My Top 3; Cinematic, Animated, and Classic.

I love movies. I always have. I grew up in a movie and tv home, we were always watching and rewatching movies. Classics, rom coms, animation, famous cinematic experiences, the newest flop, and random films that you never hear about or think about again. All of them. In fact, when I was 11 my whole family went on a Disney Cruise, and we watched Pirates of the Caribbean on the Caribbean. It's no wonder that I went off to college and pursued filmmaking, or why my writing and stories play like movies in my head. I was built and brought up to enjoy movies, their process, and the lasting way they make you feel. Here's three of my favorites, and why they are so important and impactful to me.

When talking Cinema there's a huge realm of options to choose from. I took cinema classes for 6 years, and many of those theory courses and screenwriting courses introduced me to a huge world of films I didn't know existed. World cinema, silent films, noir; some of the most revered and impactful movies to ever be seen. One of my favorite films ever came from a class on cinema theory and history. Ingmar Bergman's 1957 classic, 'The Seventh Seal'. A Swedish film following Antonius Block, played by the incomparable Max Von Sydow, who's just returned from war and now has to face the spread of the black plague. He meets death, they play chess, he knows he has to die but he makes a bet; beat death in chess to continue living or perish. He meets a traveling family of performers, saves a woman from execution, meets his wife once more. All the while he has moments of inquiry, speaking with figures of knowledge, sometimes Death in disguise; asking about death, about what comes next, if god exists? He fears death, like all of us. It is an entirely human film. The film is dark and brooding, the shadows and contrast are rich and the gothic undertones are beautiful. It's a film that discusses death, life, God, our purpose; all the fun existential topics that I enjoy and often spend my time thinking about. It is acted perfectly, the dialogue and language of the film are poignant and it sticks with you, as does the final dance with death that we see in the final seconds of the film. It is a film that I think back on often, when I think about why I am a filmmaker and what it is that I am saying in my art and stories. I enjoy the discussions of death, of belief and faith; because it is a thing that I fear and that many fear, and it inspires me to continue being curious and to continue questioning everything because it makes good art.

The next film is an animated one, and it's popular, but for good reason. Hayao Miyazaki's 2001 animated film 'Spirited Away'. The second ever winner of an Oscar for animated films. I could care less if it's incredibly popular, it's so good and I will cry when Chihiro and Haku fall from the sky all I want, I don't know why. The film follows a young girl named Chihiro, as she dives into the spirit world. Moving to a new city and starting over with her family, Chihiro comes off as a whiny brat and a scaredy cat. She clutches her moms arm as they travel through the tunnel into the old spirit town. Her family is then captured by their own greed and gluttony and it's from then on that Chihiro has to find her own way back to the real world, and to save her family as well. She meets many characters along the way, friends, allies, old beings, evil spirits, and those that wish to keep her there forever. She's terrified, and she has every right to be—despite the notion that animated films are somehow only for kids this film knows how to set the stakes and make them feel real. By the end of the movie she is a far cry from the scared little girl we met at the beginning of this journey. A brave girl that stood in the face of ghosts and spirits to fight for her mom and dad, and she won. I have always found it to be a film that teaches a lot. Her relationship with Haku is poignant and powerful and speaks to the relationships we make with the earth, and how it reflects back to us who we are. The other relationships she makes with the supporting characters also teach lessons in kindness, empathy, strength, and staying true to ourselves. It teaches us to be brave, even if we are small and sometimes feel powerless. It shows us in humor and color and light and fun interesting characters that have always stuck with me. A film about friends, family, and believing in yourself; an obvious favorite for a reason.

Last but not least, we dive into the final category; classics. In this case it's a classic and a comfort movie for me. Gus Van Sant's 1997 classic, 'Good Will Hunting'. The film follows Matt Damon's character Will Hunting. A high school graduate south Boston young man who roughs around his neighborhood and seemingly doesn't have a set path before him. Along with his neighborhood best friends they terrorize basketball courts and mess with snooty college kids at local bars. Will works part time as a janitor where we find that he is in fact a mathematic genius, but he doesn't really care. Stellan Skarsgard's character tries to set him on "the right path", or a path that he wishes he had to do all over again especially with Will's genius. Will doesn't care about his potential though, at least not in the way that Professor Gerald does. Robin Williams character is the wise old man type, a man that is battling his own grief, but is happily teaching students at an affordable college and also a therapist when he wants to. These two battle it out, aggressively on Skargard's part, over helping Will see his potential and reach it. Will however is dealing with trauma and has the inability to allow others in, he can't take himself seriously or his genius and lashes out at others. One of my favorite scenes is when Ben Affleck's character argues with him, because a real friend is gonna yell at you when you're stubbornly remaining in one place, he says that Will owes it to him to get out of South Boston and do something with his life; and he's right, and so he does. The story deals with our potential, our choices in the paths we take, love and grief and trauma. I have a lot of love for this movie not solely for Robin Williams character, and not just because this was Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's early acting careers and first dip into scriptwriting. I love it because of what it says to the paths that we have set before us, and the fact that it is our decision to take them, to do what we wish with the talents we have and the desires we feel we have to follow. How about them apples. It is a special movie, and it is a favorite movie to many, including a good friend of mine that I miss, rest easy RDF.

So that's them. Three of my favorites. The list changes, it's much wider, the categories are grand and there's so many films to choose from, somedays its a different film in the category, but for the most part this is the big three. These films really stuck with me because of what they say about our character, about how their main characters move and make decisions. They say to be brave, to question, to follow our own paths. These films stick with you, their characters inspire, their worlds jump out of the screen and for me they have left a lasting effect on my own writing. What films have inspired you, have left a lasting effect on your self and how you move through the world? What films move you? What are some of your favorites?