Movies

So as anyone close to me will tell you i love movies, well in general works of fiction, i guess you could tell with my long discussion of my love of animation and my opinion on the stigma being a 23 year old and watching things that are considered childish may carry.

It's actually funny my choices of movies are most likely the most mature part of me (well and music) i'm a sucker for things that are depressing or comedys that are dark, and unfortunately my pretentiousness does leak into my movie viewing.

My cynisism also leaks in as i am always weary of anything big budget and blockbustery (is that a word?), the moment i found out they were making another Fast and Furious movie i just had to groan.

So as a change of pace i figured i'd take a personal look into some of my favourite movies (for lack of other ideas) these aren't in any particular order because honestly creating and honest top 10 would just take me hours.


Monty Python and the Holy Grail
As someone who was a british schoolboy for an earlier part of my life it was always commonplace that you would hear the 'knights of ni' routine as a regular occurence (that sentence was so run on it's not even funny). As a 10 year old this is probably the funniest thing that you have ever seen, and it you're the precosious enough it has enough quote to tire out your whole family (even if you're from a big family).

Also don't misinterpret my 10 year old school boy jabber this is by no means a kids movie, there are some very adult jokes in it (both the sophisticated kind and the oh i didn't realise that was so rude kind),

Finally as a lover of comedy and movies how could i not love a movie that sticks a middle finger up at climaxes.


Stranger Than Fiction
I adore this movie. I am the kind of person who loves when an actor can step up and do a movie that is not his regular forte, and boy does Will Ferrell do well here, and in such a wonderful story, such a unique, creative and heartwarming story (oh my god i'm actually gushing). Dustin Hoffman is always a class act and is believable as someone who is skeptical but intruiged and in some ways altruistic.

This is a truely wonderful film start to finish and i love how the protagantist has to really work for his happy ending (ok gushing over).


Labrynth 
So i watched this movie recently to see if this movie still held up (because i enjoyed this movie as a kid) and what i found was that a) the special effects were really aged (not that special effects are that important if the story is good) and b) the story was really simple and childish (and if you're just tuning in i'm mature with movies).

So you'd think it wouldn't hold up, but you know what, I STILL LIKED IT. Yeah i said it, this is one of my guilty pleasures and this is for 2 reasons.

1) It so wonderfully campy and 80s

2) David motherfrosting Bowie

Honestly who doesn't want to dance magic dance with the goblin king!


Charlie Bartlett
Every generation has a high school movie that they can truely call their own, and when i was 17 just coming out of high school, 2 movies came out which i consider to be our generations high school movies (that is so corny). The first is Charlie Bartlett and the other will be mentioned below (no cheating and scrolling down!)

The main character is so endering and the teenagers actually act like teenagers, there's no sugar coating, they have problems, anxieties and some feel damn well alienated. This is one of those movies that feels so upbeat but has undertones or darkness and that is refreshing for something made for teenagers.


Superbad
I'll be honest, when devising this list 3 movies with Michael Cera popped up (i don't have a man crush!).

When you go to a video store and it has a comedy sticker on it alot of the time it's going to be something the is laugh a minute flick but lacks substance and there is a movie full of substance but the laughs are few and far between, but sometimes there is the diamond in the rough, the gem that while was laugh out loud funny, and can make you use your brain and sometimes your heart (ugh that is really corny).

It is a wonderful journey, the character are realistic (especially for anyone not particularly popular at high school) and as someone who finds happy endings passe i thought the bitter sweet ending was a nice way to top it all off, an implicit happy ending but with shades of grey (less than 50)


Blues Brother
Hey boys and girls, do you like music, movies, car chase scenes, pissed of hillbillies and nazis! Well you're in luck!

This movie is on the right side of both hilarious and action pact, the songs are just freaking awesome and anyone who is a fan of blues and jazz will love cameos from Cab Calloway and Ray Charles. In my opinion the special effects have not aged one bit, and is proof that with all the great new technology directors have at their disposal if you can write and good story and funny jokes then fancy shmancy sfx does not make a lick of difference.

Feel good celebration of music with an iconic car chase in the mall which i'm sure has been parodied countless times.


Hook
Another movie close to the ol childhood, this was at a time where people gave a crap what they sold to kids, this sort of sequel/retelling of a classic story that didn't suck! 

Dustin Hoffman was a great Captain James Hook and Robin Williams found himself on the right side of subtle playing Peter Pan. This is a nice realistic and modern look at a Peter that has fallen into the mediocrity of adult life, and i must say the irony was not lost on me.

Also the action scenes weren't bad either (remember when fantasy movies weren't 3 hours long?).


Movies that are probably my top 3

Number 3: Little Miss Sunshine
It's so wonderfully dysfunctional! This is a family of rejects who never really get what they want and they usually end up humiliate themselves trying to get it, and i love that.

This movie is hilarious, wonderfully acted and is conceptually sound. The family in this movie are stuff in a van with eachother on a road trip across America and they all hate eachother, these people would not be in this situation were they not family.

The harsh realism is refreshing and sometimes the toil, misadventure and failure of someone else is unfortunately funny.


Number 2: Fight Club
 The quintisential cult classic. This is the catalyst for my love affair with indie and obscure films, i don't think i know anyone who doesn't like this movie unless they haven't seen it, this movie is a masterpiece.

This movie set the bar for twists and is another one of those movies that implies that there is a happy ending somewhere there, but there is still work to do. This is a movie that requires you to use your brain and left me captivated from start to finish.

I fear i broke some rules talking about Fight Club.....


Number 1: Pulp Fiction
Tarantino is most likely my favourite director, he is a man who has created his own quirky fictional universe in which Hitler gets shot into oblivion by pissed off Jewish assassins, and Pulp Fiction is his magnum opus, this boys and girls is my hands down favourite movie of all time.

It's story telling style is unique and when you think ensemble cast, you think of this movie. The dialogue is entertaining, the seperate stories meld in so wonderfully together and there is not a single wasted character in this movie.

Oh and Christopher Walken, that is all.

So those are some of my favourite movies, i highly recommend these to anyone who is a lover of movies. I swear i had a list of 20 movies before i started writing but to have done all 20 would have drained me and would have been (more) boring.

So that's me and if you can find 20 spelling mistake in that i'll buy you a cookie, peace.