Movies My Brother Should See

I've given up on trying to get Dustin's inner-geek to watch the Lord of the Rings movies or even Harry Potter. I don't expect him to watch all the war movies that I appreciate. But here's some movies I think my little brother might actually watch and enjoy.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) – Dustin's a big fan of O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). In my opinion, the Coen Brothers' The Hudsucker Proxy is a great movie, very much in the same vein as O Brother and nearly as good. Raising Arizona (1987), and to a lesser degree The Big Lebowski (1998), are similar Coen Brothers comedies.

Groundhog Day (1993) – I don't know if he's seen this already or not, but if any movie is worth watching over and over and over again… well, you get it. It's the best Harold Ramis has ever been behind the camera, including Multiplicity (1996), and I think it's the best Bill Murray has ever been in front of the camera. [Yes, that's a dig at that stupid Lost in Translation rubbish. Gag.]

The Sting (1973) – Everyone our age likes the new Pitt/Clooney Ocean's Eleven movies. That's fine, but it's worth seeing the original Ocean's Eleven (1960) as well, as I think it's easily the second-best of the four Ocean's movies. But a lot of people my age have never seen The Sting with Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, and Eileen Brennan. It won seven Oscars including Best Picture and was more interesting than any of the Ocean movies.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – While I'm on a Paul Newman kick, let me name a couple more. Butch Cassidy is just a good movie. Period. But I was surprised at how good Cool Hand Luke (1967) was. If you don't like Newman, then what we have here is a failure to communicate.

The Usual Suspects (1995) – It wouldn't hurt to watch this one edited for television. Nevertheless, it's one of the most underrated films of all time. It's a really smart (and violent) crime mystery. While you're watching Kevin Spacey, I really liked K-PAX (2001) and Beyond the Sea (2004).

Murder on the Orient Express (1974) – I know Dustin enjoys intelligent dialog and I can't think of a more enjoyable who-dunnit mystery than Orient. This is yet another movie with an all-star cast that will keep you guessing 'til the end. I get a wide grin on my face when I think of watching Orient for the first time.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) – This is my favorite James Cagney movie and one that made me think of Dustin because of the singing and dancing. Cagney gives an amazing performance portraying an amazing performer in this true story… and it's patriotic to boot. If you like this one, you can see Cagney get to actually fight in WW1 in The Fighting 69th (1940) and What Price Glory (1952).

Dustin, get back to me when you've completed your homework assignment. Most of these are available cheap at Blockbuster or the local public library and I caught most of them on TV.