Lovable losers: My favorite movie misfits

I was gonna call this list favorite f***ups, but this blog is, after all, still linked from a family newspaper.

In case anyone wonders where I get the idea for these lists from, it doesn't take much. This morning it was simply thinking of one of my favorite movies that I hadn't seen for several years, the one that happens to top this list. I'm sure there are many other movie freaks and geeks out there that have captured your hearts, so please feel free to add any I have snubbed in the comments (and, for the record, I didn't include "Napoleon Dynamite" because Napoleon is, of course, far too cool to ever be called a loser.

1. "You Can Count on Me"
When, under duress, I'm requested to name a single favorite film, this little Kenneth Lonergan gem has been known to top the list from time to time (though if you ask me 10 times, you might just get 10 different answers.) This charming take on the prodigal son tale introduced me to both Laura Linney and Mark Ruffalo, and I can't ask for much more from a movie than that. I thought Kenneth Lonergan had just disappeared, but a visit to the IMDB revealed this welcome fact: He has a new movie, called "Margaret" and starring Anna Paquin, listed as completed. Welcome back, Mr. Lonergan.

2. Jesus' Son
Count this one as both one of my favorite books and movies. The flick by Allison Maclean (another once-promising director who has seemed to just disappear) captures all of the desperation of Dennis Lehane's novel, and Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton and, particularly, Holly Hunter as the angel/savior are all fantastic.

3. Ghost World
Thora Birch may just be the perfect example of a lovable loser. In "Ghost World," her Enid flunks out of art class, tries and fails to find love with Steve Buscemi and then, possibly, commits suicide (I really hope I'm not giving anything away here, but if you haven't seen this great Terry Zwigoff film, do so right away, and the ending is wonderfully ambiguous enough that I'm almost certain you won't be mad at me.)

4. Manhattan
Just how in the world did Woody Allen con so many beautiful women into being pawns in his often-twisted romantic movie world? Though you can argue that even Woody's best flicks follow a familiar path, this one is always my favorite because of just how far his Isaac Davis actually falls: By the time he's standing in that apartment building lobby, rejected for the last time by his 17-year-old muse Mariel Hemingway, it's just movie perfection.

5. Rushmore
It seems wierd to call a character as confident in his geekhood as Max Fischer a loser, but look at what happens to him in this great Wes Anderson flick. He starts by flunking hard out of Rushmore Academy and then is barely even able to make a go of it in the wild world of public high school. Like the best losers, however, Max gets the last laugh (and dance), of course, to the always-welcome strains of the Faces' "Ooo La La."

6. Charlie Brown
You could pick any of poor Charlie's tales, but when I was a kid the one that always got me the most excited was "Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown." I guess it was the idea of kids getting to race down through rapids on rafts, against their pets, no less, that really got me jazzed.

7. Amelie
Can you call someone as adorable as Audrey Tautou a loser? Though Amelie Poulain eventually finds love in this thoroughly charming flick from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, look at how far she had to journey to get there: At the beginning of the movie, she's living all alone in an apartment building full of old folks and is barely a functioning member of society. I know many people find this flick just way too sappy to stomach, but it gets me every time.

8. After Hours
Martin Scorsese has surely made better movies than this silly little flick, but it still remains my favorite of all his works. As Griffin Dunne's Paul Hackett sees his night go from bad to worse to even worse, it's both a valentine to New York City and, even better, Martin Scorsese clearly having fun.

9. Rocket Science
I'll close with one from this year that I'm virtually certain almost nobody saw. As the follow-up to his documentary debut, "Spellbound," Jeffrey Blitz made this autobiographical flick about his experiences as a stuttering teen growing up in New Jersey. Despite the rather horrendous title, it features excellent performances from Reece Thompson and Broadway veteran Anna Kendrick, and co-star Nicholas D'Agosto can currently be seen as Claire's new boytoy on "Heroes." If you missed this one, look for it on DVD soon and enjoy one of my favorite flicks of 2007.

So, there you have it. A fun enough way to begin a Wednesday, I must say. Peace out.