Sooooooooo. I have been shamelessly influenced by a good friend and fellow cinenerd with a list he is in the process of making with his Top 50 Favourite Movies of all time, however, I wanted to do something a teensy bit different. This post is the commencement of a Top 50 list of films which have, in some fashion, shape or form have influenced me, be it emotionally, artistically or psychologically and perhaps sometimes all three.
A brief caveat before we begin; the features listed here may not be films which could be perceived as legitimately good, because to me, relevance and creative brilliance aren't strictly the same. Art and opinionated response is as subjective as it is objective and I would like to say this now; chances are, you will most certainly NOT agree with some of my choices, however, I would also like to say this list should not be taken as anything remotely empirical or beholden to some sort of personal agenda. It's just a bunch of movies which have affected me as I can only speak for myself and nobody else. Savvy? Wonderful. ^^
So without, further ado, let's get this cinematic kegger started!
Showgirls
Ah, the ultimate exercise in rampant stupidity, excess and retrospective satirical brilliance which could have only been pulled off by the Meester Goochelaar Paul Verhoeven.
Only recently Elizabeth Berkley finally managed to appreciate her indomitable performance as the psychopathic bitch-face that was Nomi Malone and with that came a sense of full circle, which is actually most satisfying twofold- for her peace of mind and for my own further enjoyment of the movie. A film so drenched in nudity that after 15 minutes, you pretty much become desensitized to it all, including one of the most HILARIOUS sex scenes in movie history. With an exception to Liz, what I love most is how a majority of the principle cast pretty much figured out exactly what sort of film they were in and ran with it across the goal post and back with a smirk, a wink and a cheeky wiggle.
Pan's Labyrinth
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| Image credit: Matthew Griffin |
Those of you who know me well enough also know I'm married to Senor Del Toro; he just doesn't know it yet.
He has consistently been a very entertaining, visually stimulating artisan director who is strongly drawn to the fantastical and the strange and isn't afraid to show his nerdy, fanboy roots. While I have enjoyed pretty much all of his movies (Hell, I will defend Mimic to a certain extent), none of them have ever quite reached the level of Pan's Labyrinth. I have a strong attraction to fairy tales, both vanilla and twisted and to have these elements allegorically mixed in with the brutal historical backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, somehow the stars aligned to make what is arguably his most perfect film.
Stunning visuals, cohesive story-telling, atmosphere, intelligent and INCREDIBLE performances, a standout being Sergi Lopez as the dastardly yet mortally vulnerable Captain Vidal, this is Huzbando #1's unequivocal masterpiece.
The Little Mermaid
While not the finest hour of what is now known as the Disney Renaissance, this was the first Disney film I saw on the big screen which completely drew me into the House of Mouse.
Hans Christen Andersen's fairy tale was definitely not fit to be told to the wide public so clearly, alterations had to be made. Yes, the tropes are as old as Stonehenge, but you know what? They work. They work because they are universal; the rebellion of youth, exploring the unknown, defying expected societal constraints and curiousity, those are all qualities which appeal to us. Yes, Ariel can be a brat, but you need to remember, she is 16 years old and tell me, what were you like at Sweet 16? Additionally, without her tenacious, firebrand desire to know more about what lies beyond the waves, we wouldn't have had a story and who knows, we may not have had Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King in hot pursuit.
And damn, those songs are catchy and Ursula is a fabulous and fierce bitch who I can't help but love.
Die Hard With A Vengeance
I know, I know, how dare I, I'm a philistine, yep, yep, yep. Now hear me out.
Die Hard to this day remains the superior entry of the saga of John McClane's REALLY Bad Fucking Day, but it was the third installment which formally introduced me to the grumpy New York detective. While by this point audiences were used to his ways, I had no idea who this man was, so when I watched this film with Pa Harper for the first time, I was going in fully blind. And you know what? While the film does manage to work quite well as a standalone what with being chockers with outstanding action and moments of genuine suspense, it also made me want to seek out the first film which fully cemented my love for the series (well... some of the series).
Additionally, you can't say Vengeance was wholly brainless either, what with it's timing being very close to home due to the infamous LA riots and the fact that John McClane's reluctant but not less badass partner, Zeus, was an African American man and you have a very interesting dynamic between the two. I also have to say, while Jeremy Irons has revealed himself to be a piece of trash, Simon made for a compelling and smarmy foil who you can't help but enjoy, complete with his smugness and oily delivery.
Dirty Harry
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| Gotta love that tagline, by the way. |
This film is still so misunderstood and for the life of me, I still don't understand why.
While it is most definitely a product of it's time in regards to it's attitude toward the impotent justice system which favored the guilty and failed the innocent, such feelings of extreme cynicism exist today, maybe moreso. While Harry can be viewed as a racist, bigoted prick on first meeting, that couldn't be further from the truth. For all of his brusque, no-bullshit attitude and socially affront comportment, Detective Harry Callahan is one of the most compassionate and humane characters with plenty of guile to spare and none of these qualities have anything to do with his .44. He is so frustrated by the broken judiciary that while he does end up taking matters into his own hands vigilante-style at the end, it's because it is a final resort. If you ask me, this movie came out at the right time, but it's echo can still be heard loud and clear and potentially continues to be so.
Oh, and Andrew Robinson's Scorpio? Easily one of the most vile villains in movie history.
Fright Night (original)
A colourful and wicked EC-comic inspired take on the vampire genre made at the most opportune epoch of history which not only looks back but cleverly looks forward with an explosive soundtrack, some truly astounding practical effects, the right amount of humor and horror and Chris Fucking Sarandon wearing a turtleneck sweater as only he could. Insta-classic.
Jurassic Park
DINOSAURS! And some thoughtful meditations of human arrogance on becoming self-proclaimed gods using the new alchemy known as science I suppose, BUT DINOSAURS! This was the film which single-handedly made me a fan of cinema. Not just the blockbuster, not just the lizards who stalked the Earth long before I was a glint in my father's eye, but the sheer definition and spectacle of the big screen.
You know that moment, the drop of that metaphorical penny which makes you realise you want to be a part of something and mold your identity because of it? Jurassic Park was one of those defining moments and I haven't looked back since.
Fantasia
Another Disney film (you can probably expect to see a few more of these as the journey continues), but another which left an indelible impact on me. If I had to categorize in what way this film has affected me, it would be one which is emotional.
While some segments had their own self-contained story, they were not what one could consider cohesive as a whole; flowers, sentient brooms, Mickey Mouse as a wizard, dancing mushrooms, the evolution of life on Earth billions of years ago, centaurs (oh, don't worry, I'm well aware of the latent racism this film has due to the time it was made and the attitudes reflected), Greek gods, dancing hippos, prancing crocodiles and every unimaginable horror being conjured on Wulpurgisnacht, like, what IS all of this for? The way I see it, Fantasia is a film which is vague yet familiar which appeals to your emotional center as opposed to your strictly intellectual one. BTW, one of my fave moments features an interval with the orchestra when one of the band members takes a stumble on the podium and his bandmates chuckle at him.
Fantasia is a film which celebrates moments, good, bad and indecipherable and do you know what else is good, bad and indecipherable? Life.
PS: There was a sequel, but we don't really talk about that on account of total inferiority.
PS: There was a sequel, but we don't really talk about that on account of total inferiority.
Alien
Extra-terrestrial Freudian rape themes, genital-based terror, perverse parenthood and brick-labor inducing prolonged periods of suspense- in other words, my biography. NEXT!
Das Boot
While I wouldn't say this was the first foreign film I ever saw, it is the first foreign film which I understood and appreciated fully. Wolfgang Petersen is a director I feel who doesn't earn nearly as much praise as he should because he can direct the fuck out of a film, be it action, gripping human drama, catgut-thrumming thriller and in the case of Das Boot, all three.
What resonated with me most was despite the fact the characters you follow through this film are technically Nazis, but rather than take the cheap way out of displaying them as reprehensible caricatures (and let's not split hairs here, the Nazis were trash), these guys are really just soldiers who have been conscripted by those in power to fight. As the film progresses, we see these men, some who are no older than 15 years old age both physically and emotionally. Nobody on any side of any war wakes up saying "I'M GONNA BE A BAD GUY! I'M GONNA WAKE UP AND EAT MY EVIL CORNFLAKES, WALK MY EVIL DOG, BUY MY EVIL NEWS PAPER AND MY EVIL BOTTLE OF MILK!" and Das Boot investigates this truth in harrowing detail by showing these men as people, people in the middle of a devastating conflict who were only doing their job. This was never about politics for them, it was about the obligation of duty.
Das Boot does not glamorize a single thing about being on a German U-Boat or makes any attempts to defend Nazism nor does it display anything remotely sycophantic about war or ideology.
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