My Favorite Movies

My Favorite Movies That Nobody Else Like

This is how I feel when I think about these movies
This is how I feel when I think about these movies
The following list of movies are ones that I really like. I do realize that my opinion is in the minority, but hey we can not all have the same taste in movies. All 5 of the movies failed to make a dent at the box office and have been quickly forgotten.I discovered each of the movies on their VHS/DVD release and re-watch them at least once every 2 years. They are great room clearers. Just put the movie in the DVD player and watch as my family leaves the room.In trying to decide only 5 movies for this page, many movies failed to make the Final 5 but I would like to mention 7 other movies I think are forgetten guilty pleasures.Honorable mentions: Bruce Willis’ Hudson Hawk, James Caan’s Hide In Plain Sight, Edward Burns’ She’s The One, Bill Murray’s Quick Change, Anthony Edwards’ Miracle Mile, Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, and Denis Leary’s The Ref.

Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz make an interesting screen couple in this one.
Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz make an interesting screen couple in this one.

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.

Bull Durham and John Bender in a coming of age movie.
Bull Durham and John Bender in a coming of age movie.

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.

This one takes some effort to get through but it is worth the effort.
This one takes some effort to get through but it is worth the effort.

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.

This is one riveting movie.
This is one riveting movie.

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.

This has a great ending!
This has a great ending!
1994’s Swimming With Sharks
Plot summary: A young, naive Hollywood studio assistant(Frank Whaley) finally turns the tables on his incredibly abusive producer boss(Kevin Spacey).
Why I like it: Great performances by Whaley and Spacey. A Hollywood behind the scenes story that has lots of humor and lots of drama. Kevin Spacey as the boss from Hell is much meaner than the boss he played in Horrible Bosses. Swimming with Sharks is a movie that will keep you guessing and thinking all the way until the very last scenes. If you listen to the first line in the movie you will be able to figure out the surprise ending.
Why people do not like it: Movies about Hollywood are not very popular with the general public. With a North America box office of $376,928 I think you can put Swimming with Sharks in that category. I guess people that have great bosses can not imagine having a boss as mean as Spacey is in this movie. I guess there are more great bosses out there than I thought.
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64 thoughts on “My Favorite Movies

  1. when I saw Hudson hawk listed I felt like I was not alone. a life less ordinary, really, me too.
    fandango, I was starting to bond. swimming with sharks, mi paisano. then it all came tumbling down , I think Costner is great. almost in the bruce willis stratosphere. bull durham, dances with wolves, no way out, field of dreams, all in the top ten of their genre. try them again and tell me they do not make you think . sure Costner is consistently out acted by his leading ladies and supporting actors but so was john wayne.

    1. Hey bob cox….thanks for checking out movies that nobody else likes page…..Costner is an underrated star…..in the early 1990s….nobody was as powerful as him…….hard to believe a movie that grossed over half a billion in adjusted worldwide gross (Waterworld) bumped him from his perch a top of Hollywood. Hey the fact that you like a single one of these movies…makes me feel less alone in this big world….lol.

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