This clip makes me think about Doug Patterson and N.C. State Youth Camp.
In honor of release of the upcoming movie 2012, here are the top 5 John Cusack leading roles, with some (but definitely not all) favorite lines from the movie.
* Note: In true Rob Gordon (#5) fashion, the list is character age chronological.
Lane Myer (Better Off Dead): This, to me, is the template movie for many teen movies to follow (and, even though it wasn’t his first movie, was the first movie to really draw attention to him.)Line: “Man, it’s a real shame when folks be throwing away a perfectly good white boy like that.”
Lloyd Dobler (Say Anything): The iconic 1980s movie. Peter Gabriel certainly benefited, as did the trench coat industry. Line: “I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.” (Alternate: “I’m looking for a dare-to-be-great situation.”)
Walter “Gib” Gibson (The Sure Thing): While Better Off Dead may have made people take serious notice, it’s his role in this Rob Reiner film that’s one of my favorites. Line: “How’s this for an opening line: Did you know that Nietzsche died of syphilis?”
Martin Blank (Grosse Point Blank): Let’s face it, how many of us avoided / tried to avoid the dreaded high school reunion? And, who among us hasn’t wondered what it would be like to be an assassin? Line: “You can never go home again … but I guess you can shop there.”
Rob Gordon (High Fidelity): This movie let me know it was OK to get married. That’s all I’ll say. Line: “John Dillenger was shot dead behind that theater in a hail of FBI gunfire. You know who tipped them off? His f***ing girlfriend. He just wanted to go to the movies.”
It could be (successfully, I think) argued that each of these characters are just one character: the typical X-generation male growing up, from awkward high schooler to self-realization to marriage crackup. It’s the circle of life, Simba, in five movies. If that is the case, that’s why I’ll add this bonus:
Craig Schwartz (Being John Malkevich): Puppeteer and entrepreneur. And pretty quirky. Line: “This is something I call Craig’s Dance of Despair and Disillusionment.”
Including the bonus, you have pretty much the life cycle of millions of men: high school achiever, college slacker, career questioner, husband, leading to the downward spiral. Kind of depressing, isn’t it? But, I guess that’s where Serendipity comes in.
What are your top five John Cusack leading roles? What order would you put these in? What lines would you use?
Was in Virginia Beach, Va., for a day to take part in a weird hazing ritual, but that didn’t stop me from making this car rental soundtrack. I needed something “peppy” and “motivating,” thought it does kind of mellow out at the end.
By the way, that peppiness and motivation is all crap. But it’s still a good CD. If anyone is driving a blue Subaru Impreza with a scratch on the fender and dent in the door, let me know.
Thunder Struck, AC/DC. One of the best opening guitar licks of all time.
Energy, The Apples In Stereo. Free off of Amazon.com. It just seems like a happy song.
The Plot That Weaves, Brothers Martin. Oh, if only Starflyer 59 or Joy Electric could sound like this all the time.
The News (Extended Version), Carbon Silicon. Thanks, again, Will. All the news is good.
Freedom, Daniel Johnston. The enigma that is Daniel Johnston. With the full instrumentation, I can almost get to like his voice. Free.
Keep It Real, Jonas Brothers. Does this song destroy street cred?
Don’t Stop Believin’, Journey. Is this really the most downloaded song on iTunes? I don’t care. Bring me a bandanna and parachute pants.
Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus, Larry Norman. Heard about this song at a recent Pop Culture conference. It has a real southern rock vibe to it.
Hotel California (Spanish Mix), Gipsy Kings. The song to easily one of the most memorable scenes in all of filmdom.
Starlight, Muse. The band just released a new album, has a track on the New Moon soundtrack and is opening for U2. Life seems to be good for them.
Dead Flowers, Townes Van Zandt. Another gem from the closing scene / credits of The Big Lebowski.
Strangers, The Kinks. Staying with the film theme, I loved the use of this song in The Darjeeling Limited.
Up Against the Wall, Peter Bjorn and John. Good vibe.
Three Little Birds (B Is Version), Bob Marley & The Wailers. This acoustic version is possibly my favorite version and I only discovered it by watching children’s television. What a happy song.
Blue Skies, Noah and the Whale. Good vibe. Free song.
It Takes Two, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock. Pump up the jam.
Lost, Morrissey. Required Morrissey inclusion.
Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Sons of the Pioneers. Again, from The Big Lebowski. This is probably better as an opener, but had to take a back seat to AC/DC.
With ABC Family playing a Halloween Batman movie marathon, I got to thinking: which one of these 1980-1990 Batman movies is the worst? Which led to this question: Who played the worst Batman in history? (Note: I’m exempting Lewis Wilson [1943] and Robert Lowery [1949] … because only hardcore fans would remember them).
So here’s the poll:
Most fanboys I know wet themselves over Christian Bale’s throaty Dark Knight. Most people who are of a certain age have a soft spot for Adam West’s campy rendition. But somewhere in between, the wheels kind of fell off.
Who loosened the lug nuts?
I’m also open to starting a poll of the “Worst Acting Choice for Batman Villain.” Place your nominees in the comment section.
Anyway, if this stirs your thoughts, jump on down to your local Wal-Mart, where you can pick up most versions of the live-action Batman saga or $7.50.
Amazon.com is offering Weird Al’s parody (really … Weird Al? Parody?) of the cause theme song with “Don’t Download This Song,” from The Essential Weird Al Yankovic.
Say what you want about Weird Al, but the man is talented. You can argue that all he does is leech off of others tunes, but have you ever tried to do that well? It ain’t easy.
On a side note: It’s interesting that Weird Al is all about paying homage with his parodies, yet on his You Tube channel, one cannot embed his videos into a blog post. Hmmmm … what’s good for the goose isn’t necessarily good for the gander, huh? So, I had to get this version with lyrics underscored.
Lane Myer (Better Off Dead): This, to me, is the template movie for many teen movies to follow (and, even though it wasn’t his first movie, was the first movie to really draw attention to him.) Line: “Man, it’s a real shame when folks be throwing away a perfectly good white boy like that.”
Lloyd Dobler (Say Anything): The iconic 1980s movie. Peter Gabriel certainly benefited, as did the trench coat industry. Line: “I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.” (Alternate: “I’m looking for a dare-to-be-great situation.”)
Walter “Gib” Gibson (The Sure Thing): While Better Off Dead may have made people take serious notice, it’s his role in this Rob Reiner film that’s one of my favorites. Line: “How’s this for an opening line: Did you know that Nietzsche died of syphilis?”
Martin Blank (Grosse Point Blank): Let’s face it, how many of us avoided / tried to avoid the dreaded high school reunion? And, who among us hasn’t wondered what it would be like to be an assassin? Line: “You can never go home again … but I guess you can shop there.”
Rob Gordon (High Fidelity): This movie let me know it was OK to get married. That’s all I’ll say. Line: “John Dillenger was shot dead behind that theater in a hail of FBI gunfire. You know who tipped them off? His f***ing girlfriend. He just wanted to go to the movies.”
Craig Schwartz (Being John Malkevich): Puppeteer and entrepreneur. And pretty quirky. Line: “This is something I call Craig’s Dance of Despair and Disillusionment.”
