Monday, March 21, 2011

Top 5 Films: Georgia

It's been a while, but unlike Sufjan Stevens, I'm returning to my 50 states project. I'm sure in my process I missed some films that take place in Georgia, but I'm pretty happy with what I've got. I really wanted to add The Walking Dead to the list, but sadly, TV isn't cinema (and that's not meant to be a statement about quality, just fact). In alphabetical order...

Deliverance -- John Boorman
An epic example of wilderness trips gone wrong. It's not nature that will get you, but the backwoods hillbillies. I can't imagine that there's a person over sixteen that doesn't give a knowing cringe when they hear the words "squeal like a pig!" Poor Ned Beatty... A terrific adventure from the man who would bring us Zardoz.


Dutch -- Peter Faiman
Dutch was a cable staple of my middle/high school years. Those years also coincided with my peak appreciation of Ed O'Neill and hell, let's throw Christopher McDonald in there, too. It's a road trip movie, so Georgia is only a factor at the beginning, but that's where we learn what kind of movie Dutch is going to be (which happens to be an awesome movie). Who doesn't love seeing a grown man stick it to a spoiled brat kid? Bonus for lovers of the '80s: it's written by John Hughes. Double bonus: directed by the guy who directed Crocodile Dundee.
(Trailer disabled. Click here to see it)

The General -- Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman
Another road movie (rail movie?), but he's a Confederate "soldier" from Georgia! I can't leave The General off the list. Seriously, it's one of the best movies of all time and certainly one of my favorites. Super-hilarious and incredibly inventive. Of course, I'm a total Keaton mark and think he does everything better than Chaplin. If someone was averse to silent films (which I fear many are), this would be the first movie I show them. Dear lord, this trailer doesn't do the movie justice:


The Gift -- Sam Raimi
The movie that will forever be known as the film that introduced the world to Katie Holmes' boobs. I know when I first saw The Gift I thanked Sam Raimi for that. It's also notable for being the first film since Bill and Ted that featured a Keanu Reeves performance that didn't make me want to claw my eyes out (I hadn't seen Point Break yet). It's a cool little movie that frequently gets overlooked in discussions about Raimi (although, that description could be applied to any film of his from 1995-2000). Also, it wouldn't be bad to keep this film in mind for game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.


Gone with the Wind -- Victor Fleming (among others)
OK. I haven't seen this. And I'm sure I would've heard about it if it wasn't included. Having no real desire to spend 238 minutes with Gone with the Wind (I've seen bits and Clark Gable's eyebrows are far too distracting), I'm just going to accept that it's an amazing piece of epic filmmaking and we can all go home happy. Yay diplomacy!

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