file under: who knows what pop culture lurks in the hearts of men?
a recent little compilation project i've been working on (inspired entirely by an annual compilation project N has been conducting for an impressive 6 years now) has me thinking about favorites.
no matter how well you might know somebody, the songs or books or films they hold closest to their hearts can still be, when revealed, quite surprising. some of that clearly has to do with the ridiculousness of picking a favorite of anything - for most of us, there are just too many factors involved (that don't necessarily lend themselves to easy comparison, of course) to really come up with a satisfying answer.
but still: we can't help but build our lists. it's actually, factually an indicator of obsessive-compulsive disorder! yikes.
after thinking about all this on the subway ride home from work, i abruptly asked N what her favorite movie was. her answer surprised us both (i had guessed lolita, but was wrong - i'm betting that it's a contender for favorite book instead). that kind of surprise seems to go hand-in-hand with such questions; it definitely accompanied the majority of answers to my query about people's favorite song of all time.
a little later, i even went so far as to badger a well-respected culture worker (who happened to be on the phone with N at the time) with the same question. what is his favorite movie? hopefully, he'll get back to us on that.
while drifting off to sleep at about 10am, i started to formalize a top 5 (or at least a first approximation thereof), although a top 10 might be needed to get all of the crucial ones in there. does it matter what those movies are? why am i even bothering to jot them down?
fucking lists.
as of this moment, arguments could be made for:
01) my own private idaho
02) the big lebowski
03) fitzcarraldo
04) rockers
05) beat street
while the second 5 might come down to:
06) cry baby
07) american movie
08) orfeu negro
09) river's edge
10) mulholland drive
so what are yours?
[maybe we'll do one for books next week.]
no matter how well you might know somebody, the songs or books or films they hold closest to their hearts can still be, when revealed, quite surprising. some of that clearly has to do with the ridiculousness of picking a favorite of anything - for most of us, there are just too many factors involved (that don't necessarily lend themselves to easy comparison, of course) to really come up with a satisfying answer.
but still: we can't help but build our lists. it's actually, factually an indicator of obsessive-compulsive disorder! yikes.
after thinking about all this on the subway ride home from work, i abruptly asked N what her favorite movie was. her answer surprised us both (i had guessed lolita, but was wrong - i'm betting that it's a contender for favorite book instead). that kind of surprise seems to go hand-in-hand with such questions; it definitely accompanied the majority of answers to my query about people's favorite song of all time.
a little later, i even went so far as to badger a well-respected culture worker (who happened to be on the phone with N at the time) with the same question. what is his favorite movie? hopefully, he'll get back to us on that.
while drifting off to sleep at about 10am, i started to formalize a top 5 (or at least a first approximation thereof), although a top 10 might be needed to get all of the crucial ones in there. does it matter what those movies are? why am i even bothering to jot them down?
fucking lists.
as of this moment, arguments could be made for:
01) my own private idaho
02) the big lebowski
03) fitzcarraldo
04) rockers
05) beat street
while the second 5 might come down to:
06) cry baby
07) american movie
08) orfeu negro
09) river's edge
10) mulholland drive
so what are yours?
[maybe we'll do one for books next week.]
Labels: whoknows whatpop
posted by pf at
11:48 PM
10 Comments:
As you pointed out, Keanu Reeves appears in an impressive two of the Top 10 films. However, it's interesting to note that a number of your Top 10 involve slackers of some sort -- as many as 7/10, but at least half.
Which makes me think: no Richard Linklater on your list. Not that you love A Scanner Darkly, but you might put it on your list anyway so that Keanu might have a hat trick (if you will -- if you like hockey) or a "turkey" (if you're a bowler).
Someone recently asked me what my favorite movie was and I couldn't answer. It really does depend. 15 years ago I could have. I have spent some time thinking about it, but it could change. Some that may appear:
Mean Girls
Bring it On
Moulin Rouge
The Royal Tannebaums ( I spelled it wrong?)
Bullets Over Broadway
Sweet and Lowdown
http://thisisourmusic.blogspot.com/2007/01/open-letter-to-pf.html
imperial: being the die hard underachiever that i am, is it any wonder that some of my favorite movies would romanticize that fatal flaw?
kkp: it really is hard to nail down favorites of any kind, but i'm glad you gave it a try because it gives me an insight into your personality that probably wouldn't come up in person.
by the way, N and i love mean girls as well. that lohan had so much friggin' promise back then!
/a: your gracious reply is appreciated. i'm commenting on it as we speak....
now, who else can i bait into responding to this? where's my atychjay at? holla!
I'm busy preparing my book list, by the way. You know, just in case.
Tied for first place: Dog Day Afternoon and Galaxy Quest. Honestly, I couldn't rank one above the other. It's like how Tom Petty's "American Girl" and the Pixies' "Tame" tie for my favourite song: I never get tired of either one; and together they are two halves of a whole.
But the Top 10 (or even the Top 5)? Hmm. Maybe Ikiru would be on there? Wonder Boys and Out of Sight, too? How about Rushmore? Big Fish? Edward Scissorhands? Beetlejuice? (Perhaps I should make a separate list just for Tim Burton.) The Hudsucker Proxy? Pretty in Pink? Swingers? American Splendor? The King of Comedy? Millions? Hedwig and the Angry Inch? Too many, too many!
Psycho would definitely be on there. But what about Silence of the Lambs?
Arrggghh! I forgot Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead!
My top ten:
1. La Haine
2. Naked
3. Do The Right Thing
4. Withnail & I
5. Delicatessen
6. Stroszek
7. Seven
8. Crumb
9. Down By Law
10. Sunken Treasure (Jeff Tweedy)
Woman in the Dunes
Stalker
Wild Bunch
Fata Morgana
Spinal Tap
Happy Together
High Plains Drifter
Touch of Evil
Akira
Sans Soleil
Dead Ringers
It's hard to limit oneself to only ten titles but I gave it my best shot.
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Don Siegel,1956 AND Philip Kaufman, 1978
- La Dolce Vita - Frederico Fellini
- Superman 2 - Richard Lester
- Happy Together - Wong Kar Wai
- Time Bandits - Terry Gilliam
- Flirting - John Duigan
- Hamlet - Laurence Olivier
- This is Spinal Tap - Rob Reiner
- Les Amants du Pont-Neuf - Léos Carax
- The Iron Giant - Brad Bird
And the list of films tied at number 11 is endless but I would have to add: One-Eyed Jacks, The 39 Steps, Ghost Dog, The Dead Zone, The Conqueror Worm, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Evil Dead 2, Rocky 3, Cure (Kiyoshi Kurosawa), Umberto D., The Hole (Tsai Ming Liang), Throne of Blood, Le Samourai... and on and on....
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