FILMS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE TO HUMANITY

One of the keys to hanging on the Menthol Kings tip is to be into film. This page will tell you what films you need to watch in order to consider yourself an "enlightened human being." Otter King has personally decided to reveal some of the films he watches and secretly obsesses over on his free time. These are not movies like "Independence Day" or "There's Something About Mary." These are real FILMS. Take the advice here...utilize it to better yourself and become ever so closer to being as cool as the Menthol Kings.

• Vertigo (1957)-- [Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.] This is a beautiful film for which I have been obsessed with for sometime. The movie slowly begins when an ex-detective (Jimmy Stewart) is asked to keep an eye on his friend's suicidal wife (Kim Novak). Stewart's friend believes his wife is leading a double life and may even be posessed by "somebody dead." The story is a whirlwind of beautiful cinematography and scenary from the San Francisco area. This is a very complex film with many levels of psychological complexities. There is much to this film and it demands multiple viewings.
• Midnight Cowboy (1969)-- [Directed by John Schlesinger] A dumb Texan redneck, Joe Buck(Jon Voight) journeys to New York to hustle and try to find women. He is convinced he is god's gift to women but soon finds out that New York is a cold and desolate place. He runs into a small time con man called Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) and the two become an unlikely team after Ratso invites Joe to live in a condemned building with him. The film portrays the landscape of American big city life through the eyes of two struggling strangers. Considered by many to be one of the top 50 films of all time, Midnight Cowboy is one for any Menthol King wannabe to view and study.
• The Lost Weekend(1945)-- [Directed by Billy Wilder] Ray Milland portrays a frustrated writer who is going nowhere in life as he lives with his brother and fights alcoholism. Milland's character sinks back into alcoholism after only 10 days without it and the result is a self-destructive three day drinking binge. A shocking look into alcholism and why we all should just give up and become complete drunks. It looks like a lot of fun. Although, in 1945 this film was almost never released because of poor reaction by preview audiences. In the end this film won 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture of 1945 and has now become an American classic in cinema. Rent to to learn about the hip lifestyle of needing alcohol to survive.
• The Godfather Trilogy-- [Directed by Francis Ford Coppolla] These movies are just wonderful. Everybody in America should own all three of these masterpieces. Basically, it's the epic story of an organized crime family's trek through life. The films have drama, comedy and violence....the keys to any successful Menthol King choice film. If you haven't seen these you are a little behind the times and you must not care about good movies. So give up now.
• Raging Bull (1980)-- [Directed by Martin Scorsese] The story of boxer Jake LaMotta told through the eyes of Scorsese and Robert De Niro. A classic film about the rise and fall of a New York boxer. It has gangsters, violence, success and failure all in one black and white block of two hours. A classic line from this movie............"Did you fuck my wife?" Anything involving the pair of actor Robert De Niro and director Scorcese is 'gold' by the Menthol Kings standards. Other MK recommended films by this duo include Casino, Taxi Driver, and Goodfellas.
• Boogie Nights (1997)-- [Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson] Pornography has always been sitting in the belly of American subculture and the people who create it have always been a mystery. In Boogie Nights a vivid story of a "family" of filmakers is told as they transition out of the turbulent 1970's and into the 80s. Although, not as slick as a Scorcese film would be, it instantly drew many comparisons due to the vivid development of a multitude of characters and some brutal scenes of violence. I found this movie more of a comedy but it has it's dramatic moments. This film is full of drug use, violence and sex.
• Lost Highway (1997)-- [Directed by David Lynch] One of the most complicated films I have ever seen. This movie is probably 20 years ahead of its time. There is so much to this film that cannot be explained. It is a piece of art that requires the viewer to think and come up with their own concepts and ideas regarding the film's meaning. A jealous jazz musician (Bill Pullman) mysteriously kills his wife (Patricia Arquette) and can't remember doing so. He finds himself in jail for life and suddenly the movie takes a shocking transition that makes no sense. Rent and study immediately.