File this under 'I told you so' - The Fugitive and The Poseidon Adventure

I have decided I am going to create a new sub-sub-genre of movies called 'I told you so' movies; self-evidently, these are movies where any of the characters could say to someone else in the movie 'I told you so' (they usually don't, but I do).

6/29/13 The Fugitive - Best Supporting Actor, 1992

The Fugitive is a little over 20 years old and I think it holds up pretty well. It stars Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Kimble who is accused of killing his wife, and Tommy Lee Jones as U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard (for which he won the Best Supporting Actor). To me it works best if you don't really think about it too much, I mean when Kimble jumps off a huge dam, and comes out barely scathed, I mean, really? Like I said, don't think too hard. The movie is based on the TV show from the 1960s, which in turn was loosely based on the Sam Sheppard case from Cleveland in the 1950s (see how shamelessly I slip in a Cleveland reference?). Kimble, in an early face off with Gerard tells the Marshal that he didn't kill his wife (I told you so moment). The movie follows Kimble as he tries to track down his wife's killer and Gerard as he chases Kimble, conveniently, always just moments behind. It's fun and entertaining, and a fun way to spend a Saturday night (or a rainy Saturday afternoon). It's a movie you can watch with the kids (if you're so inclined) as it's relatively tame regarding violence, sex (none, really) and language. It's also provides a historical reference to what us older folks remember as 'pay phones', and the cars (hardly an SUV in sight). This movie would have been very different if it had cell phones, or even smart phones, and in a post 9/11 world. I love Tommy Lee Jones, I think he's wonderful, but looking at the other nominees this year for Best Supporting Actor, I am not really so sure he should have won. Pete Postlethwaite who was incredible in the powerful film In the Name of the Father, Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List and Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, were all deserving, I didn't see John Malkovich in In the Line of Fire (my vote would be split between Fiennes and Postlethwaite). And, after just looking at the movies from this year, how the hell did Denzel Washington NOT get nominated for something for his role in Philadelphia? Anyway, rant over. Maybe this makes up for Tommy Lee Jones not winning for his role in Lincoln. 

6/29/13 The Poseidon Adventure - Best Original Song, Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects, 1972

If you plan on a cruise in the near future, you may want to skip this movie, but if you are a fan of the disaster movies of the 1970s (Earthquake, The Towering Inferno, any of the Airport movies) then you will love this. It was done by the king of disaster films, Irwin Allen. The movie has a fabulous cast (typical of the genre) including Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Jack Albertson (maybe best known for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and the TV series, Chico and the Man), Roddy McDowell and others. The S.S. Poseidon is on her last voyage, headed toward Europe on New Year's Eve and there have been pretty rough seas. Apparently before the movie begins, a representative of the ship's owners made some decisions that may have compromised the safety of the ship (this is your first I told you so moment). The ship is flipped over by waves resulting from an undersea earthquake, and when I say flipped I really mean flipped over upside down. Gene Hackman plays Reverend Scott who it seems has been banished for his radical theology, which seems to combine a type of manifest destiny with a heavy dose of free will (versus predetermination), and he leads a group of passengers to the 'top' of the ship against the orders of the purser. He butts heads with Mike Rogo, a police detective played by Ernest Borgnine, as they argue and debate about the best thing to do. Eventually Scott convinces this smaller group to go up and try to find the thinnest part of the ship to escape. The other passengers are reluctant to follow and decide to wait  to be rescued (I told you so). Jack Albertson and Shelley Winters (who was nominated for another Best Supporting Actress award but lost to Eileen Heckart in Butterflies are Free, which I have not yet seen) play a married couple going to see their grandson in Israel. I enjoyed watching the two of them act together and the she is a wonderful bubby (grandmother), delivering some great self-deprecating lines. There is pretty much non-stop excitement, great effects and some definite surprises (and a few more I told you so moments). The movie won for the Best Original Song "The Morning After" which you do not hear in its entirety, and provides a bit of foreshadowing (I would have had it play the whole way through at the end of the movie, but nobody asked). Oh, in another shameless Cleveland reference, the single that was released was recorded in Cleveland. Every once in a while, The Poseidon Adventure is on television, but I wouldn't wait for that, go rent it or borrow it. It's a Friday night movie with some pizza and popcorn, and your friends so you can share the  I told you so moments. I know a few friends will ask if it's okay for the kids. There are a few bodies that float or otherwise make an appearance, and that may be a little disturbing (although there is so much worse on television), the language is at a PG-13 level, and I would say the effects hold their own with today's technology, so yeah, I think 13 and older would be fine watching it. And, if you've seen Titanic (you've noticed I haven't gone out of my way to review that movie) then they can handle this for sure, and you don't have that soppy love story getting in the way of the action. Bon voyage.