The List: 5 Movies That Make Me Stop Flipping
We all have movies that we love, movies that we hate, and movies that we love to hate. But there is a special class of movie that will make us stop flipping channels and watch them. Here are 5 of mine, plus one that should but doesn’t, in no particular order.
Wedding Crashers: What’s not to love about this movie? It’s really funny. It has great one liners. No matter where it is in the movie, you can jump right in and watch it. That’s probably the most important criteria for a movie to make this list. You need to be able to jump in at any point. The fact that Wedding Crashers is on a lot of channels also helps it make this list.
Sweet Home Alabama: Starring Reese Witherspoon as a Southern belle fashion designer living in New York City, I will always watch it. She’s incredibly cute, and even though I think she lost her accent long ago, there’s just something about a Southern accent. It’s also set in Alabama, so I don’t mind the stereotypes being put on them. They deserve it.
The Karate Kid: The original Karate Kid movie, with Mr. Dancing With The Stars, Ralph Macchio, grabs my attention. Even Part 2 in Okinawa will make me stop. Part 3? The Next Karate Kid? The new one with Jaden Smith? Not so much. I may stop, but it won’t keep my attention. There are so many things right about the first one that you can’t go wrong by stopping and watching it. Wax on, wax off. Sweep the leg. Points or no points, you’re dead meat. A crane kick. It’s all right around the corner.
Old School: “You’re my boy, Blue!” Will Ferrel, Luke Wilson, and Vince Vaughn come together for frat house hijinks. It’s really a guy movie, but I know lots of girls that like the movie too. Jeremy Piven is in it as the bad guy, which is easy, because he is a tool and easy to hate. The only lull in the movie comes when they get kicked out of the frat house until it is time to do the certification test, but that’s a brief one.
Ocean’s Eleven: Here is the thing about this star-studded movie – I don’t know why I like it. I kind of like Clooney and Pitt. Bernie Mac has a great character. A key part of the plot revolves around Ross and Monica’s dad from Friends. There is a lot of explosions and it just looks like they had a good time making the movie, which by all accounts, they did. There are a lot of options worse than Ocean’s Eleven when you are looking for something to watch on TV.
And one that doesn’t make me stop: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – One of my all time favorite movies rarely gets me involved when I am flipping channels and see it on. For one, it’s not on a lot. I get that the movie has aged, but so has The Breakfast Club (an honorable mention choice) and it’s on almost every week somewhere. I can’t say anything bad about the movie. In fact, it is the first DVD that i ever purchased when I got a DVD player. FBDO does not make the cut.
I’m with you on all but The Karate Kid. I remember watching it back inthe day, but just don’t care for it anymore. I will also stop for Oceans 12 & 13, and I’ve probably watched Independence Day a hundred times… Oh…and I’ll stop everytime I see The Hangover on too…althought it ticks me off how HBO and Cinemax show an edited version that couldn’t have chopped off more than 2 or 3 minutes, but manages to actually ruin part of the plot.
Here are my five: 1. The Hangover, 2. My Cousin Vinny, 3. Any Harry Potter movie, 4. The Princess Bride, and 5. Van Wilder.
Two other movies that deserve mention are 10 Things I Hate About You and A Knight’s Tale. The latter of the two will always garner a stoppage in flipping.