My Weekend Flu By!

This weekend I was sick, and I don't mean like an awesome snowboarding move. I had a bad case of the old flu. At several points I tried doing catching up on some work and some studying, but it was difficult to do that while I was dizzily coughing up bloody phlegm. So instead I reverted to laying on my couch and watching movies all weekend. It was awesome.

What astounded me is the fact that while I can go see ten movies in the theater and walk away liking three of them (if I'm lucky), I can turn on TBS or ABC Family on a Sunday afternoon, and I'm content with anything. No, seriously, look at the crap that I watched.

Flight of the Navator - This was the first of many childhood favorites that I watched. I would say this is probably the third best time travel movie of all time (behind items 2 and 3 in this list). The only 1986 movie that gets me more excited than Flight of the Navigator is Short Circuit. The scene where Sarah Jessica Parker walks in to David's future room and explains all the differences between 1978 and 1985 brought me back to the days of eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches as I watched our Betamax copy of this movie that we recorded from one of those free HBO trials.

Back to the Future Part I - Man, this movie never fails to knock my socks off. Despite the fact that this movie has at least a dozen plotholes (my favorite is the idea that if the three children had never been born, then the photograph wouldn't have existed because no one would take a picture of such a boring backdrop), it's perfect.

Back to the Future Part II - Again, pure sock-knocker. Here's my main problem with this one. They leave Jennifer on her porch in the future v2.0, and then they go back to the past in order to prevent future v2.0 from occurring. But they leave Jennifer in future v2.0! If they fix the future, wouldn't it be impossible to get Jennifer back, since they would be travelling from v1.0 to the future (which would then be v1.0)? It makes no sense! If someone could resolve this for me I'd be very appreciative. Nonetheless, fantastic movie. "McFly, you bojo! Hoverboards don't work on water. Unless you've got power!"

The Island - [(1984 + The Matrix)/2] ^ Michael Bay + Pseudo-political commentary. That's a formula for success. Well, maybe not, since I seem to recall this movie bombing, but I enjoyed it anyway. Wait...maybe I hated it. Hard to tell with this one.

The Sandlot - Another childhood classic. I remember watching this movie twice in as many weeks back in high school and thinking about how sick of it I was. After a five-year break, I was ready for an intense reconnection, and I was rewarded with a nostalgia-fest, both about watching the movie and about spending summers playing baseball and goofing around all day every day. It also made me nostalgic for that one summer that Dave forced a life guard to make out with him by faking that he couldn't breathe. Classic.

The Sandlot 2 - One of the few movies on the list that I had never seen before, and probably the only movie on the list that I would never, ever watch again. Absolutely atrocious. It manages to retell the exact same story as the first, incorporate all the moments from the first movie that makes it so loveable, add a "love" story (!), and still be so awful. The problems that plague this movie and make it intolerable are the lack of any sort of originality, the terrible acting, and the lack of Dennis Leary. Oh my God. It's awful.

Kicking & Screaming - After The Sandlot 2 killed my faith in children's sports movies, Kicking & Screaming made me believe again. Man, that Will Ferrel sure is funny. I always think that I don't really like him, but he makes me laugh time after time. Again, some horrible child acting (including a frightening, adolescent Bean from Evens Stevens), but this movie was still a lot of fun. Also the Will Ferrel/Robert Duvall/Mike Ditka relationship was enjoyable.

A Lot Like Love - If I didn't lose your respect with my glowing review of Kicking & Screaming, I am sure to lose it with this. I liked this movie. Keep in mind two things: first, I'm a sucker for Romantic Comedies, and second, I liked Wicker Park. So it shouldn't be too shocking that I ate this movie up (while I ate up some Rice Chex, in fact!). Take a look at everything this movie has to offer:

• Ashton Kutcher singing and playing guitar (not really a positive thing, but still noteworthy)

• Jeremy Sisto playing a music snob (this is where I was sold, I think)

• Kumar

• Amanda Peet's ass (sideshot, but still)

• A romantic comedy about that spans 6 years of "first" dates. Genius!
  

So call me ridiculous, but I liked it. You'll have to forgive me. I wasn't feeling well.

Defending Your Life - Speaking of ridiculous romantic comedies, here comes another classic. I remember loving this movie when I was 10. Even then I was intrigued by both romantic comedies and plots involving the death, afterlife, and (non-scary) ghosts. Man, did I have it right when I was 10. This movie is tops. And to think, I almost skipped this movie to watch Little Monsters with Fred Savage. Had it been Fred Savage's The Wizard I would have missed out on this movie completely.


So there ya have it. That's my weekend in a nutshell. The stars aligned themselves perfectly to allow me the freedom to sit around and watch movies all day while also managing to give one heckuva lineup. Seriously. Flight of the Navigator? Defending Your Life? When's the last time anyone's seen either of these two movies on tv? Sure I was unable to eat solid food for half the weekend, but I got all the nourishment I needed from these wonderful films.