10 Things I Love: Movies
Everyone loves movies, but most people don’t love them as much as I do. The whole experience, be it at an overpriced mega-movie theater, or sitting comfortably in your own home theater, is something that I’ve enjoyed since I was a little boy and could actually follow along with the plot.
I really get into movies, especially really good movies. I laugh, gasp, get scared, jump in my seat, shout at the TV, tear up at emotional scenes, and get excited at plot advancements. I’ve been known to exclaim “Oh shit!” loudly in the theater (embarrassing my mom during The Two Towers, hehe), and get so freaked out by Cloverfield that when the movie went all silent for a moment, all you could hear was me breathing hard.
I try not to be a movie snob when it comes to most films, but I have my limits. Ridiculous comedies (like most Adam Sandler films), Musicals, and blatant “chick flicks” (like Sisterhood of the Traveling Terms of Endearment or whatever) I mostly avoid. I can tolerate musicals sometimes, but it depends highly on the content. For instance Little Shop of Horrors is awesome, as is Chicago. The Sound of Music and Mulan Rouge, not so much.
Rather than discussing the entire history of my movie watching experience (a la the last article), I thought instead I’d list a few of my all-time favorite movies and why I enjoy them so much. Looking forward to hearing feedback about some of these in the comments. 
Pulp Fiction (1995)
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Plot: The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster’s wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. (IMDB)
Actors Who Make This Film Great: Pretty much everyone, but especially Samuel L. Jackson.
Why I Love This Film: When it was released, I had never seen a film anything quite like it. The fast-paced dialog, the disjointed time-jumping storyline, and the phenominal performances by everyone in the cast.
Scenes I Love: Mia & Vincent’s first meeting, the “foot rub” conversation between Jules and Vincent, and Harvey Keitel’s entire appearance.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Directed by: Joel and Ethan Cohen
Plot: Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey”, set in the deep south during the 1930’s. In it, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them (IMDB)
Actors Who Make This Film Great: George Clooney (”My Hair!”), John Torturro, Holly Hunter, and especially John Goodman
Why I Love This Film: I have a deep love for Greek Mythology, so when I discovered that this is a “modern day retelling” of Homer’s “The Odyssey” (as if Mark Twain had written it) I was all over this film. I spent the entire first three viewings picking out all the similarities in the original and the movie: The blind prophet at the beginning, the “sirens” by the river (although in the book, Ulysses was tied to the mast of his ship with wax stuck in his ears to avoid hearing the singing while his men jumped to their watery death), John Goodman’s “Cyclops”, the “suitors”, and of course the great flood at the end.
Scenes I Love: “He’s been turned into a…. horrrrrrrrrny toooooad”, “Damn! We’re in a tight spot!”, “Those boys desecrated a burning cross!”.. I could go on and on.
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Directed by: Irvin Kershner (Yes, George Lucas did NOT direct the best Star Wars movie ever made! His college professor did!)
Plot: While Luke takes advanced Jedi training from Yoda, his friends are relentlessly pursued by Darth Vader as part of his plan to capture Luke. (IMDB)
Actors Who Make This Film Great: Harrison Ford, James Earl Jones, Carrie Fisher. Mark Hamil was only now starting to get less annoying than his previous whiny version of Luke. He wont become a badass (albeit an emo badass) until Jedi.
Why I Love This Film: When I got my very first home video machine (read: BETAMAX), this was the only movie I owned. I had of course seen all the films before then, but I was almost a teenager when I owned the BETA so I took a fine appreciation for the film and it is still today my absolute favorite Star Wars film out of any of them. It was so dark and brooding compared to the first film; Luke finds out the biggest enemy in the galaxy is his father, loses his arm, his friend gets frozen in carbonite and shipped off to a giant green slug on Tatooine, and the C3P0 is all but destroyed. There was no happy ending to this film.
Scenes I Love: “Laugh it up, fuzzball.” Chewbacca reassembling C3P0 (and putting his head on backwards, much to his dismay), Leia to Han: “I love you.” Han to Leia: “I know.”
Legend (1985)
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Plot: A young man must stop the Lord of Darkness from both destroying daylight and marrying the woman he loves. (IMDB)
Actors Who Make This Film Great: Tim Motherfuckin Curry. Oh and that creepy elf guy (David Bennent).
Why I Love This Film: This was fantasy done right. Fantasy films previous to Lord of the Rings were spotty at best. They were either way over-the-top campy like Krull or Dragonslayer, or way too dark and violent like Conan and Red Sonja. A few gems appeared in the 80’s to help the series, one was Willow, and the other was the supremely badass LEGEND. The entire movie may have been a flop if it wasn’t for Tim Curry’s amazing performance (and makeup) as the Lord of Darkness. Tom Cruise, before the craziness and the cult, actually put forth a decent performance as the forest-dwelling Jack.
Scenes I Love: Jack getting his armor, the first meeting of Lily and the Lord of Darkness (”Eat, Drink, Sit.”), anything with the Gnomes.
The Princess Bride (1987)
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Plot: A classic fairy tale, with swordplay, giants, an evil prince, a beautiful princess, and yes, some kissing (as read by a kindly grandfather). (IMDB)
Actors Who Make This Film Great: Pretty much everyone including Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, and of course Billy Crystal and Carol Kane.
Why I Love This Film: Because at heart, I’m a big hopeless romantic. I think I’ve watched this film over 50 times in my life, and I would sit down and watch it again right this minute if it was on a television nearby. From the instantly quotable one-liners: “INCONCEIVABLE!” “My name is Indigo Montoya..”, to the epic sword battles, to the odd and dry humor that peppers the film, nothing in this movie disappoints. Even the romantic parts call attention to its own “cheese” by having the Grandson (played by a very young Fred Savage) bemoan the kissing, at least at first.
Scenes I Love: The entire opening, “As You Wish”, ROUS (Rodents of Unusual Size), and of course Miracle Max and his wonderful loving wife Valerie.
Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
Directed by: Chris Columbus
Plot: Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) agrees to babysit after her “dream” date stands her up. Expecting a dull evening, Chris settles down with three kids for a night of TV … and boredom. But when her frantic friend Brenda calls and pleads to be rescued from the bus station in downtown Chicago, the evening soon explodes into an endless whirl of hair-raising adventures! (Amazon)
Actors Who Make This Film Great: Elizabeth Shue, Vincent D’Onofrio
Why I Love This Film: Okay, this film isn’t worth of any awards, nor should it be considered a “classic” by any means, but that doesn’t make me love this film any less. I remember this film fondly as a kid, and I’m pretty sure my very first celebrity crush/lust was Elizabeth Shue. Despite the films obvious cheesiness, it’s actually a really funny comedy and falls in line with a lot of other decent “family” comedies out at the same time (think Uncle Buck). Vincent D’Onofrio’s appearance as a garage mechanic/Thor at the end is really entertaining to look at considering his recent portfolio (The Cell, Law & Order: SVU, etc).
Scenes I Love: When Chris (Elizabeth Shue) finds her boyfriend (played by West Wing/Studio 60’s Bradley Whitford) on a date with another woman, Sara’s deadly skyscraper adventure, and of course the gang meeting Thor at the end.
The Goonies (1985)
Directed By: Richard Donner
Plot: They call themselves “The Goonies.” The secret caves. The old lighthouse. The lost map. The treacherous traps. The hidden treasure. And Sloth… Join the adventure. (IMDB)
Actors Who Make This Film Great: Sean Astin, Anne Ramsey, Jeff Cohen (Chunk)
Why I Love This Film: C’mon. Pirate treasure, secret maps found in attics, idiot criminals, and a friendly monster. This movie had everything a boy wanted in it, up and including a hot redhead in a tennis skirt. I think this is the only movie I’ve seen more than The Princess Bride, and my young adventures into sewer pipes and underground caverns is entirely to blame on this film. This movie still holds up extremely well with today’s generation, and is probably one of the most demanded sequels people still want. There’s been several rumors of a sequel, but nothing has ever gotten off the ground. Unless it was written, directed, and starred all the same people (except Mama Fratelli and Sloth, RIP), there’s no way it could ever come close to how awesome this movie is.
Scenes I Love: The “Truffle Shuffle”, Chunk’s first meeting with Sloth, Mouth and the marble bag.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Directed and Written by: Richard Kelly
Plot: A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident. (IMDB)
Actors Who Make This Film Great: Jake Gyllenhaal, Noah Wylie, James Duval (as Frank), and even Drew Barrymore isn’t annoying!
Why I Love This Film: First off, the plot synopsis above is a joke. That is not what this movie is about at all, and makes it seem like some kind of weird horror movie. If you haven’t seen this movie, you may not want to read after this, although i’ll do my best to avoid any big spoilers. What the movie is about is this: Donnie is a distressed teenager who is awoken in the night by a disembodied voice beckoning him to the local golf course. While he is discussing the end of the world with a 6′ rabbit, a jet engine crashes through the roof of his house directly above his bedroom that would have killed him upon impact. What he discovers then is that time and reality have been fractured, and through Frank (the bunny), and a few other spiritual guides (his friends, his teachers, Roberta Sparrow) along the way, seeks to fix the broken universe before the world ends. This is explained in greater detail on the Directors Cut of the film and in the audio commentary with Richard Kelly himself (as interviewed by Kevin Smith!) You seriously cannot watch this movie only once.
Scenes I Love: The “Knife” scene in the bathroom, Donnie skulking out of Patrick Swayze’s house with flames behind him, the creepy scene with him talking to Frank in the movie theater.
The Professional (AKA Leon) (1994)
Directed and Written by: Luc Besson
Plot: Professional assassin Leon reluctantly takes care of 12-year-old Mathilda, a neighbor whose parents are killed, and teaches her his trade. (IMDB)
Actors Who Make This Film Great: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and Natalie Portman in her first film!
Why I Love This Film: Fantastic storytelling, characters you care about, and Gary Fucking Oldman. I swear I’ve never seen a bad movie with this guy in it. Regardless, whether you’ve seen it as The Professional or Leon: The Professional, this film is not only absolutely beautiful to watch cinematically, but also just a damn good film from start to finish. Luc Besson went well beyond the call of duty for this film after realizing the character of “The Cleaner” from his previous film, La Femme Nikita, was underused and wished to develop an entire story for the character, both played by Jean Reno. Natalie Portman grabbed a lot of people’s attention in her first major motion picture role as the 12 year old Mathilda who trains with Leon to become a professional herself. Along with The Goonies, this is also one of the most highly demanded sequels. I’d love to see Natalie Portman back in the same role, 10 years later and following along in Leon’s footsteps.
Scenes I Love: Practice shooting on the roof with the paintball gun, the Mathilda/Leon fashion show, any scene involving Gary Oldman.
HONORABLE MENTION:
True Romance - Directed from a script written by Quentin Tarantino, this had a super all-star cast that kept you clinging to your seat from beginning to the end. Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, and Val Kilmer (as Elvis)
Airplane - The First and best parody film out there, this is one film that still leaves me hurting in laughter afterwards. Looks like I picked a hell of a week to quit sniffing glue.
Labyrinth - Muppets, Jennifer Connelly, and David Bowie. Don’t go that way. If you’d kept on going that way, you’d have gone straight to the castle!
Any many more too numerous to name here. These films I discuss above aren’t all masterpieces, but they are films that hold a special place in my heart and come to mind when I think of all my favorite movies. I’m constantly adding movies to my “favorites” list, but these will always be at the very top.
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
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