Moby Dick (1998) This is a TV miniseries starring Patrick Stewart as Captain Ahab, with Gregory Peck, who starred in the 1956 theatrical version as Ahab, also appearing. Stewart had, two years prior, evoked and quoted from the Melville novel in Star Trek: First Contact, which made it ironic for him to end up in this production (as Picard, he eventually realizes revenge is a poor motivator). I haven't really watched it too many times, so it was worth revisiting. Stewart makes the role Shakespearean, as expected. Ted Levine's Starbuck is the real star of the production, however, a counterpoint to Ahab that eclipses even Henry Thomas's Ishmael.
Molly's Game (2017) Jessica Chastain is one of my favorite actresses, and the script is from Aaron Sorkin, so I always assumed I'd love a movie pairing them together. The opening, in which Molly Bloom explains the irrelevant end of her competitive downhill skiing career, is basically the only time either the script or Chastain really shine, however. The rest is a gambling tale about a person making bad decisions and endlessly rationalizing them, and that's not really something that interests me. This is the second time I've watched it. Maybe a third would change my opinion.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) A longtime favorite, but apparently one I really hadn't watched in a very long time, as this seemed like a pretty fresh experience with it. All the classic bits, of course, but I found other things I'd completely forgotten about (I have more recent experience with The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which is something I used to listen to a lot), so that certainly made this rewatch rewarding.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) This satire about Jesus Christ is pretty amusing and insightful, as Monty Python tends to be, but it isn't really, for me, as successful as Holy Grail, perhaps because it doesn't attempt to be nearly as silly, but rather as close to serious as Monty Python was ever likely to be. For general historical satire, I guess I prefer Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part 1.
Moon (2009) It had been a long time since I watched this, too! Sam Rockwell has turned into such a dependable actor, it's almost easy to take him for granted. This was before "doomed astronaut" became a whole genre, by the way! I also enjoy seeing the work of Duncan Jones when it still seemed everyone was going to love him forever. But it turned out, basically, to be for one film. Everyone loved him for one film. (This one.)
Mrs. Miniver (1942) Since I'm still a home video kind of guy, my collection sometimes happens by adding movies because they're paired with other movies. I spent a long time not watching Mrs. Miniver, so long I eventually completely forgot what movie its DVD was paired with, but now I can say I've corrected this oversight and that I quite enjoy Mrs. Miniver itself, starring Greer Garson in the title role, in a movie that apparently helped motivate the US into taking WWII seriously, which itself is a great way to sell the movie, as far as I'm concerned. I still wish the title were different, though.
The Odyssey (1997) Another TV miniseries, a chance to revisit one of my favorite classics (actually, so is Moby-Dick). The greatest takeaway this time is that Christopher Lee's cameo as Tiresias might as well have been an audition for Saruman (and for all I know, basically was).
Out of Sight (1998) George Clooney, once his career finally got into gear, ended up producing a lot of great material in a short amount of time. This is the first of his classics, and it's just one of the many signs that we live in an age that finds it impossible to identify new classics that it still isn't recognized as such. Costarring Jennifer Lopez before everyone decided she couldn't act because she decided to start a singing career.
The Perfect Storm (2000) I'm always on the fence as to whether this belongs in Clooney's classics list, but I'll always be a sucker for it, coming from Maine and loving seafaring adventures of one kind or another.
Pete's Dragon (2016) I'm such a sucker for the director David Lowery, and am continually confused as to how difficult it is for his work to be appreciated, by both audiences and critics. I loved Pete's Dragon the first time I watched it. I love it even more now. The most audacious and inexplicable live action remake of a Disney movie yet attempted.
The Pink Panther (2006) My dad loves the original Clousseau movies. I'm partial to the Steve Martin versions. I love Martin's Clousseau, who unlike the Peter Sellers version isn't just a sight gag machine but a lingual hilarity in on the joke of a Frenchman being played by, well, someone who isn't French. Martin butchering the word "hamburger" is an all-time highlight for me, in and out of Clousseau lore.
The Pink Panther 2 (2009) I love the first one so much I was always uncertain about the second one. This time I was able to cast aside all doubts. I love this one, too.
The Princess Bride (1987) Another classic, and one that's generally accepted by most film fans. I mean, I find it difficult to understand how anyone wouldn't love it. In a lot of ways, a love letter to classic Hollywood (Cary Elwes is basically an ode to Errol Flynn as Westley, as Mel Brooks would later make all the more blatant in Robin Hood: Men in Tights), and as simple and pure a romance as was ever filmed, and a host of fantastic supporting performances. My parents always dismissed Peter Falk because of something or other he did in his personal life, but I couldn't care less. His framing scenes with Fred Savage are icing on this cake. I later read the original book, which is just as rewarding an experience.
Prisoners (2013) The first time I watched Denis Villeneuve's Hollywood debut, I ended up falling asleep for most of it. This is not, as many people try to contend when they fall asleep during a movie, a criticism; I fall asleep watching stuff all the time. Turns out I missed a great deal of the movie. This is an intricately designed movie, a classic that is yet another victim of the current inability to recognize new classics. Villeneuve's later movies are absolutely reflected in the results, and I have renewed expectations for his Dune.
R.I.P.D. (2013) In the years before Deadpool, no one really knew what to make of Ryan Reynolds, and so his work was easy to dismiss. R.I.P.D. was dismissed as a ripoff of Men in Black, mostly because of the fairly similar premises. But R.I.P.D. is very much its own thing. Reynolds comes closest, pre-Deadpool, to finding the exact Deadpool vibe, but it's really Jeff Bridges getting to play his ornery cowboy act one more time that's the star of this show. That and Marissa Miller. (That whole bit got completely lost because nobody wanted to admit there was anything worth enjoying about the movie. When the complete opposite is actually true.)
Also worth mentioning is that upon rewatching 2021's The Courier, I found that I love it even more. I can't fathom how little appreciate this movie's gotten so far. I just find movie reactions inexplicable in recent years. Hopefully all this will even out eventually.
