My top 5 movies

OK, I have not posted in forever, and chances are it will be a while until I post again, but I've been wanting to post a list of my top 5 movies for a while so I'll just do it.

To clarify I've picked these movies because of their overall quality and their re-watchability. I'm not saying these are the best movies ever made, but if I was stuck on an island for the rest of my life with these 5 movies, I would be OK. That's how enjoyable each of these films are.

Juno is my all time favorite movie. The cast is superb, the story is satisfyingly simple and the dialogue is hilarious.

Every line that comes out of Juno's mouth is so clever and well written yet Ellen Page delivers it with such believability that you can't doubt her as a smart-ass teenage girl. The movie has so much heart in it. The focus on family and teenage innocence stick out to me in particular. And if you can make it through the part without crying a little where Jason Batemen tells Juno he's leaving his wife then you probably have no soul. As you can probably guess, I am attracted to strong female characters and I happy that they are coming up more and more in movies (Hit-girl in Kick-ass). Juno is an amazing movie that is as powerful to watch the 2nd and 3rd time as it was the first. My personal fave.

Superhero stories have always fascinated me. The theme of the everyman becoming stronger and more powerful than he thought possible is an uplifting and encouraging one that appeals to lots of people. But this is not the theme of The Incredibles. The family's super powers are accepted and nothing new to them. The challenge for them is hiding them. The self-made villain, Syndrome, is not trying to take over the world or kill the innocent. His goal is to be like them, the supers. As he explains in his monologue, "I'll sell my inventions so everyone can be superheroes. And when everyone's super, no one will be." Seems like a legitimate endeavor to me. Yet we are put against him and root for Mr. Incredible and his natural abilities as he fights against mediocrity. The film points out that we do not all have the same abilities and talents and some of us are chosen to be superheroes and some of us are not. This intriguing non-Disney theme shows the depth of this animated movie. Along with an original story and fantastical action scenes, The Incredibles is my fave among Pixar's impressive portfolio.

Superbad is often put in the category of raunchy high school movies where some guys are trying to get laid before graduation. Superbad is so much more than that. Besides being side-splittingly hilarious, Superbad is all about friendship. Best friends Michael Cera and Jonah Hill are on the cusp of High School graduation and going their separate ways. They go off on crazy adventures, running into McLovin on the way, but the real story is about the two boys coming to grips that their worlds are about to change. The scene at the end where the boys sleep over and they confess their bromantic love for each other is priceless and heartfelt. Also, unlike American Pie and other raunchy high school movies, the kids in Superbad actually look like and act like kids. Insecure, awkward and stupid. Very few movies get this right and it's encouraging when they do. Like Juno, the dialogue is funny but real. Superbad is a gem among many mediocre young adult comedies.

2007 was a good year for movies. We got 3 of my faves, Juno, Superbad, and finally 3:10 to Yuma. Before this movie, westerns never really appealed to me. I wasn't that interested in the history behind them, the plots were usually silly and there was too much talking before shooting. 3:10 to Yuma is definitely an action movie, at times almost over the top (gatling gun in the first 5 minutes), but still holds together and flows well with the plot. The tense relationship between Russel Crowe and Christian Bale brings us in and cause us to ask ourselves, "How much is your integrity worth?" Bale as a down on his luck honest farmer is constantly tested by Crowe's slick pirate attitude towards life. Even though (Spoiler Alert) Bale loses his life, which is different then the original, ultimately integrity wins as Crowe gets on that train. Beautifully shot and containing lots of great one-liners and monologues, 3:10 to Yuma is a delight.

Jurassic Freaking Park. Steven Spielberg came to one of my classes during college and before we asked him our question we were supposed to introduce ourselves and say something about how his movies influenced us. 3 or 4 of the students had the same story of going to see JP as a kid and getting the crap scared out of them. This is the grand-daddy of summer blockbusters. Amazing special effects, interesting story and a great mix of super intense action scenes and calming dialogues. This movie changed the special effects industry and the effects still hold up today, 18 years later. JP is not a mindless effects romp, it is smart and the characters have real depth to them. Even the freaking dinosaurs have depth to them. Everyone remembers the menacing velociraptors and the line, "Their trapped, unless they learned how to open doors." Exciting, intellectual and heart-poundingly intense makes Jurassic Park a classic in every sense of the word.

Honorable Mention:

So this movie did not make my top 5, but I wanted to mention it because this is the best truly independent (absolutely no celebrities in the cast) film I have seen. Rocket Science is a coming of age story, see a trend in my picks, in which stuttering wallflower Hal Hefner is coerced in to joining the debate team at his High School. This is a kid who literally cannot make it through a full sentence within 60 seconds because of his terrible stutter and yet he joins the debate team where students rattle off retorts at the speed of a bullet. The movie is very funny and feels real and authentic. We feel for Hal as he deals with his parents divorce, his klepto brother, a conniving female, and of course his glaring speech impediment. A positive and unique indie movie that will speak to you. Please check it out and hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I have.

Thank you for reading and happy viewing.