Four + More is the title of a great Miles Davis album … and it’s also the new format for my movie column. While I have previously covered two films from THE LIST during each week, I will now cover four. Twice as many movies for the same price. How can you beat that!? On to the movies now!

47. FLETCH – While I relieved myself of the need to praise the Vacation movies in my prior column, I now get to proclaim the virtues of Fletch. This detective comedy stars Chevy Chase as our title character. The beautiful thing about Chevy Chase was that he could be completely serious on camera and still make you laugh. The scene in the doctor’s office alone makes this movie worth seeing. A fraternity brother of mine used to listen to the dialog from Fletch on a cassette tape (I know it sounds really bizarre) and it actually made for good comedy without even seeing the picture. While the sequel had its flaws … the original is a comedy gem that shows Chase in his prime.

48. TOMMY BOY – The story of a man, his father, his short-sidekick and brake pads. This comedy traces the growth and development of Tommy (Chris Farley) Callihan and his inheritance of his father’s brake pad business. Tommy is somewhat dim-witted and he fails to see the cheating step-mother and shady dealings that surround him. Mixing up Herbie Hancock and John Hancock, taking (almost) a decade to receive an undergraduate education, taking a comatose deer into his car and lighting clients desk toys on fire are just some of Tommy’s crazy stunts. David Spade is perfect in the secondary role, Brian Dennehy plays a great father to Farley as the son, and Dan Akroyd and Rob Lowe help to spice up the mix. I used to think that Sandusky, Ohio didn’t exist … until I went there for a wedding … and that made the whole Tommy Boy experience even better. I probably saw this movie a dozen times in college and never got bored once. Check it out!

49. ANIMAL HOUSE – I guess it’s time to bring up Animal House since we mentioned college. I had the pleasure of being in a fraternity in college and I must say that it gave me a greater appreciation for a movie that I already admired. Belushi, Bacon and a whole class of misfits give the world a glimpse into college fraternity life. The food king, a dead horse in the Dean’s office, Donald Sutherland as a hippie professor, the mashed potato/zit trick, the parade sabotage, Otis Day, Fawn Leibowitz (and the kiln explosion) and many other memorable moments come to mind. This is another movie that I have never gotten bored of … and neither will you!

50. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS – OK … so this one isn’t exactly along the same lines as the other three. However, it was the next one on my list. This movie terrified me. I remember watching it, for the first time, at my best friend’s house (around the block from my house) and being mesmerized and totally frightened. I think it took me three days to even sleep right! Anthony Hopkins is terrific and freakish. Jodie Foster is sly, and smart, yet somewhat innocent … and the story is brilliant. It’s a shame that they never seemed to recapture the intensity in any of the sequel/prequel films that followed. Manhunter (the original movie version of Red Dragon) and Red Dragon were decent films … and we won’t even discuss Hannibal (what were they thinking!) … but Silence of The Lambs still reigns supreme.

Well … that was your four … and now for your “+more” –

If you look really close at an actor/actress you can see the kernels of greatness before they’ve popped. Tom Hanks is definitely the most famous example. While he made his popularity in comedy … we failed (or at least as a teenager … I failed) to see his potential beyond that narrow genre. Now he is one of the most versatile actors of his generation and nobody would deny him this fact. I think the world is starting to hold a similar opinion of Bill Murray. Rushmore, Lost in Translation and (hopefully) The Life Aquatic have put Bill Murray into a new class (that the aforementioned Hanks has been in since Philadelphia). I had the pleasure of watching two films that feature Murray, Groundhog’s Day and Ed Wood, this weekend. I could clearly see the same traits in the Murray of these movies as the Murray of his recently praised films. He can be humorous while possessing a serious sadness, dark without being dislikable and odd while remaining endearing. It’s unfortunate that many actors like Murray, Hanks and Jim Carrey become pigeon-holed as comedy-actors and have to dig themselves out of that small niche that is, unfairly, constricting. I thought that both of these movies (Groundhog and Wood) were phenomenal and interesting. Check them out!

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