Chud dammit

I had intended to post on a recent Chud article, and still am in a second, but this caught my eye first. X3 is now again without a director.

Well, shit.

A few months ago they posted a list of "100 Movies That Deserve More Love". I urge everyone to check it out and seek out any film that seems interesting to you. After a friend showed me the list it inspired me to check out my DVD collection and see what movies I own that I think deserve more attention. I may repeat a few titles, but hopefully not many. Like them, I'm going to keep it mostly "from my lifetime". This will be an ongoing thing this week, as well as finishing off my mixed bag stuff and a few other posts as well. So, here are the first five!

1. The Adventures of Ford Fairlane

No, not a good movie by any means of the word, but it's a fun movie. It's full of one-liners that beat the pants off those found in Ahhhhnold's or Stallone's films. Where else can you see Morris Day actually act, Vince Neil die on stage, Robert Englund play a baddie other than Freddie, and Wayne Newton play a sleazy yet lovable bad guy? "Clint Eastwood? I fucked him! Oh!"

2. Backbeat

Sure, Fab Four fans probably know it backwards and forwards (or at least they damn well should), but the rest of the world likely has never heard of it. Stephen Dorff's Stu Sutcliffe is one of the most realized performances I've ever seen, and the casting of Ian Hart and Gary Bakewell as Lennon and McCartney is just inspired. Well written, well acted, there's no reason this film shouldn't have been up for an Oscar, and damn well won. The closing scene STILL brings tears to my eyes. "We're gonna be big Stu, we're gonna be too big for Liverpool, we're gonna be too big for Hamburg, we're gonna be too big for our own bloody good."

3. Beautiful Girls

One of two Ted Demme films that will show up on this list (as well as CHUD's). Demme died of an accidental (huh?) cocaine induced heart attack, his swan song in film being the brilliant Blow starring Johnny Depp. Beautiful Girls is the story of a piano player who comes back home for his high school reunion and discovers what life is all about. This movie has shaped my outlook on life more than any other film besides Shawshank Redemption. It's, well, beautiful, and watching it now, knowing that Demme was just beginning to break into the mainstream, it just breaks my heart. "If I'm not mistaken, you've come back here to the house of loneliness and tears, to Daddy Downer and Brother Bummer, to come to some sort of decision about life, a life decision if you will."

4. Critters

King of the late night stupid 80s horror fliks, at least when I was a kid it was. I've seen it dozens and dozens of times, and as dumb as it is, I love it. They're like gremlins, only a hell of a lot nastier, plus they can somehow congeal into a big ass critter ball. What's not to love? Critter 1: "They've got weapons." Critter 2: "So What?" [Critter 2 is shot off the porch] Critter 1: "Fuck!"

5. The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

I love coming of age films, even somewhat predictable ones. The fact that this one features a few kids getting in trouble for creating an obscene comic book just makes it more endearing to me. Kierin Culkin gives a magnificent performance, and has proven he's definitely the talented one of that family. Jodie Foster is excellent as the hateful Sister Assumpta, and as far fetched as the end is, it still tugs on the heart strings. "Hey it's the altar boys. Here to get altered?"

-L