The title ‘The Movies That Made Me’ sounds quite drastic, but the intention and idea are quite the opposite. I also couldn’t think of anything better, so suggestions are welcome.
I have always liked the idea of a ‘Soundtrack to my Life’ playlist. A collection of songs that hold a significant place in someone’s life. Spanning from earliest memories to cherished moments. It could be the first CD you bought, the song that dominated the radio when you first learned to drive, the first band you saw live, you know that kind of thing.
I wanted to do that, but with films.
I’ve had this concept stirring for a while now and had a fairly good idea of what films would make my list, but I wasn’t totally sure why. I began to realise how much of my life I viewed through the lens of films and how much joy and solace they bring me. I have avoided adding things like Star Wars and Lord of The Rings to this list even though they are extremely important. I feared that once I got going, they would have probably ended up taking up too much of the word count.
As a quick note, I am not saying these are the best films of all time or flawless in any way. More often than not their flaws are what make them so special to me. They feel like checkpoints in my 25 years of life.
Okay, now onto the list.
Cool Runnings
Firstly, I would like to remind you of the part above where I said these are not the best films of all time.
Secondly, if you haven’t seen Cool Runnings, please do. It is a masterpiece.
This film is about the Jamaican bobsled team that makes it to the Winter Olympics after failing to make the regular Olympics as sprinters. There are few better setups for a film than that. I distinctly remember my family renting this on video from a library in Glasgow while visiting my grandpa and it was just the best time.
There are infinite things to enjoy about this film. It’s hilarious, and it's a heartwarming story about underdogs and making up for past mistakes. I would also like to add that it stars John Candy. If you don’t know who that is, please see the image below:
Yes, that is a Rastafarian beret. As I said this film is a masterpiece.
I think he is probably one of the main reasons I love this film so much. John Candy reminds me so much of my dad. He is very much the father figure of the film which might have helped, but he is just very reminiscent of my own Dad in his humour and behaviour. My Northern Irish father may disagree, but I think most who know him would see what I mean. A giver of great advice, always on hand with a joke, and someone you’d always want in your corner or in this case, bobsled adjacent. However, I must admit, my dad does have better taste in hats.
Reservoir Dogs
In my mum and dad's house, they had this large bookshelf in the living room. On this bookshelf lived many things: plants, cookbooks, dictionaries, lego models, and most importantly, DVDs. I use to flick through these DVDs all the time, reading their blurbs, analysing front covers, and just being generally nosey. I remember this is where many of the 18 rated films lived, and among that collection was Reservoir Dogs.
When I was younger, I was always curious about what made a film an 18 rating. I remember pulling out the Silence of the Lambs DVD which had a blue-tinted woman with a luminous yellow butterfly covering her mouth. An undeniably creepy image. I remember asking my siblings why this film was an 18 and they told me it was scary. Like really scary. I am the youngest of three so this could have been an attempt to scare me, and I’ll tell you what: it worked. However, what it also did, was make me believe that all 18-rated films must be spooky, scary, terrifying things. This brings me to Reservoir Dogs.
Out the gate, a fucking confusing name. I once pronounced it Reserved Dogs and remember having the piss ripped out of me for the rest of the day. The only reservoir I knew was the big grassy one that backed onto the lane at my mum and dad’s house. Was this the location of the film? How were dogs involved? How could it possibly be scary enough to warrant an 18 rating? I had so many questions.
By the time I was able to watch it, I was older, I had become aware of Quentin Tarantino through magazines and most likely the Pulp Fictions posters in my local HMV. I had an idea that he and his films were a fairly big deal. Then my dad and I sat down to watch Reservoir Dogs, and it blew my tiny mind.
The music, the acting, the writing, I had never seen anything like it. Although at the time I'm sure I was just merely amazed by the violence and the swearing.
Before it started, I still had some preconceived idea that this was going to be some sort of horror. Then the first scene was a group of guys, dressed in suits, eating breakfast whilst one of them explained his theory of what Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin’ is about. I remember looking at my dad with such confusion, “sorry what is this film about again?”.
It's fair to say I was mesmerised. Tarantino made me want to talk like his characters. They were equal parts slick, smart and profane, but at the same time all so distinct. Harvey Keitel’s thief with a conscious, Michael Madsen’s quiet psycho, and obviously Steve Buscemi’s anxiety-riddled Mr. Pink are all highlights.
On a brief side note: I can only imagine the number of men who went around dressed in oversized black suits and skinny black ties after this film came out.
Most importantly for me, it made filmmaking seem so doable. This is one of the most interesting, funny, and adrenaline-fueled films I have ever seen and the whole thing more-or-less takes place in a warehouse, on the street, and in a few cars. It seemed so achievable. Tarantino was able to create magic out of so little and seemed to do it with his ease.
Shaun of the Dead / Hot Fuzz
I've lumped these together because I find it very difficult to separate them.
I am going to keep this one short. I can't think of many things that have defined my sense of humour as much as these two films have.
Compared to all the American comedies I had seen growing up, these films felt like something completely brand new. They were so amazingly simple and fun. Like what would my best mate and I do if a zombie apocalypse broke out? I feel like our plan wouldn't get much better than holding up in a pub.
Watching back now I realise how hilariously physical these films are too. Taking classic action film tropes and boiling them down to the very basics, and then setting them in a rural English village. It's genius. Also, the chances of me getting the following tattooed on my body are slim...but not zero.
Take car.
Go to Mum's.
Kill Phil—"Sorry Phil"
Grab Liz,
Go to the Winchester,
Have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over.
The Spectacular Now
There was a time in my teenage years when I remember being obsessed with film trailers. Now I don’t mean just watching the trailers for the big summer blockbusters or the latest superhero film. I would watch everything. I would scroll through movie trailer YouTube pages and just absorb it all. Weird small-budget dramas, spooky horror slashers, cringy romcoms, if it had a trailer, I watched it. There was something about these small snippets that were so intriguing. They squeezed so much of this larger project into a 2 min creation that, at least for me, often packed a punch.
Now it was rare that I ended up seeing any of these films and if I did, they seldom lived up to the promise of their trailer. Except, however, for The Spectacular Now.
This film stars Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley as two teenagers coming to the end of their school years and preparing to head off into adult life. Teller is the outgoing partyer and Woodley is the more reserved and studious type. They begin a relationship and proceed to struggle with this transitional period of their lives.
I am not doing the best job of selling it, but I really love this film.
It is also notable to mention that this was one of the first films distributed by studio A24. In the decade since this film the studio has become emblematic of independent filmmaking and is behind cult classic films like Midsommar, Uncut Gems, and most recently, Everything Everywhere All At Once.
This film managed to encapsulate the fears and struggles that I think so many people struggle with at that age, myself included. It has a sense of being lost and confused that I don't think I've ever seen depicted so well. That sort of odd limbo where you are with your closest friends every day at school, you have a routine and feel comfortable, but what's coming over the horizon feels completely unknown. You are overwhelmed with questions about what you are going to do with your future and expected to have coherent and sensible answers at the age of 17/18. That never felt reasonable to me and this film put that feeling on screen with such nuance.
The two leads complement each other so well and feel like genuine teenagers who are just figuring it out step by step, they're both smart but make understandable youthful mistakes. It made me feel more comfortable in myself as a teenager seeing something so relatable portrayed on screen and has become a really important film for me as I have gotten older.
Whiplash
It is becoming quite clear that I was a Miles Teller fanatic in the early 2010s. Still am if I'm being honest.
On paper, this film is very simple. Miles Teller is an aspiring jazz drummer who has ambitions of being great. JK Simmons is his teacher who has a very particular teaching style. For a film set in the world of Jazz, Whiplash has an intensity that you would expect in a white-knuckle crime thriller.
First of all, I think that JK Simmons in this film is as terrifying a film character as there has ever been. I'd put him up against any antagonist and say he probably has a puncher's chance. He hangs over the beginning of the film like a menacing cloud. You get a sense of intensity from him but he seems controlled and mannered. He recruits Teller's character for the 'studio band', the cream of the crop at their prestigious music school, and then the terror starts.
On the turn of a dime, he becomes a vicious and malevolent force and never really lets up. Also, he's just unnecessarily ripped in this film, his black t-shirt is holding on for dear life in most scenes. His character's goal is to get perfection by any means necessary. I think that most of us can relate to this aspect of the story whether that be through a teacher, coach, or otherwise. I mean hopefully a lot less violent but you know what I mean. Someone who pushes you and pushes you in the hopes of seeing spectacular results.
On the flip side of the film, I think Teller's storyline tackles a really interesting question about art and the quest for greatness. How far are you willing to go in the pursuit of greatness, and what are you willing to give up in order to achieve it? Teller's character is so laser-focused on his goal of becoming one of the world's great jazz drummers that he gets sucked into JK's world of toxic aggression and goes along for the ride. This is where the film really gets me.
You know when you are watching the Olympics and you hear all the stories about the athletes training day in and day out for their whole lives? They get up to run at 4 am, they eat, they lift weights for a few hours, they eat, they swim and then they run some more. Their commitment is otherworldy. I'm always left wishing I had that and that's exactly what Teller has in this film.
He clearly has a natural talent, but he knows that's not enough, and he is putting it all on the line to achieve his goals. I wish I had that. Maybe I do and just need the right psychotic mentor to bring it out of me. Who knows. What I do know is that this film makes me want to find out.
I don't think there are many films that have raised my heart rate quite as this film does. Once it starts going the intensity just keeps rising and only lets up for brief moments of air before sending you back on the ride hurtling toward the ending. An ending I may add that will leave you speechless. Genuinely a masterpiece from start to finish.
The Social Network
I will admit that this one even took me by surprise.
Around the time this film came out, I remember suddenly being very interested in the Oscars. I can only assume it was because I had reached an age where I was able to see more of the films that were nominated. It could also have been that Avatar was nominated the year before and that was probably really cool for a 13-year-old boy. Either way, I was completely sucked into the idea of who would be crowned the best film of the year and I was desperate that The Social Network won.
This film had its teeth in me from the first time I saw it. When I was younger I probably didn't realise exactly why I liked it so much, I probably just thought the idea about the creation of Facebook, something I used every day at the time, was really cool. Probably even cooler when I found out it was so tumultuous. Looking back I can see it is because everything about this film is perfect.
The actors, the writing, the music, the story, it's all perfect.
The way this film is written and directed is just completely mesmerising. As I've gotten older and rewatched and rewatched this film, it still blows my mind every time. On the surface, it seems like a fairly straightforward premise. Guy makes website. Guy gets rich. Guy gets sued, but they make it so much more than that. I think that mostly falls on how good Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, and the rest of the cast are. Jesse Eisenberg is perfect as Mark Zuckerberg, he has so much anxious energy bundled together with dickish arrogance that we have come to recognise as a staple of tech billionaires. And yet somehow the film still makes me feel a tinge of empathy toward him every time. I couldn't imagine anyone else embodying that role as well as he does.
The director, David Fincher, is known as a bit of a perfectionist. He famously did 99 takes of this film's opening scene. Just incredible stuff. I am so glad he has this commitment to perfectionism because if this film turned out any other way, I don't know what I would do. Combine Fincher with Aaron Sorkin's writing style and you get an implosion of slick vocabulary and style. It just amazes me every time.
I would love to make films for a living and I think if I ever make anything that comes remotely close to any of these films, I'll be doing all right.
I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks of these and what you think your films would be!
Honourable Mentions
Holes
Goodfellas
Rush Hour 1 & 2
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Star Wars
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