8.15.2005

The Barrelhouse Standard: What's Your Favorite Patrick Swayze Movie?

In light of our recent survey and the new Barrelhouse Invitational topic, I thought I'd throw out the old Barrelhouse Standard to the public. So, just to get the pimping portion of this post out there early, that's:


So What's Your Favorite Patrick Swayze Movie?

In case you haven't been following along, every Barrelhouse interview ends with the following question: "what is your favorite Patrick Swayze movie?" We ask this question because we love Patrick Swayze in all his cheesy glory. In particular, we love Road House. We also ask because we believe this question -- like "when replying to email, do you reply, or do you reply all?" or "who is your favorite Beatle?" -- is one of those rare questions in which your simple answer will reveal a great deal about your character and personality type. Seriously. We are simple, and we believe that your favorite Patrick Swayze movie is a glimpse into your very soul. What does it tell us? The answers to that question are only revealed after at least six beers.

We've interviewed a handful of people, including none other than Emmylou Harris (seriously, way to go, Aaron -- that took balls), and here are the results we've gotten to date:

Emmylou Harris:

I guess I would have to say Ghost, because I think that’ the only one I’ve seen all the way through. Plus, it’s on TV a lot.

Heather Havrilesky, Salon TV Critic:

Without question Dirty Dancing. That movie was soft porn for awkward teenage girls lacking adorable little noses, and Swayze was the hunky man-meat at the center of the story, hung there for us to drool over. Meaty but non-threatening, charming but dumb, plus cool, loyal, and extremely coordinated, Swayze was the ultimate no-strings Summer fling, the ideal way to lose your virginity without either getting married or becoming a filthy slut. I mean, they were dancing together to help that poor working-class girl get a bad abortion, remember? It was a socially conscious sort of a film. Plus, they got caught in the rain, and Swayze had killer abs. We awkward teen girls understood that Jennifer Gray really had no choice: she had to do him. And, charmingly enough, Swayze was the shy one! He was the one who wanted to stay together in the end! But alas, she's like the wind through his tree!

Sadly, now Jennifer Gray has a surgically-altered adorable little nose, Patrick Swayze has since starred in Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, and most of us have been the wind through countless trees. Ah, but times do change.

John Richards, KEXP DJ:

Red Dawn. Why the Russians AND Cubans were attacking Kansas is beyond me.

John Davis of Q and Not U:

Roadhouse, natch. Though I enjoyed Red Dawn, Point Break and Next of Kin.

Travis Morrison, formerly of Dismemberment Plan:

Big Trouble in Little China

Editor's Note: We at Barrelhouse are aware that Patrick Swayze did not appear in the 1986 film Big Trouble in Little China. However, the mistake is understandable. Big Trouble's star, Kurt Russell, was sporting a very Swayze-esque mullet throughout the mid-80's, causing all kinds of comparisons between the two stars, some warranted, others not. Hair of this kind could have crossed anyone's wires. In fact, in discussion of this topic, the Barrelhouse staff often referred to Big Trouble and Escape from New York, Mr. Russell's 1981 vehicle, interchangeably. Fear the mullet, indeed.

So...what's YOUR favorite Patrick Swayze movie?


4 comments:

Kistulentz said...

Red Dawn, if only for the roadside survival tip that you can in fact urinate in a radiator in a pinch.

Joe said...

I have to go with Road House. He has a degree in philosophy from nyu AND he kicks ass. That almost never happens. Although, I did love Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights--in which the Swayz has a cameo--for its truthful and heartwarming portrayal of the Cuban Revolution.

dave said...

I'm also going with Road House. He's a famous bouncer, and I think that statement speaks for itself. Plus, Doctor Kelly Lynch, another statement that speaks for itself.

I do have to weigh in, though, for an underrated Swayze movie -- Youngblood, which stars Rob Lowe as a hotshot minor league hockey player who needs to learn to fight to show the pro scouts that he has the heart to make it to the bigs. Or something like that. Swayze has a fantastic mullet and lots of flannel shirts, and teaches Lowe how to fight and drink and, of course, how to get the girl while making it his way, to boot.

Mike Ingram said...

I think I'm finally ready to admit this: I'm a sucker for Dirty Dancing. The pre-nose-job Jennifer Grey is oddly appealing, and the movie is chock full of unintentional comedy. If I have to suffer through Swayze's attempt at becoming a pop vocalist in the process, so be it.

I do also like Road House, though. That one's a very, very close second.