I was watching a great documentary a few weeks ago called Midnight Movies: From the Margins to the Mainstream.
I couldn't help but notice that both George Romero and John Waters
both said almost exactly the same thing. To badly paraphrase they both
said that they were bored out of their skulls sitting around in film
school dissecting and discussing the merits of Potemkin and just wanted
to get out there and do it.
I once had a conversation with my oldest brother and we
were talking about movies from when we were kids that we had watched
again recently. We both were surprised that other then surface dating
some of these movies had held up surprising well all these years later.
Now that I have kids I'm constantly showing them movies that I saw when I was their age.
All of which got me thinking. Its easy to name a movie like The Godfather
as a favorite because it really is a great movie and if you bring it up
in conversation people will nod in agreement. But if you mention Cyborg
they look at you with disdain if they have even heard of it. Some
people just can't appreciate the artistry and genius of some movies.
So putting aside the genius that is completely evident in movies like The Godfather, Raging Bull, Citizen Cane, Unforgiven etc. lets talk about the real movies that are our favorites.
In the spirit of TNT's "New Classics" I compiled a quick list
of five movies (I could have done more) that are among my real favorites. My love for these movies knows no bounds and I've seen them hundreds of times each.
I remember seeing BIG TROUBLE in Gooderich, Canada when we were on a vacation. I have never seen STREETS OF FIRE. The others, once. In my house, we only see a movie once because my husband can remember every scene too well.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing The Warriors and The Wanderers around the same time. I liked them both, but The Wanderers is the one that has aged better for me.
ReplyDeleteI think we've talked about it here before, but Cutter and Bone is a movie I loved when I first saw it and still like quite a bit.
Patti, does your husband only listen to a song once, too? (I'm kidding, of course, but once I started to realize the pleasure I felt from a familiar song at the right time could also be felt by re-watching a familiiar movie at the right time I started to enjoy them more - actually that was something my wife, who likes movies more than I do, taught me).
ReplyDeleteFor the longest time the best tune by The Fixx, "Deeper and Deeper," was only available on the STREETS OF FIRE soundtrack. So I've got that one on vinyl.
ReplyDeleteI love all these films. Two Walter Hills on one list? Easy to do, he creates memorable movies.
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a Streets of Fire like tale, next is Southern Comfort... he continues to influence me 30 years on.
No. He listens to the same songs over and over. Especially if it was written by Bach or Dylan. He values surprise over everything.
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