This is my favorite movie of all time. The one that started it all, at least for me. I think I was eleven or so when I saw it for the first time, and not only did it get me thinking about what makes a good story, it turned me on to the fact that filmmaking was an actual career for some people. So that was kind of it. I knew from that moment on I would be a filmmaker.
"In all great movies . . . the great, great movies, there's some element of magic . . . Something that goes beyond paper, where you go, you know, you put A with B and you get this. No, it's something beyond that. You can never recreate it if you try, you can never recreate it."
2. The Emperor's New Groove
Definitely the funniest kid's movie I have ever seen. A guilty pleasure that I'm not so guilty about.
3. When Harry Met Sally
This is the movie my girlfriend and I watch at least once a year. It's so funny, the music is awesome, and it just makes you want to find a great apartment in the Times' obituaries and move to New York.
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
This film is inventive and compelling and visually striking and sad and funny and colorful and beautiful and all the things I like about movies.
“How happy is the blameless vestal’s lot? The world forgetting by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. Each prayer accepted and each wish resigned.” – AlexanderPope
5. ContactI'm a big fan of Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and this is probably my favorite films of his, although I also really like What Lies Beneath. I'm particularly obsessed with Contact's sound effects and story line. The sound effects are so specific and so pitch-perfect and unique, and I like the fact that the story doesn't shy away from religion and doesn't push a "Hollywood" agenda or purport that science killed God and everyone is an atheist. I think it's accurate about how people view the intersection of faith and science.
6. The Ring
I've seen The Ring more times than I can count. No, it isn't perfect and no, it isn't for everyone. But it is definitely for me. The Ring falls in a very small group of well-made supernatural thrillers for the teenage demographic. Having been a teenager for the past seven years and searching incessantly for other movies that were on par with this, believe me when I say they are few and far between. It's scary, it's fun, and it's downright entertaining.
Also note the wonderfully blue-green color palette. This film is very specific in color, soundtrack, and locations, which I've always admired.
7. The Pelican Brief
I love The Pelican Brief mostly for its excellent story, adapted from a John Grisham novel. I have a thing for political thrillers, and this is one of my personal favorites. Of course Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts are fantastic (and even better in HD). Always good for a night when you just want a good, solid movie with friends or family.
8. Titanic
Admit it: you've seen it, and you love it. Even if you don't want to, from the music to the melodramatic acting, Titanic is pitch-perfect and practically irresistible. I'm not ashamed to say that I watched this movie when I was in the first grade and it has impacted my taste and vision for film immensely. And not just the sex. Titanic is cinema in the grandest possible style, and that is exactly how it should be.
9. The House of the Devil
This is a film I first saw at Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham two years ago. Executed in the style of early eighties horror, The House of the Devil builds suspense steadily and carefully before exploding into a truly intense ending worthy of the horror genre. Not everyone was happy with the resolution to the plot, but I thought it made sense and was satisfying. Regardless of that arguable flaw, this is definitely a horror movie worth watching.
Last but not least, a classic comedy starring one of my favorite actors, Dustin Hoffman, as an actor. I really wasn't expecting Tootsie to be as good as it was; if you haven't seen it yet and are in need of a good laugh you should definitely check it out.
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