"A Knight's Tale"
Good movie, or greatest movie ever in the history of movies and knights and horses and jousting? It's in there somewhere. Sporting a stellar cast of the late great Heath Ledger, Paul Bettany in the role of lifetime as Geoffrey Chaucer, and Alan Tudyk, the guy who played Steve the Pirate in "Dodgeball," this 2001 medieval action-comedy follows the rise of Ledger, a peasant, who poses as a noble in order to compete in jousting tournaments. In addition to expertly stylized action scenes and well-timed comedy, this film sports one heck of a soundtrack, including one of the best uses of Queen's "We Will Rock You" in any movie to date.
"Fraiser"
You've probably heard of Fraiser, the most popular spin-off series of all time (the character Fraiser Crane was first on Cheers) but chances are you never watched it. Now you are finally old enough to appreciate the high-brow, sophisticated humor that made the show a critical success for years. The series follows Kelsey Grammar as the eponymous psychiatrist who moves from Boston to Seattle, hosts a radio show, takes care of his elderly father, and gets along with his brother Niles.
"Carlos"
With Carlos the Jackal once again making headlines as his trial gets underway in Paris, there has never been a better time to delve into this 5½ hour miniseries that chronicles the long career of the Venezuelan terrorist whose bombings and assassinations brought havoc all over the Middle East and Europe from 1973 to 1994. Cold War-era leftist terrorism is personified in the figure of Carlos and his Che Guevara style beret and beard, brought to you in this Golden Globe winning miniseries. But be warned: this is in French, with subtitles.
"Dumb and Dumber"
Of course, as the title suggests, this movie is stupid comedy, but it's still that visceral style of comedy and outrageous behavior that make for one hysterical movie. Lloyd Christmas, a limo driver, and his friend Harry drive cross-country chasing after Mary Swanson, a woman Lloyd falls in love with while driving her to the airport for his job. She leaves a briefcase of money at the airport and Lloyd thinks he's helping her by driving the money out to her in Aspen, but in reality the money was ransom for Mary's husband. Jim Carrey's zany humor and heartfelt devotion to Mary make the movie so completely dumb, but loveable at the same time.
"Meet the Parents"
Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro splendidly play off each other as father and soon-to-be son-in-law in "Meet the Parents." Stiller plays Greg Focker, a male nurse who plans on proposing to his long-time girlfriend Pam only to realize he needs to ask her father for permission first. Pam and Greg head out to Pam's parents' house for her sister's wedding and everything that could possibly go wrong for Greg does. Pam's dad Jack (De Niro), has it out for Greg and uses his CIA skills to interrogate him, make him feel uncomfortable, and intentionally throw a wrench in his daughter's relationship.
