The Official Kevin Costner Movie Run Down

Hey everybody. I stayed up late last night to watch Field of Dreams on the CMT channel (which, despite it being an HD channel, presented the movie in the woefully inept SD format with the "side bars" and also put commercials in at the MOST inappropriate times, like for example, just after he realizes his dad is the catcher (at the end) and before his man-cry moment where he says "Hey... Dad? Wanna have a catch?"

BAD CMT!!! BAD!!!

Anyways, it inspired me, twas my Muse perhaps, to give a run down on KC's movies.

Let's start waaay back at the beginning with the help of IMDB to make sure I catch everything... Actually, we'll be starting with the earliest Kostner film I have seen and work from there. Cuz if I haven't seen it, I don't care.

Silverado (1985)
Ah cowboys. Ah. Cowboys. At least it was "fun" overall. Would not rank it very high in cinematic art.

The Untouchables (1987)
What the...? End to End awesomeness in this movie. KC was overshadowed by Sean Connery in this one (ya think) and MR. DiNero, but you cannot take away from The Untouchables.

No Way Out (1987)
Weak on intrigue, despite it's best intentions. The "twist" at the end tries to make up for it, but only mildly succeeds.

Bull Durham (1988)
Sorry purists, but this is the entry in the "Kevin Costner Baseball Movie" list where I simply cannot get into the film. Tim and Susan were...um... ok I guess. But overall I give it a "meh"

Field of Dreams (1989)
Shut up fellas, y'all know you cry during this one. SO GOOD. Is it a father / son movie? Is it a baseball movie? Sci-fi? Ghost Story? Redemption? YES. And most importantly it's all of those things done SO WELL. If you build it, he will come. Ease his pain. Go the distance. "People will come, Ray... Oh yes, people will come." "Hey... Dad? Wanna have a catch?"

Revenge (1990)
Um. No. Really. No.

Dances With Wolves (1990)
When I saw this in the theatres, I was blown away by it. Subsequent viewings and the "test of time" have, as a friend pointed out, almost made it a parody of itself. However, if you can watch the super-long-extended-directors-cut-we-picked-up-all-the-edited-scenes-and-spliced-them-back-in 4 1/2 hour long version, it completes that movie and tells that story so well, it's comparable to the "Extended Editions" of Lord of the Rings in the way it fills out the movie.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
I think I saw this in the theatre on Sheridan Road on the south side of Kenosha when it came out, and it was LOUD... but... that was good! The soundtrack, Connery-cameo, fun-ness, Christian Slater, "TO THE TREES!!!", "Why a spoon cousin..." "Cuz it's dull you twit it will hurt more" fun-ness cannot be ignored.

JFK (1991)
Well... It was an Oliver Stone(d) movie. I'm not sure how I feel about it, except that if it was on, I probably would turn the channel and not think twice. Not a "bad" movie, but not captivating.

The Bodyguard (1992)
Um... Mmhm. It inspired haircuts for men across the world. I may have liked it better when it came out then now.

A Perfect World (1993)
THIS movie I liked. As the "antagonist" KC did a good job of making him sympathetic, while Eastwood's sheriff kept trying to track him down. I think I like this movie more as time goes on.

Wyatt Earp (1994)
This movie probably never got a fair shake. You can tell KC is romanticized by the story of Wyatt Earp and the Old West in general, but it came out opposite of one of the most ass-kicking cowboy movies EVAH starring everybody that should be in a cowboy movie. Like you need hints. Can you say Sam Elliot? Val Kilmer? Charlton Freekin' Heston? Powers Boothe? Bill Paxton? Michael Beihn as Johnny Ringo and of course Kurt Russell as THE Wyatt Earp? Yeah, I'm talkin' TOMBSTONE!!! Ooops, I got distracted by a far superior movie. Costner's Wyatt Earp. It was... pretty?

The War (1994)
I hold this film up as one of KC's finest. Starring as the father of Frodo Baggins... er.. Elijah Wood (fresh off his role in "Forever Young" if I'm not mistaken), KC is actually quite brilliant with the supporting character / limited screen time. If you haven't seen it. Check it out. It's worth it.

Waterworld (1995)
Ooof... When the most memorable part of a movie is the "Universal Studios" logo at the beginning (which shows the earth) being flooded by water to setup the movie... you know it's not good. The only other thing I really remember, and wish I didn't, is that he pissed in a cup on his raft, ran the liquid through some sort of purifier, and then drank it as "clean water". Al Gore would be proud of this cautionary tale of global warming. Can't wait to drink my pee.

Tin Cup (1996)
I like golfing. Quite a bit. This movie almost made me not like it. The only thing it has done for me is give me the sarcastic phrase "tin cupping it" when trying to chip a ball over a water hazard seven or eight times to no avail. What's the definition of insanity again? Oh yeah, watching Tin Cup.

The Postman (1997)
Kevin, if you're going to make 1 post-apocalyptic "wanderer" movie, and your choices are Waterworld and The Postman. DON'T MAKE BOTH. Just this one. I like this movie, Shakespeare. I like it a lot. And... well... Tom Petty. There I said it.

Message in a Bottle (1999)
Nicholas Sparks writes chick-flicks. OK, he writes chick-novels, but many / most / probably all of them are turned into movies that basically, I could care less about. Example: A Walk to Remember - forgettable (see what I did there?) There are a few exceptions. The Notebook. Amazingly good. Message in a Bottle - actually, a fine, fine movie. Is it a chick flick? Oh yes, but it's a good'n.

For Love of the Game (1999)
11 Years after Field of Dreams, KC goes back to baseball. And HOW! To get "revved up" for baseball season, sometimes you just want to go and watch all the baseball movies that have inspired you somehow... The Natural. Field of Dreams. For Love of the Game. A League of Their Own. The Rookie. (I'm sure Ditter would add Little Big League or others...). You don't really like Billy Chapel through most of the movie, but by the end, you REALLY like Billy Chapel. Love this flick. Love the way the story is told.

Thirteen Days (2000)
Hanging on the edge of my seat, just WONDERING if the nukes would launch in this re-telling of Thirteen Days in October. They didn't. The Titanic still sunk at the end. Passable movie.

3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)
Actually, this movie, as bad as it is (though a Kostner / Russel team-up in a film is awesome) is actually quite fun. I'd watch it one more time. Despite the naysayers that compare it to say, Reindeer Games, I think this film pokes enough fun at itself to be enjoyable. I mean, c'mon? Elvis Impersonating Criminals? HECK YEAH!

Dragonfly (2002)
This movie is under-rated. It's a "haunting" flick, but not a "scary movie". It's a bit of love-transcends-life. Another, like The War, that deserves a viewing. I'd watch it again, and enjoy it just as much.

Open Range (2003)
As he aged, Robert Duvall became more of a bad-ass. This is evidenced in Open Range as well as Secondhand Lions. Costner, again showing his deep rooted enjoyment of sweeping landscapes, horseback riding and ten-gallon hats, gave us an enjoyable western without devolving into a "cowboy and indian" stereotype. Good film. Slow, but deliberate.

The Guardian (2006)
No. Bad. NO. Without too much of a spoiler, the wrong lead character dies in this one. For starters.

Mr. Brooks (2007)
Oh boy, KC is a bad guy. So evil. Look out. YAAAAWN.

Swing Vote (2008)
Cute concept. Tepid execution. Skip it unless you're bored.


Well, there ya have it. I skipped The Upside of Anger cuz I didn't see it, and there's some older stuff I haven't seen, but oh well, it's my blog, I can do what I want.

CHEERS!

BradK


The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.
Terrance Mann, "Field of Dreams"