Best Day Ever

 

Def Rec: Best “Day” Movies

Training Day (2001)

Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) gives Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) a run for his money by having maybe the worst 24-hour shift ever. On his first day on a new gig as a narcotics detective, Jake gets to partner with really seasoned LAPD vet Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington). The pair break laws, bend truths, and get wet. Director Antoine Fuqua created an immortal film about street crime and cop corruption that lives on in memes and is infinitely quotable. People loved the movie so much that a television adaptation debuted in 2017. Starring Bill Paxton as Detective Frank Rourke and Justin Cornwell as Detective Kyle Craig, this “Day” only lasted thirteen episodes. Similar to the likes of 24: Legacy (2016-2017) and the TV series version of Dark Blue (2009-2010), you simply can’t bottle the lightning of the original cast.

Reason To Rec: Washington’s bigger than life - and Oscar-winning - performance is worth the price of admission. This is for sure one of those movies where you know Alonzo is not supposed to be glorified but come on, how cool was Denzel? You’ll be tempted to model your personality after him but not even King Kong could pull that off.

Independence Day (1996)

Welcome to Earff! Ah, to be in 1996 again, where ID4 had you cheering in the theater aisles. This summer blockbuster mastered all the elements of the most explosive disaster movies, alien invasion flicks, and films named after holidays. City-sized extraterrestrial vessels destroy famous landmarks and important buildings and humankind’s only hope for survival are satellite technician David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), fighter pilot Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith), and, of course, the President of the United States, Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman). An eclectic cast of unlikely heroes produced aerial dogfights, mid-90s science logic, and alien face-punching. As a nation, we were so on board for this actioner that borrowed heavily from Star Wars-style fighter jet sequences, which are always crowd pleasers. Sure, the design of the otherworldly creatures was pretty much just recycled Xenomorphs from Aliens (1986), but when Pullman delivered his rallying speech, everyone was ready to march through fire as Goldblum uploaded a computer virus to the aliens’ spaceship systems. The War of the Worlds (1953) as a last minute inspiration was the icing on the homage cake.

Reason To Rec: Russell Casse’s (Randy Quaid) generational message to the intergalactic attackers is worth watching by itself.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

‘Tis fate that brings T2 to the tippy-top of best-of lists across the Internet. Best sequel, best action movie, best robot flick, best naked time travel romp - director James Cameron’s followup to 1984’s The Terminator has a little something for everyone. Every subsequent sequel or television spinoff has been chasing the high of Judgment Day ever since.

Reason To Rec: This is the movie that introduced “hasta la vista, baby” into the cultural lexicon, so it’s earned its rewatch stripes. I give it two thumbs up while descending into a molten pit.

Def Rec: If you spend your day with only one of these cinematic masterpieces, I definitely recommend Training Day. The movie’s delayed debut on October 5, 2001, came at a time when the country was in a state of flux. Denzel Washington’s portrayal of a chaotic cop stormed theaters like a hurricane, proving society was still strong enough for a morally ambiguous ride along.

Def Rec Podcast coming soon!