I Forgot To Remember to Forget Sarah Marshall

When does it become unfair to rate a movie based on its predecessors? Does Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom suffer because of how great Raiders of the Lost Ark is?

More recently, should every movie with Judd Apatow’s name on it be judged against The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad, three nearly perfect contemporary comedies?

In the case of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll find yourself falling victim to “What would Steve Carell/Seth Rogen/Michael Cera have done in this situation?” but luckily, even while wondering that, the film holds its own and its male star, Jason Segel, fits into the role of the Judd Apatow Male fantastically.

The movie tells the tale of TV composer Peter Bretter (Segel of Freaks & Geeks fame, and also wrote the movie’s screenplay) who gets dumped by his actress/girlfriend, the now-famous-name Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell, from the sadly-canceled-before-its-time Veronica Mars). In response, Peter goes to Hawaii looking for relaxation and to get Sarah off his mind, but, of course, she’s staying at the same hotel he is with her Oasis-esque boyfriend (Russell Brand), and the two ex-lovers compete throughout.

But while staying at the hotel, Peter falls for another woman, Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis), and the competition goes to a whole other level, including a very literal sexcapades competition.

Bell, Kunis (who has never looked more attractive) and Brand each play their role well, but it’s Segel who plays it best. Whether rocking out in sweatpants yelling Gandalf quotes or singing a very heartfelt rendition of “Dracula’s Lament” from his Dracula musical with puppets (the highlight of the film), you really feel for Segel in the same way you felt for his character on Freaks & Geeks, Nick Andopolis. He’s never annoying in his pity, and is an actor who can do both comedy and drama very well.

Segel also delivers a mostly solid script with only a few mistakes along the way, like a regrettable scene involving two characters humping chess pieces and just one too many penis jokes (a sentence I never thought I’d utter either). But the bad is forgotten with all the good, especially with all the scenes from the show Peter and Sarah work on, Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime (be sure to stay during the credits to see another clip with Bell and Jason Bateman, from the amazing Arrested Development).

At times, Marshall can also feel a bit too conventional; Sarah’s character is obviously not right for Peter, of course they’d be staying in the same hotel, and some of the characters are a little shallow and seem just thrown into the mix. The film also occasionally lingers over to Rom-Com at territory, but stays mostly away from that most unfortunate of genres, due to the much-needed vulgarity of it (Bill Hader: “You don’t need to put your P in a V right now” Jason Segel: “No, I need to B my L on someone’s T’s.”)

Like most any Apatow show or movie, there’s a fantastic supporting cast, including Paul Rudd, former New School student Jonah Hill, the great Bill Hader from SNL, 30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer and, for all fans of Undeclared, another show starring Segel and created by Apatow, Lizzie makes a much-appreciated appearance.

Maybe viewers have come to expect a movie with Judd Apatow’s name attached to it to be great, with the success both critically and financially of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad. But while Sarah Marshall is good, it’s not great.

Five Best...Songs from Moulin Rouge's "Elephant Love Medley"

Although not a great movie, Moulin Rouge goes have some great parts, like Ewan McGregor, the direction of Baz Luhrmann, and much of the music, especially "Elephant Love Medley," sung by Ewan and Nicole Kidman. Moulin has become famous for its use of contemporary songs, but having those songs re-imagined and none appearing in their original form, as seen in this clip here (I apologize for it being a homemade video, but the actual footage doesn't exist online, only the audio).

Below are the best songs used in the "Medley," judged not by how good they actually are, but how they're used in this particular song:

#5. "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing" by the Four Aces

#4. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2

#3. "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes

#2. "Your Song" by Elton John

#1. "Heroes" by David Bowie

(And yes, it is pretty much the guiltiest of pleasures for me)

Oscar Predictions

As appeared in yesterday's issue of the New School Free Press

With shows still in reruns (except for Lost, thank God) and relief not in sight, it's a good thing that the Oscars will be shown on February 24 on ABC. If not, the only thing else to watch would be repeats of the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet…With that terrible (and fuzzy) thought in mind, here are my Oscar 2008 picks:

Best Director
Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

You'd think it'd be impossible to do better than Fargo or Barton Fink, but somehow the Coen Brothers outdid themselves with No Country for Old Men. Beautifully shot and expertly paced, it's nearly a perfect movie, and one that will give the brothers their first directing Oscar.

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

When Daniel Day-Lewis decides to do a movie, it's a treat, and while There Will Be Blood has some ridiculous scenes in it (meaning pretty much the final ten minutes of the movie), he is endlessly fascinating to watch and always the focus of attention.

Best Actress
Julie Christie, Away From Her

This category comes down to two people: Julie Christie and Ellen Page from Juno. And considering the Oscars like old people rather than younger ones, I’ll take Christie.

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, No County for Old Men

Javier Bardem brings a terrifying vacancy to his character, the awesomely-named Anton Chigurh. Never being able to tell exactly what his character is thinking, Bardem gives no reason for the murders he commits—and it's simply chilling. One of the finest performances of the year.

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

It's Cate and everyone else. Cate does such a fine job playing one of many Bob Dylan's in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There that at the end of the movie, you forget you're watching a 38-year-old Australian woman, not Bob, circa 1966.

Best Picture
No Country for Old Men

The finest movie of the year will (and should) win Best Picture, which is something that doesn't always happen with the Oscars. After all, Chicago and Crash have won in recent years…

Ten Best...Movies to See in 2008

#10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons

I'm not a big F. Scott Fitzgerald fan, but the story sounds interesting (a man is born and ages backward, going from old to young), I like the cast (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) and David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac) is directing it. That could all add up to be a pretty good movie.

Release Date: November 26

#9. The X-Files 2

I only just started watching The X-Files, and maybe by the time this movie comes out, I'll be caught up. If not, I'll get it on DVD. Either way, I'm glad I'm finally watching a show I should have started years ago.

Release Date: July 25

#8. The Happening

Maybe I'm adding this because a friend of mine acts in it (look out for Shayna Levine!) but it might also have to do with this movie supposedly being M. Night Shyamalan return to Sixth Sense-greatness. Plus, Zooey Deschanel is in it, and I'd see anything for her--except Surf's Up.

Release Date: June 13

#7. WALL-E

After seeing Ratatouille two weeks ago, I did a posting on the Eight Best...Pixar Films, mostly meaning to show how Pixar hasn't had a bad movie yet. And although a plot revolving around a robot doesn't terribly interest me, I thought the same thing before seeing The Incredibles, which it turned out to be, well, great.

(You thought I was going to say "incredible," didn't you?)

Release Date: June 27

#6. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Jason Segal. Kristen Bell. Bill Hader. Jonah Hill. Paul Rudd. Judd Apatow. Need I say more?

Release Date: April 18

#5. Pineapple Express

Seth Rogen. James Franco. Evan Goldberg. Bill Hader. Judd Apatow. Need I say more? Again.

Release Date: August 8

#4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

From what I've heard, a lot gets cut from the movie, but that doesn't mean it'll be a bad movie. In fact, it'll probably be the best Harry Potter movie yet, what with the cast getting better and the plot being the darkest of any of the previous movies. But I still can't wait for the seventh and final one to come out.

Release Date: November 21

#3. The Dark Knight

Batman Begins was a great movie, and there's absolutely reason to believe this movie won't be as good, if not better. The core cast returns, and the late Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Cillian Murphy and Anthony Michael Hall (!) are also in it. There's no way this movie is going to be bad.

Release Date: July 18

#2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I don’t care that Harrison Ford is 65 years old and that his last good movie was 2000’s What Lies Beneath and before that, Air Force One…in 1997. It’s still Indiana Jones, and although Short Round (sadly) won’t be in the movie, I think it’s still going to be a very good movie—at least I hope so.

Release Date: May 22

#1. Star Trek

When I heard that they wanted to make another Star Trek movie, I thought to myself, Why? But then I heard J.J. Abrams’ name was attached and Zachary Quinto signed on to be Spock, and I immediately changed my thoughts to, When’s it coming out?!? As someone who has seen nearly every Trek movie and is making their way through the episodes as we speak, it’s essential that this is a good movie or, I fear, Trek will be dead for good.

Release Date: December 25

Five Best...Pictures of Billy Dee Williams

#5.

#4.

#3.

#2.


#1.

Eight Best...Pixar Films

#8. Toy Story 2


#7. A Bug's Life



#6. Cars



#5. The Incredibles



#4. Ratatouille



#3. Monsters, Inc.



#2. Finding Nemo



#1. Toy Story

Five Worst...Movies Based on Video Games

#5. Pokemon 3: The Movie

All Pokemon movies could easily have this spot, but the designation goes to the third one because of its subtitle. The Movie? How terrible is that? Maybe this should start catching: Great Expectations: The Book, Lost: The Television Show on ABC Not To Be Confused with that Dean Cain Movie or Herpes: The Sexually Transmitted Disease.

#4. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

I was never a huge Mortal Kombat fan, for I rather spent my time playing Mario or various sports game. But when I went to my cousin's house, I would play it for long periods at a time and loved hearing the oh-so-familiar "Let's fight!" This movie, a sequel, made me lose all fond feelings for the game with this kind of dialouge:

Jax: Man, you barbecued his ass!

Shao Kahn: You should have killed me... when you had the chance... brother.
Rayden: My brother died a long time ago. His heart, anyway.

Now that's intense.

#3. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider


Angelina Jolie, hot. This movie, not.

#2. Super Mario Brothers

While I do have fond memories of this movie (especially the elevator scene where the Goombas begin to sway to elevator music), I can't give too much credit to a movie that has its main actor, Bob Hoskins who played Mario, say this about it: "The worst thing I ever did? Super Mario Brothers. It was a nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare." Yikes.

#1. Street Fighter

This poster says it all:

Fifteen Best...Fake Bands

As you'll soon notice, bands like Spinal Tap and Tenacious D aren't on this list. That's because they went on to perform, and became a real fake band. I only choose acts that haven't actually existed and, sadly, never will.

#15. The Shmenge Brothers from SCTV



#14. My Pretty Pony from Veronica Mars



#13. The Riverbottom Nightmare Band from Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas



#12. Dingoes Ate My Baby from Buffy the Vampire Slayer



#11. Brick Springhorn and the Tenth Avenue Band from a random Transformers comic



#10. Stillwater from Almost Famous



#9. Sonic Death Monkey from High Fidelity (Also known as Barry Jive and the Uptown Five or Kathleen Turner Overdrive.)



#8. Drive Shaft from Lost



#7. Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem from The Muppet Show



#6. Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld/Faith Plus One/Fingerbang from South Park



#5. The Rutles from All You Need is Cash



#4. The Beets from Doug



#3. Dregs of Humanity from It's Your Move



#2. Dr. Funke's 100% Natural Good-Time Family Band Solution from Arrested Development (I couldn't get a picture of the "band," so instead here's one of Tobias' résumé)



#1. The Wonders (or the Oneders) from That Thing You Do! (Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters, as well)



Honorable Mention: The Dangles from Rocko's Modern Life, who, of course, are a band that plays at a nudist colony. Why that show was never more popular, I have no idea.

Juno Review

As appears in today's issue of the New School Free Press.




Juno
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner
Director: Jason Reitman

There's a song by the Velvet Underground that goes, "I'm sticking with you/'Cause I'm made out of glue/Anything that you might do/I'm gonna do too." It's played in the middle of Juno, and is the perfect fit because it details the kind of innocent and pure love that makes the movie so much fun.

The film—which details Juno (Page) getting pregnant with her maybe-boyfriend, Paulie (Cera), and deciding to give the baby to a seemingly-perfect couple played by Bateman and Garner—could have easily been full of clichés (Where the Heart Is anyone?), but first-time writer Diablo Cody knows how to navigate her way around a screenplay.

The first five minutes of the movie take getting used to because you must first get accustomed to Page's diction. She's full of lines like, "You should've gone to China, you know, 'cause I hear they give away babies like free iPods. You know, they pretty much just put them in those t-shirt guns and shoot them out at sporting events."

Once Juno and her father, played by Peter Parker's boss from Spiderman, decide to give the baby to Vanessa (Garner) and Mark (Bateman), Juno keeps going to their house when Vanessa is gone because of how much she and Mark have in common. Those similarities are in gory movies and the Stooges, though—not exactly ABC Family material.

Juno begins heading over to the house daily, not seeing how weird it is for her to be friends with the baby's "father." It becomes even weirder when she realizes that Mark and Vanessa have marriage problems, and that he has the hots for her.

For all fans of Arrested Development, you might be disappointed to know that Michael Cera and Jason Bateman don't share a scene together. But while Bateman isn't quite Michael Bluth, Michael Cera still retains much of what made George Michael Bluth so great.

Page and Cera are fantastic together, and Cody's dialogue for them sounds ridiculous when read off of IMDb, but really works in the movie.

The final scene of the movie, in which Cera and Page are both playing guitars and singing to one another, is the perfect ending to the perfect beginning of Cody's career—one that's worth following.

Five Best...Creepy Disney Villain Songs

#5. “Who’s Been Painting My Roses Red?” from Alice in Wonderland


The phrase “off with their heads” is thrown around a lot these days, but when you actually think about it, it’s actually referring to someone literally getting their head cut off by an executioner’s axe. And in Alice in Wonderland, that’s the punishment the Queen of Hearts wants for Alice after noticing her flowers are a different color. Very kid friendly, no?

Creepiest verse:
They're going to lose their heads
For painting the roses red
It serves them right
They planted white
But roses should be red
Oh, they're going to lose their heads...


#4. “Cruella De Ville” from 101 Dalmatians

In the middle of writing this posting, my friend Kyle from the newspaper commented that one of the staff members of the New School Free Press reminded him of Cruella. For my safety, I won’t say who he’s referring to. I had totally forgotten about Cruella and this creepy song—which isn’t necessarily sung in a scary fashion (after all, it’s good-guy Roger who sings it), but is more because of what she symbolizes: greed, cigarettes, fashion, ugliness—all reasons good enough for this song to be here.

Creepiest verse:
Cruella de Ville, Cruella de Ville
If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will
To see her is to take a sudden chill
Cruella, Cruella de Ville

#3. “Be Prepared” from The Lion King

The best kind of Nazis? Hyena Nazis. At least that’s the thinking of Disney, which decided to give Scar’s minions an authentic Nazi feel, complete with raised arms and having them march in unison. The song, sung by Scar, tells of what’s to come for his hyena brethren: “I know it sounds sordid/But you’ll be rewarded/When at last I am given my dues/And injustice deliciously squared/Be prepared.” If that’s enough to reel you in, let it be known that the voice of Scar is provided by Jeremy Irons.

Creepiest verse:
So prepare for the coup of the century
Be prepared for the murkiest scam
Meticulous planning
Tenacity spanning
Decades of denial
Is simply why I'll
Be king undisputed
Respected, saluted
And seen for the wonder I am
Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared
Be prepared!

#2. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from The Little Mermaid

Ursula is the creepiest man-mermaid (notice I didn’t say woman-merman) I’ve ever seen, but “Poor Unfortunate Souls” used to bore me as a child. Now, it’s one of my favorite villain songs because Pat Carroll, the voice of Ursula, has a perfectly whoreish singing voice. It’s those kind of details that you don’t appreciate when you’re a 7-year-old, but as you get older, you begin to recognize the underlying message of, well, a whore.

Creepiest lyric:
Poor unfortunate souls
In pain, In need
This one longing to be thinner
That one wants to get the girl
And do I help them?
Yes, indeed

#1. “Hellfire” from The Hunchback of Notre Dame

First off, the use of the word “hell” in a Disney animated movie is shocking enough—not to mention how biblical and just down right terrifying the scene and song is. The movie’s bad guy, Claude Frollo, lusts after the gypsy Esmeralda and with “Hellfire,” he’s singing out his worries that he’ll be damned to hell. I can still remember seeing this movie with my grandparents, and being a little freaked out by the cloaked ghosts that look like the Dementors from Harry Potter. It’s also no wonder that Disney went down hill after this movie…

Creepiest verse:
Like fire
Hellfire
This fire in my skin
This burning
Desire
Is turning me to sin
It's not my fault

Why, Santa, Why?

For reasons beyond me, I decided to IMDb search Santa Claus, and what I saw surprised me: he has his own page, complete with the 606 movies or television shows that he’s been in. Whether it’s the title or just because it’s terrible, here are some of the worst Santa appearances:

Passion Island (1927)

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas (1973)

Benji’s Very Own Christmas Story (1978, played by Fagin from Oliver!)

Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979, voiced by Mickey Rooney)

Santabear’s High Flying Adventure (1987, voiced by John Malkovich)

A Very Brady Christmas (1988)

White Trash (1992)

Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas (1992)

The Town That Santa Forgot (1993)

Miracle on 34th Street (1994)

Who Stole Santa? (1996)

Santa Claws (1996)

Santa With Muscles (1996)

Jingle All the Way (1996)

The Elf Who Didn't Believe (1997)

A Thousand Men and a Baby (1997)

Sometimes Santa's Gotta Get Whacked (1998)

Santa Who? (2000, Leslie Nielsen alert!)

The Agent Who Stole Christmas (2001)

Santa Claus Versus the Christmas Vixens (2002)

The Official Rare Exports Inc. Safety Instructions 2005

Let’s Kill Santa Claus… (2006)

This guy has had a busy career. And I didn't even mention The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause with Tim Allen.

It might seem a little early for me to be doing posts on Santa, but considering I'll be in Israel over Christmas (which will also mean that I'll be on a ten-day hiatus from posting), I gotta start now to make up for the lost time. More to follow.

Stand By Me

One of the most adult kid movies I’ve ever seen is Stand By Me. Based on a short story by Stephen King, Stand By Me is a movie about four 12-year-old boys looking to find a dead body. But that description doesn’t do the film much justice because there’s so much more to it than that—and it’s greatly helped by the fantastic acting of River Phoenix (Chris), Jerry O’Connell (Vern), Wil Wheaton (Gordie) and Corey Feldman (Teddy).

If ever you want to see a movie with a kid old enough to hear the word “shit” and appreciate how much having a leech on your you-know-what would hurt, this is definitely worth a rent from Blockbuster or Netflix—especially with a slice of blueberry pie.

Here are my favorite lines from the movie:

#10.
Vern: Come on you guys, let's get moving.
Teddy: Yeah, by the time we get there, the kid won't even be dead anymore.

#9.
Vern: You guys wanna go see a dead body?

#8.
Teddy: Okay, you guys can go through the woods, but I am going right here across this bridge. And when you guys will get to the other side, I will be sitting in there, relaxing with my thoughts.
Gordie: Do you use your left hand or right hand to do that?
Teddy: You wish.

#7.
Chris: You four-eyed pile of shit.
Teddy: A pile of shit has a thousand eyes.

#6.
Gordie: Fuck writing, I don't want to be a writer. It's stupid, it's a stupid waste of time.
Chris: That's your dad talking.
Gordie: Bullshit.
Chris: Bull true.

#5.
Gordie: I'll see ya.
Chris: Not if I see you first.

#4.
Vern: You think Mighty Mouse could beat up Superman?
Teddy: What are you, cracked?
Vern: No, I saw him on TV the other day, he was holding five elephants in one hand.
Teddy: Boy, you don't know nothing. Mighty Mouse is a cartoon. Superman's a real guy. There's no way a cartoon could beat up a real guy.
Vern: I guess you're right. It'd be a good fight though.

#3.
Gordie: Do you think I'm weird?
Chris: Definitely.
Gordie: No man, seriously. Am I weird?
Chris: Yeah, but so what? Everybody's weird.

#2.
Chris: It's like God gave you something, man. All those stories you can make up. And He said, this is what we got for you kid, try not to lose it. But kids lose everything unless there's someone there to look out for them.

#1.
Gordie: Alright, alright, Mickey's a mouse, Donald's a duck, Pluto's a dog, what's Goofy?
Vern: If I could only have one food for the rest of my life? That's easy, Pez, cherry-flavored Pez. No question about it.
Teddy: Goofy's a dog. He's definitely a dog.
Gordie: I knew the $64,000 question was fixed. There's no way anybody could no that much about opera!
Chris: He can't be a dog. He drives a car and wears a hat.
Gordie: Wagon Train's a really cool show, but did you notice they never get anywhere? They just keep wagon training.
Vern: Oh, God. That's weird. What the hell is Goofy?

Five Best...Songs from Across the Universe

#5. "It Won't Be Long"

#4. "All My Loving"

#3. "Hey Jude"

#2. "Let It Be"

#1. "I've Just Seen a Face"

(Sorry, couldn't find clips from the movie for "All My Loving" and "Let It Be," but "Loving" has essentially the same feel as the original while "Be" takes on a gospel sound. It's actually quite stunning and just shows how great of a songwriter Paul was.)

Five Best...Sean Connery Films

As today is his 77th birthday, what better way to celebrate than by looking a list about him?

#5. Highlander


#4. The Untouchables


#3. The Longest Day


#2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade


#1. Dr. No

Magnificent Movies

As I was sitting with a couple of friends eating ice cream a few days ago, a conversation about movies came up. We were talking about films that we had just seen when, as it inevitably always seems to, the talk became solely on Quentin Tarantino. As I would soon find out, one of the friends there had never seen a Tarantino movie or The Godfather or Citizen Kane or Casablanca or, well, you get the point. This made me think about if I could have 20 movies with me at any time, what would what be? And, by proxy, these are the 20 films I would give someone to watch. In other words, it’s your standard “Stranded on a Desert Island” question. So, here are the movies but in no particular order:

The Godfather
The Godfather II
-Arguably the two greatest movies ever made.

Chinatown
-There has to be at least one movie with Jack in it, and this is his best.

The Last Waltz
-THE concert film

Dr. Strangelove
-A Kubrick movie is necessary and this is his finest work. It’s also my favorite dark-comedy of all-time.

Duck Soup
Monkey Business
Blazing Saddles
-These three can make me laugh my ass no matter what mood I’m in

Star Wars: A New Hope
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
-There’s nothing more fun than the original Star Wars trilogy.

Pulp Fiction
-All movies made after 1994 seem to take at least something from Tarantino’s masterpiece.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Manchurian Candidate
-Two great political movies that mix comedy and drama.

Goodfellas
Raging Bull
-The second and third movies by Marty on the list, but all are quite deserved.

My Fair Lady
Guys and Dolls
-Musicals are quite necessary

The Big Sleep
The Maltese Falcon
-One word: Bogart.

Five Best...Movies That Are Always on Comedy Central

#5. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

#4. Office Space

#3. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad

#2. Airplane!

#1. Saving Silverman

Music and Work

As I work on completing my final papers for two classes tonight, my only companionship (intentionally so, because these things need to get done) at the UCC is my always faithful iPod. So far, I've listened to:

Siren by Roxy Music
The Heart of Saturday Night by Tom Waits
Hedwig and the Angry Inch soundtrack

Considering how much work still needs to be finished, this list will be updated many a-time tonight.

Update:

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Part of The Definitive Anthology of the Small Faces
Let Love In by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

What a Drag

As appearing in today's issue of The New School Newspaper, Inprint:

Five Best...Drag Films

#5. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Those “sweet transvestites” get to have all the fun: watch Tim Curry in drag, see Susan Sarandon run around in her undergarments and, best of all, get musical performances from Meat Loaf. That is, until he dies.

#4. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

“Six inches forward and five inches back” essentially says it all.

#3. Killer Drag Queens on Dope (2003)

I rank this epic right up there (down there?) with Attack of the Killer Condoms. But for all the lame gay sex included in Killer Condoms, Drag Queens has the charm of the two main characters being named Coco and Ginger.

#2. Mulan (1998)

Disney has a long history of male figures dressing up as women (Little John in Robin Hood, for instance), but very seldom do they try women as men. With a little help from Eddie Murphy, the title character imitates a man to fight as a solider.

#1. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

The King and or Queen of the crop. That’s quite an accomplishment because people have found dressing in drag to be comedy gold for quite a long time. But the way Robin Williams delicately balances his hairy male self with his buxom female personality is totally Oscar-worthy. I mean, am I the only one who truly believes in Williams when he sings “Dude Looks Like a Lady” by Aerosmith?