I just found a list of my favorite films from back in 2003. This was not too long after high school and a couple years before I started film school. Looking back on it, it could have been a lot worse. Granted, even back then, I knew the difference between "best" and "favorite." These were my favorite films, the ones you could put on anytime, over and over, and I'd watch them. If you want to learn a few things about your favorite blogger...then I'd suggest you go ask them. To learn about me, read on.
Here they are: My Top 10 Favorite Movies [2003 Pre-Film School Edition]1. Dangerous Minds - I was pretty much obsessed with this movie for years. It came out just as I was beginning to listen to hip-hop, "Gangsta's Paradise" was all over the radio, Michele Pfeiffer was gorgeous in my mind, and the most influential reason leading to my love of all things Dangerous Minds, my parent forbid me from watching Dangerous Minds. It bore the mark of the forbidden "R" which was also forbidden in my religious household. Since I couldn't watch the movie, I bought the soundtrack, which my dad threw away on multiple occasions. Each time, I bought another cassette. Each time, he threw it out. I bought the book which somehow still remains on my bookshelf. Eventually, I bought the DVD and proudly paraded it in front of my family, the plastic disc serving as a symbol for my teenage rebellion and newfound adulthood.
Today's rating: Probably not in the top ten, but definitely in the top 20.
2. Born in East LA - Saw this on TV, searched out a VHS, eventually bought a DVD. When I moved my DVDs into binders, this one stayed in its case to sit on the DVD shelves in between and Boogie Nights and Bottle Rocket.
Today's rating: Still in the Top 10. I'll die loving this movie.
3. The Breakfast Club - What 80s baby didn't love The Breakfast Club. It summed up high school so well. It taught us to categorize others into rigid, stereotypical, and unescapable labels. How else were we supposed to get through our teens? If they ever remake this, the certain magic the original possess could never be duplicated. Say what you will about American Teen, but an homage is certainly better than a remake.
Today's rating: As high school moves further and further into my past, my love for The Breakfast Club slowly lessens. Top 50, maybe? Bottom 50, maybe?
4. Tortilla Soup - One night, shortly after a move to a new town, I walked to the one-screen movie theater to watch a movie I'd never heard of before. It was a few days after 9/11 and the entire country was talking about terrorism, death, and destruction. Not Tortilla Soup. Tortilla Soup opened with a beautiful montage of fascinating food preparation and delicious looking dishes. Over the next week, I watched Tortilla Soup five more times. On the last day, I asked for a job. For the next couple of years, that's where you could find me, working at my one-screen art house movie theatre.
Today's rating: Still very high. Top 20, probably higher. Every note of Bill Conti's score brings back waves of nostalgia that you can't buy in some Five and Dime.
5. Best in Show - Back in the day I wrote a list of the Top 20 DVDs I Wanted and decided to share it with my friends via MySpace. What showed up on my doorstep a couple weeks later? A DVD of Best in Show from my good friend Rena. Thanks again, Rena! These days, Waiting for Guffman's probably my favorite Guest film, Parker Posey's "DQ" monologue is unbeatable.
Today's rating: Not as high as Guffman. Probably somewhere in the lower half of the list.
6. Fools Rush In - I grew up in a half white/half Hispanic community. I was the white boy with crushes on the Mexican girls. Fools Rush In spoke to me. I used it as a preperation guide as how to talk to these girls and even charm my future Mexican in-laws. The irony is, the first Hispanic girl I dated loathed this movie. Everything I had learned was wrong. Thanks Hollywood. But even after the film's verisimilitude turned out to be faulty, I continued to love watching Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek living the dream.
Today's rating: Might scrape in somewhere in the 90-100 range.
7. Airplane! - Middle school brought forth my love of Saturday Night Live. I caught strep throat and had to stay home for a week straight. That entire week was spent watching reruns of SNL. I left school intelligent and semi-popular. I came back completely unfocused and determined to win the coveted "Class Clown" award (which I did). After SNL, the next logical step, as far as zany comedy went, was the work of the Jim Abraham and the Zucker brothers. This movie killed me as a kid. The opening parody of Jaws. The girl scout fight. "Don't call me Shirley." Otto Pilot. I recently watched it with a group of friends and it's still one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.
Today's rating: Top 15 overall, top five comedies.
8. Cinema Paradiso - Someone has shown this to me in my early teen years. I can't remember who but I do remember how blown away I was by this foreign film! It had subtitles! And it was good! I had seen other foreign films by then, actually, the first film I saw in theatres was The Adventures of Milo & Otis which was made in Japan (but later dubbed in English). But it was the way Paradiso glorified the movie theatre and fetishised film in the eyes of the little boy that I strongly identified with.
Today's rating: The second half of the film is far less interesting and captivating than the first and would probably drag the film right off the entire Top 100.
9. Back to the Future - This is still one of the best made films of all-time, in my opinion. It might not be popular in the scholarly world to say that about 80s teen com-dramas but damnit, I'm taking a stand. The plot still holds up, DeLoreans kick ass, Lea Thompson is one hot mom-to-be, Huey Lewis needs to be on more soundtracks, I have a need to skateboard behind a jeep, disappearing photos are scary, and while the hoverboards didn't show up until the sequel, their eventual invention will be more celebrated than the cure for AIDS.
Today's ranking: I would bet that the #9 spot would be a comfortable home for Marty McFly and Doc.
10. The Karate Kid, Part II - My favorite of the Macchio trilogy. This one's got it all. A beautiful girl (she's no Elizabeth Shue, but I'm not complaining), Okinawa, a Daniel vs. five skeletons fight scene, THE DRUM, THE MIYAGI FAMILY SECRET, and a romantic montage set to Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love." What else can a growing boy ask for?
Today's rating: Honestly, still in the Top 10, maybe even higher than it's 2003 #10 spot.
What movies did you used to love? Do you still love them?
What's your old Top 10 look like? How about today's?
Unfaithful: I assume I'm alone on this island.
The Truman Show: Truman would be my confidant, my Wilson. He would understand exactly what I was going through. Unfortunately, repeated viewings of The Truman Show would surely lead towards insanity but there's something romantic about a delusional blogger stumbling around an island thinking he's on reality TV.
The Warriors: It's my favorite movie of all-time. I had to have it. That being said, I'd take my original cut over the Director's Cut because those cartoon interludes add nothing to the movie.
Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme: Choosing which documentary to bring was difficult. I decided to choose my favorite hip-hop doc because there's tons of special features, bonus footage, and it'll give me my music fix while I'm waiting for death on this godforsaken island.
Do the Right Thing: I noticed that my "high-quality filmmaking" quota was a little low so I'm bringing Do the Right Thing. It's cinegasmic, features some of my all-time favorite performances, and is just that damn good.
Back to the Future: Escapism at its best. I'm also hoping that if I play this enough times in a row that my friend Luke will somehow psychically pick up on my coordinates. He'll either come and save me or stick around and watch Back to the Future with me until one of us is forced to eat the other to fight off starvation.
Posts
