Everything Sounds Better On Vinyl..."High Fidelity"

High Fidelity (2000)

Rated R for language

Starring John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Jack Black, Todd Louiso, Joan Cusack, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tim Robbins

Directed by Stephen Frears

The Story:

Rob Gordon (Cusack) has been dumped by the latest love of his life, Laura (Hjejle) and is moving in with former neighbor, Ian (Robbins).  This drives Rob nuts, and through a series of flashbacks and breaking the 4th wall narratives, we are going to relive much of Rob's life as he counts down the Top 5 Break-Ups in his life.

So you start with a romantic comedy, but in addition to that, there is Rob's job as the owner of a record shop, and his two employees Barry (Black) and Dick (Louiso) that power those moments in between the break-up stories, and probably cement this as more of a guys movie, than a date movie.

I would say it's also the film that propelled Jack Black into stardom.  Up until this movie, he was a bit player in lots of things, and he had Tenacious D, but I would say it was his hilarious performance as Barry, the guy has all the best lines in the movie, that made him a star.  Within 2 years, he was headlining movies after this.

The star of the film of course is John Cusack.

Top 5 Favorite John Cusack Films:

1) Better Off Dead
2) Grosse Pointe Blank
3) Con Air ~  Con Air Review!
4) One Crazy Summer
5) High Fidelity

I can put any of these films in to watch any time, and I'm good to go.

Wait a minute...

I've just learned that my wife doesn't even like High Fidelity that much.

Head...spinning...

I feel as if I've been living a lie for nearly 15 years.

I need to go sit down and relax.

Apparently I won't be relaxing by watching High Fidelity... at least for now.

:)

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I try and watch this one every year or so.  Absolutely love it.  Learning that my wife doesn't find it nearly as funny as I do now has me trying to find a new Top 5 John Cusack movies to watch with her!

: /

Read This Review...Or the Bunny Gets It! "Con Air"

He's got the whole world...
In his hands!

The Story:

Ex-Ranger Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) gets sent to prison for killing a man in self-defense.  He does his time, and when it's time to go home, he decides to hop a flight on Con-Air, a prison transport.  But not just any transport, this one is moving the worst of the worst, and they just decided to break free.  If Poe has any hope of getting home to see his wife and daughter, he's going to have to save the day.

If I say "popcorn movie", this is the movie that could easily be in the dictionary as the definition.

It's loud.
It's crazy.
It's fun.

In fact, while Cage is playing his best cajun-accented hero, he gets support from some of the best villains ever assembled:

John Malkovich. Danny Trejo. Ving Rhames. Steve Buscemi.

They're chewing up the scenery, and making Poe's life miserable.

Realizing that he has a sense of duty to a friend onboard, as well as a female marshal who will likely be killed if he leaves her alone, Poe passes up an opportunity to leave the plane and plots to save the day from inside the plane.

Luckily, he's got some help on the ground in the form of John Cusack who races to help Poe get to safety.

The movie is fast-paced, written by Scott Rosenberg who also helped Cusack with High Fidelity and went back for Cage once more with Gone in 60 Seconds.

Given that this was the first time Simon West sat in the director's chair, he knocked it out of the park.  He could never have made another movie, and I would have considered him a great one-hit wonder. 

West sort of disappeared, but came roaring back in the last few years with The Mechanic and Expendables 2 last year. 

Welcome back to the Popcorn Movie genre Mr. West, you've been missed!

Yes, I can pop this movie in, anytime and just lose myself in 2 hours of pure adrenaline fun.

It's not a perfect movie...

But it's perfectly fun!

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I own it. I love it. I have seen it so many times, I've lost count! :)

"Mark of Love" ? That Sounds Naughty... ;)

Sometimes you don't realize you're in love, until you're not.

The Story:

Mark (Bryan Price) who has been moving from relationship to relationship in his life.  When his latest girlfriend tosses him out because he can't quite commit, or basically say "I love you", well it's time for our hero to start over.  Each time he starts over, he tries to find a new hobby to occupy his time.  This time, he goes to answer an ad for Karate classes, but when he arrives it turns out that some speed dating ladies have pulled some trickery in the hopes of meeting some guys.  Mark is ready to bounce, but they offer to pay him if he would be willing to offer them some advice on what it is that men are really looking for in women.

Easy money, right?

Not exactly...

It turns out, Mark relates each of his failed relationships to the ladies, but as each story unfolds, it's our plucky hero who is almost always to blame on the failure of the relationships.

Think of this as a less funny, less well done version of High Fidelity.

We're counting down Mark's failures, and each woman had her pros and cons to be with forever, and Mark and the ladies all begin to realize the same thing.  It turns out the latest was not the woman he was meant to be with.

When that realization hits, it is Mark that realizes he hasn't taught the ladies much of anything, but they've taught him quite a bit.

The problem is...

Has he waited too long to win back his one true love?

Available to stream instantly on Netflix streaming as of this writing.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor:  Cute, but disposable.  I'd take High Fidelity any and every time though.

:)

100 Greatest Movies of All Time...That I Own. # 44 ~ High Fidelity

For all the guys out there, here's that romantic comedy that was designed for guys. Whether the lady you watch with likes it or not is irrelevant.

: )

Missing the Top 5 by a smidge, but ranking in at # 44 with a bullet comes High Fidelity.  John Cusack returns in one of his funniest roles, and that is saying something because that dude is awesome in just about everything he does.

Top 5 John Cusack films that failed to make the countdown:

5 ~ Must Love Dogs
4 ~ Serendipity
3 ~ Sixteen Candles
2 ~ One Crazy Summer
1 ~ Better Off Dead

And let's just say, it was painful to leave those last 2 off this last, and if I redid the order again, at least one of those films would make it, and Star Wars would be definitely kicked to the curb!

So anyway, the film follows Rob Gordon as he goes through a bit of an early mid-life crisis, or at least a dating crisis.  He then tries to figure out if his Top 5 Breakups were his fault, or the fault of the girl.

It's a roller coaster ride of fun from there.

Cusack is strong and dependable as always.  Probably the most underrated actor in pictures today.  The honor once belonged to Robert Downey Jr., but we all know how that went, so it's all Cusack's now.

Possibly the most memorable part of this movie would likely be the star-making turn for Jack Black.  I just ran through his filmography, and the guy had been doing a ton of work up until that point, the only one I can recall with any memory was one of the government baddies chasing down Will Smith in Enemy of the State.

Here, Jack Black is unleashed for the first time, and the revelation that the man can sing at the end works so well for the movie, and the audience.

Top 5 Jack Black films that didn't make the countdown:

5 ~ School of Rock
4 ~ Shallow Hal
3 ~ Be Kind, Rewind
2 ~ Kung Fu Panda
1 ~ Kung Fu Panda 2

Believe me, I'll be in trouble once the kids realize neither Kung Fu Panda movie hit the list!

: /

Anyway, if you've never seen this one, give it a shot.

You'll find at least 5 things you liked about it when it's over.