Forgotten Movies

So these movies haven't really been forgotten -they continue to be quite famous.  But they are all movies that I recently found while changing channels on TV and ones that I hadn't thought about in forever but that are actually quite good.  In fact, some of them I watched when I was young (my parents weren't really the type to censor things and they usually decided what we would watch rather than let us kids dictate what movie we rented or saw), and I am surprised at how much I didn't remember.  I thought I would share them in case you are wanting to watch something this weekend.

1 A Few Good Men
This is a movie with Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, and Demi Moore in the main roles, but it is filled with famous bit characters such as Kiefer Sutherland and Cuba Gooding Jr.  It's the movie with the line, "I want the truth!" "You can't handle the truth!"  Anyway, it was interesting for me in that, I could remember how it ended but in that I couldn't remember the actual events that lead to the court room and how they got to the end result.  Jack Nicholson is usually likable even as an asshole, but in this film he is just straight up asshole.

2 The Firm
Another Cruise flick.  This was the first of the John Grisham movies and, while I distinctly remember seeing it in the theater (I was 10 when it came out), I realize that there was a LOT I did not remember.  Basically all I remembered was that Tom Cruise was the star.  In watching it again I was a little confused by all of the legal jargon going on and I am surprised that my 10 year old self could have stayed awake through it.  It's a good movie in that it plays fast and in that it has a lot of suspense, but it isn't as good as The Pelican Brief, A Time to Kill or The Client.  I think part of that is that, with those movies, I can imagine the story happening to me.  A Time to Kill causes you to think about what you would do if someone raped your daughter/sister/friend and The Client makes you think about what you would do if you were witness to a crime.  The Pelican Brief is just good because Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington are beautiful people.  With the firm, Tom Cruise is no longer thought of as sane and it is hard to place myself in the scenario of a hot shot law school graduate.  But even so, I stayed up well past my bedtime to see how the movie was going to end.  It might be fun to have a John Grisham marathon.

3 10 Things I Hate About You
I was so excited when I turned on the TV to find the opening credits to this movie.  I hadn't seen it in FOREVER and it is so good.  Actually, depending on your age it might not be the greatest film, but it came out when I was in high school so it was very relatable.  It also starred Julia Stiles who I so wanted to be in high school and Heath Ledger in a cute, fun role.  This movie made me want to watch She's All That, Varsity Blues, and Can't Hardly Wait.  Though a lot of teen movies ply dumb for their audience, this is one of the rare ones that has a bit of wit to it.  I especially love how absurd the adult actors are.  Allison Janney as the guidance counselor who spends most of her time writing slutty romances and Larry Miller, the OBGYN who  uses street slang to scare his daughters off of boys.

4 Misery
Again, a movie I have seen but all I remembered was the scene where she breaks his legs with a sledge hammer.  You can't go wrong with Stephen King and this film is well done.  Kathy Bates is so genius as the deranged fan who keeps her favorite author captive in her house.  It is such a simple film in that there are few characters and really only one set, but the dialogue and suspense are quite grabbing.  A must see if you haven't seen it.