the hudsucker proxy

the year: 1994

the genre: quirky Coen Brothers comedy


the cast: Tim Robbins (Norville Barnes); Paul Newman (Sidney J. Mussburger); Jennifer Jason Leigh (Amy Archer); Charles Durning (Waring Hudsucker)

the plot: When Waring Hudsucker, head of hugely successful Hudsucker Industries, commits suicide, his board of directors, led by Sidney Mussberger, comes up with a brilliant plan to make a lot of money. They decide to appoint a moron to run the company so that when the stock falls low enough they can buy it up for pennies on the dollar, take over the company and restore its fortunes. They choose idealistic Norville Barnes, who just started in the mail room and is wacky enough to drive any company to ruin. But soon, tough reporter Amy Archer smells a rat and begins an undercover investigation of Hudsucker Industries.



don't miss: this scene:




did you know: based on the time it took the secretary to read War and Peace and Anna Karenina (based on the calculation of 4 minutes per page, 8 hours a day) it took at least 18 days for those in the Creative Bullpen to come up with a name for Norville's invention.



extra bonus points: if you know they play on words in the movie title. (Hint: It has to do with another Paul Newman movie.)


listen for: "You know - for kids!"

guarding tess

the year: 1994

the genre: dramedy

the cast: Shirley MacLaine (Tess Carlisle); Nicholas Cage (Doug Chesnik); Austin Pendleton (Earl Fowler)


the plot: Doug Chesnic is a Secret Service agent who takes great pride in his job, performing his duties with the utmost professionalism. However, his assignment for the last three years has been a severe test of his patience. Doug leads the team stationed in Ohio who protects Tess Carlisle, the widow of a former U.S. President, who is well-known for her diplomatic and philanthropic work. But Tess tends to regard Doug less as a security officer and more as a domestic servant...and she's not above contacting her close friend -- the current President of the United States -- to inform him of her displeasure. As Doug's three-year hitch with Tess comes to an end he unexpectedly gets the excitement he craves when Tess is kidnapped.



I like this one because of the great interplay between the two characters - similar to Driving Miss Daisy. It's a sweet dramedy with some hilarious banter.

twister

the year: 1996

the genre: disater, I guess.

the cast: Helen Hunt (Dr. Jo Harding); Bill Paxton (Bill Harding); Cary Elwes (Dr. Jonas Miller); Jami Gertz (Dr. Melissa Reeves); Philip Seymour Hoffman (Dustin Davis)


the plot: TV weatherman Bill Harding is trying to get his tornado-hunter wife, Jo, to sign divorce papers so he can marry his girlfriend Melissa. But Mother Nature, in the form of a series of intense storms sweeping across Oklahoma, has other plans. Soon the three have joined the team of stormchasers as they attempt to insert a revolutionary measuring device into the very heart of several extremely violent tornados.


don't miss: Cary Elwes as the bad guy. GOOD bad guy. I hated his guts.


listen for: "He really is in love with himself. I thought it was just a summer thing."


did you know: I found the tornado in The Wizard of Oz scarier than any in this movie. Good thing there were flying cows.


extra bonus points: if you know what they used for the sound of the tornado.

homage: independence day

Ok. I'm going to confess.

Independence Day is one of my favorite movies. And a rarity because I still enjoy watching it even after substantial mocking (by me and others) while viewing.

I watch it every 4th of July.
I know, I know - there are more patriotic/less fluffy movies I could watch to celebrate the birth of our nation, but I try to limit most heavy movie watching to my annual Memorial Day Tear Fest.

So join me if you will in a slightly lengthy, tongue-in-cheek look at my favorite disaster movie. So far.
(I've heard that Day After Tomorrow is pretty mockable.)


This guy obviously flunked his cadet training on "Decision Making in Crisis Situations: Or Why You Should Never Park Your Patrol Car in the Middle of the Road".


Anyone else remember cordless phones the size of Cadillacs? Me either.


Of all the disaster victims, this guy would have to be my favorite. I think he was listed in the credits as "Guy Who Sits and Watches a Firetruck Sail Across the Sky and Crash Through His Windshield".


To save money, the studio used some of this same footage in Pearl Harbor.


Memo to me: Add learning to drive a diesel truck to your life skillset toolbox. Just in case.


Boy, it sure was handy that they had a giant see-through wall map in the bunker of Area 51, just in case the President should happen to drop by and need a visual tracking board for worldwide destruction!


"Didn't anyone tell you? ... Mountains always look better in neon green."


This is the part where I silently cursed my friends for dragging me to see this movie in the theater on opening night. I NEVER go to the movies on opening night - and ESPECIALLY not some tricked out alien movie!! Darn them!...


...okay, wait. Nevermind. I'm okay now.


I'm not sure what it says about me that that this is my favorite part in the movie. "Is that glass bulletproof?" "NO SIR."


Able to kick alien butt without breaking a sweat and still looking GOOD? Check.


"David, why must you ALWAYS wear flannel?"


I've never said this aloud, but I thought it was somehow fitting that Houston was the testground for nuclear annihilation.


It's probably good that she died off early - every time she came on screen all I could think about was Dances With Wolves.


I bet he wears this fake wedding ring to ward off amorous coworkers.


And here is the token black man (see Undercover Brother for reference) - which he's really not, considering that Will Smith plays the main character. But don't mention this to Dan - he can't take a joke.


I still marvel at how the aliens missed Morse Code in their Earthlings 101 coursework.


"We will not go quietly into the night! We will now go down without a fight! We do not like green eggs and ham! We do not like them Sam I Am!"


"Oops."


"Stay on target...stay on target!" "I copy, Red Leader." Oh, wait. Wrong movie.


I have no logical explanation for why an alien air traffic control tower makes me giggle. But it does.


Protects children, screaming women, and small animals? Check.


Polling the audience: Better than the explosion of the Death Star or better than the explosion of the Death Star?

corrina, corrina

the year: 1994

the genre: dramedy


the cast: Whoopi Goldberg (Corinna Washington); Ray Liotta (Manny Singer); Tina Majorino (Molly Singer); Don Ameche (Grandpa Harry)


the plot: When Manny Singer's wife dies, his young daughter Molly becomes mute and withdrawn. To help cope with looking after Molly, he hires sassy housekeeper Corrina Washington, who coaxes Molly out of her shell and shows father and daughter a whole new way of life. Manny and Corrina's friendship delights Molly and enrages the neighbors.


don't miss: Percy. The kid is a kick.


listen for: "You're the short, silent type aren't you? -I could tell."



did you know: this was only Tina Majorino's second film.



also listen for: the fantastic soundtrack artists. Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Louis Armstrong, Dinah Washington, Duke Ellington, and Jackie Wilson - to name a few...



extra bonus points: if you know how many versions of the song "Corrina, Corrina" are in the movie.

entrapment

the year: 1999

the genre: suspense


the cast: Sean Connery (Robert "Mac" MacDougal); Catherine Zeta-Jones (Virginia Baker); Ving Rhames (Aaron Thibadeaux); Will Patton (Hector Cruz)


the plot: Following the theft of a highly-secured piece of artwork, an insurance agent convinces her employers to allow her to pretend to be an art theif in order to entrap an aging but active master thief. Mac takes her on suspiciously and demands rigorous training before their first job together--stealing a highly-valued mask. Their deepening attraction and distrust could tear apart their partnership but the promise of a bigger prize (some eight billion odd dollars) keeps the game interesting. Only, who's playing with whom?


did you know: the film came in $2 million below its budget. Co-producer Rhonda Tollefson credits this to Producer Sean Connery's thrifty Scottish ways. Connery drove his own car instead of hiring a driver and flew on commercial planes instead of using private ones so that all the money would show up onscreen.


listen for: "It's impossible. But doable."


extra bonus points: if you can name one piece of information found in Mac's file.


also listen for: "I don't like surprises." "Trust me, there won't be any." "Trust me, there always are surprises."