy, sometimes it is a fantasy, sometimes it is a drama, sometimes it is a musical, sometimes it is a claymation movie and sometimes it is a Pulp Fiction clone. Put altogether you end up with a very bumpy movie ride. A Life Less Ordinary earned only 4.7 million in worldwide box office.
1985’s Fandango
Plot Summary: Five college buddies from the University of Texas circa 1971 embark on a final road trip odyssey across the Mexican border before facing up to uncertain futures, in Vietnam and otherwise.
Why I Like It: The performances of Kevin Costner, Judd Nelson and Chuck Bush as Dorman. Movie has some interesting scenes that include a firework cemetry scence, a tie a car to a moving train scene, a parachute scene and a very humorous last minute wedding. The director, Kevin Reynolds, and Costner went on to make more movies together…Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld. Soundtrack is filled with many classic songs. One of the few Kevin Costner movies I actually like.
Why people do not like it: After seeing Kevin Reynold’s college short film, Steven Spielberg provided the money for this movie to be made into a feature film. After seeing the results, Spielberg wanted nothing to do with the movie. Fandango grossed $91,166 dollars in North America.
2004’s Wicker Park
Plot Summary: A young Chicago advertising executive(Josh Hartnett) believes a woman(Diane Kruger) he sees in a café is his long-lost love. His conviction leads to obsession, as he puts his life on hold to trail her.
Why I Like It: I love a movie that makes me think, this movie is guaranteed to make you think. The plot twist about halfway through the movie takes a movie that was very confusing and helps explain things in a very original and memorable way. Hartnett and director Paul McGuigan would later make another favorite of mine, Lucky Number Slevin.
Why people do not like it: A very confusing movie. It took me three attempts to watch this movie until it’s conclusion. I can easily see many people giving up on this movie and saying it was one of the worst movies ever made. But remember patience is a virtue. Wicker Park earned 12.83 million during its box office run in North America.
1994’s Fresh
Plot Summary: Michael/Fresh(Sean Nelson) is a 12-year-old drug pusher who lives in a crowded housing project with his cousins and aunt. His father has become a street bum(Samuel L. Jackson), but still meets with Fresh on occasion to play chess. Fresh’s sister is a junkie who sleeps with the dealers who Fresh sells for. As the story progresses Fresh realizes that he doesn’t want to sell drugs anymore, he wants out.
Why I like it: Sean Nelson gives one of the best child performances ever. I would put his role in Fresh up against Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense, Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun, Natalie Portman in The Professional, Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver and Ivana Baquero in Pan’s Labyrinth. Samuel L. Jackson as his chess playing father, is also outstanding in a small but important part. I like how we watch Fresh go from a child with little choices to a child with a master plan that he carries out with brutal consequences.
Why people do not like it: Simply put….. Fresh lives in a very brutal world. It is not a fun movie to watch. It is a brutal world filled with lots of violence, drug use and cruelty and is not a movie for everyone. But if you want to watch one of the best child performances ever check out Fresh. Fresh grossed just over 8.00 million during it’s release in North America.
Hi Bruce; I actually haven’t seen any of these five, so I can’t really comment on them. There are some talented people involved, so they can’t be all bad.
Thanks for sharing,
Rob
Hey Rob, I am willing to bet, since we seem to have similar taste in movies…that you would really like at least two of the movies…..one you would think was average…and two you would think would be horrible movies. Thanks for stopping by.
Cogerson…a really great “twist” to your usual fantastic pages. Not only have I never seen any of these movies…I’ve never heard of them. (but that’s pretty typical for me, “Miss never go-to-the-movies.”)
I will say, though, once in awhile I’ll pick up movies that are marked way down…old movies, unpopular movies…that sort of thing (I’m such a penny-pincher!!) I’ve picked up a few that I simply loved. One in particular that I must have watched a dozen times by now, is Peter O’Toole, “Creator.” …Vincent Spano, Virginia Masden, David Ogden Stiers, Marielle Hemingway. I swear I can speak the entire movie. Anytime I talk about it, people say…”What?? Who??? Creator?? Never heard of it!!”
You did such a teriffic job presenting these, I have to go rumaging through the “discount bins” now!! lol.
It’s settled. You’re the Rock Star of movie
Hey fpherj48 thanks for stopping by and for the compliments about my hub. I liked Creator as well…I am a huge Peter O’Toole fan…so I actually saw that in theaters(one of the few). I think I have seen all 5 of these movies in the Wal-Mart bucket for 2 for 10 dollars. I think it is time for them to go lower on their regular DVD movies….I think 3 for 10 seems like a better price….lol.
An interesting bunch of films Bruce, I’ve only seen two of them –
A Life Less Ordinary which like you say can’t figure out where it’s going, it’s a weird romantic comedy and my Sandra seems to like it more than I do.
Swimming With Sharks I like a lot more than Sandra does, Kevin Spacey is excellent as the hateful boss from hell and his role in Horrible Bosses must have been a nod and a wink to this film.
The other three I’ve heard of but never seen.
I could fill a page with films I like that no one else does. I could fill a book with films I like that Sandra doesn’t like, hahaha!
Hey Steve…thanks for stopping by. My wife actually thought A Life Less Ordinary was pretty good too. I can not talk her into watching Swimming With Sharks….I still remember how confused I was at the end when we find out who is going to the morgue….but the first line in the movie…is something like….”There are stories were love conquers all…this is not one of those”.
I have been thinking about doing a hub like this for awhile…I can only imagine how many films you have in your personal gem closet. Of the three you have not scene I think you would like Fresh the best of all….the kid takes the lessons learned in chess and uses them against the drug lords….brutal but very well done….thanks for the kudos and the visit.
Well, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I haven’t seen them as I rarely watch recent films unless they get award buzz. But I have heard of A Life Less Ordinary. 2004 was a year where I was moving out and there were huge changes going on in my life. I don’t know that I could tell you the names of any movies that year that were not nominated for awards.
Hey Flora…thanks for stopping by….none of these movies got any Oscar buzz…I think they might have gotten Razzie buzz….but no way did they get any awards….Fandango is one you might like…Costner is very good in the movie…and a great soundtrack…when I worked at the video store I always put this in the VCR because of so many great songs in the movie….songs like “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” by Elton John, “Spooky” by Classics IV, Badge by Cream, and Can’t Find My Way Home by Blind Faith. At one point in the film they visit the old set of Giant. It is so lonely here…you should watch Fandango as well…lol.
The old Giant set? I will check it out the next time it is on TV. I love it when old sets are visited. I certainly think I’d love the soundtrack.
Hey Flora…the group of college kids end up in the town that they filmed Giant….and they end up sleeping on the old set…but it takes place about 18 years after Giant was filmed….so there is not much left…but it is still pretty interesting. Awesome music….I think the only time Fandango ever got noticed was when it was on a NBC movie of the week…back when movies still earned some ratings on network tv…..oh those days are over.
I haven’t seen any of these movies. I never heard of them either. We all have favorites that somebody, I don’t know if it’s everybody doesn’t like. Great idea for a page!!
Thanks for stopping by….I know you are a big Cameron Diaz fan….she is awesome in her role in A Life Less Ordinary….it was her Bad Teacher role 15 years ago…and she looks awesome…McGregor is pretty good as well….so if you checked out The Box you have to check out A Life Less Ordinary.
I will purchase and watch a A Life Less Ordinary when I find it at a yard sale…VHS or DVD either one will work for me. I didn’t notice Cameron Diaz with a gun until I gave the photo a third look! 🙂
Hey Sunshine625….I think it is worth at least 2 of 3 dollars to have a look at it….I love the soundtrack lots of unusual songs in the background of the music….and a very interesting song duo between McGregor and Diaz…singing Beyond the Sea. Let me know what you think whenever you track it down and watch it.