My Top Ten

In celebration of getting 1,000 views of my blog, I thought I would tell everyone what my Top Ten films are (just so you can get an idea of what I like in a film). So here they are, in no particular order:

1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off: I first saw this movie when I was ten years old and thought that that was how all teenagers acted. From that moment on I tried to live my life by Ferris' philosophy on life; that if you don't stop and appreciate life, you might miss it.

2. Mallrats: If I tried to live my life like Ferris Bueller, I more than likely ended up living it like Brody Bruce in Kevin Smith's sophomore flick. It is about two guys who spend their day in a local mall trying to get over their girlfriend woes. It has a great early Ben Affleck performance and the debut of Jason Lee.

3. Fight Club: The first time I saw anything to do with this film was when my sister got the VHS back in the day. The only part I saw was a making of segment when that showed the plane crash and final scene. I was so scared of these scenes that I refused to watch the film for years. When I finally saw it, the film changed my outlook on life and David Fincher became my favourite director.

4. Cape Fear (1991): Martin Scorsese's remake of the 1962 cult film terrified me when I first saw it a couple of months ago. Robert De Niro's portrayal of psychopath Max Cady has inspired many satires and parodies since, the most popular being the shot for shot remake in an episode of The Simpsons.

5. Slacker: Richard Linklater's independent classic is a great directorial debut for a filmmaker. Made for only $30 000, the film drifts in and out of the lives of the youth of Dallas, Texas. With no real plot or characters, it is quite an innovative film. This film has inspired many a young filmmaker to enter the industry.

6. Layer Cake: This classy British flick from the producer of Guy Ritchie's London gangster flicks is what I see as a more realistic approach to films about high end drug dealers. At the very least it takes itself seriously and the characters are believable.

7. Scarface: When I first saw this movie, it was the point that I realised that I wanted to be in the film industry. I became entranced with the story of Tony Montana his rise through the Miami underworld. I discovered that you could tell stories that entertained people, whilst still having roots in real life.

8. Requiem for a Dream: When I tell people that this film is on my top ten, most of the time they seem a bit disgusted. It is a very hardcore film about varying forms of drug addiction, mainly heroin. But my love of this film comes mainly from the technical aspects rather than the story, which is still very good. The movie uses a technique called hip-hop montages, which cuts together short two second clips that are used to emote a certain feeling from the audience.

9. Drive: Nicolas Winding Refn's tale of the Driver is an amazing film that has a fantastic 80s vibe, whilst being set in the present day with modern music. The lack of dialogue means that Ryan Gosling works even harder to display his emotions. Bryan Cranston plays an amazing character halfway between Walter White and Hal from Malcolm in the Middle.

10. Pulp Fiction: This modern classic from Quentin Tarantino draws me in every time I watch the film. It is such a triumph of non-linear storytelling and completely captures the vibe of the time in which it's set. The characters are part of popular culture and is insanely quotable. I think that without this film, people would not be impersonating Christopher Walken or his infamous watch speech.

These are my top ten films and my thoughts on them. Hopefully you can see from my list, how I look at movies I watch today. I might start doing more lists like this in the future.