A list of films that Ive watched in no particular order but my own consciousness, links to imdb included.
The shining, age three my favorite film. The clean colors of the apartment, the reds used throughout, the garden maze, or the pattern on the hotel carpet. TONY. All of it. And yes, I'd like some ice cream.
Watching The Wizard of Oz on a tv in a hotel room on our way to Canada. I was also gifted Candyland that year. Also watching The Wizard of Oz in a college class queued to The Wall was mind-blowing.
Dad took me to Hunt for Red October when I was 3. He fell asleep and I woke him when it was over.
Grandpa brought all five grandkids to see Ladybugs one Easter.
Mom took me to Bambi, my first memory of a movie theater. I was in a state of shock when I heard the gunshot, fell in love with Thumper.
I used the Cate Blanchette version of Robinhood as a form of escape doing a breakup, watching it in the theaters. I went twice.
I saw Mike Leighs film Another Year at Coolidge Corner theater in Brookline. I also watched My Perestroika in their 7 seater. I worked at the creperie next door and we traded crepes for free movie tickets. I also watched Red Dawn with friend there, and still am confused. This is the same theater I saw Daniel Clowes give a talk around the time I was obsessed with his creation Ghost World. Clowes also wrote Art School Confidential and nothing better has depicted art school stereotypes than this film.
I fell asleep at an Indiana Jones premier.
The summer of the Titanic. I went with a friend, she cried, I didnt. But Romeo + Juliet from 1996 had me struck and still does. My english teacher in 9th grade explained how the director was known for music videos so the film is made in short shots. It made me aware of the way in which a person can use time.
My first theater PG-13 movie was Excess Baggage.
The sheer delight of Waynes World and all the one liners it has brought to my life. Wayne's World 2 I got to go to with my cousins on a whim, because we tried to drive home in a snowstorm and turned back to my grandparents house.
I've watched Goodbye Girl on repeat for months at a time starting around age 13. It made me fall in love with the band Bread. My then boyfriend scoured the local Sam Goody for Toast but came up empty handed.
Renting movies from Blockbuster and choosing titles with obscure and interesting covers. Here I discovered titles like The Shape of Things & Getting to Know You. A rarity to enjoy a romcom I re-rented Keeping the Faith several times.
Renting the Exorcist in middle school and watching it on a bright summers day to avoid the spook.
Over a winter break in college my boyfriend and I both poor AF used the slew of gift cards to go to a cracker of season for releases. These included: Slumdog Millionaire, Revolutionary Road, Doubt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I also think we saw Horton Hears a Who.
Later that summer I sublet an apartment across from the theater. Ones I remember from that time were The Dark Knight, The Happening, and Seven Pounds.
The same boyfriend and I watched Stranger than Fiction several times, and its use of rom com for him and drama for me made it a match, sadly not us though.
Speaking of Heath Ledger Candy might have been my favorite film of his, not to be confused with Hard Candy which is equally wonderful. Heath was the celebrity crush of my teenage years thanks to 10 Things I Hate About You if only I could be reincarnated as Cat.
The DVD collection at the Callan library kept me sane when I moved there in 2015 and was without a phone or internet. Lust for Life and Crazy Heart (great soundtrack!) were two films I remember watching during that time. At Eternity's Gate is possibly the best and only film I have actually enjoyed of Van Gogh, but perhaps its the charm of Wilem Dafoe. Simon Schamas Power of Art series was good, but acting a painter is tough to nail and this series didnt do it.
The Time Travelers Wife might have been the best book and worst movie ever written/made.
The Quiet Man and Bedknobs and Broomsticks held my grief night after night in another sans internet and phone residency on the West Coast of Ireland in the winter of 2015.
There are documentaries that helped me visualize a creative life, the good and the bad: Burden of Dreams, Alison Watt at the National Gallery, Man on Wire.
Having the desire to watch Babe repeatedly while high after getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Funny, I cant find the link to the video which is played to patients just prior to surgery, stating in rare cases people die from the anesthesia when getting their wisdom teeth removed.
That summer I lived across from the movie theater I ate a lot of pancakes and mint chocolate chip ice cream. We watched Awake and Fracture then. I cant remember if that was in the theater or at home.
At art school in Boston I went to a talk given by Rose Lowder and the students were not nice to her, I wish I had spoken up. I loved what she showed, in particular the film Poppies.
I take issue with Tom Hanks for spinning hollywood versions of already historically accurate and well made films (MarWenCol & Won't You be My Neighbor). But no shade, cause the man was epic in The 'Burbs. I fell for You've Got Mail, but wasn't ever Sleepless in Seattles biggest fan, I just wanted Meg Ryan to be a single lady for a while.
No film has pulled my heart strings to the point of such tears than My Dog Skip, but Steel Magnolias certainly came close and my sister has the slyly filmed video to prove it.
I laughed at inappropriate times while watching Whats Eating Gilbert Grape and couldn't eat lunch after watching Guyana Tragedy both parts of my high school AP psychology course.
Pearl Harbor was shown as a historically accurate film in my US History class which shows the level of competency of that teacher.
As a serial repeater of food, films and books, my mom forbid me from re-renting Girl Interrupted from Blockbuster after the 10th time.
Age 7 in Mrs. Hinchbergers class we were shown The Red Balloon, the simplicity and charm embedded something in me.
The first fully packed theater I remember going to was 101 Dalmatians 'the real one' as me and Mag called it, but I aspire to be the woman with the Afghan Hound in the original.
Sequels were always a hit in my house, as it meant for longer movie nights queue up Beethoven 1 & 2 or Father of the Bride Part I & II
We taped Problem Child off of TV so it came complete with commercials. Imparticularly, I remember the one for cadbury eggs and I feel like chicken tonight jingle. We also taped Folks which is a brilliantly wonderful. Another childhood classic that had a serious dark edge was Kindergarten Cop.
I cried when a friend asked me to a sleepover but couldn't go because I was too sick to go, (I nearly had a constant case of strep throat when I was 5) As a constellation prize I was given The Little Mermaid.
My grandmother brought us Aladdin as a gift one christmas.
In third grade we watched FernGully and all I wanted to do was become a fairy, live in the trees and save the earth.
When the flood of 97 hit we lost most all of our movies. My mom kept crazy organized receipts of insurance we had good coverage. Over the course of the next year every time we went to Walmart she'd lead us to the VHS section and say choose three each. Slowly we replaced our collection with titles that appealed to our year older selves. Favorites of that time were A Goofy Movie, Zeus & Roxanne, and Gordy (though I think grandma and grandpa gave us this for Christmas).
By the time Spice World came to our theaters they were no longer cool, but I secretly was still obsessed so I asked my parents if I could go with my sister because going alone to the movies around the age of 11 I knew wouldn't be approved.
Around the age of 5 I became obsessed with this version of Rumpelstiltskin, my neighbors owned it so I jumped at any chance I got to sneak a show.
The summer before 5th grade I tiptoed around the house in the afternoons avoiding demands to 'go out and play in such nice weather' wanting to escape to a puzzle, can of coke, bag of popcorn and either Ladybugs or Spice World.
Riding bike to video city where my friend lisa and I would search for obscure titles, two I distinctly remember were: Parents and The Willies.