Film Geeks Favorite Films Blog Party

Those wacky Film Geeks are hosting their very first Blog Party and posing the question: ”What are your favorite films?” It seems simple enough, and I don't plan to make it more complicated. This will not be a top ten. This list will not be in any particular order. These are films that are my personal favorites, which means many if not all will not be based on any semblance of reality. If someone were to ask me what I thought the greatest movies of all time were, or what the best movies within a particular genre were, then the list would certainly differ. By no means is the list which follows stating that I think The Transformers: The Movie is a superior film to Casablanca. I'm a geek, but I'm not a fool. Perhaps future F.G. party topics will offer me the opportunity to prove that.


The Transformers: The Movie
Like most children of the ‘80s, I was a willing victim of brilliant marketing. Many toy lines spawned cartoons that were half hour commercials, but we all devoured them. I took the Transformers cartoon very seriously. I loved the toys because I was(and to some degree even today still AM) fascinated by the concept. Is it a car or a robot? A plane or a robot? A dinosaur or a robot? The line offered two toys in one at first, then three, then robots that combined to make BIGGER robots. The permutations were endless, and were a good foundation of interest when the show arrived, chronicling the tale of a four million plus year civil war between giant alien robots that came here, to Earth. For two seasons I got to know these robots and the humans they interacted with. My action figures had “life”, personalities reflected from the show. There was no way I would miss a feature-length film about them and, though they claimed to find it “boring” and slept through most of it, my parents still took me to see it. On the big screen the story jumped ahead to the year 2005. Their teenage friend was now a man with a wife and a son of his own. The war had escalated and I watched in horror as many beloved characters became casualties of that war. On the small screen, no one ever died. The robots sustained damage and were sometimes even blown to pieces, but they were always put back together by the end of each episode. The movie destroyed any status quo along with these characters, and made the battle all the more desperate. Add in better animation, a hard rock soundtrack, and a giant planet-devouring transformer, and you have all the ingredients needed to cement this as one of my favorite films.


Clash of the Titans
I actually was reminded of this favorite from my childhood while surfing channels yesterday and coming across it on television. Like The Transformers, this film holds a special place in my heart because of a toy. One Christmas a relative got me a boxed set of action figures of Perseus and his winged steed Pegasus(which I still own). I didn't know the story behind the figures or even who Harry Hamlin was, so when I was watching cable at my aunt and uncles during a family gathering a year or so later, it was very exciting to see large, living versions of my toys running about. It was an epic tale which I went on to watch every time it was on television. It had some scary creatures and witches in it, but was campy enough at times that the scary stuff didn't phase me. I was in awe of seeing a robot owl, a winged horse, snake-haired Medusa, and of course the gargantuan Kraken. Watching the film again yesterday, I realized how obvious the Harryhausen miniatures were. Still, I was in single digits when I first saw this movie so nestled in the arms of nostalgia it will always be one of my favorites.


Superman II
Why does a sequel, and not an original make it to my list? The Man of Steel was established by this film, and no time needed to be spent on an origin story. Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent finally revealed his true identity to and his love for Margot Kidder's Lois Lane, and the stakes were higher. To be with her, he gives up his powers at the WORST possible time, when a trio of villains led by Terence Stamp's General Zod arrive on Earth, Kryptonians who've escaped their Phantom Zone prison. Since they hail from the same planet as Superman, all three possess the same powers as he does under Earth's yellow sun. Twenty-five years later, I don't think I'm spoiling much by going on to say that Superman recovers his powers and faces the trio in one of the most brutal superhero slugfests ever shown on film. When one considers that this was done well before digital technology, that the concrete and vehicles and metal being hurled around was done with traditional special effects, the climactic battle is all the more impressive. The movie has several great “hero moments” as well, points where all seems lost and then a musical fanfare signals that the tables are about to turn. One of these moments occurs when the villains have threatened those closest to the absent Superman and the city feels abandoned, and then a wind kicks up and blows a stack of newspapers as the re-empowered hero soars in and asks the General if he'd “care to step outside.” The other moment I love is toward the end when it seems Superman is again powerless, and the General orders him to kneel and take his hand. I get a giddy lump of excitement in my throat EVERY TIME Superman kneels, takes Zod's hand, and then crushes it as his theme music comes in and he stands triumphant. I LOVE that scene.


Ghostbusters
It was rare, even as a boy, that I would walk in to a movie theater without any inkling of what I was about to see. These days trailers give away a lot, and my curiosity often gets the best of me. As a child, kids at school would talk and I'd at least have an idea what was going to happen. I went in unspoiled to anything, including The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. I'm not even sure Ghostbusters was entirely my choice. I thought it was going to be a dumb comedy but had seen just enough ghosts in the trailer to pique my interest. I jumped when they encountered the first one in the library, and was hooked from that moment on. The movie was damn funny and yet had some genuinely scary moments. The music was awesome and I loved watching Bill Murray's Peter Venkman put the moves on the ladies, like Sigourney Weaver, or the college girl being tested for ESP while he zaps the kid next to her who actually is getting the questions right. It spawned an awesome cartoon and a disappointingly inferior sequel, and remains one of the most quotable movies of all time. To this day I still smile when I think of lines like “Listen. Do you smell that?” and “Don't cross the streams”, and I'm honestly wondering now why I don't own it on DVD.


Spider-man 2
As with my Superman reasoning, I feel getting past the origin story in the previous movie only helped the pace of the sequel. Beautiful Alex Ross illustrations in the opening credits do all the recapitulation that is necessary, and then we're launched right in to the present tribulations of Peter Parker, still perfectly portrayed by Tobey Maguire(who celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday). Peter's still one of US, a regular geek pining for the girl he can never be with while struggling to make ends meet in between fighting crime as a superhero. OK, I admit it, I don't fight crime or have powers, but otherwise I still found myself relating to the character. The film was faithful to the source material, nodding to things in the comics die hard fans would appreciate without requiring newcomers to have read those original stories. The pacing between the subplots was less choppy this time around, and everything tied together nicely. Best of all, a happy ending with a hopeful future changed in tone just through the dissonance of the underlying score, and we know more troubles are on the horizon.


Return of the Jedi
For the record, I agree with the widely-held opinion that The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the series. But this is a list of favorites with personal significance, and Jedi was the only original edition I was old enough to see in the theater. I had seen Star Wars on television several times but not its sequel, and many kids in my elementary school had already spoiled the Big Secret and made fun of me for not seeing it. I was a little lost when Jedi began but quickly caught on to what was going on, and was in awe of Luke Skywalker's Jedi mastery. I couldn't believe this was the same character from the first film, and feared for his life when he faced the Rancor. I thrilled when, on the brink of death at the edge of the Sarlacc pit, he leapt and caught his lightsaber, launched from R2-D2 who was already strategically in position thanks to Luke's master plan. But it was his final showdown with Darth Vader that really had me on the edge of my seat. Things were not going well for Luke or ANY of his allies, and I didn't see any way they were going to triumph. It was the love of a father for his son, a father not wanting to see history repeat itself, that ultimately saved the day. Focus on that and not “Deus ex teddy bears, and you can accept this as one of my favorites.


Batman Begins
I've already reviewed what I consider to be the BEST big screen portrayal of the Dark Knight. It had a fine cast, plausible explanations for his arsenal, a balance between his story and that of the villains, and all the themes from the source material that I love about the character. He struggles with the dual identity: which one is real? He abhors the gun, but even that aspect is further fleshed out here. In the absence of parents, he finds role models in surrogates, and his enemies shape him as well as his allies. Most importantly, as I've said it's tough to surprise me, especially these days, and the film did what no other has done in a very long time. I can't WAIT to own this one, and I'm already imagining the sequel in my mind.


Back to the Future
This is forever a classic of my childhood. Michael J. Fox was somehow at once cool and a dork, all the while conveying how lost he was in his situation, as any of us would be if sent back in time. Christopher Lloyd was hilarious as always, and I loved the Car. The movie blended humor and action in a very unique time-travel concept, and wasn't afraid to make things hard on its protagonist. So many things go wrong, and so much has to go PRECISELY right in order for him to fix the past and get back to the future, that the film thrives on a tension and unpredictability that is rare today.


Wayne's World
If this were a list of the BEST movies, then my last entry wouldn't be included. But since, as I said at the beginning, these are my PERSONAL favorites, then the list wouldn't be complete without it. And while this comedy may just be an extended SNL skit, it's easily the BEST movie to come out of that show. Forget what I said about Ghostbusters; Wayne's World is the most quotable movie from my past. Just last week, my friend Rey brought his guitar to work and when he didn't immediately comply with my request for ”Stairway to Heaven,”, I cried out, “No Stairway? Denied!” I loved Wayne's World. I sang along to ”Bohemian Rhapsody”, ogled Tia Carrere, and chuckled at Ed O'Neill's psychotic monologues. The pacing is quick, the pop culture references are bountiful, and Rob Lowe makes for a lovably detestable adversary. Wayne Campbell may be Mike Myer's best creation before Dr. Evil, and the sympathy and amusement one feels towards Dana Carvey's Garth makes one weep at low spots in his career like The Master of Disguise.

* - * - *

The Transformers: The Movie
Clash of the Titans
Superman II
Ghostbusters
Spider-man 2
Return of the Jedi
Batman Begins
Back to the Future
Wayne's World

There you have it, a selection of nine of MY favorite movies, in no particular order. I feel that the shows we watch, books we read, and movies we enjoy all reflect our tastes and, by extension, our personalities. I think I've presented a good portrait of who I am, here tonight. Thanks again to Darrell and Wendy for hosting. I can't wait to see what films they and others have chosen.