Be Cool (2005)
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Dwayne Johnson
Brief Thoughts: This is the follow up to Get Shorty, which I have yet to see, another of the “John Travolta reunites with a Pulp Fiction costar” movies that didn’t end up causing as much interest as his agent thought they would (the other was Basic with Samuel L. Jackson). Travolta’s mid-‘90s comeback had fizzled out in large part to the disaster of Battlefield Earth, and the initial backlash to public awareness of his membership in Scientology. Suddenly he couldn’t do anything right. But Be Cool is a great movie, and it’s another of those great Vince Vaughn spotlights that no one ever seems to appreciate, because inexplicably no one realizes how great Vince Vaughn is. It’s also the earliest Hollywood indication that Dwayne Johnson was going to be able to help audiences forget that he used to be known as The Rock and end up having a hugely successful movie career.
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Director: Benh Zeitlin
Starring: Quvenzhané Wallis
Brief Thoughts: A truly magical modern fable concerning Hushpuppy and her journey in the Bathtub. In a different year it might have captured the public zeitgeist in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but it was somehow either too early or too late. Either way, it’s one of my favorite movies.
Big Trouble (2002)
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Stanley Tucci, Zooey Deschanel, Ben Foster, Johnny Knoxville, Tom Sizemore, Dennis Farina, Janeane Garofalo, Patrick Warburton, Omar Epps, Jason Lee, Sofia Vergara, DJ Qualls, Andy Richter
Brief Thoughts: As if that cast weren’t enough! It’s Tim Allen’s fourth best movie role, after Scott Calvin, Buzz Lightyear, and Jason Nesmith. Somehow by this point everyone forgot what a huge legacy he had already developed. Ignoring this instant classic was like the symbolic nail in the coffin. Based on a book by Dave Barry, still my defining humorist of modern times.
The Break-Up (2006)
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston
Brief Thoughts: Here’s another prime example of the inexplicable inability to appreciate how awesome Vince Vaughn is. To my mind, this is a classic romance. I guess because the turn of the millennium seemed to close the book on Hollywood romance (between Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, and Jerry Maguire, the preceding decade was, admittedly, a pretty good one) it became hard to appreciate the newer stuff. Vaughn is never more broadly appealing, going beyond his usual chattermouth jerk persona in his lament over losing Jennifer Aniston, who, you recall, is Jennifer Aniston, who at this point was still struggling to confirm that she was a big deal, and not just because of Friends.
Buffalo Soldiers (2001)
Director: Gregor Jordan
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris, Anna Paquin, Scott Glenn, Michael Peña, Idris Elba
Brief Thoughts: Here’s yet another movie I never understood how it could possibly be ignored. A wicked military satire and classic showcase for Joaquin Phoenix, perhaps it can finally be rediscovered thanks to Phoenix himself finally receiving wide acclaim thanks to Joker.
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