Movies of Influence

Movies of Influence

 

I’m a pretty avid movie viewer, or so I’ve been told.  In the theatre, I’d say I average about 30 movies a year.  At home, movies I haven’t seen, maybe 10 a year.  These are movies I am seeing for the first time.  Including repeat viewings of movies (both old and new); add maybe 15 more theatre viewings and 30 more home viewings.  What can I say, I like movies.  And I like seeing them in the theatre.

 

As this is a discussion regarding movies that have influenced me, I will save the discussion of theatre over home; big screen over small screen, for another time.

 

I decided I needed to start getting these things down on “paper” while my memory still serves me relatively well.  What better place than in this blog.

Given that I see a fairly good sized number of movies I am often asked, what is your favorite movie?  Often that question is answered by the questioner with, “It’s Star Wars[1], isn’t it.”  Well, this may come as a surprise, but no, it’s not.  It is near impossible to determine a favorite film.  It has a lot to do with when I saw the movie and the mood I am in at the time.  Here’s a list of my top 10 in no particular order.

 

Star Wars

2001

The Producers

Phantom of the Paradise

The Muppet Movie

Horse Feathers

Carrie

Star Trek 2

Young Frankenstein

Sleeper

Annie Hall

Stripes

Night at the Opera

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

And yes, I know I’ve listed more than 10.

These are all movies that influenced me in one way or another.

The next tier is quite extensive:

The rest of the Star Wars movies (Empire, Jedi, Sith, Clones, and Menace in that order), Top Secret, the Indiana Jones movies (well Temple of Doom and Crystal Skull aren’t exactly this high up), Star Trek (in order) 6, 4, 3,1,5, What’s Up Doc? (even though it stars Barbra Streisand), Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Muppets, Take the Money and Run, Guardians of the Galaxy, Planet of the Apes (the whole series, in order), Logan’s Run, Citizen Kane, M*A*S*H, Shampoo, Airplane!, A Few Good Men, American Werewolf in London, everything in the View Askewniverse (Clerks 1 and 2, Dogma, Chasing Amy, Mall Rats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back – not in order cause I don’t know the order I like them in), Superman 2 and Superman: The Movie, Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Sex, Batman Begins, Dark Knight, Batman Returns, Heaven Can Wait (Warren Beatty), Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang.  All the great Universal Horror movie series (well, the Frankenstein series – maybe not Son of and Ghost of, and Dracula, and The Wolfman.

7 Faces of Dr. Lao, Bananas, Night of the Comet, Animal Crackers, The 10 Commandments,  Animal House, In and Out, Man of La Mancha, Ghostbusters 1 and 2, Little Shop of Horrors (the musical), Jesus Christ Superstar, Real Genius, Godspell, Holy Grail, Pit and the Pendulum (Vincent Price), Altered States, Edward Scissorhands, Blow Out, Love and Death, Ed Wood, Network, Play it Again, Sam, And Now for Something Completely Different, Clockwork Orange, Fiddler on the Roof, Beetlejuice, Big Fish . . . oh this is getting ridiculous.  I am having trouble finding a movie that hasn’t influenced me in one way or another.

 

I guess the bottom line here is that I love seeing movies.  I love sharing them with my kids.  I love seeing them on the big screen with my kids (where appropriate).

 

For shock value, here are some flicks I haven’t seen (that people find hard to believe that I haven’t):

Pulp Fiction

Godfather (all 3)

Apocalypse Now

Singin’ in the Rain

Good Fellas

Saw (any of them)

And I’m sure there’s a few more.

 

Once again, a self indulgent blog but, what can one say.

 

Next up, movie theatre vs. home viewing.  Or maybe favorite quotes.  Or maybe more movies.  Well, more than likely something cinematic.

 

 

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[1] For the purposes of this discussion (as well as most), references to Star Wars relate to the original film released in 1977.   You know, the one now referred to as Episode IV and/or A New Hope.