5 Films that Define Me

To me, this film represents a lot of things. This was probably the first film I've ever had to take a stand on regarding how I personally didn't care for it. Lots of people are shocked to discover this, but everytime it arises, I take a stand and refuse to change my opinion. Also, this film taught me that I don't have to like the film as a whole in order to appreciate or even like certain aspects from the film itself. For example, the scenes with HAL and Dave are some of the most chilling scenes ever put on film and HAL's death scene was really nerve-wrecking and to this day makes me shiver as I think about it. Either way you look at it, 2001 definately had a say in the way I view films today.

I know exactly what you're thinking. "Why are you puting this film on this list?" To be perfectly honest with you, I can't think of any other film to best sum up my taste. This film is funny, dramatic, action-packed, intelligant, simple, complex, well-acted, fun, great characters, great villains, great romance, superb but subtle visual effects, etc. If there was one film that I could point to and say summed up why I love movies in general, this would probably be it. This just goes to show that a film doesn't have to be based on real life events, or be an "artsy" film to truly be great. You can make a great film about anything ("Up" comes immideately to mind) and make the viewers care about anything if the film is done well enough. Die Hard is the crowning example of that. Not only is this a great film, it's also great fun.

Shoah is not an easy film to watch, and that makes it one of the best films I've ever seen. This is probably the first film I saw that really captured true human emotion, really tapped into the horrors of something horrific, and also to be honest is probably the one film where a tear slipped from my eye. This is one of those rare films that is pure emotion. That is all this movie is, and that makes it one of the most powerful films, if not the most powerful film I've ever seen. It showed me that film can be more than just a story, it can be more than just actors reciting lines, no matter how great. To me, Shoah represents mankind at it's best, mankind at it's worst, a sense of terror and disbelief that such things could happen, and about life. And that I think is how I could best sum up this film. This movie simply is.

My all-time favorite film, that has impacted me greatly. This film has taught me tons of things; that any book that was already fantastic can be made into an equally great, or heck even improved version of the story. It's also a very powerful film and is one of those rare films that has the distinction of making me teary-eyed. This film showed me some of the best acting I've ever seen as almost every actor in this film becomes their character. That's not Gregory Peck, that is Atticus Finch. This film gave me complete respect for filmmaking in general and every time I watch it, I get filled with wonder and awe at how powerful film really can be.

This was a childhood favorite of mine, and I still regard it as one of my all-time favorite films. I've seen this film probably 100 times, and I could recite this film word for word. But there's also a technical aspect to this film I didn't quite get as a child (I was 1 when I first saw this film) but now that I'm older, I've found more and more things to love about this film. The great characters with relateable issues, the absolutely stellar and at the time groundbreaking animation, and some really funny jokes. This film also showed me how children entertainment does not have to be dumb, nor does it have to isolate itself only for kids, nor does it have to resort to adult humor or naughty words to keep the adults interested. This is what family entertainment should strive to be.