Hello!
I like films. I like talking about films, writing about them, arguing about them (a favourite) … oh and occasionally watching them.
I’m a fairly busy person, I have a toddler to look after (there may be posts about Disney films because I’m not allowed to watch anything else right now), I’m also studying towards a history degree so any quiet periods mean I’m probably working on an assignment or revising. Or procrastinating. Like right now…
I thought it’d be a good icebreaker to talk about what my favourite films are and give a brief overview why. This isn’t an easy thing to do, favourites are so subjective and what I connect with, other people won’t.
This is in no way meant to be a list of “THE BEST FILMS EVER”. I am not remotely qualified enough to make that distinction. I don’t know if anyone is. It’s really a list of films that I connect the most with emotionally. There may be spoilers here in my reasoning for why I love these films… but it’s hard to explain it without them unfortunately!
I’m going to post my top 10-6 here and then 5-1 in a later post.
Apparently people start at the end and work their way to number 1 so…
10: Battle Royale (2000)
In a near future Japan the youth of the country are getting out of control. The Government introduces the Battle Royale program to teach them a lesson. A class of high school students is transported to a secret location and told to fight to the death until only one remains.
I first saw this film aged around 14. It was quite possibly my first subtitled film but I’m not sure. I remember reading an article about it when it was being released in a film magazine and finding the whole idea fascinating. I waited for my allowance to come in, and then I walked to the video rental shop probably a couple of times a week to see if it was available to buy yet (that was how I bought films at the time). It was probably the first time I saw a film with that level of violence and apart from the sort of thing you read in school (Animal farm) maybe the first satire that I actually understood on anything beyond a base level. A lot of firsts!
The characters were my age, on their way to the island they could have been me and the people I went to school with, and they were thrown into this horrendous unimaginable situation. It made me question the lengths I would go to to stay alive, at the time I probably wouldn’t have lived very long unfortunately! I was particularly fascinated with the transfer student characters who had chosen to be there for fun, they reflected a level of self destruction I couldn’t relate to at all.
Aside from the obvious exploitative nature of this film, as the violence is constant and graphic, there is a quality to it that speaks to the lengths people will go to to stay alive. I found it reflected really well on my feelings as a student surrounded by people my age and thinking “I’m not like them. Don’t tar me with the same brush” and that’s an argument that is made throughout the film. Various characters who are all brilliantly developed considering how many of them there are, are confused as to why they have been punished for the actions of a few people.
9: Cloverfield. (2008)
A group of friends tries to escape New York amidst an attack from creatures of unknown origin.
GIANT MONSTERS! CREEPY INSECT THINGIES! I know a lot of people don’t like found footage films, and whilst I can’t say I like it as a style particularly, in this film I think it works brilliantly. The framing of the party and the unstable relationship between the 2 characters Beth and Rob makes them immediately relateable and is a convenient plot device to get all the characters in one place with a drive to stick together. Hud, the guy holding the camera, is almost never on screen but his humour makes you connect with him and his commentary never seems forced or obvious. But aside from all that, the monsters are really freaking cool. They are really scary. And I LOVE that they don’t explain where they came from. It’s totally focused just on this small group of people and their experience of the events and while there are clues to the scope of what is happening… it’s all left very open to interpretation. There are of course tonnes of theories online regarding what the monsters are and where they are from, some of which was confirmed in Cloverfield Paradox (which was so disappointing…)… but I haven’t really looked at them. As an article in itself, this film is great, and it’s one of those I stick on regularly when I need cheering up. Yes I’m weird.
8: Rise of/Dawn of/War for the Planet of the Apes. (2011/2014/2017)
3 Films detailing the lead up to the events of the 1968 movie Planet of the Apes.
I know these are recent, and I generally wouldn’t stick some films this new into a top of anything list because we don’t yet know how they stand up to the “time test”, but this is the first example of a trilogy of films where I think each one is absolutely brilliant. It’s the best trilogy ever made. Prove me wrong. Actually don’t.
This is one of those series where, as a human, your instinct is to try and connect with the human characters, however the only characters that appear consistently across all 3 films are the Apes. As they go on through the trilogy they become more “human” more relatable. The skill Andy Serkis has with Mocap and making you connect to a character that is entirely digital, the CGI is top notch. Each film shows a totally different stage in the cycle of society collapsing, a different world, which is familiar at the same time as being totally alien. It’s a fascinating thing to watch and totally gripping.
7: Aliens.
Do I need to write a synopsis for this one? I probably don’t… Ellen Ripley returns to LV-426, backed up by some badass marines to face off against more of the Xenomorphs she met in Alien.
I’m not sure it’s even necessary to write up why this film is so great. It just is. It’s one of the best action films ever made. One thing I love about the Alien films (even Resurrection to a point) is how each one is a different genre film set in the same universe. I love that there is a female lead, and her being female is almost irrelevant, though less so in this than in Alien (Where I believe Ripley was originally supposed to be male). It has an ensemble cast with some brilliant characters that you really connect with (and a human villain you really don’t). It’s just brilliant. And if you haven’t seen it, what planet have you been on, and why aren’t you watching it yet?
6: The Harry Potter Series.
A boy discovers he’s a wizard, and he is the only one who can save the wizarding world from the evil Lord Voldemort.
Now, I was 14 when the first Harry Potter film came out. The Christmas after I saw it in the cinema I got the first 4 books (the only ones out at that point), a t-shirt, a mug, a computer game… I was a total fangirl. As such I grew up with the characters. I was the right age for it and I still regularly watch through the films again. The world J.K. Rowling created was just epic in scope, and things that seemed minor in book 1 would come around again later on and be shown as being so important… I just love them. I will always love them. Especially Neville. He’s my favourite. Go Neville!
So that’s the first half of my top 10… I hope I didn’t waffle too much! I hope you aren’t offended/upset by my choices and reasoning but as I said this is my list. Hopefully by the end you’ll have some insight into my crazy mind. Numbers 5-1 coming soon!!
Screening Violets 