What film means the most to you?

CinemaSeats.jpgI get pissed off with the way John continually says “subjective” on just about anything we talk about. Sure, the whole thing is subjective, but we love lists, we all have our favourites, and that promotes discussion and that’s what the site is all about – not angry people who can’t type properly! (I don’t mean John!).

It’s this subjectivity on the top lists that we’ve seen recently on the Top Films of all time post and John and Doug talk about in the Audio Edition that is the most interesting thing, forget the movie title itself, it’s the personal story behind it.

Recently I had an idea about music, and I think I might try the same with cinema, I published the Soundtrack to My Life, a collection of songs that really mean something to me and the story behind them. I found it a brilliant thing to do and also discovered that it wasn’t really about the song, I mean Barry Manilow is in there!

So what has this to do with the movies? Well they’re just like the songs. When you’re listening to the Audio Edition this week John’s off on a little story about how he saw a movie, named his cat after a character, etc etc., and it got me thinking. Some of the top lists are not just about great movies, they are about the experience you had around them. The effect of Star Wars is surely heightened because you were at the right age, the time was right and everyone shared the experience. Think Star Wars and you don’t just think the movie, you think of being in the cinema with loads of your friends, trading the toys, talking about the movie, playing with light sabers…Okay…well I do!

When I actually listed my top list I decided to use the movies I’ve voted on IMDB with a 10 score. It missed loads that really mean a lot to me and I would have thought should be up there. The reviews of these movies exclude me, if I were to sit down and think what movies should be in my Top list, I’ll start thinking more of my life. Indiana Jones with my Dad, probably the last time I can remember being in the Cinema with him, we’ve just never been since, but it feels like a big Field of Dreams moment to me now.

So, on that. What movie (or movies) mean a lot to you personally, what movie carries a huge story for you and why? Can you even tell us what the story is? Are there movies that really did affect you, like Batman did for me (I raided a Bus Shelter with a claw hammer at 3am to get a poster!), or Always (see my soundtrack for details)…?

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24 thoughts on “What film means the most to you?

  1. Movies that have a special place in my childhood:Lion King(I saw it 3 times in the theater with my parents) and Indiana Jones(inspired me to be creative). These movies never get old no matter how many times i watch them.

  2. “I see a lot of people say Star Wars is and say why. Well LotR was my Star Wars”

    Actually, I have a LOTR story as well. But I’m talking the Bakshi Film.

    Yes the film was a suck fest, but when I was in Film College, Ralph Bakshi was a guest speaker at my school. He showed “Wizards” after the lecture we were all given tickets to the premiere of LOTR at the Ziegfield. A huge thrill for me. Too Bad the film sucked, but he redeemed himself with “American Pop

  3. I was 16 in 1974. Two of my closest friends and I ditched out of school an hour early and headed downtown to see a movie. We didn’t have dates so choices were unlimited. OK, they were limited to the only two shows playing at the two theaters downtown. Since our girlfriends wouldn’t go see scary movies with us, we decided this would be a good time to go see that new horror movie that was showing. None of us had seen a preview for the movie and since it was opening night, we hadn’t talked to anyone who had seen it. So there we were, slumped down in our fourth row seats waiting for “Young Frankenstein” to scare the crap out us.

    The three of us never laughed so hard in all our lives. I doubt I have since. The movie ended and we ran for the lobby, called our three friends who had elected not to ditch school to go to the movies with us. We stocked up on popcorn and soda and then back into the theater for the 7 PM show. After that show, we called my parents and asked them to call the other guys parents and tell them we would be home late. Then it was back inside for the 9PM show. The jokes were even funny the third time.

    For over a year the six of us carried on conversations with each other in code that consisted of nothing but lines from that movie. Four of us lost our girlfriends that night. They dumped us after they found out what we had done, how much fun we had, and that through it all, not one of us thought to call them. It was worth it. I don’t miss the girl, and three of those guys are still my best friends.

    Three years later another friend and I left Cheyenne for a day trip to the Cooper Theater in Denver. Our goal, to see this new movie – Star Wars. The movie had opened up a week earlier and we knew nothing about it except that the picture in paper was really cool looking. We told our parents that the movie should end about 3PM, we were going to hit a game store and then maybe dinner and would be home around 7PM.

    When we got to the theater the line stretched around the theater. By the time we got into the theater the only available seats were aisle seats in the second row. The Cooper theater had a large curved screen and from the second row you had to turn your head side to side to see the whole thing.

    The special effects that they used to tell that simplistic story were the closest thing to magic we had ever seen. The movie ended, the credits ended, and the ushers came by shooing us out of the theater and we were still sitting there staring silently at curtain that had covered the screen. We walked out of the theater, not saying a word to each other. No planning no coordination, we just walked right around the building and got back in line to see it again. Four Times! The only reason we went home after the fourth show was because they closed the theater. We got home about 6 hours late. The next three weekends in a row we went back to Denver to see Star Wars. Each time with a different carload of friends.

    Now decades later Star Wars is still my all time favorite movie, based solely on my memories of how much better it looked than any other movie I had ever seen up to that time. Young Frankenstein isn’t, it’s a funny movie, and I enjoy it. But it has never been as magical as it was that night, laughing hysterically with my best friends.

  4. Evil Dead 2

    I had pretty much lost the love of film making and of film watching til I remembered I had this gem in my collection. Whenever I need confirmation that, sometimes, normal, intellegant people can make it in Hollywood (Sam Rami)I watch Evil Dead 2 and Spider Man 2 back to back.

    Shaun of the Dead gives me that feeling too…

  5. If I feel like crying, “The Way We Were”, “Bridges of Madison County”, “Beaches” never fails to do it for me.

    Films like “Little Women”, “Mermaids” remind me of my sisters. Awwwww…

  6. -first there is my movie regulars. a “fix” if u will: donnie darko, fight club, quills, the beach.

    -for when i need to cry: what dreams may come, american beauty, pearl harbour, castaway, A.I.

    -the kids movies i’m proud of to this day to watch: mac and me, flight of the navigator, THE WIZARD, dennis the menis, homeward bound, willy wonka.

    -if i want to laugh till i cry: dumb and dumber, liar liar, ace ventura, me myself and irene, nat’l lampoons vacation/christmas vacation, great outdoors, zoolander

    -disaster moods: TWISTER, armageddon, the day after tomorrow

    -romantic moods: phantom of the opera(which is also very sad), cold mountain, far and away, the notebook

    -action movies: true romance, terminator 2, u.s. marshalls, speed, the saint, the jackal, waterworld, backdraft

    -my Tim Burtons: beetlejuice, edward scissorhands, ed wood, mars attacks, nightmare, sleepy hollow, big fish, Batman

    -the ultimate movie: Forrest Gump

  7. I think the movie that meant the most to me is What Dreams May Come, with Robin Williams. It was such a sad movie with an important message…he went to hell to find the woman he loves. Then he finds her and risks losing his soul to hell to try to bring her back and it ends up being her who brings him back. Wow…so touching. The acting was superb too. Yeah, I know I sound sappy but check the movie out and you will see what I mean.

  8. Like many others Star Wars (suprise) was a big event for me.

    Superman was also one of the first movies to really have a big impact on me in the cinema.

    On TV some years earlier “Dr No” made me a lifelong Bond fan.

  9. For some reason, above all movies I’ve loved for whatever reason, ‘Baraka’ comes to mind. For those that haven’t seen it, it’s not a conventional movie in the sense that there’s no dialogue, or really even any characters to speak of. Though a ‘plot’ maybe absent, it is not without a very powerful theme and message. It is, however, one of the most visually and emotionally compelling movies I’ve ever watched; a very personal experience.

  10. Wow I’m Jealous of you Herby. I wasn’t born till the 80s and completely missed out on Beatlemania. The film that means the most to me is easily LotR. I see a lot of people say Star Wars is and say why. Well LotR was my Star Wars. As soon as they got to the mines of Moria I knew it was something special. Me and my friend walked out of that movie is complete disbelief at just how awesome that movie was. It far and away exceeded my expectations. I immediately went out and bought the books and devoured them. I kept track of all thing LotR. Waiting the next 2 years for the sequels was pure joy. I got the EEs to tide me over and looked into PJ’s older movies. In RotK once they bowed to the hobbits it hit me that it was over. That’s it. No more Lord of the Rings. No year long anticipation and excitement met with flying colors. It was actually pretty emotional for me. I never thought a big budget CG fest would make me cry.

  11. Handa, Simone here. I dont think that we are being asked to do a list here, but to share the films that mean the most to us, so tell us a few of yours. ;-)

  12. There’s not a ten limit on this post Handa, and surely you have favourite movies, if you have you already have a list.

    However if you read this post that’s not what this one is all about, have another read.

    Great response so far…this is what you could say movies are all about, the personal connection.

  13. 10 is too less a number to make a list. I think I like movies a lot and every other movie moves me a lot. I have cried, yelled at the screen, laughed my ass off in a lot of movies. We should stay away from quantifying movies into lists, if not for anything else then for the love of cinema.

  14. February 9, 1864 was the very first appearence of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. I was 5 years old. The next day I was imitating John Lennon and driving my parents crazy. So of course when a movie staring The Beatles called “A Hard Days Night” came out I had to drag my whole family to see it. Everydody in the Theater was screaming and you could barely hear what was going on. But it was pure bliss for me and I have been a Beatlemaniac ever since.

  15. Oh Richard! Why do you have to go all waxing poetic about this now? I just came up with my Top 10 and now this too! *winks* I have read that Soundtrack topic on your blog and I wont say no more too. ;-)

    Anyways…

    I actually, 100 per cent, all the way agree with this astute observation of yours regarding one’s passion for films. Whilst film is subjective, we do get attached to them in a very personal way, and that every movie experience is not the same for each and everyone. I get the flak from friends who can not seem to understand why I have to watch a certain movie more than once. Right I confess, I have seen all SW prequels more than once in the cinema, same applies to the LotR trilogy. And this is because I just love these films so much I feel like all I could do the time they were released was camp outside the theater and watch it again.

    “Star Wars” for example came out when I was 7, and it was my first ever movie experience and for a kid who comes into the cinema all excited and then is shown this one helluva movie, what would you expect? And then you find out you will see a sequel to the film 3 years later? And then you find out that this horrible villain is the father to the hero? Oh come on this is too much for a kid to take! It was such a thrilling experience that I can only attach when watching any Star Wars film, yes, be it the originals or the prequels. ;-)

    In 1982, Spielberg’s “E.T” bridged that gap when I was waiting for Jedi to be released and I felt that now Star Wars have got some competition with this really adorable extra terrestrial. Thus started my appreciation for his work which also figure in my other so called lists.

    It was in early 1990 that I got to start reading Puzo’s “The Godfather” and then rented both movies on video and was totally bawled over by what I think is the BEST adaptation from book to film. It was also this discovery of Al Pacino as a brilliant actor and was also one of the reasons why I truly love this film, what a great performance he gave in these films. The struggle to not be involved in the family business, and eventually his love and commitment to the family coming through was a very powerful message. So I was still over the moon about the book and the movie and little did I know that on that same year, “The Godfather III” will be released which made my recent discovery of these films even more meaningful.

    “Lord of the Rings” came very close in giving me that all good feeling now that I am all grown up (am I really? LOL) when I saw “Fellowship” on DVD months after it was released. I was kicking myself silly for having missed watching it on the big screen! By the time “Two Towers” was released in 2002, I have read all the LotR books and had begun my romance with Peter Jackson’s masterpiece. Now I am full anticipation for “The Hobbit” to be brought to film.

    There are still a lot more films to talk about here but I have to stop now, or else!!! LOL

    Brilliant, brilliant topic Rich! ;-)

  16. now this is a more interesting question than simply asking someone to make a top 10 list.. this list is more of an emotional investment.

    anything that makes me cry would be here: life is beautiful, dancer in the dark, shawshank redemption, hotel rwanda

    and then theres the ‘cult’ movies i feel in a special club by liking: this is spinal tap, hard core logo, kitchen party (now thats a movie noones seen), the big lebowski, and well… love actually – a very funny, cute movie that a lot of guys have avoided because its a romantic comedy

    and then theres the movies that are misunderstood or generally considered bad by most people, that since i like (for various reasons, some ironically, some for serious) i feel more attached to:

    freddy got fingered, showgirls, willy wonka and the chocolate factory, cb4

    and finally, the movies you liked as a kid that you still think are better than they are, even when you watch them again:

    teenage mutant ninja turtles, teen wolf, the wizard

    there’s so many movies that if i were to be analytical, would include in a top 10 – like the godfather, scorsese movies, etc, but i dont feel emotionally attached to them

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