***This blog has moved to My Convertible Life.***

Friday, November 20, 2009

Friday's Five: The Lloyd Dobler Effect

I ran across this blog post recently, describing a group of men in NYC who dressed as Lloyd Dobler, boomboxes blaring "In Your Eyes" above their heads, to celebrate the 20th anniversary edition of the movie Say Anything. I'll pause for a moment while you grapple with the notion that a) yes, it really was 20 years ago and b) there really are people with that much free time.

But I can't blame them for being committed to one of the all-time great movie characters, who famously declared that "I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that." Between that statement and his unfailing love for Diane Court, you just can't go wrong with Lloyd.

So in honor of Lloyd Dobler and the 20th anniversary of one of my most-loved teen films, here are five other favorite movies with John Cusack that my husband and I wind up watching every time we stumble onto them:
  1. Sixteen Candles (1984): Okay, so Cusack isn't the star of this Molly Ringwald classic, but it's so funny to see him so young as he plays one of the dorky friends to geeky Anthony Michael Hall.

  2. Grosse Point Blank (1997): Cusack stars as a professional assassin returning home for his high school reunion, where he runs into his long lost love (played by Minnie Driver). Chaos, wit and much gun fire ensue, along with a great soundtrack.

  3. Being John Malkovich (1999): This mind-bender of a film includes a rough-looking Cameron Diaz (who knew that was possible?!) and a scene with John Malkovich cross-dressing. Strange and fantastic.

  4. High Fidelity (2000): Another terrific soundtrack accompanies Cusack as he tries to piece together his romantic history (via his top five break-ups) to explain his latest relationship failure. Ah, the mix tape -- how I loved you.

  5. Serendipity (2001): I don't know exactly why we can never turn off this movie when it shows up on TV (including last night) -- maybe I love the idea that what seems like coincidences is actually life leading us to just where we need to be. Or maybe it's the fun of another side-kick role for Jeremy Piven. The movie won't change your life, but it's still worth watching.
Note: The title for this post was shamelessly stolen from the band of the same name, who will be playing in Charlotte next Saturday.

7 comments:

  1. I LOVE Lloyd Dobler (& John Cusack)! And totally agree with your other movie pics. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love it. For my list, I add The Sure Thing. I might need to have a netflix Cusack Turkey Week marathon :) Happy Thanksgiving & keep your fun blog posts coming. PS: hope you have the High Fidelity soundtrack on your ipod ... I've heard it a zillion times & still want to hear it again. Like a good mix tape.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Um... One Crazy Summer? sure it was just an oversight

    ReplyDelete
  4. Say Anything is 20 years old. . .that is simply impossible. Although when I walk through the stores the close look awfully similar to the stuff we wore back in the day. It it was not all that cute back then!

    STK

    ReplyDelete
  5. clothes, not close ;-}

    ReplyDelete
  6. Don't forget Better Off Dead. Another classic! Say Anything is still my all time fave. However, I could have done without thinking about the fact that it came out 20 years ago. Oye.

    Amy

    ReplyDelete
  7. Say Anything is without a doubt one of my all time favorite movies. Right up there with Can't Buy Me Love starring a young and adorable Patrick Dempsey!

    ReplyDelete

But enough about me, let's talk about you...
What do you think about me?