Those Movies
I watch movies more than once. Often, I watch movies five or six or seven or twenty times, in fact, with different people, in the hopes of sharing that joy I feel watching a great story unfold with other people. A lot of these movies, these go to films, are great pieces of art, universally recognized and acknowledge by the cinematic establishment. Films like Casablanca, or The Philadelphia Story, or Lord of the Rings, or The Departed, or even Wall*E. And not to diminish these movies, because they're all stingularly great accomplishments well-worthy of their praise, but there's another genre of oft-repeated by me films that I'm here to discuss. Those movies. The movies that for whatever reason I not only want to watch a billion times, but I want other people to watch and enjoy and discover. And I'm not talking guilty pleasures (I've seen John Tucker Must Die at least five times, and although I refuse to admit being embarassed about that fact, I'm also not certain that every person on the planet should aim for that as a goal) nor am I necessarily talking hidden indie gems (mainly, this is because I don't really watch nearly enough indie films to make myself feel like anything approaching an authority on them). More often than not, these movies are just strange, normal movies that speak to me on some deep gutteral level and that, even as I age, still feel infinitely personal and awesome every time I watch them. Does everyone have these movies? They're mostly not masterpieces, I could point out flaws in every one of them, nor do I entirely understand how they've managed to rise to the upper echelons of my cinematic appreciation, and yet... each of the following three films has defined a certain epoch in my life in a way that movies that are technically more impressive, or deep, or moving don't neccesarily do.
Although by no means an exhaustive list, here's a sampling of what I mean:
FIFTH GRADE
10 Things I Hate About You --> It began a life-long Shakespeare obsession, a Heath Ledger crush so huge it threatened to take on pathetic proportions, and provided me with a witty comeback for nearly every opportunity. I think a lot of my current want-to-be badass quasi-feminism can be traced back to her combat booted, Letters-to-Cleo-listening, paintball-playing shrewy self, and I'm infinitely grateful for it. I'm just pumped I never picked up my "cool" cues from a more typical female protagonist (don't get me wrong, Laney Boggs was cool in the beginning when she was spattered with paint and wore glasses, but who needs a boy, even one as cute as Freddie Prinze Jr. to turn you into something you're not?). And it's just never diminished either in my appreciation for it nor in its ability to consistently make me laugh. From my "artsy" magazine decorated bed room, to the copy of The Bell Jar that I read in the seventh grade, straight through to my desire to grow out my hair and find the perfect one liner, Katarina Stratford defined cool for me, and Patrick Verona (and Heath Ledger) became the uber-hottie ideal.
EIGHTH GRADE
Igby Goes Down--> I feel like this movie is probably not as deep as it felt to me the first time I saw it in the 8th grade. It's basically a modern day Catcher In The Rye, with Kieran Culkin's rich kid Igby playing the jaded-bohemian whiner in a beautiful NYC loft while mingling with upper-class drugs, sex, and Amanda Peet's nudity. It's about discovering who you are when everyone around you has failed you in some fundamental way, and used you to try and gratify their own agenda, but it's also about getting over your own bullshit and moving towards some sort of happiness despite how much more artisitic it is to stay depressed. Like Ten Things, this movie seemed infinitely quotable, even if I didn't quite understand the irony of quoting the characters who are later revealed to be so full of their own bravado they can't see in front of their own faces. Growing up, I keep feeling like I should outgrow this movie, but there's something strangely comforting in watching Igby attempting euthanasia by suffocation on his own mother (Susan Sarandon) with a plastic bag, while cursing the tennis that kept her in good health for so long. Also, it should be noted, that's it's not that I ever, even a little bit, saw myself in the character of Igby, or my world reflected in the emptiness of NYC boarding schools, but that something about his poor-little-rich-kid angst spoke to the rebel-without-a-cause years of 13, 14, and 15.
RIGHT NOW
Definitely, Maybe--> I suspect this list may be somewhat romantic comedy heavy. I reviewed this for the site, so I'll try to keep it short, but the film has only grown in my appreciation since that initial viewing. Not only is it practically unique within the genre in its realistic, smart, and funny protrayals of its female protagonists, but it's also a moving tale of growing up. Will Hayes makes the journey from idealistic post-collegiate Clinton intern to divorced thirty-something Ad Exec dad, and the movie is at least as interested in what tumbles people make on their journey to adulthood as it is in Will's love story. Each woman has her own growing up tale to be told that is at least as interesting as Will's as well as each being incredibly well-rounded, likeable love interests. And the movies genius juxtaposition of the downfall of Clinton with Will's own downfall could be the best (yet) use of the 90s as emotional metaphor.
Although by no means an exhaustive list, here's a sampling of what I mean:
FIFTH GRADE
10 Things I Hate About You --> It began a life-long Shakespeare obsession, a Heath Ledger crush so huge it threatened to take on pathetic proportions, and provided me with a witty comeback for nearly every opportunity. I think a lot of my current want-to-be badass quasi-feminism can be traced back to her combat booted, Letters-to-Cleo-listening, paintball-playing shrewy self, and I'm infinitely grateful for it. I'm just pumped I never picked up my "cool" cues from a more typical female protagonist (don't get me wrong, Laney Boggs was cool in the beginning when she was spattered with paint and wore glasses, but who needs a boy, even one as cute as Freddie Prinze Jr. to turn you into something you're not?). And it's just never diminished either in my appreciation for it nor in its ability to consistently make me laugh. From my "artsy" magazine decorated bed room, to the copy of The Bell Jar that I read in the seventh grade, straight through to my desire to grow out my hair and find the perfect one liner, Katarina Stratford defined cool for me, and Patrick Verona (and Heath Ledger) became the uber-hottie ideal.
EIGHTH GRADE
Igby Goes Down--> I feel like this movie is probably not as deep as it felt to me the first time I saw it in the 8th grade. It's basically a modern day Catcher In The Rye, with Kieran Culkin's rich kid Igby playing the jaded-bohemian whiner in a beautiful NYC loft while mingling with upper-class drugs, sex, and Amanda Peet's nudity. It's about discovering who you are when everyone around you has failed you in some fundamental way, and used you to try and gratify their own agenda, but it's also about getting over your own bullshit and moving towards some sort of happiness despite how much more artisitic it is to stay depressed. Like Ten Things, this movie seemed infinitely quotable, even if I didn't quite understand the irony of quoting the characters who are later revealed to be so full of their own bravado they can't see in front of their own faces. Growing up, I keep feeling like I should outgrow this movie, but there's something strangely comforting in watching Igby attempting euthanasia by suffocation on his own mother (Susan Sarandon) with a plastic bag, while cursing the tennis that kept her in good health for so long. Also, it should be noted, that's it's not that I ever, even a little bit, saw myself in the character of Igby, or my world reflected in the emptiness of NYC boarding schools, but that something about his poor-little-rich-kid angst spoke to the rebel-without-a-cause years of 13, 14, and 15.
RIGHT NOW
Definitely, Maybe--> I suspect this list may be somewhat romantic comedy heavy. I reviewed this for the site, so I'll try to keep it short, but the film has only grown in my appreciation since that initial viewing. Not only is it practically unique within the genre in its realistic, smart, and funny protrayals of its female protagonists, but it's also a moving tale of growing up. Will Hayes makes the journey from idealistic post-collegiate Clinton intern to divorced thirty-something Ad Exec dad, and the movie is at least as interested in what tumbles people make on their journey to adulthood as it is in Will's love story. Each woman has her own growing up tale to be told that is at least as interesting as Will's as well as each being incredibly well-rounded, likeable love interests. And the movies genius juxtaposition of the downfall of Clinton with Will's own downfall could be the best (yet) use of the 90s as emotional metaphor.