Your Favourite Movies Tell You What About Yourselves?

I like movies that are gritty yet fun, have an element of strange comedy to them and Brad Pitt.
 
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thee great one said:
You guys are suppose to list what the movies tell you about yourself not what you liked about the movie.
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I tried but couldn't I'm useless at that kind of thing. Plus my list has like no common link to say "It means I like *blank* type of film" So I gave up on that and just put what I liked about them
 
I do more of that later on in the list, but in the mean time, Se7en grabs my morbid fascination with the cerebral serial killer and runs with it; Signs reminds me how effective a good movie can be, how the camera really is a magical instrument, and why having faith in God is awesome; Toys helps keep my love of good and innocence above all else alive, and shows me that that cool aesthetic I mentioned that I'm addicted to really does exist out there, thouroughly, for others; Batman just tells me how little I've changed from childhood, how much nostalgia and familiarity means to me, how much I love spectacle and the knowledge that something great is being celebrated like CRAZY by MILLIONS of others, and that I truly love gothic artwork and archetecture and the climbing of the dark tower to fling down the villain and save the girl. Donnie Darko tells me that I care more about the idea of a lot of things than the thing itself, and would rather experience a story about a GREAT life than actually live a mediocre one(e.g. high school).

More or less.
 
Next 5:

10. Spirited Away

This one makes it despite some unfamiliarity(I've only seen it twice), but it's still one of the best things I've ever seen. It has an unmatchable atmosphere, I can almost taste steam when I think of this movie. It completely feels like a dream. The first time I saw this I thought it looked awful. My cousin and I rented it while sleeping over at my grandparents', I was immediately hooked and we watched up until the part where she goes to bed that night, then went to bed, then got up at like 6:30am the next morning and continued the movie from when she gets up. They have this huge backyard overlooking a lake and it was so silent and covered in mist, just like in the movie. I will always remember that. The characters in this film and that image of them sitting on the train in silence, innocently waiting… it truly holds a special place in my heart.

9. Hook

I love every scene in this movie. I've seen it a million times since I was a kid and it's gotten even better since in a lot of ways. Aside from just having a bunch of crowd-pleasing awesome scenes like "the feast", it's just about the best take on looking back on the magic of childhood I've seen. Hoffman's Hook is nearly my favourite movie villain ever, Hoskins' Smee is perfect, and Robin Williams is as great as always. PAN'S BACK! PAN'S BACK! One of the cheeringest moments in film.

8. The Truman Show

I don't quite know how to say this…. More and more lately, my entire life revolves around the premise that I'm a character in some sort of movie or show or other fictional material and that someone, somewhere out there loves it very much and would want to be a part of it. It's a half-joking thought and it's easy to see all the psychologist's theories involved, but it's one I cherish and it helps me not take my world for granted. Anyway, The Truman Show is a great take on this concept as well as a truly, thoroughly great movie. I can watch it again and again, sometimes several nights in a row. It's one of those movies that gets stuck in your head aesthetically and also has me quoting it or emanating Christof's dialogue. It should have been awarded (or at least been nominated for, I mean, it was INCREDIBLY critically acclaimed and everything… gah) Best Picture.Bottom line, if this movie hadn't been made….. someday, I would have made it myself.

7. Back To The Future

Just about the best time-travel story ever and overall one of the best movies ever made. My love of time-travel stories kind of sums up my love of the rest of fiction as a whole – it's impossible and yet so easy to believe real that it might as well be. It's a simple concept you can do a limitless number of things with, so much wonder to be had. BTTF captures almost everything great about the genre and has a wonderful love story as a bonus. Also, I will never forget watching it for the first time in my living room with my dad and right during the Enchantment Under The Sea scene, after Earth Angel and before Johnny B. Goode when I had a big smile on my face him saying to me "I love it when my son likes the movies I like". I like almost ALL the movies he likes, but this was the one he felt the need to say it about because it's the feel-good movie of the century.

6. Indiana Jones(And The Last Crusade)

ADVENTURE!

They're the perfect films. Last Crusade just happens to be my favourite. Aside from the fact that it genuinely is the best one in at least a few ways, the fact that it feels like a more complete version of the character is what makes it for me. Indy's your old friend at this point, and you get to meet his dad. Sean Connery as Henry Sr…. it's one of the smartest moves in movies. The scene where they enter the Canyon of the Cresent Moon is magic in about a million different ways, and the finale is THE best ending to a movie series ever. I love all three other films nearly as much. Best of all is another mydadism – impulsively yelling out "HaHA I LOVE it!" at the shot in Raiders where Indy runs over the hill and the Hovitos run over it behind him, during a night the family just darn well felt like watching it.
 
Been meaning to post this for weeks now, but wanted to come up with a reason why I liked these movies, what they say about me, and whatnot. So here's movies, that I enjoy to watch.

The Princess Bride (1987)
Die Hard (1988 )
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988 )
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Snatch (2000)
Joe Somebody (2001)
Signs (2002)
Love Actually (2003)
Layer Cake (2004)

So there we are, now let's analyze my obviously odd taste in movies. First, the years I think so something of importance. Most of these movies either occur in the late 80's to early 90's, or the early 2000's. Thinking about this, I did like some late 90 films, like Usual Suspects and Sixth Sense, but I don't rewatch them. These movies up here, I rewatch, ALOT. I liked the mysteries that they represented, but once I solved them (both movies I figured out the secrets within an hour. Hell, Sixth Sense I figured out well before anyone else in theater, and got bored with it. But I did enjoy it. Anyways...). But Houde, Signs, Snatch and Layer Cake are all on the list, and they are mysteries, or shock twists movies, or whatnot, why do you like them better than the others?

For Signs, it was the experience. I watched it in a small theater, with several close friends, and an awesome audience that wouldn't quit. They jumped at every bump, screamed at every place they were suppose too, and made the movie awesome. Everytime I watch Signs, I remember that experience.

For Layer Cake and Snatch, it was the simple fact the movie tricked me. I didn't figure it out, or see the ending coming, and that, quite frankly intrigues me. I watch them over and over now to see what I missed, and I see something new everytime.

Now for the late 80's films. Die Hard, cause it makes me feel like a man. I like some senseless action every now and then, and Die Hard in it's various incarnations, or films I can watch over and over again. The other films sparked my imagination as a child, and they still do.

Plus, I'm a sucker for happy endings. I adore a happy ending, and the majority of these films have those types of endings.

This is what I enjoy anyways.
 
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I think I'm going to need to alter my list. I watched Donnie Darko again the other night and am planning on watching it again tomorrow, and it DEFINITELY deserves a higher place in the list. It also gave me a fairly major if obvious revelation about what movies/stories/fiction/things I love REALLY tell me about myself, and this alone is worth more note on this list.
 
#5 - 1

5. The Goonies

I'm obsessed with adventure. Indy always gets me into the spirit of it more than ever, and I always wish I could just someday have an unbelievable adventure with all the right friends and it would be thrilling and treasure-filled and there'd be real danger but no one would get hurt and I'd get the girl and I wouldn't be gone for painfully long. The Goonies is exactly that. It's not even a nostalgia thing for me. I just love The Goonies. I love spending the afternoon with them to this day.

4. Spider-Man

Bottom line, after a lifetime of wanting to be a superhero, Spider-Man was the movie that took all of that, did it EXACTLY how I wanted it to be done, then went even better. My best friend, who had never been quite as into superheroes as I was, became OBSESSED with Spider-Man for ages after this. Maguire is perfect, the Green Goblin is a ****ing awesome villain, Dunst was gorgeous, Simmons was astonishing, the whole cast was brilliant. This is the coolest and most satisfying escapist movie ever for me. It perfectly captures the unrestrained excitement of getting superpowers and just plain LOVING them. It made "with great power comes great responsibility" as brilliant and shocking a truth as it had been in the first issue in the '60s, and nobody's done it better. The pain of that final line "my gift… my curse" still resonates with me today as it did on May 3rd, 2002. It's the best movie theater experience I've ever had and my favourite superhero movie of all time.

3. Jaws

If Signs is 48% of the reason I want to become a filmmaker, Jaws is another 48%. This was the movie we watched the first time my best friend and I had a sleepover together back when we were in 5th Grade and it's been a cherished and oft-referenced aspect of both our lives ever since. I got the DVD for elementary school grad and have watched the special features millions of times. Spielberg's genius and young underdog success directly inspired me to say I wanted to do that for my life. Finally, I still can't go swimming in a lake or swimming pool without being a bit on-edge and having to look around under water. MILLIONS of people can't. It's a prime example of movies' power to affect our lives and the ways in which they are just as real as anything else, no matter how much some deny it.

2. The Lord Of The Rings

One story, one piece of art, etc.

No great, enthralling movie is too long.

These are the best, most perfect films I've ever seen. Every technical facet of them is perfect and the story is basically a compilation of every staple of fantasy films done right. Sean Astin should have absolutely won Best Actor in 2003 and McKellen's Gandalf is THE best wizard in the history of film. He feels so fatherly and so god-like at the same time, both accessable and completely idolized. He reminds me most, though, of my own grandmother, especially during the Shire scenes in the very beginning. She loves stories like this too.

This is largely a story about power: the power of good, the power of evil, the power of POWER, and is a demonstration of good just flat out coming down and smashing evil beyond recognition at the end, and I like that.

Like many films on this list, this is at the very top of my "favourite movie soundtracks ever" list.

1. Wet Hot American Summer

What can I say about the only film I've truly loved the same way I've loved a girl(not physically, you pervs). When I watch this, I basically have to clear some room over the next couple of days because I know I'm going to be watching it at least three times, and with commentary and all the special features on the DVD and stuff. I move towards madness with longing to go there, into the film and just live in there with them for as long as I want. What does it tell me about myself? On the surface, that I wanted much more out of the teenage experience than I got, but deeper down that I wouldn't have known what to do with it if I did. Why? Because maybe I only love it in the context of a fictional world, where reality and the things around you are completely emotion-driven. It's one of the the funniest films I've ever seen and different parts of it spike in funniness between many different viewings. It's definitely the film I'm closest to on a personal and emotional level, the film that I want to dive into the most and like I said earlier, I'm truly, genuinely in love with it.

The innocence of it all!
 
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Soooo, stats:

The list, ranked differently and more accurately here than in the previous posts -

15. Se7en
14. Signs
13. Toys
12. Batman
11. Hook
10. Spirited Away
9. Indiana Jones (And The Last Crusade)
8. The Truman Show
7. Back To The Future
6. The Goonies
5. Spider-Man
4. Jaws
3. Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut
2. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
1. Wet Hot American Summer

Number of Movies made before I was born: 5/15
Number of Movies made since this decade: 6/15
Number of Movies that are mostly a romantic love story: 5/15(though almost every film on the list has at least a major romantic subplot)
Number of Movies Spielberg was involved with: 5/15
Fun facts: My top three favourite films of all time all came out in 2001, although LOTR didn't finish coming out until the last of the extended discs in 2004... the same year the Donnie Darko Director's Cut was released.
 
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ProjectX2 said:
These are movies I love and could watch over and over.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - The best movie I have ever seen. I remember recording it on Christmas day because Ice and E said it was great. I watched it later that night. And then a couple of days later. And then I studied it in class. Two or three times. And then I got the DVD the next Christmas and watched it a couple more times. I love it. Everything is superb - Darabot's directing, King's story, Freeman and Robbins's acting, the music... the music! I love that it can inspire hope when you're in the darkest of places. Brilliant movie and one that I recommend to all.

Batman Begins (2005) - I love Batman. He is my favourite character of all time. And this is a great movie. I had gone to all of the four previous movies and my interest in Batman was lost after one. I knew nothing about this movie. For some reason, I wasn't reading about it on the internet at the time. I remember going to Movieworld and seeing a mysterious poster for it, and wondering what it was. And then the trailer came out. It wasn't Batman... it was Bruce Wayne. My family went to it when it came out. It was the best superhero movie I had ever seen. I knew nothing about it so it couldn't disappoint me... it was fantastic. I loved everything. The cast is brilliant (how did they get Bale, Freeman, Caine, Neeson, Oldman and even Holmes in a Batman movie?!). It was also my first introduction to the directing of Christopher Nolan who is now one of my favourite directors (Memento, The Prestige and of course, The Dark Knight). This is Batman.

Snatch (2000) - I was watching TV late one night when I came across this on a channel. It's insane characters and wonderful dialogue interested me. And I found myself watching this movie all night. It ensnared me... I was so involved in the plot I didn't care about what was going on around me. I read a bit about it on the internet and researched about Guy Ritchie, and realised he had made another movie like this. I ended up buying Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and why that is also a great movie, it's nothing compared to Snatch. Brad Pitt as a Pikey boxer. Benicio Del Toro as a Jewish thief! Frankie ****ing Four Fingers! Boris the Blade! VINNIE JONES! Even the soundtrack to this movie is awesome. I love it and everyone I've told to watch it has enjoyed it just as much as I have.

Ocean's Eleven (2001) - I saw Ocean's Twelve first. I thought it was great. The witty interactions between all the characters and the complex storyline that you had to solve along with them. I ended up watching Ocean's Eleven on TV and turned it off halfway through because it was... boring. Later on, I realised I must have been mistaken and watched it again. And again. And again. It was fantastic. Much better than Twelve. All of the characters are superbly played by the stars attached. I guess I like epic heist movies with witty characters involved.

Shaun of the Dead (2004) - My first introduction to Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. It did not disappoint. Like Snatch, I saw this movie on late one night and couldn't stop laughing almost immediately. This was a brilliant parody of the zombie genre and much better than the Scary Movie stuff or whatever **** was coming out at that time. Hot Fuzz is also great and I've gone back to watch Spaced and other things the trio have been involved in, but I don't think anything compares to the hilarity of this movie. Pub?

Kill Bill (2003, 2004) - Saw bits of each part at school, strangely enough. People used to bring pirated versions of movies and this one seemed to be popular. Except I never got to see all of it. So one day I recorded both parts and begun watching one morning over breakfast... what the ****. So much insanity. The characters are all crazy, the dialogue is so different, the plot is so simple and yet so grand! I was in love. I didn't watch the second part for so much later so it was like I was rediscovering the whole movie all over again. I think I've seen Part 2 more times than Part 1 though I think the best way to do it is to watch it all at once. This begun my love affair with Quentin Tarantino, who is probably my favourite director. I've seen gone back to see Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction and while both are excellent, I much prefer the brilliant Kill Bill.

Fight Club (1999) - I woke up one Christmas morning incredibly early and couldn't get to sleep. I found my Christmas stocking and there were a couple of little gifts in there. One mistake Santa (or my parents) made was making one of those little gifts the Fight Club DVD. I had nothing else to do so in my state of strange insomnia, I watched it. And it ****ed with my mind. I already knew most of the plot from reading about it and people telling me about it but I still became involved in the movie. Ed Norton and Brad Pitt are so good together. It was so strange too - at that moment in time, I felt in sync with Ed Norton's character. We were tired, wearing nothing but a shirt and boxers and being chased by people that were going to blow up the city. Well, the last bit isn't true but it would be strange if it was. The ending to the film has haunted me ever since... especially that wonderful Pixies song over the shot of the buildings blowing up. Superb. Fincher has also directed other great movies like Se7en, Panic Room and Zodiac and I love all three too.

Sin City (2005) - There was a lot of hype about this one. I remembered trying to read the comic but couldn't get into it - Frank Miller's art is too distracting. The trailer was so good though - the wonderful black and white shots, the little bits of dialogue, the song used - I was excited. I don't think I ever saw Sin City until I rented the DVD late one night. I was blown away. It was amazing. The visual effects... holy ****. What a brilliant cast too. I have watched this movie over and over again and I don't know why. It just seems like a great movie.

Jurassic Park (1993) - As most kids did, I loved dinosaurs. I collected toys and got little books about all sorts of dinosaurs. And then I watched this movie one night at about the age of 5 or so. It was at this moment in time I realised dinosaurs were real... and alive. It fascinated me and terrified me. The T-Rex was the most powerful thing alive. The Velociraptors were the greatest hunters. At the time, it must have been the best movie I had ever seen. The effects are fantastic and still stand up to this day - seriously, I don't know how they do it, but they all look so real.

The Lord of the Rings (2001, 2002, 2003) - My favourite story of all time. It's brilliant. So epic in nature even though it follows a little Hobbit with a ring. How he expanded it into such a giant event boggles my mind. I saw the first movie with my family because it looked interesting. It stole my mind for days. I imagined fantastical situations going about in my world for weeks. I saw the movie again. It was still great. It was only until my aunt showed me the book that I realised I could get more of this story... so I read. And read. And finished The Fellowship of the Ring. It was good but I was probably too young to be able to successfully capture the images in my mind. Rather than ruin it for myself, I decided to wait and see the next two movies and it became an event of it's very own. The Two Towers was superb. The Return of the King I saw on Christmas Eve and it was fantastic. People were moaning about how long it was but I couldn't believe it. It was so epic and so sad and so happy and ****... I love these movies. I could talk about them forever. I don't want The Hobbit to ruin them.

Other movies would include The Matrix (1999), Kung Pow (2002) and The Lion King (1994).

Number of movies that are crime-related: 6/7
Number of movies with Brad Pitt in them: 3
Number of movies from this decade: 7
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Added information to my list.
 
The Incredibles is a film I love and enjoy immensely, but it's not molecularly bonded with my personality the way each film on this list is. In terms of sheer enjoyment and appreciation, it's one of the highest I've seen, and even in a list like this it would be in the Top-20(along with X2: X-Men United and Jurassic Park, while I'm at it).
 
I still like my list but it's definitely changed. I should redo it.
 
Man, this thread is great. Even if its purpose sort of got away from us, it was still an excuse for people to put lengthy personal explanations into their choices, which made other people's lists as much fun to read as mine was to write.

I don't even think my list has changed, except for the order a bit. Unless I'm forgetting something big, the only thing I thing I can think of that should be added is Superman: The Movie.

Edit: And the Toy Storys.
 
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Hook
The Princess Bride
Aladdin
A Beautiful Mind
The Incredibles
Return of the Jedi
The Borne Ultimatum
The Count of Monte Cristo
LOTR: The Two Towers
Wait Til Dark

Wow, it was difficult to narrow my favourite movies down to just 10!
 
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