Thursday Thirteen #13: Movies

Thirteen Movies that Changed the Way I Looked at Films

1. City Lights
This is by far my favorite chaplin film. The entire blending of comedy and selfless love as the tramp does everything he can to help the blind girl pay for the operation, is brilliant. And then, an ending that just breaks your heart the way only Chaplin can. This movie truly defined craftsmanship as a film through plot, shots, and editing...and it was made 30+ years before most of the films on this list!

2. Star Wars (OT)
I saw the entire Star Wars Original Trilogy when they were re-released into theatres in the 90s completely remasterd. I immediately fell in love with (through my studies I've come to call) this brilliant Space-Western. George Lucas leads you along on the edge of your seat as you follow the farm boy, the princess, and the cowboy all over the galaxy. I still get excited watching the original trilogy! (Those other 3 movies Lucas just made?...well, lets just say I choose to ignore 80% of what happened there)

3. Shampoo
I really enjoy Warren Beatty as an actor, and my freshman year at Michigan I watched Shampoo for my film history class. I think that this film is the first one to truly break my heart more than City Lights did. The entire movie is set up as a wonderful romantic comedy, and by the end you really want things to turn out right for Beatty's character, but the plot has better ideas. After viewing Shampoo I was a little angry, I'd felt robbed of a great romantic comedy, but really it was all still there. The ending isn't what defines a great RomCom, it's the soul of the movie, the content, the jokes, and the believablity of the characters. I think RomComs are failing as a Genre now because they've lost a lot of their soul and believability.

4. Annie Hall
I could have filled this entire list with Woody Allen's work. As a writer/director, he's had a huge effect on me, and it's hard to pick just one movie to include on this list. I think Annie Hall truly encapsulates everything I love about Woody's work. It contains two deliciously flawed individuals trying to love eachother eventhough the drive eachother crazy. In the end, I always root for them to be together...because who else could they end up with? So many scenes shine in the film, and it all works so perfectly.

5. The Godfather
I & II are brilliant, III is....well, it's Godfather III. The Godfather is a cinematic masterpiece, and it still amazes me. I read a draft of the screenplay this past summer, and even on paper, the movie is riveting. I get chills from some of the dialogue, and I'm entertained by how many people don't know the fun fact that the horse head was actually real! No other crime drama will ever live up to this film, but I also think the genre of family-relationship dramas has been forever changed too. No other "black-sheep coming into his own" story has ever compared to that of Michael's.

6.Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
My favorite "Buddy Film" ever! Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer are brilliant as a con-man and a gay-PI trying to solve a crime, and almost failing. A great script gives both of these actors great material to work with, and the plot puts them through the ringer. If you haven't seen it yet--GO GET IT. It was my favorite film of 2005.

7. Harold & Maude
Where to begin with Harold & Maude? This film made me think twice about every other teen relatioship movie I'd seen. Harold is one of the most brilliant characters ever in film, with his suicide "attempts" every 5 minutes, and his hearse-porche hybrid, it's non-stop brilliance. His relationship with Maude is heart warming and disturbing, but makes sense in some way. As an audience member, you end up rooting for Harold a lot, and so his happiness around Maude is welcomed, and Maude's death is great cinema.

8. The Company
Robert Altman was a truly brilliant man, and this film is awesome. Neve Campbell wrote and developed the film herself, and her performance is great, both acting and dancing. The cinematography and choreography work together to make a gorgeous product. What I really love is how conflict is not forced upon the audience. The simple conflicts of the dance world, the relationship world, and the job world are beautiful, while the threat of injury (temporary or permanent) is always hanging over the dancers' head.

9. When Harry Met Sally
The friends-turned-lovers comedy has never been the same since When Harry Met Sally was released, the same has been true for how I approach this genre ever since I saw "WHMS". There are too many moments to meantion, but I will say that it has forever changed how I say "Pecan Pie."

10. The Producers
Let's just say I was more than a little obsessed with The Producers in high school. I loved this movie way before the musical was even rumored to be in pre-production. I stumbled upon the film during a Mel Brooks movie marathon one day. I've always been a fan of "Get Smart" so my dad reccomended the Producers, and I've been addicted ever since. Gene Wilder completely redefined the perfect character actor for me after watching this film.

11. Chaplin
This is the perfect Biopic by far. Robert Downey Jr. was definitely robbed of the Oscar in 1992, because his performance was superb. I was also impressed by how accurate most of the film was. Sure, there were some liberties taken with Chaplin's childhood, but it was quite impressive. Well done!

12. Singin' In the Rain
I was trying to think of another movie musical that truly changed the way I approached the genre, and it always came back to this one. The film even makes the best out of the lame tradition of a ballet sequence in classic musicals. With two great leads and a fabulous supporting cast I'm sure this movie could have survived even the worst of scripts...but luckily the book and the music are also wonderful.

13. Snakes on a Plane
Yeah, that's right, Snakes on a Plane had a profound effect on me. I've studied silent cinema for a long time, and a little known fact is that silent movie halls were far from silent, there was music, but the audience also participated. The audience would boo, cheer, clap, and yell whenever the plot called for it, and these Nickelodeons were a community event, a place where people came together and enjoyed themselves. No other movie have I seen in the theatre that recreated the Community Event experience than Snakes on a Plane. I had so much fun, and it truly made me reevaluate how I experience movie-going.