Under-rated

I realize that underrated, like overrated is not traditionally spelled with a hyphen, however I was going for the chanted version, you know like when a rather highly regarded team is beaten but a significantly lesser team in some sort of sporting event, the fans of the lesser team will often chant, "over-rated!" to mock the team that lost. Which I never really got that, because if you beat someone, doesn't it look better for you if they're really good? Why would you want people to think they're overrated right after you beat them? If it weren't so wordy, I'd probably chant something like "You are every bit as good as people say you are, but it turns out we are just that much better than you!" or something to that effect. Anyway, that's not the point of this post, rather the point is to mention a few of my very favorite things which are extremely underrated by our culture and society as a whole.

1. "Can't Hardly Wait" - This classic comedy with romantic overtones set as a group of seniors graduates high school not only contains Jennifer Love Hewitt in her prime, but also some pretty memorable quotes and even a solid soundtrack. It has the 90's written all over it. But most importantly, it has the guy who plays The Bass Player in "That Thing You Do." . . . Speaking of which . . .

2. "That Thing You Do" - A romantic comedy about a band called The Wonders who have one smash hit before everything comes crashing down, this film is rather hilarious. One of Tom Hanks first ventures into directing did not do well in theaters but developed a cult like following. Anyone who has ever seen this movie loves it. You cannot prove to me otherwise. If you say you can you're a liar. Just kidding . . . but seriously.

3. R.E.M. - I don't know exact song titles, because I, like everyone else, severely under-appreciate the greatness of R.E.M., but a few of my faves are "Losing My Religion," "It's the End of the World," "I am Superman," and "Stand in the Place Where You Live." I just don't understand when discussions about the great rock bands of the 80's and 90's how this group is forgotten. Also their front man Michael Stipe does a great song with Coldplay's Chris Martin called "In the Sun," check it out.

4. Elementary School Pizza - You know the stuff I'm talking about, the rectangle pizza with the cheese too white to be real cheese, but man was it delicious. I think elementary school cafeteria food got a bad wrap in general, but maybe that's just me.

I think that's all for now, I'm sure there are a lot more things, but I noticed people basically only read my posts if they're under a certain length, so I'm trying to bend a little toward my fan base.