QUICK FIX Movies To Watch #1-5

Quick Fix Movies To Watch #1-5 start things off with more than a few bangs

Quick Fix Movies To Watch is a weekly column of mixed movie suggestions for both the avid film fan and the casual movie-goer. Dive in, swim around a little bit, and come up with a new movie or two you think is worth watching. They’re all great!

Quick Fix movie picks #1-5 include Open Range, Big Fish, Moon, True Romance, and Super.

QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #1: OPEN RANGE

Release: 2003    Rating: R     Director: Kevin Costner

Stars: Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, Diego Luna, Annette Bening, Michael Gambon, Michael Jeter

I’ve got a thing for good westerns, and Open Range is right up there with some of the best. Tombstone, Unforgiven, Open Range – to me, they’re pretty equal in substance and entertainment, so take that for what you will. Kevin Costner’s career as a director has had it’s ups and downs, but here Costner has crafted a fine film that climaxes in one of the best gun fights I’ve seen in quite a while – a good 20 minutes of shoot-em-up action pairing Costner, Duvall, and one or two of the town’s people against a few dozen wild west red-shirts. The gunfight is a blast from start to finish, and I’d recommend the movie on that merit alone, but the rest of the movie is just as satisfying. It’s kind of hard to describe the soft spot for the romantic, raw, rough-around-the-edges days of cowboys and dusted outlaws that so many share, but if you’ve got that soft spot you’ll thoroughly enjoy this one.

HIDDEN GEM: So I kind of jumped the gun, but the highlight of this movie is absolutely the final showdown/gunfight. Costner’s character has had enough, and he deals out justice like the hand of God. Alright, that’s a little much, but man is he great during those 20 minutes.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #2: BIG FISH

Release: 2003    Rating: PG-13     Director: Tim Burton

Stars: Ewan McGregor, Billy Crudup, Albert Finney, Helena Bonham Carter, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Danny Devito, Steve Buscemi, Marion Cotillard

Big Fish is one of the few movies that can stir up a few tears once all is said and done, and I don’t mind admitting it. The emotion and whimsical charm throughout this film build to an astoundingly heart-felt conclusion that I simply love. Dare I say, this is a departure from the dark material for Tim Burton and it absolutely works for me. There’s so much color and vibrancy all over the place in this movie, and the dark moments are there to make the colorful pieces seem that much more colorful. This was the movie that made me hopeful for follow-ups like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland, but where those movies fell flat and lacked true feeling, Big Fish hits the mark and resonates through the core with its optimism and up-beat outlook. Throw this on with some people you love and enjoy the goodness!

HIDDEN GEM: There’s a little town hidden in a dark forest in this movie that’s a subjective paradise, and the place is pretty charming, but in all honesty it’s just a stepping stone for Ewan McGregor’s character as he continues on his epic adventure. It’s the adventure that’s the real gem here. It builds and grows and makes you wish you’d lived 1/3 of the life this man lives, be it story or fact. Also, if you look closely you’ll see a crazy young Miley Cyrus for a few minutes which always gets a “whoa, really?” reaction from me.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #3: MOON

Release: 2009    Rating: R     Director: Duncan Jones

Stars: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey

Moon is a quiet, meditative type of film with a bare-bones cast and an abundance of reflective introspection. Lots of big words that essentially mean this is a one-man movie with a lot relying on Sam Rockwell’s ability to carry the film. He does. Granted, it’s not material that doesn’t have bits and pieces of all great sci-fi movies, but it takes those bits and pieces and constructs a complete picture of a man losing grip with his existence. He’s single-handedly (with the help of an intelligence system voiced by Kevin Spacey) manning a moon mining station for a precious resource, and the toll this job takes is much more than meets the eye. If you’re a fan of light-on-the-eyes sci-fi that carries with it heavier-than-expected subtext you’ll love Moon.

HIDDEN GEM: Kevin Spacey’s GERTY is the calm, cool voice of reason with a secret, and I had some fun with the emoticons he uses when his words aren’t enough. That said, it’s doing so much with so little that makes this movie stand out most.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #4: TRUE ROMANCE

Release: 1993    Rating: R     Director: Tony Scott

Stars: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Dennis Hopper, Michael Rapaport, Val Kilmer

Don’t let the title fool you, True Romance is no lovey-dovey romance type of movie. Well, it is, but it’s not. To clarify, the romance story at the center of everything is pretty powerful, and one I’m truly jealous of. Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette’s characters are madly, deeply in love, no doubt about it, but there’s so much more going on in True Romance that it’d be doing this movie a big disservice if it were pegged as a simple love story. With writing by Quentin Tarantino and direction from Tony Scott one has to expect (and rightly so) that this film is firing on all cylinders from dialogue to brutal violence. And then you’ve got the performances! Across the board everyone is great here, and True Romance is an excellent 90’s movie that easily rose to the top to join that generation’s creme of the crop.

HIDDEN GEM: This was one of Brad Pitt’s breakout roles, and his absent-minded, light-hearted stoner Floyd is great. His reaction to armed men walking in to his apartment, looking for someone else, is priceless. Additionally, Gary Oldman in his chameleon ways plays a crazy Rastafarian gangster that’s definitely worth seeing if you’re a fan of the man.

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QUICK FIX Movie To Watch #5: SUPER

Release: 2010    Rating: R     Director: James Gunn

Stars: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion

Imagine Dwight Schrute picking up a wrench and dealing out his own form of justice to anyone who angers him. Pretty crazy mental image right? Well Super isn’t too far off, and the movie follows the trend of movies where everyday Joes don a costume and take to the streets to battle evil-doers. Fortunately, Super is a movie all it’s own, taking the subject matter that we’ve seen retread in recent years and giving it some depth and raw emotion. Rainn Wilson is fantastic here, and brings some real weight to the broken man he plays. This guy is just getting the short end of the stick in all walks of his life, and Wilson brings out some acting chops we’ve known he has but that he hasn’t displayed quite like this. It’s brutal, it’s honest, and it’s way over the top in the best ways.

HIDDEN GEM: Ellen Page is just a firecracker of chaotic madness here. From the geeky, knows-her-stuff encyclopedia of comic books that she is to the sexy, spunky kid side-kick that she strives to be you can’t help but fall in love with her. Her surprise finale (along with probably the most awkward sex scene since MacGruber) make her character one worth drinking in by the Big Gulp.