Some families have multiple movie connoisseurs in them, and others, like mine, do not. I grew up watching chick-flicks with my mom and gory, action-packed thrillers with my dad. It is unfortunate that my friends had to introduce me to the great movies I know today, but I am glad someone was able to further my movie education. Each year I try and watch at least a few new movies to broaden my horizon. For instance, this summer my friends and I watched several Alfred Hitchcock movies, including Vertigo, The Birds, and Rear Window. I am lucky enough to have friends who had avid movie watching families, so they are much more knowledgeable than I about cinematography. Throughout my years, though, I have watched many movies, and have always held a short list in my head of those that I hold in the most esteem. Here is my top-ten movie list:
1. Casablanca. This movie is an absolute classic, and I have turned many people into fans of this movie, and for good reason too. Set in Morocco in the early years of World War II, you know this movie is going to have a good plot line. With Morocco being center stage for those fleeing Europe, many interesting characters will undoubtedly pass through this small North African country, and there is bound to be trouble. With great songs like “As Time Goes By” and famous lines like, “Here's looking at you, kid,” this movie bleeds “classicness.” The final scene is great as well, with the characters disappearing into the fog with one of the most memorable exit lines in movie history: “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
2. Silence of the Lambs. Where do I even start with this movie? An action-packed, suspense-filled thriller; this is undoubtedly a quality movie. Those who have not watched this movie should reassess their movie prowess. There is so much character depth that is set up throughout the movie, and while watching this film, I felt like I actually knew the life stories of each character, which is a difficult task to accomplish for some directors. Jodie Foster does some excellent acting as Clarice Starling, the FBI agent, and helps to move the plot forward. This is one thriller that I could literally watch over and over again.
3. Slumdog Millionaire. Although this movie only came out in 2008, it quickly jumped towards the top of my list the second I stepped out of the movie theater. I am pretty sure my jaw hung open for days after seeing that (which is why I bought this DVD the second Best Buy had one available). What a genius idea for a movie! The plot kept moving the whole time, and the way this director tied everything together was astounding. The children who played the youngest Salim, Jamal and Latika were excellent (and not to mention some of the most adorable children in the world). This is another movie that I love to watch, even though it is long, and I have turned many people in “Slumdog” fans.
4. Hotel Rwanda. Although this is a depressing movie, one must give credit where credit is due. The fact that this movie is based on a true story makes it that much more incredible. The first time I watched this movie was in my African Studies course in high school, and although there were some scenes I wanted to shut my eyes for, it was too well done to turn away. Being so true to the history of the situation made this movie feel real. Seeing how the Hutus and the Tutsis interacted with each other before the genocide started, shows how there really was no reason that the genocide should have began in the first place, since most people were living peacefully anyways. Any movie that can make a movie as realistic as a textbook, and make it interesting to watch, gains points in my book.
5. The Princess Bride. This is one movie that I have been watching since I was a little girl. A smile comes to my face just by looking at the tagline, “Scaling the Cliffs of Insanity, Battling Rodents of Unusual Size, Facing torture in the Pit of Despair. - True love has never been a snap.” This is a movie that has it all – you laugh, you cry, and you wonder what these characters are thinking. My childhood memory is a little scarred from watching Westley wrestle with a giant rat in the forest and seeing Buttercup sink in the swamp, but the fact that there is a happy ending makes everything okay in the end. This is another classic that everyone should watch at least once in their life.
6. No Country for Old Men. While this a movie I’m not sure I could ever watch again, it was a great film and very well done. I was kept on the edge of my seat the whole time, and although when I got out of the movie theater I couldn’t talk for a few minutes, I was thoroughly pleased with the nine dollars I had spent.
7. Requiem for a Dream. If you have a friend who does drugs and you are trying to get them to stop, show them this movie. This is a movie about several people whose lives change dramatically because of their particular addictions. From shooting heroin to dropping speed to diet pills, this move covers it all. I’ve only seen it once, but I’m pretty sure I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Deciding between closing my eyes or watching Harry shoot up yet again was a constant battle throughout the movie. This movie will definitely make you think twice before ever doing hard drugs, since the final scene closes with each character curling up in a fetal position, Marion on her couch after prostituting herself, Harry in the hospital bed with his arm amputated, Tyrone on a cot in prison, and Sara in a bed in at the mental hospital. As much as you want to see a happy ending come out of this movie, don’t hold your breath, because it won’t.
8. The Dark Knight. So many of these characters were too good to talk about. Since I am particularly a fan of Heath Ledger, I enjoyed this movie even more. But even if Heath Ledger had not been a part of this movie, I still think it would have been epic. I truly enjoyed everything about this movie – from the casting choices to the costumes to the plot, I thought it was all very well done. This is yet another movie that I would recommend to anyone and everyone (everyone over a certain age, that is).
9. Mean Girls. If I took a poll of how many people haven’t seen this movie, I think very few would say, “No, I have never watched Mean Girls.” This movie is famous (or infamous) and I think it could actually go down in history as a great movie. It depicts all the horribleness of high school in a way that can make you laugh at it, but still say, “Yeah, high school is a shitty time and no one should have to go through that.” By putting a positive spin on some negative aspects of life has to make everyone smile by the end of the movie, once they realize how much of joke those four years they spent in their respective schools were.
10. Finding Nemo. Since this is my dad’s favorite movie, I felt a need to include Finding Nemo on my list. And it is a guilty pleasure of mine, to be sure. Who would think that a movie about fish in the ocean could such a crowd pleaser? To this day, my dad and I can sit at home, watch this movie, eat a bowl of popcorn, and cry from laughing so hard. This has to be one of Pixar’s greatest films, and I am a proud owner of this DVD.
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