"Don't fuck it up."
Strong words from someone who already did that by putting Jungle 2 Jungle in their top 100, but the mindset remains that this is the most important list either one of us have ever compiled and by falling short in our mission to post our top 100 would be a disservice to ourselves and to you.
Ergo, this is me trying not to "fuck it up." Every Monday I will unveil a new section of my list. Every Tuesday I will post trailers to Monday's movies. Every Thursday I will write a reaction to Barnes' picks. Quotes and clips will also come but they will appear more sporadically.
For my reaction post I will break down my thoughts about the movies Barnes chooses the previous Monday. The status will represent where I stand in regards to each film.
1) SEEN IT AND LOVED IT.
2) SEEN IT AND LIKED IT.
3) SEEN IT AND OKAY'D IT.
4) SEEN IT AND DISLIKED IT.
5) SEEN IT AND HATED IT.
6) HAVEN'T SEEN IT BUT WANT TO.
7) HAVEN'T SEEN IT AND DON'T WANT TO.
We are one week into a five-month journey. Buckle in folks.
100) Fight Club
Status: SEEN IT AND LIKED IT
You learn early on in List Making 101 that the start of a list can be just as important as the end. With that lesson in mind, Barnes gets an A+ for this selection.
Fight Club has a great premise, is well written, and has superb performances from Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. I was a late arrival to Fight Club, finally seeing it last year. Would have liked it a lot more had I not seen the ending coming half-way through the movie.
P.S. Big shout-out to Jeff Hirz who absolutely loves this movie.
99) Zoolander
Status: SEEN IT AND OKAY'D IT
As we have both said time and time again, you can learn a lot about yourself from this list. Well even though I already knew this, selections like Zoolander reinforce to me that Barnes will always be a big kid at heart who loves to laugh.
Zoolander was just a bit too stupid for my tastes, but Barnes is right, it does have some great one-liners. "What is this?? A school for ants??"
98) Pineapple Express
Status: SEEN IT AND DISLIKED IT
Barnes put the Pineapple Express trailer as his #1 choice from this bunch and I couldn't agree more. The trailer is excellent and really had me pumped to see this movie ... however it also set me up for a tremendous let-down.
The lone bright spot was James Franco, but everything else was sloppy. The plot, the ridiculous action sequences, and even the usually-reliable Seth Rogen were all forgettable.
97) Ray
Status: SEEN IT AND LIKED IT.
2004 was a great year for Jamie Foxx. He starred in two excellent movies, Collateral and Ray. He took home the Oscar for his portrayal of the late Ray Charles. He seemed destined for greatness.
Fast forward seven years and Foxx has become almost an after-thought. How we managed to parlay such little success from Ray is head-scratching.
Hard to find fault with Barnes for this selection. Ray has outstanding acting, great music and a can't-miss story-line. It is two-and-a-half hours long, but if you put in the time you will be rewarded.
96) Jungle 2 Jungle
Status: SEEN IT AND HATED IT
Slapped my forehead when I saw Barnes had put this ridiculous film on his list. Slapped my forehead even harder when I read the following line he wrote about it, "Tim Allen is just a great comedic actor."
The best thing Tim Allen has done in the past 15 years is lend his voice to those "Welcome to Michigan" promos. Tim Allen was mildly amusing when he was on Home Improvement, and that's putting it nice.
95) Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Status: SEEN IT AND LIKED IT
One of those movies that when you were a kid was a big hit, but as you get older it loses some of it's comedic value. At least it did for me. Yes, I continually quoted the infamous line, "Do NOT go in there." But at the end of the day I just couldn't live with myself if I put this movie in my list.
Sucks growing up, but it seems like Barnes is more Peter Pan than the rest of us.
94) A League Of Their Own
Status: SEEN IT AND OKAY'D IT
Barnes is right when he mentions the great acting found in this film. Geena Davis, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell all are excellent. But, that is the only thing excellent about this film. Everything else is just okay.
Tom Hanks is barely believable as a former manager. The story-line is way too predictable and there's not enough Jon Lovitz. And in my experience, whenever a sentence ends with, "there's not enough Jon Lovitz," you have problems.
93) A Goofy Movie
Status: SEEN IT AND LIKED IT.
I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys R' Us kid. A million toys to choose from, that I can play with. From bikes and trikes to video games, it's the biggest store there is, GEE WHIZ. I don't want to grow up, 'cuz baby if I did, I wouldn't be a Toys R' Us kid.
92) The Preacher's Wife
Status: HAVEN'T SEEN IT AND DON'T WANT TO.
I've been reading Barnes' blog from the very beginning. It started in Bromley 310 five years ago w/ a lot of late night Dr. Pepper and has blossomed to not just one, but two blogs.
Having said that, I don't think I've seen a better written sentence from Matt Barnes than this about The Preacher's Wife, "It probably wouldn't make my list if I weren't Black." I couldn't be prouder Barnes.
91) Robin Hood: Men In Tights
Status: SEEN IT AND OKAY'D IT.
Make no mistake, Mel Brooks knows funny. However, he only knows one kind of funny. If you've seen one Mel Brooks movie you've seen them all. Yes, Robin Hood: Men in Tights has a few laughs, but none that seemed to have any staying power.
One of the few times in history you will find me saying the following, "if they would have done the whole thing as a musical it would have been better."
RECAP
We are setting the proverbial table with these first ten movies, and after getting a glimpse at Barnes list you can assume there will be a few dramatic movies, a handful of animated films, and a ton of comedies in store.
If I were ranking Barnes' movies, this is what the list would look like.
1) Fight Club
2) Ray
3) Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
4) A Goofy Movie
5) Zoolander
6) A League Of Their Own
7) Robin Hood: Men In Tights
8) Pineappple Express
9) The Preacher's Wife
10) Jungle 2 Jungle
Check back often as we have several improvements coming to the King of Arguments. And next Monday we will unveil movies #90-81.
Until next time, "read it, roll it, hole it."
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