Just saw it again last night with a certain someone…
Top five reasons for liking this movie:
1 - It’s a John Cusak vehicle. Apparantly, his characters are reincarnations (of some sort) of my life.
2 - Sonic Death Monkeys.
3 - God! Loads of GORGEOUS actresses!
4 - the music
5 - The ramblings to the fourth wall. *John Dillinger was killed behind that theater in a hail of FBI gunfire. And do you know who tipped them off? His fucking girlfriend. All he wanted to do was go to the movies. *
;j
Yeah, it’s in my top-five favorite movies list. The book is highly recommended too, if you haven’t read it.
When I saw HF in the theater I was surprised to hear a song by Edith Frost, who I met once briefly, just before a show in North Carolina. Her song “On Hold” is the one playing in the shop when Marie deSalle comes in. Far as I know she’s relatively little known, - but she’s a musician in Chicago so I guess it makes sense 
There are several scenes I just have to watch over and over again. Dick beaning Ian over the had with an air conditioner. Rob’s “What Fucking Ian Guy” rant. Barry’s unique way of flipping the bird.
My favorite part is Barry Jive and the Downtown Five. I mean, I knew it was Jack Black, and I knew Jack Black could sing, but it still surprised the hell out of me the first time I saw it.
What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?
I had no idea who Jack Black was, and I was surprised too. I keep waiting for him to do something else this good, and it keeps not happening.
Ever seen Mr. Show with Bob and David? He wasn’t one of the major players, but he did show up quite a bit, and over all, I’d say Mr. Show is of a similar quality to High Fidelity. You can get them on DVD now.
I hated, hated, hated this book. I quit reading it after he refused to buy the rare albums from the woman who was trying to sell them because her husband ran off with someone else. She was totally upfront with him about why she was doing it and since she was the one to purchase them, I thought he was a damn fool.
Well, I liked the book a lot and hated the movie. In fact, I hated it so much it’s completely destroyed my previous liking of John Cusack. I thought he made Rob such a sullen, immature whiner that I couldn’t understand why he hadn’t been dumped ages ago or why she wanted him back. (Quite a reversal from the book, in which his girlfriend’s character was so poorly developed - an unfortunate feature of Nick Hornby books - that I didn’t understand why he was pining over her!) And Jack Black and that other joker in the record store just annoyed me.
The book was just “okay.” Nothing great. So, to me, it’s a rare case of a movie being better (much better) than the book. Esp. the way the character of Barry (Jack Black) was developed into a more likeable, but still intense, person.
Laura left Rob because he was not “progressing” in life. She was moving forward and he wasn’t. This made him miserable. Who wants to be around a miserable guy?
So when he apologized to her after the funeral, that signalled he was preparing to get his thing together. She was also miserable at that point, much more than he was, so getting back to together with him would be an improvement. (Esp. over the alternative of Ian.) She also did things to try to get him to move on. E.g., pointing out how being a record store owner was actually what he wanted to do, helping him promote Vince and Justin, etc. Women love “projects.”
So Rob is flawed. Esp. in regard to faithfulness. But he eventually even recognizes the problem with that and near the end tries to correct it. Unflawed people make lousy characters in movies.
What is amazing is that Iben Hjejle didn’t immediately become a major movie star because of this. Clearly a much better actress than CZJ.
And the Musical Moron Twins are great.
That was one of my favourite scenes in the book and movie (cut from the theatrical release, on the DVD as an extra). I thought it wonderfully illustrated Rob’s love of record collecting, with the thought of purchasing such a marvellous collection for such a low price being an act he just couldn’t live with.
Great movie. One of my favorites.
…a Cosssby sweatuh!
If you really wanted to screw me up, you should’ve gotten to me earlier.
I liked the book and liked the movie. Things about it definitely bugged me – Rob is such a dick in the movie and doesn’t deserve the beautiful womens. I’m a guy, so I usually sympathize, but when he started ogling Natasha Gregson Wagner after he got back together with the girl, I lost sympathy for him. Even if he never pulled the trigger… But mostly I liked the music from both the book and movie (they were a bit different). Any big movie in which a beautiful woman says “Is this Stereolab?” gets my vote. Any movie where he shamelessly plugs the Beta Band gets my vote.
I especially like the scene in the book where, after he gets back together with the girl, he goes to her really, really nice friends’ house and consciously avoids checking out their record collection. He has a wonderful dinner, then his girlfriend tells him to check out their music. They have around 5 CDs, including such winners as “Tina Turner’s Greatest Hits,” and he comes to the realization that a record collection does not define a person. It is a charming little moment of growth…
I’ve read the book many times and sometimes I like it and sometimes I hate it. But at least it’s something to ponder. The movie is pointless and forgettable. The book is such a guy thing and they turned it into a chick flick!
I loved the book and the movie. It’s a tricky novel to adapt, because it’s in the first person and a lot of it is thought rather than action (not that it’s cerebral, but it’s more Rob thinking about things than Rob doing things), but they pulled it off.
“Mother what a night it really was! Brother what a ni- Angina’s tough! Glooorryy Beee!!!”
I did, forever ago. Way, way before I’d ever heard of Jack Black. Never noticed him on the show, either. On that note, I’m glad Dave Cross has had some success lately.
We almost saw this movie with friends tonight, Emily has never seen it. Nobody else showed up, so it sounds like it’ll be Thursday instead. When I watched it the first time, I thought it would be a great date movie. It’ll be nice to see it with a date. 