The Movie Question

I was recently asked to divulge what I consider to be the ten - fifteen best movies ever made. Movies I cannot live without. The girl with multiple shelves of movies finds this hard to imagine, yet if Courtney can do it, so can i! I think. So I am going to go through the thinking process of this.

The considerations: All the classics - movies I watched in Film as Lit, or even just at home on a Friday night that left me in chills, tears, or smiles. The Godfather, Titanic, Gone with the Wind, Forrest Gump, Pride & Prejudice, the Matrix...

The parts of my life: movies that are part of me, things I can quote daily if I need to - Clueless, Star Wars (IV-VI), Back to the Future, Bridget Jones' Diary, Miracle on 34th Street, Princess Bride

The guilty pleasures: Shrek 2, Enchanted, The Cutting Edge, and oh, Lord, the musicals.

As you can tell, this is very, very difficult for me... but I think I've got it down.

(in no particular order)

Movies that I cannot live without:

Love, Actually: This is a movie I adore, aside from its various imperfections, because I think this movie somehow contains the most wonderful depictions of many kinds of love. I may not agree with or understand it all, but the stories I do understand warm me. Maybe it's my life history in airports, but I just have this thing about them and the way the movie opens makes me tear up. Also, the soundtrack is brilliant, even given that horrible, ugly splice of two Maroon 5 songs. It's a really great Christmas movie with some unnecessary nudity. What a sentence.

Star Wars IV: A New Hope: I don't know if many people understand why or how much I really love this movie, but it's more what the movie is to me than the movie itself. Somehow a sci-fi type movie from the 70s was made and it doesn't look hideously out of date - even now. Think about other competitors like Tron and how horrible they look these days. The story is brilliant in this first edition, as we get to know Luke the whiny kid we can all understand. We're introduced to royals, magic, love, pirates, and spirituality. This movie gave me a true understanding of good vs. evil - before things become convoluted by lust, family, and ewoks. I learned that there is power beyond us, some that can be used for good and some for evil, and I learned that love exists beyond all boundaries, even if we're the only ones who can hear the voices guiding us. My heart still warms when I see Luke staring at the two suns of Tatooine and I hear the music that is his theme: this was the beginning of adventure to me when I was young and now it gives me that feeling of standing alone, young, eager for excitement and having no clue what was coming. He's a symbol of innocence, and no matter how they try to break him, Luke ends the film as the farm boy who shot womp rats in Beggar's Canyon back home.

West Side Story: This movie is everything I love about musicals. It's a tried and true story, combined with beautiful music, brilliant Sondheim lyrics, and wonderful - if often amusing - choreography. When I was younger I wanted to feel pretty, meet a perfect boy at a dance, and get married as I sang first soprano parts that I would never be able to hit. It's romantic and it's tragic - it's everything the inner-teenaged girl adores. More than that it is a time-appropriate revision of Romeo & Juliet, told in a way that was new to that generation, teaching a lesson that we have never wanted to learn.

Field of Dreams: I don't have a lot of words to describe this movie or why I love it, but haven't you ever just had a dream? Haven't you wanted something so badly that it actually keeps you awake at night and you can almost hear someone or something telling you to follow it? This story breaks my heart and builds me up at the same time. When all is said and done, sometimes there is nothing more in this world to want but a little time with that person and that thing, both of which made you who you are.

Signs: While I'm tearing up thinking of special movies, I think I should go ahead and talk about Signs, a movie that gets me teased on every top ten list I make that includes it. The truth is, I believe the internal story this movie is telling. I love the interactions between father and son, God and father. Aliens aside, this is a love story about a man whose death of faith was more damaging than the death of his wife. I do think one man, a man who inspired so many and could inspire so many more, is worth the 'damage' done. There is a plan, there is an endless circle of events, and for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. ...and some stupid biological rule about water.

Forrest Gump: This movie is just awesome. I'm smiling, thinking about it, but it's not completely happy. It's the everyman story that we all wish we had, and yet none of us would envy Forrest his position in life. One of the things that sticks out the most in this movie, aside from the amazing soundtrack, special effects, Academy Award worthy Gary Sinise performance, and the deeply moving love story, is the fact that while we, as Americans, are always willing to accept the death of people we respect for "no particular reason", as Forrest says, he could not get anyone to understand his simple act of running for "no particular reason". In fact, he just felt like it. It's amazing to think of all the little things we do in life that really mean so much to others, when to us it's just something we feel like doing. We each have a very burdensome responsibility in this world, whether we want it or not.

The Big Chill: I almost forgot this movie and replaced The Princess Bride with it. I do love The Princess Bride, but it's simply brilliant. The Big Chill is much more. Again, the acting is a huge part of this film, but more than that, it's something I loved as a teenager and didn't understand until I was out of college a few years. I watched this movie with someone who had experienced suicide personally, and I was never so thankful to share a movie moment with someone. Sounds like a downer, really, and there are rough moments, but there is so much humor and cleverness, and LOVE. Above all, this film is filled with love, and I don't think I've ever cried in it, even for a minute. That's a compliment.

Miracle on 34th Street: I love Christmas. How could I not? Have you MET my mother? :) This story, though, above all, is my favorite because it not only teaches us lessons about faith and believing in someone or something, it reminds us that even when you're not focusing on the religious aspect of the holiday, the love of that still exists. It's a great movie that beats cynicism, old-age, and commercialism while reminding us that magic can be real, just like love.

Pride & Prejudice (2005): Hands down, the most romantic movie I have ever, ever seen. I knew the story like the back of my hand when I saw it, and yet as Lizzie walked through Neverfield Park and Mr. Darcy appeared behind her, my stomach sank. The casting was pitch-perfect, the direction was beautiful. As a love/hate fan of Victorian England, I found myself wanting to just worship Joe Wright for Getting.It.Right. He lets Charlotte explain her position, he offers us the servants, he uses England perfectly, he shows us the pain of mistakes and lack of woman's position and authority. Kiera Knightly was incredible, Matthew McFayden was (in the word of Ben) a badass, Simon Woods was precious, Rosamunde Pike was radiant, and Donald Sutherland should've gotten a nomination.

Little Miss Sunshine: I saw this movie in the theatres, unsure of what to expect. I'm close to my family; I have a million and one memories of my brother and me in cars and on airplanes, keeping each other company during rough times. I love Olive and her brother because I see Stephen and me in them. (That's another reason I love Signs, by the way). I also love the compounded situation, the way everyone has to accept everyone else. It's funny, but I always cry, and there's nothing better than the last fifteen minutes of this film. PS I would marry Steve Carrell, and I think Ben would let me.

So what about you? What do you consider the top ten in your life?

for fun: my runners up
The Matrix - SO biblical in its first incarnation that I would've bet money Agent Smith hit Neo 39 times in the subway after the first time i saw it
American Beauty - Zen.
Equilibrium - censorship and idealism are not a good combination
V for Vendetta - appropriate and terrifying that it's appropriate for more than one time period (you mean that guy ISN'T supposed to be Bill O'Reilly?!)
Shakespeare in Love - BRILLIANT
Good Will Hunting - i love it so, so much.
When Harry Met Sally - I learned SO much from this movie... and i laugh when i think about it
Romeo & Juliet (1968) - beautiful
Moulin Rouge - i suppose this might be what taking acid is like... only not dangerous...really