Top 5 Movies Shawn Was Right About

Matt

I tease my cousin Shawn about his taste in movies a little more than I probably should.

Shawn loves classic, critically-acclaimed cinema as much as I do, but he also loves shoot-em-ups, science-fiction, and action movies I would never even consider watching. He loves the, and I quote, “‘splosions,” and “pew pew.” He said he enjoyed “The A-Team” more than “Black Swan,” and said “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” was good.

He can be sentimental, too, for movies like “Shrek Forever After.” He loves TV, which I don’t. But he does a superb job on our sister blog, TV-Tastic.

I ran him through the ringer for his review of “The A-Team” and I figured since I beat him up all the time, I should do a Top 5 list of movies Shawn was right about.

5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: In this case, I thought this installment of the Star Trek film franchise was silly and far too wide a sidestep from the franchise. Shawn, a giant Trekker of the most massive scale, explained to me that I shouldn’t over think it. This is the Star Trek comedy. I hadn’t watched it in a long time and went back for a second viewing. Shawn was right. This is a lighthearted, fun Star Trek adventure that is very accessible and I enjoyed far more the second go around.

4. X-Men: Before going to see this  in the theater with Shawn, I really thought it wasn’t going to work. With a massive cast and so many characters to develop in the huge X-Men Universe, I didn’t think they could pull it off. I really wasn’t amped about seeing it, but Shawn really wanted to go. And he was right. It was a blast. The Wolverine performance by Hugh Jackman remains among the best ever in comic book films. I was wrong, yet again.

3. Mr. Brooks: This was a movie I totally would have overlooked. Kevin Costner has passed his peak, and I don’t really seek out his films anymore. But Shawn reviewed this film for us, and based on his recommendation, I checked it out. Very solid little psycho-drama, mystery movie with a really good performance by Costner. Good choice, Shawn.

2. The Other Guys: This was another one of those movies I would have passed over. I like Will Ferrell, and all, but another buddy police comedy? Like that hasn’t been done? Well, this happens to be one of the best ones. We laughed often and hard in the theater when we went to see it. We had a blast, and I’m glad he got me to go.

1. The Matrix: Man oh man oh man, was I wrong about this one. Because Keanu Reeves was in this, I instantly wrote it off as a crap-fest of epic proportions and literally scoffed at Shawn when he glowed about it to me over coffee. When I finally got around to seeing this on video — God, was I late to the party — I was hooked on “The Matrix.” This is one of the best action/sci-fi films of all time. While the sequels may have left a bad taste in our collective mouths, the original remains a modern classic.

Shawn 5, Matt 0.

Memento

Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line movies forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time. The movie stars Guy Pearce (Factory Girl, Hurt Locker) and is directed by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception, The Prestige).

Kyle
Rating: 10 out of 10

With the recent success of “Inception,” I find myself suggesting the hell out of “Memento.” People will tell me how much they enjoyed “Inception” and appreciated how in-depth the plot was. My immediate response has been: “If you really liked ‘Inception’ as well as the reprisal of the Batman franchise, you absolutely have to see ‘Memento.’ It leaves you with the same reactions, but without all the CGI.”

The script for this was so beautifully written. Every time I watch it I think to myself, “How did they come up with and storyboard this to work out the way that it does?!”  It’s so easy to understand how it is set up after a few scenes but trying to explain it to others can be difficult. Also, I particularly enjoyed how the characters that enter Leonard’s world cope with his condition. At some point they lie, manipulate, tease, sympathize and aid him on his journey for justice. All at the same time, they try so hard to believe that his condition is like a wound that will heal when he finds his wife’s killer.

The main character Leonard is someone that the audience, at first, can empathize with but as the film progresses, and he is revealed as a different person than we thought. Perhaps it was because I was quite young when I first saw this but the climax to this film is probably one of the best I have ever seen; so much is revealed about Leonard’s past that it is quite overwhelming. There isn’t anything more I can say other than to GO RENT THIS FILM!

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