ActualButt

Talk about the rug being pulled out from under us Hardy...Jesus... I will admit to not visiting the show page here until now, and only seeing the episode titles on my iPhone podcasts app screen, which uniformly cuts off the last half of each episode title. So I didn't see how the note from Father Time was written, with that spelling of "many" punctuating the end of his life and reminding the reader of how young he was. That was maybe the most devastating part when I got home from work yesterday and re-read the section from this episode in my paperback version I found at a thrift store for $1 and bought so I could follow along with the podcast. I'm somewhat surprised MIB didn't comment on that specific aspect of the scene (or did he and I missed it?). Maybe he was too shocked to really dig deep and we'll hear more about it next episode? Either way...oof.

I love all three, but it's got to be Shaun of the Dead all the way for me. To articulate why I didn't vote for Magnolia or Zodiac, it's very simple for me for two reasons: 1) They're not the best examples of their respective directors' works (PTA keeps getting better and better, and Fincher's best works live somewhere around Se7en, Fight Club, and Panic Room). 2) They're not the best examples of their respective genres. Magnolia is somehow more self indulgent than Tarantino and far less important and indelible than Do the Right Thing, and Zodiac is topped by Monster, Bonnie and Clyde, Foxcatcher, and Catch Me If You Can. Shaun on the other hand is still Edgar Wright's high water mark. And it's a perfect example of horror-as-comedy and has yet to be topped in that genre.

There are so many Eddie films that belong in the canon so much more, but this one does not. It just...does not matter in the long run I don't think. There is plenty of validity to it, and there is importance to it, but is it really canon worthy? I appreciate when people go to bat for their favorite movies, I really do, and I've been convinced at times. Just not this time.

Point Break is a definite yes for me. It's a classic and iconic action movie that is an essential bridge between two eras of action movies. It's also ambitious and emotional and a little bit timeless (aside from it's stars).

I want multiple PTA films in The Canon, but I suspect there isn't room for more than one, and I think that one should be Boogie Nights. While Punch Drunk Love is a great film, it's not the best at any of what it shoots for outside of its visual or audio style. But films are more than that. If there's a Canon for directors, Anderson certainly belongs, but as far as The Canon of films themselves go, I vote a very soft and conflicted no. Also, after hearing the discussion on the episode, I realized that Ben Stiller would be preferable to me in almost ever "serious" Adam Sandler role. PS. Give Reign Over Me a chance. It's more than just "that Adam Sandler 9/11 movie".

"It's funny, it's scary, it's cool, it's sexy...it's a unicorn." This alone pretty much sums up everything you need to know about why this movie belongs in The Canon. But then, you add in the stellar cast and Joel Schumacher still at his best in my opinion. But yes, Dallas, you're right, this movie holds up completely, despite all of its trappings. I vote yes.

Quite simply, while I do love Ridley Scott as a director (although I like Tony more), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a greater work of art, a greater narrative, and a greater piece of pop culture. Gladiator is just another American film that, as Russ and Amy pointed out, owes more to things like Titanic and Saving Private Ryan than it provides to other films. CTHD on the other hand singlehandedly revived a western mainstream interest in eastern cinema, at least for a little while.

Midnight Cowboy is just plainly more emotionally resonant and creatively endearing. It's also more real and iconic. I'm sure both belong in the Canon, and I think Butch and Sundance should get another crack at entry down the line, but Midnight Cowboy is indelible.

Movie gender marketing aside (I'm a guy and a big fan of The Princess Bride, Labyrinth and Dark Crystal, but I also never really got the appeal of The Goonies), The NeverEnding Story just never resonated with me. Maybe I missed the meta qualities but overall the fantasy just wasn't all that fantastic. The acting is bad, the effects are weak compared to its contemporaries, and nothing in it really left an indelible mark on me as a kid. But how could it compared to the pure puppet work and creative genius of Brian Fround in the Dark Crystal, or the whimsy and wordplay of The Princess Bride? In a world where those movies (and Labyrinth) exist, this one just does not have a place of its own in The Canon.

LIfe of Brian is a better, tighter, and arguably funnier movie by a mile, yes. But for me, that's not what the canon is always for. Sometimes it's for great film, but sometimes it's for the film that stands as cultural icons. Holy Grail is the one you show your friends to introduce them to this wonderful thing you love called Monty Python. It's the one you discover at sleepovers, or get handed in high school. It's the primer. It's more classic Python and more representative of that chaotic sketch mentality that they embodied. It also better represents the two-mindedness of their absurdist/punk viewpoints. Furthermore, it's broader, appealing to a wider age range, broader levels of education, and marginally more cultural identities. Life of Brian may still be the greatest example of how one sketch concept can be made into a cohesive feature length film, but Holy Grail is more canon-worthy for being a cohesive enough concept that frames a variety of sketches, and that's what Python was after all: a sketch show.

It's got to be Get Out. Finally something actually fresh added to the horror genre; the way it got people talking about movies again; so much layered in to it; so well made...

Love Actually has maybe one or two storylines that I find entertaining. For the record, those are Bill Nighy's part, and the bit between Martin Freeman and Joanna Page. The rest are cloying, lazy, and fall somewhere on the spectrum between overly saccharine and actually kind of creepy (looking at you Andrew Lincoln). The movie should be called "Love, Not Actually" for all it's examples of relationships that are actually either love falling away, simply crushes, lust, or just an improper basis for anything more than a first date. Another good title might be "Heteronormative Caucasian Love Actually". Also, those two kids are just too overly precious and I don't find them charming or cute at all. Not even a little bit. I guess I have an aversion to children who are falsely "wise beyond their years". There is certainly something to having a child give unintended sage advice, but this one is just too much. No thank you.

I don't think one film being entered in to the canon can eliminate another in any situation. A film should stand on it's own merits, even if it has a lot in common with another film, down to it's themes, genre, writer, and director (looking at you Robocop and Starship Troopers). The Canon is vast and there is room for subtle distinction as long as a case can be made for it.

Making this about Starship Troopers vs. Robocop makes this a tough choice, and while I agree with almost everything Jordan said, and while I do love this movie, I cannot in good conscience say this belongs in The Canon over Robocop. I love Starship Troopers for all the same reasons you guys did, but Robocop is just more indelible, more daring, and more imaginative. It's also more personal, more creative and more interesting of a movie in my opinion. I love Starship Troopers, I really do. I want it in The Canon so badly. But not at the expense of Robocop which unquestioningly belongs as a cultural icon and touchstone. Robocop had actionfigures, an animated series, a TV show, video games, comic books, it's in the cultural lexicon. Starship Troopers, as great as it is, is still just that other Paul Verhoeven movie. If I could take them both, that would be great, but if I have to pick one...it's got to be Robocop. Really this is your fault. It's not fair to Starship Troopers to put it up against Robocop. There's room for both I say!