A brand-new blog is born!

I’ve taken a cowardly route, selecting a safe, cushion-y first posting topic. See, instead of putting forth my list of BEST movies, or even the ones I think have the Best Writing or Best Use of a Talking Rat in Act Three, I’m offering my FAVORITES. I’m hiding behind a technicality. These are the films I enjoy most, especially upon repeated viewing, rather than I find most skillfully made. There’s a difference.

So, before all of you film nerds come screaming about The Godfather and Citizen Kane, remember that I’m not selecting the ones I think are the BEST. That’s another list.

Don’t worry. We’ll argue about chiaroscuro and mise en scène some other day. Meanwhile, these are the movies from which I constantly quote, to the annoyance of my friends. These are the kind of movies I hope I can create some day.

#10

Good Will Hunting–For all the stories our culture tells of protagonists battling external foes, the conflict that is most often the truest and most compelling is a hero’s internal struggle. Of course, that’s a much, much tougher story to tell. But here’s a movie that handles internal conflict so very artfully as to seem effortless. It’s nice to know that great filmmaking can be this simple. Start with a clear yet sharp premise. Draw a handful of characters thoroughly and compellingly. From there the story just flows. Robin Williams was making great films in this era, and there’s a reason that this is the one for which he wins an Oscar. Matt Damon and even Ben Affleck are great, and it’s for this performance (and perhaps Gross Point Blank) that Minnie Driver deserves the fact that we know her name.

#9

Hudsucker Proxy/Big Lebowski—The crown jewels of the Coen Brothers oeuvre, in my opinion. Your phone’s ringin’, Dude.

#8

When Harry Met Sally—When I sit down to a new writing project, I watch every good example I can in its genre. If I tackle a romantic comedy, the art form in which so many try and so few get it right, I feel all the more need to study. But here’s a movie that is uncopiable, unstudiable—lightning in a bottle. It’s an anomaly, existing outside romantic comedies. When compared to your standard boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-wins-girl-back movie, WHMS somehow transcends while exemplifying. (By the way, the DVD extras are worth a look. Rob Reiner’s commentary lacks substance, but the footage of Meg Ryan trying to keep up with Billy Crystal improvising on the couch at the end is delightful.)

#7

American Beauty—Alan Ball is amazing. This movie taps into something vital and true about humanity. The fact that one man wrote both this script and the series finale of Six Feet Under puts him in a category of artists with more than one masterwork on par with Michelangelo and the Beatles. Was that hyperbolic? At any rate, it’s a good script. And Sam Mendes knocks this movie out of the park. Kevin Spacey, Annette Benning, and cast are sublime.

#6

Philadelphia Story/Mr. Smith Goes to Washington/It’s a Wonderful Life—Can I just list Jimmy Stewart as one of my top movies?

#5

Say Anything—Sure, if I pick a Cameron Crowe flick I should be consider Almost Famous, Jerry McGuire, or even Singles before SA. However, there’s something absolutely magical about this early work of Crowe’s. While it has some classic lines and strong exploration of theme, I think the thing I respect most about SA is the elegance of its storytelling. This is a romance where the characters love each other for the purest of reasons: because they do. Lloyd Dobler makes a fascinating leading man, with his defining trait being his very earnestness. And while the scene we all remember is John Cusack with boombox overhead, the true amazing moment set to Peter Gabriel comes earlier in the back seat of Lloyd’s car. Here’s a love scene that’s actually about love. In a brief exchange, Crowe captures the heart of teen sex. It’s about vulnerability, intensity, and feeling. So is this movie. (As a side note, if you want to study how to establish characters and their motivations at the beginning of your screenplay, look no further. Lloyd Dobler proclaims his ultimate goal no more than 30 seconds into this film. In less than three minutes, we’ve seen Lloyd discussing romance with his significantly female best friends and then traveling alone in a deficient car, intercut with Diane preparing a graduation speech about her misgivings about the future, driven by her overly supportive father. Brilliant.)

#4

The Fisher King—Sometimes it’s when an “artiste” tempers his own style that his best work can result. For me, Jim Carey and Adam Sandler are at their strongest when they abandon their schtick to bring us The Truman Show or Punch Drunk Love. I think The Straight Story is some of David Lynch’s best work. Similarly, Terry Gilliam’s fantastical imagery finds its best effectiveness in FK, where he employs it gently to support the emotional struggles of the characters. As well, here is a screenplay that manages to celebrate the human spirit without once feeling trite. What can I say? I like New York in June.

#3

South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut—Too easily written off, here’s a classic that really holds up. Sure, it’s overly scatological. Sure, the animation embraces a bare-minimum sensibility. However, the shape of the story is remarkable. You will struggle to find an ensemble piece that takes so many of its characters along simple yet complete arcs. Perhaps not every lyric or joke is genius, but a whole lot of them are. And it’s solid as a musical—so much so that Stephen Sondheim wrote Trey Parker a letter of congratulations. And, of course, it pulls off South Park’s trademark intelligent-while-cheeky social commentary, self-awarely examining ideas of artistic censorship. I’ve never seen a man eat so many chicken wings.

#2

The Shawshank Redemption—Here’s the one movie that would make my Top 5 list both for Favorites and for Best. I wish I could say, as I’ve tried with other movies on this list, what aspects of story, character, or premise make SR work. I wish I could pinpoint why this movie is so great; I’d be a better writer if I could. All I know is that when Andy escapes, and the crane shot pulls back on him as he stands in the rain free for the first time in years… well, that’s what movies are supposed to do.

#1

The Princess Bride—While it is perhaps inevitable that William Goldman’s obituary some day will lead with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I can’t help feel that PB is BCatSK’s equal. This movie features a spot-on handling of tone, a true original in its defiance of genre. It’s the comfort food of my movie collection, conjuring epic romantic ideas from the charming trappings of a timeless, placeless fairy tale, all with a perfect seasoning of humor. This movie bubbles over with quotable lines. It feels beautiful.

Writing this post was a good exercise in helping me to crystallize my own taste. I see now that what I love in movies is intelligent stories about connection between unique characters with sincere desires. I like action sequences only when a story really needs them. I love exploration of universal themes, but think it’s best done by examining specifics. All good things to keep in mind to guide my own writing!

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