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These are the chronicles of the esoteric . . .
Every summer, movie-goers world-wide anticipate the big blockbusters that arrive at this time of year. With this blog post, I am beginning a short series on my favourite movies - purely for the fun of it. This is something my brother and I have done via e'mail with eachother; he sent me his six years ago and I finally compiled mine earlier this year. It was a very difficult task (I have a list of 19 movies that were close to getting in), thus after giving it to him, I've decided to share the list here.
Before we get into it however, I'd like to begin with a disclaimer on how I've chosen the fifteen films. You see, I have judged my list not on the basis of how 'great' the movie is - that is, I did not make a decision based on merit of exceptional writing, groundbreaking acting, or astonishing cinematography. Instead, I have composed my list purely on the basis of enjoyability (what my brother calls the 'sheer feel' and 'go-back ability'). These are movies I would watch no matter what mood I'm in - movies I have enjoyed since the first time I saw them and I continue to immensely enjoy them regardless of how many times I experience them. This list of fifteen movies are the ones I have put as first on a list of favourites because of the fact that I would buy - and in most (but unfortunately not all) cases have bought - them. Because if I love it enough I want to own it so I can pop it in when I invariably get a craving. They are movies I could never tire of, I often think of, quote from, and am constantly wanting to watch them.
For that reason, I'm sure many of you can already guess what some of these movies are. I watch a lot of movies and there is little doubt as to which are my favourites; but I suppose there may be a few on my list that are surprises to some. I suppose I could make another list consisting of movies I think are actually the best on basis of quality of writing, acting and filming, but I feel there would likely be over-lap.
And with that I end my disclaimer, so without further ado I give you 15 and 14 of Eric Jordan's Fine Fifteen.
This last slot kept changing over the last few months; I was replacing movie after movie, rotating titles constantly. It became an obsessive battle. But I did finally manage to batten down the hatch, as it were. The movie that squeezed its way onto the list is Star Trek: Generations. Yes, the first movie by the crew of the Enterprise 1701-D. It's a classic movie, with a brilliant (and very 'Star Trek') crossover of generations. I love Star Trek for its ability to deal with both fictional spatial anomalies and greater questions of life in one story-line. The way the 'death' of Kirk played against the death of Picard's brother was simple but profound; Data's incorporation of the 'emotion chip' was hilarious, but led to serious questions, as Data always does, of what it means to be human. In addition, there were questions of life in the context of time (a predator or friend?), family (Picard as the last Picard), and morality vs apathy (making a difference). The thing I enjoyed the most, as will come out in some of my other favourite movies, is the explorations of reality: the fictional irregularity encountered in the film - named 'the Nexus' - opened up existential questions in a very unique and sublime way. Lastly, the method they chose to end an era of The Next Generation by actually destroying the beloved Enterprise - not to mention finally putting Kirk to rest as an epic hero - while leaving it open for a new chapter was a good twist. Great movie.
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The movie that holds this position was the last one to be added. In all honesty, I'm even now debating whether it should be here or at 15. Regardless, the second last movie is Zoolander. Yes, the magnificent comedy from Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, featuring the always amazing Will Ferrell. Zoolander for me is an oft-quoted gallery of brilliant scenes and hilarious one-liners that subtly and quite sarcastically deals with questions of perception, friendship and morality - though none in much depth. This movie is a classic for comedy-watchers, and is actually quoted often by others, which to be honest I find rather amusing: if you watch this movie again, note how very strange it is - the humour is an oddball sort of Spaceballs humour that makes me wonder if it would've been as big a hit had it been cast with no-names. Zoolander is a movie that I still cannot believe I do not own, and a movie whose rumoured sequel I await with caution. Ultimately, it is a movie I would gladly watch over and over - and laugh every time.
And there you have it, the start of the count-down. The subsequent posts will follow a similar pattern as this one, with Part 2 and Part 3 listing five movies each, and Part 4 presenting to you numbers 3-1.
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