Sometimes you just need to watch something that doesn’t make you think. A movie that just makes you fell good, entertains you or is just silly. These are my go to films that are fun and enjoyable.
Fifth Element
The Fifth Element stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Mila Jovovich, Ian Holm and Chris Tucker who has what I think is his best role ever as Ruby Rhod. This is a visually stunning movie with great cinematography. The plot is an advanced race of beings are fighting a great evil which will end all life. This evil being recruits Zorg (Gary Oldman) to help it obtain four stones representing the four elements, air, water, fire, and earth. Bruce Willis plays Dallas Korbin who is an ex-special forced who accidentally saves Leeloo (Mila Jovovich). Together, they too are try to obtain the four stones and save humanity.
Personally I think this is Bruce Willis at his best. Slightly irreverent, lots of action, great visuals. It is reminiscent of his acting in Die Hard, which to be honest should probably also be on this list.
Gary Oldman is fantastic as Zorg and considering how many memorable roles he’s had it’s saying something to say this one sticks out. Chris Tucker… well Ruby Rhod has to be one of the all time greatest characters and I cannot picture anyone else being Ruby.
Ladyhawke
I actually read the book before I ever saw the movie. The movie came out while my family was on vacation and I’d seen the trailer for it. My parents let me pick out a book to read while we traveled and that was what I chose, the book adaptation of the movie. At some point I got my hands on a VHS copy of the film and I watched it every day after school until the tape wore out.
The story is of cursed lovers Etienne Navarre (Rutger Hauer) and Isabeau d’Anjou (Michelle Pfeiffer) who were damned by the Bishop of Aquila (John Wood). The bishop was informed of their secret love and he wanted Isabeau to himself. The curse is simple, by day she is a hawk and he is man. At night she is a woman and he is a wolf. Never being able to see each other. Matthew Broderick plays Phillipe Gaston a thief who escapes the Bishop’s dungeons and is rescued by Navarre. But Navarre has his own reasons for rescuing the thief thinking of revenge and a way to break the curse.
I fell in love with Michelle Pfeiffer after watching this. I thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Rutger has so much machismo it’s impossible not to want to see him succeed. I suppose being 12 at the time was the right age for this film to make such a big impression on me. I still love watching it.
(John Carpenter’s) Big Trouble in Little China
The thing about Jack Burton is…he deserved a sequel.
Big Trouble in Little China has to be John Carpenter’s best movie. Which is saying something considering he’s also directed Escape from New York, They Live, The thing, Halloween and many more.
It stars Kurt Russell, like so many Carpenter movies, as Jack Burton. This rough but loveable trucker who is going to see his friend Wang (Dennis Dun) in San Francisco’s Chinatown. On the way they run into trouble (hence the title) and his truck gets stolen along with Wang’s girlfriend. They, along with the intrepid Gracie Law (Kim Cattrail) venture into the lair of the recluse David Lo Pan (James Hong). The movie ties in some of the more stereotypical Chinese superstitions and mysticisms, such as demons, gods, jade green eyes, magic potions and so on… It combines this with some martial arts, snappy dialogue and voila a cult classic.
Sadly the film did not do well at the box office which is too bad because it is really a great film and deserved a sequel.
The Da Vinci Code
Tom Hanks stars as Robert Langdon, a symbologist who is a suspect in the murder of a curator at the Louvre after a coded message is found. Along with Sophie, a police woman and grand-daughter of the murder victim they embark on a journey into the depths of Catholicism.
Honestly the plot is bit besides the point. What makes this movie so interesting and fun to watch is the way it unravels these symbols buried in works of art and other things. It’s a conspiracy theorists dream as far as the Illuminati and Opus Dei go.
Many years ago when I was in China I picked up a book at a hostel on the knights templar. I had no idea what cause me to pick it up but it went into great detail about how Jesus survived the crucifixion, had a child with Marie Magdalene, and how this information had been protected by a secret society. If I remember correctly it also went into detail of how this group venerated John the Baptist as really the leader of the church. And detailed how the Knights Templar found the temple of Jerusalem and then suddenly left.
The Mummy
The Mummy is an adventure movie on par with the Indiana Jones films. Starting Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz it is full of snappy one liners and memorable dialog. The plot centers around the mummy of a condemned priest named Imhotep who is cursed after killing the Pharaoh to hide his love affair with the favorite concubine.
Centuries later a scoundrel, played by John Hannah, named Jonathan Carnahan steals a special antique box from a former French Legionnaire, played by Fraser. The Legionnaire, named Rick O’Connell, joins with Jonathan and his sister Evelyn (Weisz) to located the ancient city of the dead, Hamunatpra.
In University I spent a semester studying the art and architecture of Ancient Egypt. So I love the references throughout the film. In fact I’ll watch just about anything that has to do with ancient Egypt. This is a fun film, a little cliché in parts, bad guys get their just desserts, good guys win but it is a fun ride.