Craig’s Friday Countdown - Teen(ish) Flicks
The countdown is a countup this week, with movies boys should watch on their way to becoming young men. Or, perhaps, they’re movies I watched somewhere along the way. Instead of rank order, presented in ascending age.
7 - 9 Star Wars (by “Star Wars”, I mean Han Solo is on screen)
10 Indiana Jones – The first or third.
11 – 12 (tie) Kelly’s Heroes / Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – Basically the same movie. You’re either an iconoclast, or there’s not much point to it all. The sooner you learn that, the better (see you in detention).
10 – 13 Either you're in the batting cage, doing your homework or fielding grounders until your complexion is indecipherable from the infield dirt. It will all matter someday.
13 (if you want to be ahead of the curve) Monty Python & the Holy Grail
14 The Great Escape – A long movie, but almost everything you need to know; wry resilience, teamwork and sticking it to the man.
14 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – There are other buddy movies. There is no better buddy movie (although 48 Hours is pretty good too ... around 17 or 18).
14 Wizards - If you want to avoid actually taking drugs (you do) a little Ralph Bakshi animation goes a long way.
14 Blues Brothers – Elwood provides a master class in car control (see also, The French Connection, and write a 100 word essay on whether autonomous cars are the last knife in the heart to American masculinity).
14 – 16 Pretty in Pink, 16 Candles, etc. – Girls and “feelings” become a thing. Good luck.
15 (tie) Ocean’s 11, Bullitt – Be this quick, this circumspect (do some reading too, because the best lexicon wins).
16 Smokey and the Bandit – Oh, it’s incredibly cheesy and more than a little dated. But now that you’re driving, you need to know what to do if you happen upon a spry young lass in a wedding dress along the side of the road. Always – and I can’t stress this enough – always pick her up. Alternatively ... any Sean Connery or Daniel Craig James Bond.
16 Caddyshack, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Stripes - You're going to need to know the references.
16 The Right Stuff – But only after you’ve read the book.
16 Goodfellas & Clockwork Orange - Make it a double feature. Avoid the more typical Scarface cautionary tale about drugs, greed and violence for some truly expert filmcraft.
17 Risky Business – The crowd went wild in Urbana with the “Looks like the University of Illinois” line.
17 Slapshot – Annie Hall won best picture this year? Give me a break.
17 (tie) Platoon and Saving Private Ryan - Good, evil and all the nuance between.
17 Vanishing Point – (the 1971 version) When you’re ready for metaphor. Or the first Road Warrior.
17 The Warriors / Enter The Dragon / Unforgiven – Because, at some point, you are going to have to fight.
18 Prince of the City – When you’re ready for ambiguity. Or, if you like your ambiguity far more accessible, with a lovely dash of Michelle Pfeiffer and a great line about friendship, Tequila Sunrise.
18 Bull Durham – Unless you’re a catcher, then a year earlier.
18 Wings of Desire – Eternity, or this one life you have? Get to it, then.
18 The Big Lebowski – But don’t take it so damn seriously.
