Monday, July 27, 2009

Monday Movie Meme


ON THE ROAD

Movies about getting from Point A to Point B and the humor/drama/horror that occurs along the way.

Damn those Bumbles! They already named the two that immediately popped into my head, the two I love best: Little Miss Sunshine and Thelma and Louise. But it's a pretty loosely defined genre, so I have come up with a trio of others.

Rain Man. Two brothers who barely know each other take off together. I guess, technically speaking, the younger brother actually kidnaps the older one. By the time they travel across country and end up in court, the younger brother learns to appreciate and accept his older brother, and possibly even forgive their father. Dustin Hoffman won an Oscar for this movie, but I think it has one of Tom Cruise's best performances.

The Road to Perdition. Tom Hanks puts a sincere, earnest, hard-working face on crime. After a hit goes very wrong, he takes off with his son -- trying to "fix" things with the mob he's involved with while trying to establish a good, clean, new life for his only remaining child. The movie is a serious mix of affection, tension and moral ambiguity, with lots of subtle and not-so-subtle messages about the bond between parent and child. It also has pair of fine performances by Jude Law and Paul Newman.

The Wizard of Oz. It is SO a road movie! A yellow brick road movie, to be exact. Dorothy and Toto are joined by a trio of colorful traveling companions and they learn much about each other along the way. With repeated viewings, I have come to appreciate the outsized courage of Toto so much more. That little fella rocked!

To play along yourself, or to see how other bloggers have responded, click here.

4 comments:

  1. I agree, the Wizard of Oz is a road trip movie!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Wizard of Oz and O Brother Where Art Thou are the first two that popped into my head. I only put the first one on my list, though, cuz I didn't want to hog all the good ones, LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great list! I can't believe I forgot The Road to Perdition. Such a good movie!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree that the Wizard of Oz is a road trip movie, but I never liked that movie -- no, it didn't scare me; I just don't adore it (don't send hate mail lol)

    Road To Perdition was a great film -- but so sad! It would have made my list had I gone past 10 ;)

    I am glad to hear you are well!

    ReplyDelete

Please note: If you have a WordPress blog, I can't return the favor and comment on your post unless you change your settings. WordPress hates me these days.