The (movie) list of Crunch

[CaptainCrunch]

I've been thinking about this for a few days, I was trying to self reflect on things that really interesting to me, and it always comes back to pop culture history, movies, TV, music etc. We all know that I'm a huge Star Wars fan, Sci fi movie fan. I tend to get weird meaning out of movies and love to interpret and break them down.


But I was sitting there and I was flashing back to movies that I really loved, that maybe aren't obscure, but they were movies that I loved that maybe didn't have the success that they maybe should have had. they are a bit strange, and some of them forgotten.



So I decided to do the movie list of CaptainCrunch, the movies that are out there that I really got something out of.


So here we go, strap in and I'd love to hear your feedback.


1) Wizards (1977)


To me this movie was so brilliant in everything it did. Created by the great Ralph Bakshi, he was well known for pushing animation styles and this movie was no different. First of all, I outright loved the story of good and evil, where maybe the Evil was misunderstood. The story of two brothers, both powerful wizards, but one of them driven evil by rejection because of his mutations and appearance. From an animation perspective this is one of the busier movies that I've ever seen as it combined re-animated live WW2 footage and used it as a terror weapon, while the main characters were in the artistic style of the 70s. The ending was powerful as it wasn't a mighty magical duel that settled this but instead the simple use of a gun.






2) Lord of the Rings (1978)


Another great Ralph Bakshi offering, it covered the first book and a half of the Lord of the Rings, but because of poor box office the story was never completed. I honestly think this was more faithful to Tolkien's vision then the blockbusters were. I remember because I was pretty young that I loved this movie and its interpretation of Gollum and the Dark Riders. I also ran around the house for a week after this movie singing "where there's a whip, there's a way". which on hindsight is pretty disturbing as hell.









3) Heavy Metal (1981)


Everything about this movie screams cool to me even though its a nerd's paradise. An amalgamation of different stories all linked by a evil sphere of energy who had influenced events throughout history. For Canadians' this movie should have been the most popular thing ever as it used voice acting by most the the SCTV crew. I still get a bit misty when it comes on and I hear John Candy/


This movie looked gorgeous as they used rotoscoping to trace live action into believable almost 3 dimensional animation. It still has one of the best movie soundtracks ever




4) Escape from LA (1996)


Escape from New York is still one of my favorite movies, and Snake Plisskon is one of the great anti-hero's. Kurt Russell made out like a bandit if he was paid on a per word basis. Escape from LA really tried to be something that it wasn't. It was almost like they tried intentionally to go over the top and because of that the movie suffers a bit with a lot of over the top strangeness which doesn't compare to the minimalist film that was Escape from New York. But for some reason, I outright love this movie, and think it has the ultimate open ending. Snake Plisskan doesn't do these jobs because he wants to save the world or people. He's in it for himself, and he actually hates everything around him. So its no surprise that this movie had such a cool ending where Snake shows he just doesn't care all that much.





5) Soldier (1998)


Another mostly silent performance by Kurt Russell, but I love this movie that is in theory linked to the Blade Runner World. This is a story of a man designed strictly to be a solder, and then is cast out when a newer model comes out and eventually has to confront his replacement. The opening scene when they show Todd's life from the brutal training as a boy right through fight after fight. Throughout the movie he plays cold and standoffish because he doesn't know how to be human, but in the end that humanity comes through. This movie had some terrific action scenes and Jason Lee was extremely menacing, but I love this movie because Russell had a total of 104 words in the movie. But I love the storyline and the resolution.





6) Hudson Hawk (1991)


People outright hate this movie and ask me why I love it so much. I love it for the same reason that people hate it. Because its ludicrous and stupid and because of that I laugh through the whole thing. Its also clear that the actors didn't think much of the movie as they massively over act through the whole thing and try to steal scenes from each other. I mean there's nothing better then Andie MacDowell talking to the dolphin for no reason that makes sense. Or Willis winning a fight because he dropped his hat and had to pick it up.





7) Starship Troopers 3 - Marauder (2008)


The first movie was a brilliant piece of satire. The second movie was a low budget mess. The third movie was nu-apologetic crap with low rate special effects and a ludicrous concept, bad acting. Basically everything that's wrong with it. But I can never turn it off once it starts. From Casper Van Dien's return to Jolene Blalocks initiation of a block of wood. This movie had it all from a singing Sky Marshall, to a turn back to god to help humanity beat the bugs, it was pure and simple cheese. At one point in the movie a background actor gets knocked over by a hanging microphone and nobody in editing cared until it was re-edited a few years later.





8) Warriors (1979)


Yes I can dig it suckers. Another movie that in a lot of ways was just weird. It was supposed to be a gritty look at gang life in New York but it was a over the top stylized look at it from ludicrous gangs like the Base Ball furies to the Lizzies. This was a tremendous chase movie with a ton of tension. And surprisingly well acted even though Michael Beck was the lead. However, man David Patrick Kelley did what he always does, he stole the movie. With his creepy "Warriors come out to Play ay" challenge to his sniveling begging for his life in the end. This movie featured a brilliant sound track. Was filmed in the dark, and just looked cool.





9) Judgement Night (1993)



Denis Leary is usually brilliant in everything he did. Sadly people don't remember this movie and how good and tense it was. A tale of four friends (Gooding Jr, Piven Dorf and Estevez) who decide to go to a boxing match and get stuck in traffic. They decide to take a short cut and end up witnessing a murder and spend the rest of the movie running for their lives. This is a movie with an amazing amount of tension in it, and there are scenes of outright brutality that draw you in and make you feel like your part of the story. Leary is outright frightening as the villain in this move and is a bit un nerving.





10) The Crow City of Angels (1996)


The first Crow movie was brilliant and tragic and creepy, it had everything that you could want in a movie. But sometimes I like City of Angel's a bit better. The cast was solid with Mia Kirchner, Iggy Pop and Vincent Perez and Richard Brooks who was awesome and menacing as Judah the villain. For some reason I liked the shooting style of this film, and even though Perez can't match Lee as the Crow, he does a very good job of it.

[Harry Lime]

An interesting list. A couple of gems in there. I have always found Escape from LA to be more rewatchable then NY, even though it's technically the less revered film. Judgement Night is a good deep dive. The one that I'm going to have to go back and watch again, out of your list, is Wizards. It's been forever.

A couple of lesser known movies that should get more love than they do :

Equilibrium
This is the first movie that started the 'Gunkata' style of action shoot 'em ups, that the gun was more than just a weapon in the traditional sense. It takes the Western and Samurai weapon usage and blends it together. Some of the futuristic ideas in this movie are just reality now, sadly.



Ghost Dog
Another new wave samurai movie, but instead of updating weapon usage and such, it embraces the romanticized ideal of living by a code. Art house director does action flick. I mean, Book of Five Rings. Who makes a movie like that?



Jimmy Hollywood
This is a slow burn story about a man's search for hope, but in my mind it's Christian Slater that steals the movie. Understated, and one of his best performances. He was acting instead of Christian Slatering.



A Life Less Ordinary
What exactly is this movie? I don't know. A caper I guess. It's Danny Boyle's followup to Trainspotting, and it's all over the place, but I can't help liking it.



Shine
A biopic that highlights not only a life lived, but the genius hiding in the shadows. Great music as well, played by the man himself and acted to an Oscar by Geoffrey Rush. The most lauded movie on my list, but it's amazing to me how few people have seen it.



This would be my list of movies that are pretty accessible. A lot of my taste goes to b-level horror and classic movies, which isn't to everyone's idea of a good time.