Throughout my continuing journey to become a filmmaker, I’ve seen a lot of movies…like a lot. Whether seeing them on my own, in college, at film school, recommendations from others, the list goes on and on. I try to see as many as I can because I believe it can help me learn and strengthen my film knowledge.
I remember the exact moment I decided to go into filmmaking, it was quick and simple. When I was twenty years old, I had just finished watching Kill Bill Vol.2 and watched an interview on the special features with the director Quinten Tarantino. Watching him describe his passion to get the Kill Bill movies made and movies that had influenced him had me realize that is what I wanted to do: make movies and tell stories. And ever since then, I have been in a relentless pursuit of that dream. So, like Tarantino did, I want to share five movies that have changed my life.
INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989)
First off, let's be clear about one thing: Indiana Jones is awesome. The thing I love about him as a hero is that he is more of an everyman hero and it shows he isn’t invulnerable. He gets pretty beat up all the time, makes things up as he goes and uses his wit to get out of situations. Watching the Indiana Jones movies really shaped me growing up because they got me really interested in action movies, and it created flawed characters because they make him so relatable. Its tough to choose between Last Crusade and Raiders of the Lost Ark as my favorite but I have to give the slight edge to Last Crusade. My brother and I can quote that movie verbatim as it is our favorite one to watch and Sean Connery gives one of the best performances of his career. The funny thing is while didn’t know it at the time, this film got me inspired to make movies. When I entered college, I majored in anthropology with the determination to become an archaeologist because of Indiana Jones. A couple years later I realized my true passion of wanting to get into filmmaking and telling stories, and it still came back to the same common denominator: Indiana Jones.
THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
Now anyone that knows me will tell you that I am first and utmost, a Batman fan. I grew up watching nearly everything that was Batman. The 1966 show, the early movies, the serials from the 1940’s, the superb 90’s animated series, and countless other forms of media. I remember seeing The Dark Knight in theaters and was absolutely blown away. It was my earliest memory of seeing a superhero film that at its core, wasn’t really a superhero film. It is a crime thriller akin to Heat, that just happens to have its protagonist dress up like a bat while the antagonist is a crazy killing clown. Christopher Nolan knocked this film out of the park, with great writing, phenomenal performances across the board (particularly Heath Ledger as the Joker, may he rest in peace), and great action sequences. What I love about the film is that it really explores the cost of being Batman and what it does to Bruce Wayne, and while I really wasn’t expecting that it fascinated me. It goes to show why The Dark Knight is still considered by many to be the best superhero movie ever made, still twelve years later, and why other films have gone to it for inspiration.
LES MISERABLES (2012)
This one is a little more personal for me. When Les Miserables came out, I was not in a good place in my life. I had a falling out with some friends over the summer before I went to college and became very bitter about it throughout my first semester. Now my mom was a big fan of Les Miserables on the stage and saw it many times. So when this movie came out, she really wanted to see it, which I was fine with going with because my favorite actor; Hugh Jackman, happened to be in it. Suffice to say, that movie had a profound effect on me that I wasn’t even expecting. The most important thing I took from the film is to always look for the good in people no matter what the circumstances are. I credit Les Miserables for bringing me back out of that funk I was in and I never looked back. It led me to reading the novel and it is one of my favorite books, and Jean Valjean now is my favorite literary character. So going to see that film did more for my life than I ever had imagined, and to think I only went to see it at the time because Wolverine happened to be playing the lead!
LA LA LAND (2016)
If there was one movie tied closely to my dream, it was this one. This movie spoke to me on so many levels. It really made me think about how much work goes into achieving your dreams and the struggles you may face in doing so. I’m sure La La Land inspired many others to move to LA to pursue their dreams (and broke a lot of hearts in the process). I loved the way director Damien Chazelle showed the landscape of Los Angeles, essentially making it a character in the movie. The chemistry between Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling is immaculate. The musical numbers are riveting phenomenally choreographed, particularly "A Lovely Night" and "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)". The ending is extremely heartbreaking and to me, it's a warning of what achieving your dreams can potentially cost you. After seeing this film, I remember my first thought leaving the theater: “Wow…it would be great to live there and do that for a living”.
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR AND AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2018-2019)
Alright, this one is a bit of a cheat since it's two films but I view the Infinity Saga as one story so I’m going to go with it. I had never in my wildest dreams expected movies to be so awesome and exhilarating until I saw these movies. And I make that statement even after seeing the previous Avengers movies and other team up movies before, but these films set the bar for crossover movies to me. Now normally I am a stickler at movie theaters for people in the theater to be quiet, it drives me insane when people are loud at movies. But in these films, I found myself cheering along with the crowd in various moments such as: Thor arriving in Wakanda with Rocket and Groot, Captain America wielding Mjolnir, and all of the heroes coming back for the big battle against Thanos. I have seen many movies on opening night, many of them superhero movies, but seeing these movies opening night was an experience. All the fans together, united by their love for these Marvel characters and after twenty two films, all coming together to wrap up an eleven year journey. It was truly a sight to behold. After Endgame was over, I told my film school class: “Avengers Endgame is why I want to do what I want to do in my life”.
These are just five movies that I have changed my life. I have dozens of other favorites, and I will continue to add to them as life goes on. But these movies will always, for various reasons, hold a special place in my heart. What are some movies that have changed your life? Let me know some of them in the comments!
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