The Movies That Made Me
Having just finished my first full-time job and waiting to start a master’s degree in film in tandem with you-know-what still keeping a lot of us in our homes, I’ve been revisiting a lot of my film library. I’ve also started marketing myself as a freelance writer properly now, so I’ve been confronting a lot of questions that force me to consider why I’m the right person to tell any particular story about film.
One of the questions I’ve been thinking about so fiercely has been favourite films. This particular question induces a very particular level of panic in me, one I can only compare to that of being asked to pick a favourite child. So, what I did instead was think about a few films that have made me the film fanatic that I am today.
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5. Avatar (2009)
Before you click away, I do think I have something interesting to say about Avatar. No, it is not that I think its an underrated masterpiece. I do admire the ambition that apparently went into constructing the backstory and elements of Pandora movie, but it’s essentially Pocahontas in space, and there’s no ignoring that one of the movie’s major legacies has been the aliens who mate via ponytail… the very same ponytails they use to interact with every other element of flora and fauna.
However, one of the things that I recall is the abject wonder that I felt watching Avatar in a cinema; twelve years old, sporting silly 3D glasses drinking in every pixel of this fantastical landscape before me. I am generally very indifferent to 3D movies but the experience of seeing Avatar was something else. I’d seen and read plenty of science fiction before, but the pure sense of wonder I felt sitting there is one of the best cinema experiences I’ve had to this day. My attention never broke once despite being in a completely packed auditorium, and I didn’t even do the obligatory thing of taking off the glasses to see what the 3D film looks like without them.
Sure, Avatar doesn’t really hold up for home viewings, but I will continue to cherish and chase the feeling I had as a child sitting in my local Odeon, staring open-mouthed at the silver screen in the cinema just after Christmas in 2009. This was one of the times I knew I just had to be involved with the film industry, in one way or another.
4. The Artist (2011)
Michel Hazanavicius’ 2011 film was a huge success at the start of the last decade, scooping up BAFTAs, Oscars and Golden Globes all over the place. The Artist is definitively a love letter to cinema in practically every way – a (mostly!) silent picture that emulates all the charm of the silent picture era with its big dance numbers and glitz and glamour. At the same time, it forged a path of its own by exploring the fragility of its own lead actor. Influences from landmark directors like Hitchcock are obvious; therefore, I would argue that The Artist is a great point of departure for sampling something so different to what you might have been watching thus far. This is because it’s constructing a modern movie that is both set in and made with the distinct stylings of the golden age of cinema. Oh, and it still very entertaining, too – Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo are truly wonderful alongside one another!
This is precisely why The Artist is important to me; up until I saw this movie, I hadn’t really become as obsessed with film as I am now. Films were, as they are for everyone else, just entertainment. Hearing enough buzz about The Artist, I gave it a go on Sky Cinema about a year after it came out and fell in love. Surprised by how much I enjoyed something that I would have previously dismissed as boring just because its “in black and white”, a whole new world was suddenly open to me and I was devouring monochrome films with glee. Current favourites include Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, Sidney Lumet’s Twelve Angry Men, and Casablanca, to name but a few.
Essentially, I’m grateful to The Artist for kickstarting my self-imposed cinematic education.
3. Grease (1978)
I love musicals. I toyed with putting Singin’ in the Rain on the list for a long time just for it being a film which can brighten up any day. However, I had to think in terms of the biggest impact, and I had to jump to Grease.
I remember crowding around a television in my grandma’s house with my sister and watching two musicals essentially on rotation – Annie Get Your Gun and Grease (technically there was also Brigadoon but I really don’t recall much about it). Of those two, I enjoyed Grease a lot more – the 60s chic costumes and rock n’ roll tunes gripped me way more than the likes of ‘No Business like Show Business’ ever did, and it felt so full of energy and life.
Since then, I’ve watched a whole host of movie musicals – I’ve fallen in love with Singin’ in the Rain, Hairspray and the Miramax adaptation of Chicago, been relatively unmoved by the 2012 version of Les Misérables, and been utterly bemused by the mistake that was Cats. I guarantee that being introduced to Grease many years ago is one of the reasons I engage so much with coming of age stories and movie musicals, two genres I do not intend to stop liking any time soon!
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
I think this is probably my favourite film. I don’t think I’ve felt such a huge range of emotions as I have done watching Into the Spider-Verse.
Despite not being a huge Spider-fan, I was massively excited to see Into the Spider-Verse purely for technical reasons; I have never seen a film with such a distinct visual flair. The creative team behind Spider-Verse developed all sorts of techniques in so many production departments, many of which are documented elsewhere for your reading pleasure, should you be interested.
Match this with storytelling that balances moments of brevity with bravado and heartbreak deftly, and you are onto a winner. Protagonist Miles Morales is a wonderfully compelling character to follow as he grows into the hero he needs to be, and the childish glee he brings to being a superhero is unlike anything we’ve seen in a Marvel movie. Into the Spider-Verse is not just a brilliant animated movie, but a brilliant movie, period.
Well invested in cinema by the time I saw this, I started devouring everything I could about how Sony Animation Studios composed the film practically as soon as I walked out of the cinema.
1. Scott Pilgrim Vs the World (2010)
No wait, this is my favourite film. I honestly have no idea how many times I have (happily!) re-watched Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Edgar Wright’s adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s smash-hit graphic novel series is electrifying. Centred on the charismatic arsehole that is Scott Pilgrim, this film is a true delight, despite the protagonist’s actions. There’s so much to love with this film that I never know where to start when trying to elaborate just why I love it: the visuals still stand up and were truly ahead of their time, the action is so well-choreographed, there are so many brilliant visual gags, the editing is so slick, the cast is insanely good… I could, and would, go on.
I am completely obsessed with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and I have no shame in admitting that. There are few other films I can stick on and watch over and over and still enjoy it just as much as I did the first time I watched it. This is a film I can watch both critically, looking for specific techniques and why I love them so much…but it is also just endlessly entertaining. A pure caffeine-fuelled, action-laden masterpiece.
If the above written diarrhoea isn’t enough to convince you why this particular movie means so much to me, I’ll try to sum it up. Scott Pilgrim is the film which made me realise I wanted to be working in film. Every single time I revisit it, I’m struck by just how well each element comes together to make such a creative and plain cool movie as Scott Pilgrim. Scott Pilgrim has left such a lasting impression on me, spurring me on to want to work in film, and it’s looking like I’m getting there soon!
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Composing this list was excruciating; there were so many films that almost made it onto the list and so many agonised over choosing the best representative. Along the way I was surprised by how many forgotten films sprang back to me. I’ve learned a lot more about why I love film, and specifically what I got out of the many different films I have seen over the years.
Despite this soul-searching, though, I’m probably still not much better at articulating exactly why I love some of these films as much as I do. This article will at least serve as valuable ammunition the next time someone asks me about my favourite movie. I hope.
Written by Martin Shore
Martin Shore is a recent English Graduate who’s been managing a bar for the past year. He has been writing his own film blog and for whatculture.com for a couple years, and is about to commence a part-time master’s degree in Film Studies this September.