My Favorite Films

What makes a film great? Everyone has a different opinion on what factors come into play when critiquing a movie. Some may focus on technical aspects, such as cinematography, pacing, direction. They may list Citizen Kane or 2001: A Space Odyssey as their favorite film. Others focus on things like story and character, naming films such as Casablanca or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as top achievements in film. You prefer entertainment value over what might be deemed more “serious” ingredients? Perhaps Raiders Of The Lost Ark or Star Wars would rank high in your mind. Are any of these options wrong or more important than the other? If you answered yes, then perhaps you’ve been watching the wrong movies.

Whenever someone asks me what my favorite film is, my answer is usually the following: “Depends on what kind of mood I’m in.” If you asked me on a miserable, rainy day my answer might be different than if you asked me on a beautiful sunny day. Ask me in the summer, then again in the winter; I guarantee you’ll get a different answer. So how do I make a list of my favorite films? I try not to these days. As fun as it is to jot down a bunch of titles and let them duke it out for the top prize, it seems unfair to put one above the other. How can you say The Godfather is better than Some Like It Hot? They’re completely different but wonderful films in their own right. Taking that into consideration, I’ve decided to pull an Ebert and chronicle my favorite movies, in no particular order, in essays designed to hopefully bring you, the reader, insight into my personality. A film may appear in this section because I watched it last night and felt like letting you know how I feel about it. Or perhaps I was talking about the film with a friend and the conversation got my literary juices flowing. Who knows.

Now, what makes a great film for me? Anything. Most of the films that I will write about in this blog are movies that belong in my “top ten.” There are easily a hundred films I could think of that would break the top. These films are the kind of experience that, no matter what’s going on in the world, you can pop it in the DVD player or catch it on cable, or even see in the theater and become completely oblivious to everything around you. These are the films that from one single frame pull me in and don’t let me go until the end credits are rolling. It might be funny, it might be depressing as Hell; but it takes me to another place where I feel right. A place where I need not worry about what time it is or worry about what I need to cook for dinner. These are my favorite films.