Rotten Tomatoes does this thing where they ask actors what their five favorite movies are and why. I know it's not exactly a new idea but it did get me to think about what movies I would say are the movies I love to watch. Not just love, but the kinds of movies I could watch over and over. For my long time readers they know about my feelings for movies like Star Wars, Alien, and so on. But to my surprise I wouldn't call them my five favorite movies.
For a list like this it's almost impossible to put one of these over another so I won't number them. But here are just five movies I thank God every day that I've been fortunate enough to see.
DIE HARD: This has to be the perfect action movie. Putting aside my feelings of the sequels to it, the first Die Hard movie was exactly the perfect formula for an action movie. What really impressed me more than anything was how tightly the script was written. That's something that is increasingly rare these days. The art of storytelling while not a dead or a lost art, it does seem that action and special effects are given more emphasis. Die Hard is an example of a movie that can have both and a ton of success.
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION: What I love about this movie is the willingness to take chances and to ask questions about our legal system and what it's truely like to be inprisoned for a long time. Everyone knows about the ugly side of prison life. But this movie asks some very important questions. What does it mean to have freedom? What does it mean to not only be inprisoned bodily but also spiritually? What would someone do to break free from spiritual inprisonment? Much like Andy does in the movie, the movie delves into the deepest of the muck and manages to find something truely beautiful.
SCHINDLER'S LIST: I wouldn't say this is an original idea. Movies about the ugliness of the Holocaust has been done at least a million times. I doubt you'll ever see a movie showing the positives of the Holocaust simply because there aren't any. It was a brutal time. One that should never be duplicated. But again it's a message of hope in the blackest dispair. A true story about a guy who sacrificed everything he had and put his own life in great danger to do his part to end the war and save as many people's lives as he could. If you aren't moved by this story, your heart truely is made of stone.
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN: Given the last few movies I talked about it's a little weird to have a comedy like this in the same conversation. I love Mel Brooks. I grew up watching Mel Brooks movies. What set this one apart from the whole laundry list of wonderful movies he made, I never got the same feeling of passion or love that I did from Young Frankenstein. Just the sheer amount of research he put into the script to not only make fun but to also pay homage to the hundreds of Frankenstein movies that came before it. The art of parody is a lost art. If you watch movies like Scary Movie, it's not clear if they are making fun of it because it's popular or because they have a true passion for these kinds of movies. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it has a distain for the source material it's lampooning. That's what makes a world of difference; it takes a lot of skill to make fun of something you love and make it funny.
HUGO: My God. This movie. If you are to see this movie, if for no other reason, it's for Ben Kingsley and his masterful portrayal of Georges Melies. This was a guy full of whimsy and creativity. He made movies that were just all out insane. But they were just so much fun. He described it himself as a time of pure love, passion, and creativity. And when it was over, it crushed his spirit into a bitter old man. When he found that his work had lived on and was being enjoyed by a whole new generation, it inspired him to find that spark that he had and do a little bit of time traveling back to his youth. I think we all need to have that feeling at least once in our lives. That feeling of total joy. To find what we love to do and grasp it tightly with both hands. It's cliche to say "if you do what you love, you never work a day in your life" but it's a whole different story to see it and experience it for yourself. I can confidently say this movie changed my life and inspired me to these blogs and to write my own movies.
I'm sure everyone has a movie or movies they just loved. I hope this gives you some insight into who I am and where I'm coming from. I invite you to share your favorite movies on this site.
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