You ever watch a movie that you just know you won’t enjoy given whatever your taste in movies. Sometimes I go into a movie thinking, ‘what the hell, i’m bored and I don’t want to think’. I’m always willing to see the movie if the concept interests me even if the commercial fails to convince me. I no longer care for, if I did ever care for, “high-concept” films because they never meet the hype like Failure to Launch, I Robot, The Island and War of the Worlds. I Robot and The Island, I liked, but they failed at the box office and also failed to be more interesting than they could have been. The other two were simply ridiculous but the concepts were promising. Anyway, I think it’s just great to go into a movie with little or no expectation and come out with glowing reviews or at the very least, delightful surprise. It’s great, and yet so rare these days given the onslaught of crap released every wake. But, I keep hope alive…or at least I try to.

Anyway, in no particular order, here are some films that delightfully surprised and wooed me:

• Spanglish
  Spanglish starring Adam Sandler, Paz Vega and Tea Leoni was a delightful surprise. One night, when I had cable, I began watching Spanglish. I hadn’t seen a commercial for it since I didn’t watch TV at the time it was out. I saw posters for it, heard bits and bobs about it here and there. Even the plot was obscure. Then I thought it was a movie about Adam Sandler’s character dating an Hispanic woman the silly things that can happen as a result of Adam Sandler being Adam Sandler and the cultural differences, etc. Anyway, to my surprise I found that the film had true depth and Adam Sandler “acted” in it. Like his role in Punch Drunk Love, Sandler played a character of substance and with subtle, not his usual out silly humor. Flor Moreno (Vega) works for Mr and Mrs Clansky (Sandler and Leoni) as a maid. John and Deborah Clasky’s marriage is shaky. Deborah’s had an affair and John almost has one with Flor. It seems a film about marriage, cheating, etc. Typical. But, really it’s about miscommunication. Flor doesn’t speak English but eventually learns and begins to communicate better with the Clasky’s and especially her daughter Cristina who’d spent alot of time translating for her mother. John and Deborah speak at each other rathern than to each other, but eventually learn to listen. Deborah and her daughter Bernice are always butting heads because of Bernice’s weight, but eventually learn to talk. Spanglish is a very subtle, surprising and understated film. Kudos to Sandler and Vega for outstanding performances. Leoni was good, but I thought her Deborah character was crazy and didn’t get that she was insecure. Not sure what went on there…
• Galaxy Quest
  Starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell and Daryl Mitchell, Galaxy Quest is the most fun sci-fi flick I’ve seen in a long time. It doesn’t take itself too serious and it sort of mocks without necessarily insulting sci-fi television. The premise: The alumni cast of a sci-fi TV show (similar to Star Trek) are called to assist real aliens whose existence is being threatened by another alien race. The kicker: The Thermians (the aliens in need of assistance) have been watching the Galaxy Quest shows from outerspace and think that the episodes are documentary footage of the crews battles and adventures. Silly, right. But really, the Thermians are the cutest, most clueless and truly endearing aliens I’ve ever seen on TV. They’re like adult children who don’t lie and think good of everyone until of course they meet Sarris, who threatens their entire existence. The funny thing about the film is how it’s casted. Like your typical sci-fi (or action film really) you have the arrogant leader, the woman showing too much cleavage, the minority sidekick, the brain, the comic relief and the laid back-devil-may-care one. The film pokes fun at all these stereotypes. There’s a little drama, but mostly it’s just fun and sincerity with no strings attached.
• 24th Day
  Starring Scott Speedman (Felciity, Underworld) and James Marsden (X-Men), 24th Day is badly directed and looks like a film shot in the early 90s rather than 2004. However, the writing, the plot and the acting are all just fabulous. Scott Speedman plays Dan, a man who after discovering he has AIDS hunts down the man whom he suspects he contracted it from, Tom (Marsden), in a one night stand (his only ever with a man) and holds him captive for 24 days. It’s shot like a play. They’re almost the only two characters. And very much like Conversations With Other Women, the plot slowly unravels revealing more and more about the characters connections to each other. 24th Day is truly the best surprise in recent years mostly because it demonstrates what film can be. Despite bad directing, the smart and engaging plot, the strong and stellar acting, and the stellar writing survive and penetrate the viewer experience. Many plays suffer something in translation to screen, Tony Piccirillo’s 24th Day did not. Incidentally and unfortunately, the playwright also directed it. This would account for the lackluster directing.
• Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
  Starring Uma Thurma, Lucy Liu, Darryl Hannah, Vivica Fox, and other notables, Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 is quite a saga. I remember watching tarrantino’s Pulp Fiction for the first time back in 1995 on video. I was very impressed. But, didn’t much care for it a second time. Didn’t much care for Jackie Brown either. In fact, just didn’t much care for Tarantino. I found that he tried to hard to be “Indie” as if “Indie” were a style rather than a genre. But, I saw Kill Bill Vol. 1 in theaters back in 2003 and was very impressed and very surprised by both Tarantino and Uma Thurman, whom was never really on my radar. Both volumes create an epic tale and I just love epics. The action was engrossing (and sometimes just gross) and though the plot had a very dramatic feel, it didn’t take itself too seriously. The violence was gratuitous but not always unbearable because it was often ridiculous without being stupid. Anyway, I really liked Thurman’s character Beatrix Kiddo whose obstacles were always met no matter how difficult. It was exciting to watch how the hell she’d get out of the next jam she got in and continue on her revenge spree to avenge those who tried to kill her. Revenge killings were especially beautiful and engaging in Vol. 2. Sick, but engaging.
• The Aviator
  Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Beckinsale, Cate Blanchett and other notables (and directed by Martin Scorsese), The Aviator is a fantastic film. Leoardo DiCaprio of the legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes was stellar. Ever since Titanic, DiCaprio fell off my radar. But when I learned that Scorsese was coming out with another film, even though it was starring DiCaprio, I knew I’d see it. Ironically, the last three major films of Scorsese’s starred DiCaprio. Gangs of New York and the Departed being the other two. Also, Cate Blanchett as Katherin Hepburn was just amazing. She seemed to embody Hepburn completely. The film was epic but not tedious. Then again, I’ve never been bored by a Scorsese film. What surprised me most was DiCaprio’s nuanced and captivating performance since I didn’t think he could carry the lead in such a “large” film. He was solid in Gangs of New York, but this was different. I almost couldn’t imagine another actor playing Hughes in The Aviator, and that’s saying something. This should have sucked, but it did the exact opposite.