Movies That Grow on You

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I think most moviegoers have a handful of movies that they like but that either didn't leave much of an impression on first viewing or didn't leave that positive an impression. I have a few, but the two that really stand out are Office Space and The Big Lebowski.

In Office Space's case, it took me a long time to get around to watching it. The reason I didn't see it in theaters is that I've never been much of a Jennifer Aniston fan, and what little marketing I saw for it gave me the impression that she was a far bigger presence in it than she was.

The reason I didn't see it for a while after it found its way to video was that I came to think of it as a "bro" movie. I had a friend in a fraternity, and whenever I would go visit him, his friends would go on and on about how great Office Space was. Since we saw eye-to-eye on so few things, I figured maybe it just wasn't a movie for me.

I eventually decided I hadn't given it a fair shake, so I set out to rent it. It was a Mike Judge movie, so it had that going for it. Here's the thing, though: it was never available. The nearest Blockbuster only had two copies of it (it had long since ceased to be a new rental), and they were almost always out. I'm sure frat bros weren't the only people renting it, but I suspect they were the ones renting it most of the time. I actually observed frat bros coming into the Blockbuster and looking for it on two separate occasions. The first set of frat bros were pretty muted. They just walked in, saw that it was checked out already (presumably by other frat bros), cursed the (Greek) gods, and left.

The second set of frat bros were a little more boisterous. They were being led by one of the bro-est bros I'd ever seen. I could hear him before he even opened the door. When I heard the door open, I looked up, witnessed an honest-to-God high five, and I immediately assumed this kegger of bros (is there a collective term for bros?) was headed to the comedy section for some Office Space action. If a copy had actually been there, I might've seriously considered hiding it just to see their reaction. I didn't have to.

All the bros were dressed like bros to some degree, but the lead bro seriously couldn't have been any more bro-ed out than he already was. Characteristic bro tan, pink Polo shirt with popped collar, backwards baseball cap, hemp bracelet, khaki shorts, brand-new New Balances, Ray-Ban Aviator glasses... we're talkin' the works. He described Office Space aloud and over his shoulder to his bros as he neared. He told them it was "required viewing." He told them their shits would be flipped. When he reached the boxes and realized there were no copies available, he let out an anguished "Dude!" He then sighed and instructed one of his bros to "go grab Animal House." It was an amazing moment.

Anyway, I finally got to see it. I drove out to a more remote Blockbuster. They had something like four available copies. Rented it. Watched it. It didn't really leave much of an impression at first. Something about it made me want to watch it a second time, though, so I rented it again a few weeks later. Ended up watching it twice before returning it. It just grew on me, I guess. It has a pretty strong cast of characters, there are some good jokes, and it's easy to relate to the frustration of the main character's situation. Jennifer Aniston's just sort of there. I figure she was stunt casting of a sort. Maybe they thought her presence would bring in Friends fans. I dunno. I feel like you could completely cut her out of them movie without hurting it much.

The Big Lebowski story is a little different. It's also a lot shorter. I really loved Fargo, so I went in wanting it to be Fargo. It wasn't. It was goofy, I thought it tried too hard, I thought the Sam Elliott narration was lame, and the dream sequence annoyed me. I think I actively disliked it at first. I'm not sure why, but I started reevaluating it in my head over time. After about two months, it occurred to me that I liked it. The stuff I didn't like about it still irked me, but other things I hadn't even realized I liked started to make their way to the fore. Pretty soon, they overshadowed the things I didn't like--and in a big way. All this happened without me rewatching it, discussing it with friends, or reading reviews for it.

I went almost a decade before giving it a second viewing. I worried a little bit that I had built it up in my head over time and that rewatching it would be a letdown, but it wasn't. I enjoyed it a good bit the second time. I even found the things that had annoyed me initially less annoying the second time around.

I know there are other movies that grew on me over time, but no other movies are occurring to me at the moment.

[Jubbers]

Please tell me this was your 2500th post. It would be so hilariously appropriate.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

It was.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

It's only 899 words. That's not even three double-spaced pages in twelve-point Times New Roman!

[Dalty]

If you work in an office / cube farm environment there is something about Office Space that really chimes. It is like a hyper-realised version of the whole scenario. That's probably why I quite like it.

Funny that none of these bro's probably worked in that environment?

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

They probably all used connections to get into business school despite their middling grades. My guess is that they all went on to manage manufacturing plants, get paid a ton of money for doing very little, fuck their receptionists two or three times a week, buy their wives a couple pieces of guilt jewelry every year, and play golf on Sundays with other former bros.

[Dalty]

You just described my life. Except without the wife. And the receptionists. And the manufacturing. And the golf and the bro's.

[Space Tycoon]

Star Trek 2009 grew on me, as did Alien 3.

[Mal Shot First]

It's kind of hard to know which version of Alien 3 to watch. I liked the ultimate director's cut, or whatever it's called.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I've only ever seen the version I saw in the theater.

I've also only ever seen the version of Blade Runner that was was released on video in the early eighties.

[Space Tycoon]

Me too, actually. Need to get on that.

Alien: Resurrection will never grow on me, or in me.

[Mal Shot First]

I don't know, I kind of like Resurrection when I first saw it. And the second time I saw it. I haven't seen it since I was a teenager, so I may not like it as much now.

What I remember is that it definitely had a late-90s action film vibe to it, so maybe that's one of the things that turns people off.

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I only remember a handful of things about it. The first thing I remember is that Ripleyclone had these dumb dark fingernails. I think they were supposed to be a constant visual reminder that she had xenomorph DNA in her, but I found them stupid-looking and distracting.

I remember thinking at the time that Winona Ryder was wasted. I've thought that about the majority of the movies I've seen her in since the mid-nineties. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe she was always kind of sucky and bland, and it just took me a while to realize it. I had a little crush on her in the eighties, thanks to Beetlejuice. I watched Beetlejuice again about fifteen years ago, though, and I found her to be an annoying and stereotypical goth kid.

I'm pretty sure I remember hearing the fleshy xenomorph-human hybrid thing scream "Mommy!" right before it was sucked out of the ship. That was funny.

The last thing I remember was that there was this embarrassingly awful basketball scene. It's not enough that we know Ripleyclone is a badass. We also have to know that she can dunk and make a no-look shot over her shoulder. (Yes, yes, Frothing Fanboy. I know Weaver made the shot in real life. Good on her. Calm down.)

[The Swollen Goiter of God]

I'm sure there were things I liked about it. Wasn't Ron Perlman in it? I usually like him. Whatever the case, only the negatives come to the fore when I think back on it. I remember being pretty excited to go see it. I liked Alien³ when I saw it in the theater. I didn't realize other people didn't like it until I got on the Internet half a decade later.

Alien SPOILER: I remember being bummed that Hicks and Newt were killed off so unceremoniously. I recall wondering if Biehn didn't do it because Cameron wasn't involved. (That probably wasn't the case. Biehn works for peanuts.) I also recall figuring that they must have decided to nix Newt because the kid who played her had grown up since the filming of Aliens.

I've seen Aliens more recently than I've seen Alien³. I think Newt is generally disliked. That probably figures into why they didn't just hire some new kid to play her. That, or they wanted Alien³ to be more like Alien and less like Aliens.

[Dalty]

Wasn't the original script very, very different to what ended up on film?

[Djack Zteelecock]

You could probably say that about half the movies ever made, or at least a significant portion.

[Dalty]

Very fair point! I wonder if Cameron ever had a plan to follow up Aliens himself?

[Dalty]

Star Trek 2009 grew on me, as did Alien 3.

For some reason I am unbelievably pleased to hear that.

[Dalty]

Star Trek, I mean.