New York: The Royal Tenenbaums house

Yesterday I posted a blog about the people that I loathe. It was a somewhat therapeutic exercise and I felt better getting some hate out of my system. As a result of digging deep and noting all the folks that I loathe I felt it was necessary to show that I am not filled with only disdain but that I actually like people. Without further adieu the people and organizations that DPC likes:

• My family
• My beautiful wife Lindsey
• David Patrick Castro II
• My friends:
• The University of Nevada: My alma mater and the team I love the most.
• Chicago Cubs, Bears and Bulls: I am an Evergreen Park, Illinois native, like The Unabomber, and I root for my once local squads.
• The Montreal Canadiens: My love of Patrick Roy made me a fan of the Habs and some 17-years after their last Stanley Cup win I still root for the Canadiens.
• Reno, Nevada: My surrogate home for four-years.
• Juan Pablo Montoya: Gotta root for my Hispanic brother in NASCAR.
• Noel Gallagher: The brains behind my favorite band Oasis. Wrote a majority of their catalog, especially their best work from their first three-albums.
• Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson: For writing the greatest piece of movie dialogue ever: “You wanna talk some jive? I’ll talk some jive. I’ll talk some jive like you’ve never heard!”
• Jan Van Eyck: In my mind he painted the greatest picture ever, the Arnolfini Portrait. I saw it at the National Gallery when I was studying in London.
• Elvis Presley: I have a TCB bumper sticker on my Impala.
• Jim Morrison: The words and voice of the Doors, my second favorite band. During my dazed and confused teenage years the Lizard King provided the soundtrack.
• Shaft: The cat who won’t cop out when there’s danger all about. Me and my friends named our Santa Rose Rec League basketball team after Richard Roundtree’s character.
• Dolemite: If for no other reason than for uttering the phrase, “You rat soup eating, honky motherf**ker!”
• Scarlett Johansson:
  
• Hunter S. Thompson: One of the reasons that I ended up graduating from the Reynolds School of Journalism.
• David Sedaris: Another reason why I ended up as a writer.
  
• James Bond: I even enjoy the Roger Moore era.

This is by no means a complete list and inevitably I forgot somewhere or an organization that I like and also influenced me in a positive manner. Hopefully any misgivings from being ignored on this list shall pass because these are the things I hold dear, cherish and ultimately made Dave into DPC.

As a former Blockbuster employee (A Block Busta?)I feel that I am uniquely qualified when it comes to critiquing cinema. Uniquely qualified in that I spend most of my time watching bad action movies, documentaries and Wes Anderson comedies. I am not a movie snob nor elitist, this is proven by the 19-James Bond DVD’s on my shelf. With that said here are my choices for the movies of this decade, in no particular order.

1. The Royal Tenenbaums: I had high expectations when it as released due to my admiration for Rushmore. Tenenbaums exceeded my expectations and is my favorite Wes Anderson movie. Gene Hackman deserved an Oscar for his work. Also, the movie gets bonus points for including two tracks by Nico and basing Gwyneth Paltorw’s character on her.
2. Casino Royale is the best James Bond movie EVER. That statement doesn’t carry a lot of weight amongst cinephiles because most Bond movies aren’t that great. They’re very entertaining and I dig them but they almost cartoonish. Casino Royale is just a good movie. Not just by Bond standards but by any measurement. Maybe the Bourne Identity raised the bar.
3. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou was Wes Anderson’s follow up to the Royal Tenenbaums and it could be the most re watchable flick that he has helmed.
4. X-Men 2: The second act of a play is always the best and Bryan Singer made this chapter of the X-Men the high water mark. Yes, it was sad and a downer to watch but like the Empire Strikes Back it was the best of the trilogy, by a wide margin.
5. Munich by Steven Spielberg is a historically accurate portrayal of Operation Wrath of God, Israel’s revenge for the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre. See Munich after watching the documentary One Day In September to get the whole story of this tragic event.
6. Lost In Translation: This is probably the best movie that Scarlett Johansson has been involved with. I know this because I have seen most of her work. Ghost World comes close but Lost In Translation is tip top. Sofia Coppola wrote and directed this dramedy.
7. American Gangster: Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe headline thos heroine cartel flick. Makes the list because I enjoy it even after multiple viewings.
8. Dark Knight: Heath Ledger rightfully won an Oscar for his portrayal of the Batman’s greatest nemesis the Joker. The movie itself should have been in the running for Best Picture.
9. V For Vendetta: Alan Moore should be proud of this adaptation of his graphic novel.
10. The Wrestler: Mickey Rourke deserved an Oscar for his role as Randy The Ram. I once saw the Iron Sheik wrestle at a local fair grounds, many decades past his prime, and Rourke captured the spirit of a former star trying to harness his past glory.