ALLIGATORS IN A HELICOPTER

a pro script reader ponders movies, reading, writing and the occasional personal flashback

Monday, November 17, 2008

Your DVD Shelf

So today's question is this:

I visit your house/apartment, and you spot me looking at your DVD/VHS shelf.

1. What's on there that you instantly force me to borrow, because it's a great movie and you figure I haven't seen it?

2. What you do also lend me, because even though it's not considered a classic, it's a personal favorite?

3. What movie is on there that you have no rational explanation for owning, and which you try to slide under the couch while I'm distracted?

My answers are:

1. 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS. Great in-the-moment filmmaking, and a harrowing character-drama tale.

2. RUNNING SCARED. The one with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines. A good blend of comedy and cop procedural, and funny as hell.

3. LEGALLY BLONDE 2. I have no idea why this is on the shelf. I haven't watched it, and I'm not sure my wife even did.

Your turn. Go.

33 Comments:

At 8:35 AM, Blogger marcoguarda said...

1.
--"Love And Death", 1975 or
--"Play It Again Sam", 1972, or
--"September", 1987, or
--"Interiors", 1978,Woody Allen. Or
--"The Duellists", 1977, Ridley Scott. Or
--"Big Wednesday", 1978, John Milius.

2.
--"The Big Chill", 1973, Lawrence Kasdan.

But you have to bring it back in one -- huh, okay, let's make two -- days.

3.
--"The Fly", 1986, David Cronenberg.

My brother gave it to me. He believes I love this movie, but I just can't stand the splatter. [I keep it on display just for him, but I don't think I'm gonna see this movie ever again]

 
At 8:41 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. Imagine Me & You - best romantic comedy of the past 5 years.

2. Identity - inventive little horror/thriller

3. Batman & Robin - came free with my first DVD player. I swear.

 
At 8:42 AM, Blogger Emily Blake said...

1) Osama
2) Pitch Black
3) I ain't ashamed of nothin

 
At 8:51 AM, Blogger Joshua James said...

I only have four DVD's, and one is Teletubbies and the other is Elmo (for my son.

However, the other two I own are pretty awesome.

1) The Matrix Revisited. This is a documentary on the making of The Matrix, it's pretty dang cool and informative. Geeked out all the way. Add to that, it's an autographed copy, signed by Keanu.

This would be the dvd I would suggest you borrow, but you'd better give the dang thing back.

2) Collector's edition of RESERVOIR DOGS. A present from my brother . . . I haven't yet seen it, my lady does not care for the ultra violence now that we have a youngster at home, plus I've seen the film a hundred or so times. But I plan to get to this next time eventually.

3) No room under the couch for hidden guilty pleasures. I got baby stuff everywhere.

 
At 8:53 AM, Blogger Jim Endecott said...

1. Band of Brothers. The narratives by the real life heroes are powerful.

2. Firefly; Complete Season. A damn shame the series didn't go further.

3. How about my wife's special addition Greece DVD with the faux leather jacket cover with the zipper on it?

-Jim

 
At 9:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. West Side Story
2. California Kid (Martin Sheen)
3. Elf

 
At 9:52 AM, Blogger NailaJ said...

1. Bon Cop, Bad Cop

2. I was going to go with "The Kingdom" -which also works for answer 1, but why not do "28 Days" (aka, the one with Sandra Bullock).

3. The Dukes of Hazzard Feature Film. It was a cheap gift.

 
At 11:00 AM, Blogger Recovering Booth Rat said...

1. I think you've seen a lot, so I'll have to go foreign. Either Oldboy or Lady Vengeance.

2. The Player

3. I don't believe in guilty pleasures. I don't feel guilty about anything I own. However, I do have a wife. And my wife owns the complete Anne of Green Gables television series. I wouldn't hide it, but I'd make sure you knew it wasn't mine.

 
At 11:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. Once.
2. Nighthawks.
3. Kate & Leopold.

 
At 11:19 AM, Blogger Scott the Reader said...

My wife owns the complete Little House on the Prairie. But it's not mixed in with the good stuff :-)

 
At 12:17 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

1. Eulogy

2. The Squid and the Whale

3. I always blame my husband...

 
At 1:41 PM, Blogger Christian H. said...

1. Death To Smoochy


2. The Waterboy - only Adam Sandler comedy

3.Roll Bounce - the actress, the actress. The movie sucked

 
At 1:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. War and Peace, the Russian version by Sergei Bondarchuk, or Ran
2. Equilibrium (Christian Bale at his very best)
3. one of the old Emmanuelle movies, don't remember which one (tried to be sexy but wasn't)

 
At 2:49 PM, Blogger LHOOQtius ov Borg said...

1) Mis ("The Teddy Bear"), a Polish comedy, or Stacy, a Japanese horror-romance

2) Repo Man

3) Spiderman 3. It was in the gift bag when I was a judge for the Visual Effects Society award.

 
At 4:26 PM, Blogger DDog said...

1) Oldboy
2) Poor White Trash
3) Snakes on a Plane

 
At 4:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. A Heart in Winter. My very favourite "French movie where nothing much happens" -- and there are so many to choose from.
2. Amadeus. For some reason (maybe just the music) there seems no limit to the number of times I can watch this. Confirmation yet again of Alan Rickman's observation that "subtlety isn't everything".
3. I have no shame.

 
At 5:28 PM, Blogger Eddie M said...

1. A Simple Plan
2. Wrong Turn
3. Wrong Turn 2

 
At 6:14 PM, Blogger E.C. Henry said...

1. "Back to School" 1986 starring Rodney Dangerfield AND a young Robert Downey Jr.

2. "Aliens" 1986, James Cameron dirctor, Bill Paxton's diaglog is top notch.

3. "Mr. Bill: the Movie". This is somekind of 2 hr. mess that I actually ASKED for as a Christmass gift a few years ago. When I was younger I remember finding those Saturday Night Live bits as being funny. So the 2 hour movie is more of the same, right? Not quite...

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

 
At 6:43 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Aliens" is not a classic? And the best thing about it is Paxton's dialogue?

Oi.

 
At 4:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. "May" - great little horror film by Lucky McKee with Angela Bettis and Jeremy Sisto. Creepy and sad and twisted and funny all at the same time.

2. Hmmm. Is "Duel at Diablo" considered a classic? I don't think so but it should be. Stars James Garner and Sidney Poitier and is a fantastic, thoughtful western. This comes from someone who isn't into westerns.

3. "Greatest American Hero - season 1" My husband and I had such fond memories of watching this when we were kids. We got this for free and were thrilled, but alas! It is unwatchable now. But we can't seem to get rid of it.

 
At 5:45 AM, Blogger Danny said...

Some really good flicks on here - loved May, A Simple Plan, Squid and the Whale. Haven't seen Eulogy or Osama, but I'll hafta check 'em out.

1. Chasing Sleep, with Jeff Daniels. Really underrated horror. Also Emily Bergl gets rockin' nekkid.

2. Dead Heat. Yep, with Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo. I will scream my love for this movie from the highest mountain.

3. Nope. Everything is there cuz I want it to be.

 
At 8:22 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. Preston Sturges from 1940-1944. He made 8 movies in 4 years and 7 of them are Awesome.

2. Punch Drunk Love. Depression + Comedy = My-kind-of-movie.

3. Pups - the description said Reservoir Dogs with kids. I was interested. Worst ten bucks I ever spent.

 
At 12:37 PM, Blogger Alexander Allrich said...

1. Bullitt

2. Last of the Mohicans

3. Big Trouble in Little China


We should do this more often, Scott!

 
At 2:14 PM, Blogger Grant said...

1. I would definitely inflict some Chris Marker on you, Sans Soleil, but if you've seen that then The Case of the Grinning Cat.

2. L'Auberge Espagnol.

3. I don't have anything I'd try to hide though I wish I had the non-director's cuts of Blood In, Blood Out and Apocalypse Now. Oh, maybe 8 Mile come to think of it since it was a gift and not one I would have bought.

 
At 3:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1 - Empire Records

2 - 100 Girls

3 - Bedazzled, which I won't apologize for - I want to do dirty, dirty things to Elizabeth Hurley in that movie.

 
At 1:29 AM, Blogger Lucy V said...

1. The Descent. Scariest ass Brit Horror with hot girls that made ME sleep with the light on for a month. What more can you want?

2. Dog Soldiers. It's got a so-called twist at the end that doesn't work, but has some fantastic dialogue in this "if you go down to the woods today you're sure of a big surprise" horror: "If Red Riding Hood turns up with a bazooka and a bad attitude, I want you to chin the bitch."

3. Legend of The Overfiend. Manga. Eeerugh.

 
At 5:17 AM, Blogger aggiebrett said...

1) not forcing anything.

2) KELLY'S HEROES -- Eastwood, Savalas, Sutherland and Rickles having fun chasing nazi gold, plus the swinging' Mike Curb Congregation! (Finally -- music for OUR generation!)

3) rationality is way overrated

 
At 6:56 AM, Blogger Third World Girl said...

1. The Lives of Others

2. Team America: World Police

3. Elizabeth: The Golden Age

 
At 9:02 AM, Blogger marcoguarda said...

Kelly's Heroes, 1970, Brian G. Hutton, is a great movie.


KELLY
Well Oddball, what do you think?

ODDBALL
It's a wasted trip baby. Nobody said nothing about locking horns with no Tigers.

BIG JOE
Hey look, you just keep them Tigers busy and we'll take care of the rest.

ODDBALL
The only way I got to keep them Tigers busy is to LET THEM SHOOT HOLES IN ME!

CRAPGAME
Hey, Oddball, this is your hour of glory. And you're chickening out!

ODDBALL
To a New Yorker like you, a hero is some type of weird sandwich, not some nut who takes on three Tigers.

KELLY
Nobody's asking you to be a hero.

ODDBALL
No? Then YOU sit up in that turret baby.

KELLY
No, because you're gonna be up there, baby, and I'll be right outside showing you which way to go.

ODDBALL
Yeah?

KELLY
Yeah.

ODDBALL
Crazy... I mean like, so many positive waves... maybe we can't lose, you're on!

M.

 
At 1:45 PM, Blogger Team Brindle said...

1. The Lives of Others, Central Station

2. Quest For Fire,
The Name of the Rose

3. Born in East LA... I'm Mexican so I have an excuse, but it's still a bad movie.

We also have a copy of Miss Congeniality 2 b/c my husband liked the 1st one so much.

Luckily, we pawned off Legally Blonde 2 a long time ago.

Don't ever buy the sequel sight unseen b/c you liked the original. Just don't.

 
At 4:16 PM, Blogger Jeffrey said...

1. Miracle Mile
2. Joe vs. the Volcano (I always get a lot of flack for that one but it's an undiscovered masterpiece, plain and simple)
3. Overboard (it's not mine, I swear!)

 
At 12:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. Road to Perdition - Thomas Newman's score is worth the price of admission alone.

2. Nothing to Lose - Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins had surprisingly good chemistry and I LMAO every time.

3. Gone in 60 Seconds - Nic Cage and Jolie. I don't know...something about it. I can't look away.

 
At 8:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

1. The Castle
2. Love Actually
3. Austen Powers

 

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