I am Kyle's self-indulgence

The Onion AV Club has an interesting feature this week: 10 Notorious Flops Worth Seeing. The general tone is something akin to "This movie is seriously flawed, BUT..." The analysis is interesting, and makes me want to actually check out a few of the films.

One of movies, however, has always stood out in my mind as a great work of cinematic art. It is a film that, from beginning to end, is not afraid to revel in its silliness, absurdity, and utter sappiness. Its characters are so pure and earnest that one can't help but like them. They a modern fairy tale that leaves you feeling that you have witnessed a great story.

Of course, I am talking about Joe Versus The Volcano.

I probably would never have given this movie a chance, except that sometime several years ago my sister and I rented it on a whim. I think that initially, the only thing we were sure of was that this was a strange film (anything that features orange-soda-obsessed island natives can't be normal). For some reason, though, we both liked it, and found that the movie only improved with multiple viewings.

Over the years, the beauty of Joe Versus The Volcano seemed to be our own little secret. One a couple of occasions, we tried to get other people to watch it, but they mostly just shook their heads at us. They didn't GET it. Eventually, though, I took a romantic interest in a girl named Erika, who agreed to watch the movie with me one night. She loved it immediately--all the silliness, the storybook quality of it, the impossibly absurd plot, the bizarre triple-roles of Meg Ryan. Erika actually GOT it. It was in that moment that I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

Okay, that last part is exaggerated a bit. But Joe Versus The Volcano is a really good movie.