Monday, August 2, 2010

Roo Phillips: Movie Critic

Since we got Netflix, Roo decided he ought to get some culture and watch the "classics." So with a great sense of obligation and having no intention of actually enjoying these films, he set out on his quest for a greater understanding of American cinematic classics. And he made the rest of us come along with him.

Here are his reviews:

Gone With the Wind


After the first half: That was pretty good.
1 hour and 50 minutes into the second half: Wait, who is Tara? Is that a person?
After disc two: Well, that was pretty much the worst movie ever! Rhett Butler is an idiot. It was like LOST, everyone ends up dead or as good as dead.

Casablanca
"It had some suspense, plus it was...shorter [than Gone With the Wind, I assume he means]...so it was pretty good."

Planet of the Apes
"That movie is awesome! Cornelius the ape is every bit as dreamy as Clark Gable."

I was surprised by Roo's enthusiasm for this movie. In the days since viewing it, he said the phrase "it's a madhouse!" at least once an hour. And he enjoys recalling this [disturbing] scene:

You can judge for yourself if he's right about the ape and Clark Gable:

APE
CLARK GABLE

Citizen Kane
"Well that was depressing. Now I need someone to tell me what it means."

He's made it halfway through West Side Story and I give him a hearty kudos for having made it that far! His main observation so far is that the film reminds him of one long GAP commercial. He also haughtily corrected me yesterday when I referred to the Puerto Rican gang as the Jets. And then he sang, "I want to live in America" for awhile...

So I asked him which film he would consider the best.

Roo: I still like Casablanca the best...and Star Wars.
Annie: More than Planet of the Apes?
Roo: uhh...Damn them all to hell...?

I'm glad he's learned so much about great American cinema.

[None of the above quotes were taken with the permission of Roo]

4 comments:

Lynn said...

These classic movies have probably only deepened Roo's appreciation of Star Wars. However, someday, Star Wars might be just as dated/silly as these classics are now. To Roo's credit he did make the effort to watch these movies, which a lot of people would never do.

Mike + Mo said...

I have always wanted to do this. I have only seen Gone With The Wind...

Kudos to Roo...

ps. I only made it thru the first 10 minutes of West Side Story...

Troy and Nancee Tegeder said...

I started down the path of becoming more cinematically cultured. I didn't make it much further than you. Once I realized Citizen Kane was ranked #1, along with his stupid Rosebud sled, I decided that whoever made the list was an idiot and I didn't agree with any of their choices. If it makes you feel any better, having watched these movies may help you understand some older Simpsons episodes.

Jesse C said...

This is funny. I've had a similar desire to watch such films.