I was talking with Mrs. Curmudgeon about movies that “stick with you”. (Define that however you want.) She and several friends had made lists. (Probably something on Facebook.) Her list was unlike theirs. I suggested my list would make me seem like a whackdoodle. Because all blogs need filler, I decided to post my list. Mrs. Curmudgeon reports there’s a great deal of overlap in our lists. Apparently we’re a pair of whackdoodles.
Here’s my list; in no particular order and arbitrarily whittled down to 15 entrants.
- Brazil (1985)
- Blue Velvet (1986)
- Idiocracy (2006)
- The Third Man (1949)
- The Great Dictator (1940)
- The Seventh Sign (1988)
- The Wall (1982)
- Casablanca (1942)
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) (Author’s note: It’s my list so it’s staying. If you’re too erudite to understand its beauty, make your own damn list.)
The Humungus: There has been too much violence. Too much pain. But I have an honorable compromise. Just walk away. Give me your pump, the oil, the gasoline, and the whole compound, and I’ll spare your lives. Just walk away and we’ll give you a safe passageway in the wastelands. Just walk away and there will be an end to the horror.
- 2001 A Space Odessy (1968) (Author’s note: Remember when NASA was awash with brilliant engineers and America had the balls to go to space? America had the heart of a lion and the brain of an engineer. Now have the heart of an accountant and the brain of a teenager.)
- The Fisher King (1991)
- Fight Club (1999)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Star Wars (1977) (Author’s Note: I don’t care if George Lucas took a steaming dump on it and we’ve all seen it too many times. That’s a problem Lucas will have to sort out between what’s left of his artistic soul and the giant pile of money he made selling it. Lucas, in 1977, steam rolled a world that was listening to disco, drinking Tab, and watching Westerns. He did well!)
Scoff if you want but in 1977 this was the first time a major movie anywhere had anything like this… good and evil magic sword masters dueling in space. (A further note: At least in 1977, Darth was an evil bastard and the goal was to kill him. How refreshing. Lucas spent decades trying to weasel out of that whole good versus evil thing. A plot apparently too simple for Hollywood’s free thinkers.)