My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: Working Girl, 1988

You know, some of these years are much harder to do than others. Apparently in 1988, there was Big, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Coming to America and the film that I've selected. It was difficult. Anyway, this movie stars Melanie Griffith and may surprise you in that it doesn't suck. I think the problem is that Melanie Griffith has been trying to play this same role every other time in her career and it doesn't work. Case in point: Shining Through. Take her character in this movie add Nazis and you've got Shining Through. Speaking of which, why is Liam Neeson a Nazi in that movie? I know that Schindler's List was after that, so they couldn't have seen it coming but it's still disturbing. I just don't want to see Liam Neeson as a Nazi, I watched that whole movie bothered that I still liked him.

Okay, on to the task at hand. Working Girl, directed by Mike Nichols, is the story of Tess McGill, a working class girl from Long Island with aspirations in finance. She finds these ambitions to be stifled by the lack of an Ivy League/blue blood pedigree. She feels like her life is turning around when she becomes the secretary to Katherine Parker. I love this part of the film because it plays on knowing someone who you hate/want to be. Tess brings her an idea for a deal and Katherine promises to use it to help her. Then Katherine gets in a ski accident and things change. Tess finds out Katherine intended to steal her idea, so Tess decides to take matters into her own hands and sets up a meeting with Jack Traynor played by Harrison Ford. Before that, she has an unfortunate incident with prescription meds and Tequila, which makes the business part of this awkward. So, Tess starts moving in business circles and pursuing a relationship with Jack, because you know, he's Harrison Ford before he started dating Calista Flockhart. Oh, also, Katherine thinks she's pretty much engaged to Jack. There are issues, which all come together nicely upon Katherine's return where Tess is able to show her for the fraud she is. The important part is really the ride along the way as Tess struggles with her identity: that of a secretary or a serious business lady. That theme is summed up in this one clip from Tess' best friend.

Okay, the best parts of this movie: the stellar cast, containing basically everyone. You've got Joan Cusack as Tess' best friend, Alec Baldwin as her boyfriend, an Irish guy from Long Island (Hey, wait a minute...), Olympia Dukakis, Oliver Platt and even Kevin Spacey in a memorable appearance. I love the way it captures the divide between blue and white collar, evidenced through the fantastic cityscape of Manhattan in the film, giving you the full gusto of New York in the 1980s. You know, at least h Also, there's a Carly Simon song in this film, evoked throughout the score. Another win. Carly Simon should write more songs in movies that we can sing driving to work.

My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: No Way Out, 1987

Remember what I said before about Harrison Ford tarnishing his legacy with crap? Same thing, Kevin Costner. I'm talking about Waterworld. The Postman. Whatever else there is that I'm forgetting. What about that one where Paul Newman plays his dad? The one based on the Nicholas Sparks book? Here's a spoiler, every Nicholas Sparks story has the same ending: SOMEONE DIES. That may not be entirely accurate, but I think it is and that should be good enough for the Internet, right?

Anyway, let's examine the fact that Kevin Costner had two excellent films come out this year. This one and The Untouchables, the film for which Sean Connery won as Oscar. I just felt like mentioning that.

Anyway, this film features Kevin Costner as a Naval officer who falls for the Secretary of Defense's mistress played by Sean Young. Gene Hackman plays the Secretary and there's a part with Iman and Fred Thompson. What more do you people want from this movie?



I love a good thriller which I suspect you might learn as this list goes on and even more than that, this is a great Cold War thriller and nothing can really beat that. Okay, there is that one scene in the limo that I'm not entirely comfortable with. I mean, how awkward is that for the driver? Anyway, this is about what happens when you work at the Pentagon, have an affair with your boss' mistress and she dies. Long story short: it's BAD.

Okay, so, now there's a spoiler that I would actually feel bad about spoiling, which is so rare for me, so if you haven't seen No Way Out, please stop reading and go do that. They throw so many red herrings at you in this movie that this becomes the best twist ending ever. So, I would go on and on about that, but I can't so...

Talking points: great Cold War thrillers, why all movies should feature Iman and Fred Thompson, limo etiquette? I'm really tired, people.

My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: Witness, 1985

Let's think back to a time (1985) and a place (America, I guess) where there was no fourth Indiana Jones movie and the legacy of Harrison Ford's career wasn't dragged down by crap like Random Hearts and whatever one he made with Anne Heche while she was still with Ellen. This is a time when Harrison Ford is successful from films like Raiders of the Lost Ark (my favorite ever, but it came out the year before I was born, what are you gonna do?) and Star Wars, once again, before crap sequels/prequels were made. He's just starting to delve into deeper work and that work is Witness. By the way, this is already the second Harrison Ford movie on this list and I think it could be as high as five.



This is the film where Kelly McGillis plays an Amish woman. This was before she taught at Top Gun, so I guess that makes sense. Anyway, she's the mother of a young boy and they're on their way to visit relatives when her son witnesses a murder. Harrison Ford plays John Book, the cop who's investigating that murder. There's immediate tension between the Amish and non-Amish characters in the film. Book asks Samuel to identify the killer by looking at a bunch of pictures, but then the killer is in a newspaper at the police station because he's a cop (Oh, yeah, it's Danny Glover. That's not really a spoiler, it happens in like the first fifteen minutes anyway. Also, I don't really care if you think it's a spoiler.) So, next Book discovers that his police captain is in on it and takes Kelly McGillis and the kid back to Amish country, after an attempt on his life. There, he recovers and stays in hiding as an Amish guy, making this even more fraught with tension between the Amish and the English, which is apparently what the Amish call the non-Amish.

And here's one of my favorite scenes, though it is so atypical of the film. Cute, but not too cute, and I always watch wondering when the other shoe is going to drop.



So, overall summation, this is such an incredible movie because it is so sparing and so subtle. Director Peter Weir doesn't waste a moment but doesn't overdo anything, either. The love story between Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, albeit inevitable, is told in a very mature way, not sensational and the film doesn't resort to any cheap tricks. The thriller part of this movie is in there, but what's most important are the characters.

So, opinions on Witness or my spoiler policies? Let loose in the comments section.

My Life In Movies Flashes Before My Eyes: Well, 1986 Is Complicated

Do you know how sometimes you rewatch a film and discover in it new aspects and layers that you never noticed before that make viewing it an altogether richer experience? Okay, have you ever had the opposite happen?



That was the case with my pick of 1986, An American Tail. Remember Fievel? Do you remember it being awesome and you felt bad for that poor immigrant mouse who was lost from his family and sang "Somewhere Out There?"

Okay, Fievel Mousekewitz is a Jewish mouse from Russia whose family decides to go to America after a bunch of Cossack cats ruin Hanukkah. I'm not even kidding. So, I started getting confused here. Is it like Art Spiegelman's Maus? Were all mice Jewish? Then they get on the boat with a bunch of other mice, one who seemed Catholic. Okay, then Fievel goes to the Statue of Liberty where he's rescued by a pigeon who sounds like Maurice Chevalier. Then he meets an Italian mouse who falls in love with a mouse with the worst Irish accent ever. Then they meet Gussie Mausheimer who is some sort of German mouse that I start worrying is going to turn on Fievel when some sort of Mouse Fascist movement starts. Then this movie really starts to fall apart when I no longer buy that a cat could disguise himself as a rat. And it's over. A little part of my inner child has died. Let's sing for it.



So, my new favorite movie of 1986 is Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which is awesome, but I made you read all of that, so let me get this in quick for you. Star Trek IV is great -if for no other reason- for this moment.

4th of July Special: Your Top 5 American Movie Presidents

So, it's 4th of July weekend. For most of the nation, this means time spent outside, with fireworks and grilling. However, let's suppose that there's a fireworks ban where you live, it's over a hundred degrees out so you risk heatstroke if you stay out more than fifteen minutes and your history of chronic migraines makes it impossible to enjoy the outdoors what with the blinding sunlight and the general lack of musical taste in your neighborhood. So, what do you do? You go inside where you can control the temperature and the light source and enjoy this marathon of great American movie presidents in film. So, in no particular order...

The American President, President Andrew Shepard played by Michael Douglas

With a brilliant script by Aaron Sorkin, this film is the precursor to The West Wing (because we're talking movies, not TV, that's a whole other can of worms, people). It's the same great mixture of gravitas and humor that made that series such a success, along with the necessary Capra-esque elements.



Seriously, can't explain it. Go watch this movie, I love it.

Dave, President Bill Mitchell/Dave Kovic played by Kevin Kline


In this film, Kevin Kline, plays the dual roles of President and guy who looks like the President with a stellar supporting cast in this take on the Prince and the Pauper. Ordinary guy Dave is called upon to replace the President when the real one has a stroke. There are so many great parts in this movie, especially Sigourney Weaver as an embittered First Lady and the great part when Dave tries to cut the federal budget. Why can't real presidents be more like that?



Head of State, President Mays Gilliam played by Chris Rock

This is one of those movies that just fires on all cylinders. This script is so dense, writer/director/star Chris Rock leaves no opportunity for comedy wasted, but he never leaves behind the truth that is the hallmark of his stand up work. Once again, we have another brilliant supporting class including the late great Bernie Mac, Lynn Whitfield and a recurring odd Tracy Morgan.



Also, Mays' presidential opponent is genuinely funny. Not to mention Stephanie March as a new breed of super whore meant to quash political scandals. You will be quoting this film for days. Seriously, go watch it now.

American Dreamz, President Joseph Staton played by Dennis Quaid

This is a film you probably haven't seen, so I feel it's worth mentioning. I had a huge disappointment earlier this year when I rented The Special Relationship just to find out Dennis Quaid was playing Bill Clinton and not George Bush. What the hell? Michael Sheen was still playing Tony Blair, why wasn't Dennis Quaid playing Bush? Anyway, this film has a lot of things to enjoy, a terrorist in training who loves show tunes, Mandy Moore as a narcissistic singer who will stop at nothing for fame, Hugh Grant as pretty much Simon Cowell, but chief among these is Quaid as a Dubya-like president who is struggling through an existential crisis.



Independence Day, President Thomas J. Whitmore played by Bill Pullman


I think you know what I am going to say. So, here is my case for this film:



And don't forget to check out the alternate Master Pancake version of that speech here! Bill Pullman's Alternate Speech

Happy Independence Day! Since we are celebrating the birth of the nation, please feel free to use your First Amendment rights to make a comment and tell me where I screwed up.