Secret Movie Shame

My secret shame of movies is that I LOVE "Armageddon"! I know, I know. It's embarrassing, but I can't help it.

The summer that it came out, it came out around the same time as "Deep Impact", which I saw first. I really liked it - I love Tea Leoni and I came to appreciate Robert Duvall in a way that I hadn't before. I liked the characters in the film and the different ways that it depicted people in crisis. Leelee Sobieski was the current "it" girl in Hollywood (another failed attempt to force us into accepting someone as a star before they were ready to take on the mantle of it - see Winona Ryder, Gwenyth Paltrow, Scarlett Johannson). Vanessa Redgrave was heartbreaking in it, as well.

Then I saw "Armageddon" and I didn't like it at all. Compared to "Deep Impact" it was just a big blow-em-up movie. It was too loud and too long and I just didn't get the appeal. But I ended up seeing it a couple of times...and started appreciating it more and more. First of all, no matter what anyone says, Ben Affleck is looks GOOD in this film and he is a master tear-jearker (See "Bounce" and other films). I love Bruce Willis because he is who he is (love "Die Hard"). Yes, this does pose a dilemma when thinking about the kind of person I want to be, but I loved his movies before I was really thinking in those terms. I think Billy Bob Thornton was good in this, Steve Buscemi, and the ever-beautiful Liv Tyler. I love the true=blue Americana when they show the scenes of people listening to the president's radio address, the scenes from around the world as people waited and wondered what was happening. I think the whole Dad-as-hero aspect is particularly appealing, since my dad was in the military and I had always thought that he could protect us from anything.

So, why do I bring this up today? Because normally, I sleep through "Armaggedon" because I have seen it so many times. Yesterday, I put the movie in as background noise and I missed the very beginning, but then I watched the rest. Today, I was flipping the channels and the only thing on besides football was "Armaggedon". I somehow managed to catch it right as the movie was starting and I thought I would just watch it while I was eating lunch and then turn it off. Now, 2 hours later, it is still on and just ending. Obviously, if I am typing, I am not fully engrossed in watching it, but still...

Every time it is on television, I get sucked in. And I have it on DVD and VHS. What is that about?

Anyway, I am giving myself a break this weekend about it because I feel crappy. Weird what things comfort you when you don't feel well. Anyway, my secret is out.

I even like that Aerosmith song at the end...not my style at all!