Cinematic Throwbacks: December 1993/2003/2013

1993:

Comedy sequels always get a bum rap. It's just assumed they will be inferior and so when they come out people just fall in line.

Wayne's World 2 arrived less than 2 years after the original, which was a massive hit and to this day holds up as one of the funniest movies of the 90s. So the sequel came out and was instantly hated on and wasn't nearly as successful.

Three decades later though the movie has achieved its own cult status as one of the best comedy sequels of all time. 

WW2 is lighter on plot and higher on random absurdities than its predecessor. This time the main plot has Wayne trying to put on a giant concert festival. But we also have Garth getting into a relationship with femme fatale Kim Basinger. And Christopher Walken is a sleazy record exec trying to steal away Tia Carrere.

This probably isn't quite as coherent or funny as the original, but it has huge laughs all over the place. Fun cameos (the Charlton Heston one is a classic). And god damn, that Drew Barrymore appearance at peak cuteness! 

2003:

The Lord of the Rings trilogy concluded with this part 3, another sprawling epic that raked in both money and awards.

This is the one that finally broke through and did win best picture, along with all 11 categories it was nominated in. That's tied for the most wins any film ever had.

For me I have always had this one firmly in the middle. It's not as wondrous as part 1, but actually had a strong purpose unlike part 2.

I've probably praised all the strong elements of these films in the last 2 entries. The production was terrific. The fx work mostly still holds up. The performances all range from solid to very good.

Sean Astin really rises to the occasion the most here, selling some hokey moments. I was always invested in the Sam and Frodo story, again here including the now much more threatening Gollum.

It has always bugged me how ultimately in the end Frodo kind of fails, and the ring only gets destroyed cause Gollum is a clumsy idiot. And yeah, the film takes forever to wrap it up, with multiple endings.

But this trilogy still stands as one of the pinnacles of fantasy filmmaking. Even Peter Jackson himself couldn't recapture the magic with his Hobbit trilogy. 

2013:

Martin Scorsese was into his 70s, and then he goes out there and makes a madly frenetic 3 hour film like The Wolf Of Wall Street. I'm decades younger and can barely stay awake in quiet moments. 

Wolf is an unbelievable masterpiece, and honestly it is my favorite Scorsese film. It is so wildly entertaining and proudly disreputable.

In the hands of another, this could have been sort of just your standard rags to riches story, with lowly stockbroker Jordan Belfort rising to empressario of his own company. And then falling again as the law comes in. In Scorsese's hands this thing sings, brimming with wild energy at every turn. 

Leonardo DiCaprio still hadn't won his Oscar yet by this point, and with all due respect to Matthew McConaughey (who had a classic cameo here himself), it's kind of insane that this wasn't the film that did it. All of Leo's skills are deployed here.

This is the film that made Margot Robbie a star, and yeah she's dynamic and stunning so it's obvious why. Jonah Hill got an Oscar nomination for this and frankly he's the one weak link. It's just a showy performance and not that funny. Everyone else comes to play though. Especially loved Rob Reiner (he should act more).

The film bursts with excess at every turn, and got some blowback for doing that. I don't totally disagree that the film glorifies what Belfort and co. did, but it shows both sides of it. And the later scenes where his marriage implodes and the law gets him do show the downside. It's pure Goodfellas. 

Comedy sequels always get a bum rap. It's just assumed they will be inferior and so when they come out people just fall in line.

Wait, is there an echo?

The first Anchorman is deservedly beloved. It is without question my favorite comedy of the 2000s, and probably the 21st century entirely. I mean it is just hysterically funny.

Didn't necessarily scream for a sequel though. And it took nearly a decade for it to finally happen. 

Boy was it worth the wait, though. I put this one way up there on the list of best comedy sequels. It's surely in my top 5. 

Sometimes with delayed sequels you lose that comedic spark. Not here though. Anchorman 2 still has a deliriously funny spirit of complete random silliness.

The plot they hang it all on is good enough, and gives director Adam McKay a shot to test out some of the politically-themed satire that he has since used in other films. 

The returning cast all slips right back into form. Steve Carell is even funnier, I think, in this one than the original, and whoever decided to romantically pair him with an also dimwitted Kristen Wiig deserves a gold star.

Other new cast members are also funny, particularly James Marsden. Kind of neat seeing Meagan Good here, although she's the one who isn't quite up to that comedic level.

The cameos are ridiculous, especially in the giant rumble that ends the movie. Yeah is it a shameless callback to one of the originals highlights? Sure. But did the original feature Harrison Ford as a werewolf, or John C. Reilly as the ghost of Stonewall Jackson? Not to mention Jim Carrey, Will Smith, Tina and Amy?

Nothing in the movie ascends higher than the interlude where Ron Burgundy goes blind for like 20 minutes, which leads to him and his son adopting a baby shark and nursing him back to health before setting him free to the tunes of a heartwarming song. I am not kidding that when the song started in the theater I was laughing so hard I nearly fell out of my seat.

They can make a 3rd one of these anytime they'd like. 

Other non-deep dive flicks....

1973:

-The Exorcist: One of the biggest hits of all time. None of these are really my thing, but this was good. 

-Serpico: Absolute top notch Al Pacino here, as a do gooders cop trying to clean up NYPD corruption. Not sure I ever saw a character type like this played so vividly. And you got all that great 70s grit and milieu.

1983:

-Scarface: Honestly, I never got this one. 

-Terms Of Endearment: Considered one of the all time tearjerkers. Ehh, it didn't really work on me, in part cause the Debra Winger character is kind of awful. It's a solid movie though. I thoroughly enjoyed everything with Jack Nicholson at maximum charm levels. 

1993:

-Philadelphia: The film that won Tom Hanks his 1st Oscar. I think maybe 30 years on the impact the film had has lessened, but at the time it was huge deal to have a star like Hanks play a gay character in a film dealing with aids. Now the film still plays as great human drama, with Hanks at the top of his game. 

-The Pelican Brief: I saw this in theaters. This was the John Grisham thriller with Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington. Solid movie but not great. 

-Schindler's List: That year's best picture winner and director winner for Steven Spielberg. I didn't watch this for years. I knew it was probably great, but figured it would be a hard watch. Caught it finally in theaters for I think it's 25th anniversary and yeah, it was a great film. But again, I have never watched it since. 

-Six Degrees Of Separation: I get sucked into watching this almost every time I come across it. A street hustler (Will Smith in still arguably his best performance) cons his way into the lives of a rich couple (Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing). The dialogue is so good and the performances so expert. 

-Grumpy Old Men: Filmed in Minnesota, this is a very funny movie. Sequel was really good too. 

-What's Eating Gilbert Grape: Most remembered for a very good early Leonardo DiCaprio performance that earned him an Oscar nomination. 

-Sister Act 2: That month's other comedy sequel might be best known now for featuring a young Lauryn Hill. 

-Tombstone: Acclaimed western with a top notch cast. Never seen the movie though. Tbh I planned to finally watch it this month but never got around to it. 

2003:

-Honey: One of the many dance movies of the 2000s. Probably my favorite of them, cause it stars Jessica Alba and I am not sure any woman has ever looked hotter in any film. 

-Love Don't Cost A Thing: Nick Cannon pays Christina Milian (where did she go?) to be his girlfriend for a week. This one hasn't aged well. 

-The Last Samurai: Tom Cruise as a samurai was always considered a joke, but the film iirc was actually pretty strong. 

-Monster: The film that won Charlize Theron her Oscar. 

-Big Fish: This Tim Burton film set at a circus was a big deal at the time for me cause it had Alison Lohman in it. Loved it at the time but it didn't hold up. 

-Cold Mountain: This film had a small, memorable appearance by Natalie Portman, but I never liked the overall film. It won an Oscar for Renee Zellweger. 

-Paycheck: John Woo's sci-fi action flick with Ben Affleck. 

-Something's Gotta Give: Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton doing the old people romcom thing. 

-Girl With A Pearl Earring: A well received indie that kept Scarlett Johansson's career on the upswing. 

2013:

-Inside Llewyn Davis: Oscar Isaac is a struggling folk musician in this very underrated Coen Brothers film. Like their A Serious Man, it follows a guy who just gets one bad break after another. I'd seen Isaac in things but this one really cemented him as a rising star. Carey Mulligan is great in it. Unfortunately Justin Timberasshole is in this, but just briefly. 

-American Hustle: David O. Russell's 70s-set con artist film got a lot of awards attention. In particular I think this is top level Amy Adams. 

-Out Of The Furnace: An amazing cast in this dark drama. Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Willem Dafoe. The list goes on. 

-The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: The one with the dragon. 

-Saving Mr. Banks: A Disney movie starring Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. 

-Grudge Match: Sylvester Stallone and Robert Deniro in a boxing match. 

-47 Ronin: Keanu Reeves as a slightly more believable samurai than Tom Cruise. 

Coming in January...

Thank Jebus there's a lot less to get through. The only really major one is the 10th anniversary of Her (and even that one I bumped to January on a technicality).