Patton Oswalt released a book about his cinema addiction called Silver Screen Fiend. Promoting it he named 10 Movies that Changed His Life. What titles fit these descriptions for you?
1. Your earliest movie that probably started your love of movies?
2. The film that defined your generation?
3. The great film your parents didn't want you to see?
4. The great shocking film your parents didn't even know existed? One you came across on your own.
5. The film that you closely identify with your career or what it is you wanted to be?
6. A genre breaker, that opened up narrow definitions of that genre?
7. An unsafe comedy from the classic era?
8. A comedy about a subject that shouldn't be funny?
9. A modern movie that proves they still make 'em like they used to?
10. A film that made you rethink your life?
1.
Toy Story 2, probably. Back then, I merely enjoyed movies like
Terminator 2 for their cool special effects and clever premise. It wasn't until Pixar came along that I started to learn movies can be life-changing experiences.
2.
The Matrix, unfortunately.
3. None. If anything, they made me watch a lot of bad movies that I would rather not watch today...
4. Truth be told, I've never really connected with my parents that closely to know the history of films they knew about. Pass, but I've got a feeling I discovered
Casino Royale before my father did, despite being a big Bond fan.
5. None that were close, at least none that I've seen so far. The closest one would be
Stranger Than Fiction on the life of a writer. I aspired to be a scriptwriter once, so I might watch
Adaptation someday to respark that interest.
6.
Toy Story 2 again. That film contributed to my life in a lot of ways, including giving me an insight to the storytelling capabilities of movies.
The Dark Knight would be a close second, changing my perspectives on superheroes.
7. None, if your definition of "classic" goes back to the grayscale movies. Even the movies that I've seen from the '70s were mostly drama or action, never comedies. The oldest unsafe comedy that I know of would be around the time of
Billy Madison. There's also
Joe Dirt if that counts.
8. None that I've enjoyed, if that's what you're asking. Even
Jackass got old for me fast. Worst example I could think of is
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry with their homosexual/racist jokes. At least
Joe Dirt's toilet humor can be generally considered funny by many people.
9. I could name two, but I think I prefer
Nightcrawler. A no-prize for guessing the other one.
10.
Fight Club. Yep. The film that made me go on a crazy spiritual enlightenment journey, emphasis on "crazy". Didn't last long, thankfully.