BIG FAN: 2009I doubt many of you have seen this little film starring Patton Oswalt and Kevin Corrigan. I don't know how I first heard of it and I was dubious to say the least since I am far from a football fan.
But this was a little gem. Patton Oswalt plays a parking garage attendant whose whole life (he still lives with his mother) is built around his love of the New York Giants. When he has an altercation with his favorite player, his love is tested. A life that might depress most people is prized by this character.
This is a surprising and insightful film that I highly recommend.
What movie did you watch reluctantly and come to admire? Fill up my netflix queue.
18 comments:
It sounds good, Patti. I will have to check out BIG FAN. Don't mean to be a party pooper but I honestly can't remember the last new film I liked.
I'm still recovering from watching SANTA SANGRE, Patti. Not a movie for the faint of heart...
Any football fan will like this, I think. It has one violent scene but nothing you don't see on TV any night of the week.
It's going on my list.
Hmmm... I liked TANGLED, but then I have kids. Your taste adjusts to the situation. THE BROTHERS BLOOM was a pleasant surprise.
I sometimes like to stretch myself at movies, seeing things I don't normally see. This actually looks like something I might try that with.
Patti - I haven't seen this one, but you've made it sound great! Years and years ago, I watched Slap Shot, not expecting to like it because I am not a sports fan. I was wrong.
Remarkable...people assuming that because they don't like sports, that they won't like a film about athletes. Will BIG FAN be your overlooked film next week, Patti?
(I haven't seen it yet, but I like Oswalt and have certainly heard him discussing it.)
I hadn't thought of it because it is so recent.
Actually I am seldom drawn to films about sports but like most I see.
I never used to think I'd like foreign films, but a lot of the best movies I've seen recently HAVE been foreign. Watched an Argentinian caper flick from 2000 the other night called Nine Queens that we really liked.
Watched two great little indie flicks recently too; Amexicano was good, as was El Superstar: The Unlikely Rise of Juan Frances.
As for contemporary, we actually snuck out to the 4:00 matinee of Fast Five yesterday afternoon. I haven't seen any of that franchise's movies before. It was awful, and I loved every minute of it. I told Julia I am changing my name to Rock Diesel.
Loved NINE QUEENS. Have you seen RIFIFI. One of the best heist movies ever.
Hm. Definitely not a football film.
Perhaps some of the modern Danish films. I tend to think contemporary films are crap, but some of them are actually fairly good ;)
I think this is more the psychological study of a fan than about football at all. You never see a single piece of football footage, for instance. He could have been a fan of anything. Just insert the obsession.
I haven't seen RIFIFI, but, thanks to the magic of the Netflix queue, it looks like I will be soon!
Along these same lines, my reluctant find was THE WRESTLER with Mickey Rourke. I'm absolutely not a wrestling fan, but thought this was top notch.
Me, too despite also not being a Mickey Rourke fan.
I'll bet my brother, a numero uno Giants fan would love this film? Maybe not. I'll send him your clip and post. I might like it.
Four films I've liked very much despite the fact that three of them are not what I would ordinarily watch. Can't remember who recommended them, but I liked them all (for different reasons) very much.
Three of these are pretty violent though - you have to be in the mood, I suppose. When only an action thriller will do. :)
DEJA VU starring Denzel Washington
16 BLOCKS starring (of all people) Bruce Willis, Mos Def and David Morse who makes your flesh crawl - he's such a smily face nasty crooked cop.
SALT with Angelina Jolie (Yeah, I know, but it's a damn good thriller.)
HEIGHTS Not a thriller, but a terrific NYC drama starring Glenn Close. I love this film most especially for it's secondary stories. An unexpected treat.
SALT was a relatively clever goofy film (rather as MR. AND MRS. SMITH or the Lara Crofts). DEJA VU close enough to that...along the lines of THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU in a few ways.
Closest thing I can think of as a surprise was how much better I liked CUTTHROAT ISLAND on second viewing than I did on first. After liking THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT from first viewing (Alice and I being two of the slightly over fourteen people to see the latter in a theater worldwide). (Quite literally, we were the only two to arrive for the screening of SO CLOSE we saw...my brother and I the only two for our viewing of SMOKE.)
Lars and the Real Girl astounded me. I expected black humor and raunchy jokes. Completely the opposite. The premise sounds like something that could become truly awful: a young man buys a sex doll and treats it as a real girlfriend. The movie, however, is utterly surprising in its treatment of a troubled and extremely lonely young man whose delusion is embraced by the inhabitants of his small town in an effort to bring him out of his strange fantasy world. I was stunned. It's really rather beautiful when you simply watch it with no judgements. If only the real world were as compassionate of the mentally ill.
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