Blast from the Past
So, I like to watch movies, as anyone who's seen my movie collection could tell you. They might also have a few things to say about my taste in movies. Some do not approve. However, there are many gems in my collection, and today I watched one, because I had not watched it in a while, and it is one of my favorite comedies: “Blast from the Past”
This movie was not a gigantic success in 1999 when it came out (as far as I recall), but it really is a terrific movie. Simple, funny, endearing… what more could one want? What? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles? It has all that, too! Well, I can't prove that. But anyway, it does have Brendan Fraser in a classic role, Alicia Silverstone as an adorable but helpful Pasadena girl (but much less annoying than her other such role), bomb shelters, lots of money and the things it can buy for you, transvestites on the street, a cult, swing dancing, Firefly's Mal, a random "happy" guy, and a hilarious Christoper Walken (as opposed to the non-hilarious Christopher Walken, which surely must exist, though I havn't found it yet).
Its simple comedy is easy to enjoy time and time again, and it's easy for me to identify with the main character (not because I have lived in a bomb shelter all my life, but because I grew up in a family with traditional values and skills that are no longer appreciated or valued by a large portion of the modern world, but when we were growing up, we didn't know this, and assumed everyone was as good and honest, studious, religious, and happy as we were).
Anyway, every time I watch this movie it makes me happy. I can think of no greater accolade than that. It has been out for so long, and the DVD so cheap on the shelves everywhere, that I cannot imagine people our age exist who have not seen this movie, but if you havn't I heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys simple comedy and a bit of romance. And being happy. Everybody likes being happy, right?
Tags: blast from the past, christopher walken, movie, review
Adam said,
June 15, 2007 at 6:10 pm
I did some looking and found a cool site http://www.the-numbers.com/. It gives historical box office data for films and so I was able to see that “Blast From The Past”, a mildly entertaining and very over played on cable comedy debuted in 1999 at number 5 making just over 9 million dollars. What beat it? Glad you asked:
4. She’s All That
3. My Favorite Martian
2. Payback
1. Message in a Bottle
The more interesting thing I found is that “8MM” was the number 1 film in the third week of release for “Blast From the Past” (where it fell to 9th)
PAM said,
June 19, 2007 at 10:36 pm
yay Jon I had no idea. It is a good movie, I completely agree.