Speaking of movies...

This weekend I just watched the movie Mystery Men. It was on my long list of want-to-see movies. I don't get to the cinema very often to see things when they are released, and I make it to Blockbuster to rent things on a very infrequent basis too. I found Mystery Men in the 2/$11 bin of dvds at Walmart. I figured $5.50 to buy it isn't that much more than $3.99 to rent it, and I've got it forever if I like it.

It was good. I liked it a lot. But I have to qualify that. I was a bit out of my mind when I first started watching it. The intro is very bizarre and I was thinking 'what the hell?' for the first 10 or 15 minutes. Then it started making more sense. And I was getting enthralled by the set design and all the weird combinations of sci-fi and white trash culture. The city was obviously futuristic, but the details were all right out of the Generation X catalog of pop culture icons. The Disco Boys and the Corvette limo were totally awesome. Casanova Frankenstein's castle was perfect with the gothic disco look. If I ever built a castle it would probably look like a gothic disco.

The 'ragtag' team of super-heros was funny. Of course I was particularly intrigued by the Shoveler. I think it would have given the story a lot more opportunity for puns if he had been the Hoer. But, I do realize that a shovel makes a better weapon than a hoe. Hoes are generally peace loving and not violent at all. Hoes just aren't well suited for conflict and fighting. We're lovers, not warriors. I've never heard of anyone getting hoed to death.

I think this movie is vastly under-rated and under-appreciated. I'm glad I bought it because it's like The Big Lebowski in that it gets better each time you see it (I've watched it 3 times so far). Even if the story of the 'little guy' being the hero isn't appealing to someone the look of the movie is worth the time to watch it. It's a real visual treat, as I think movies should be. That's why you watch a movie instead of reading a book, so you can see it.