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Wednesday, May 6, 2009
What are the movies that most influenced you?
A few weeks back, I wrote a post about Turner Classic Movies’ list of the 15 most influential movies of all time. I was astonished and delighted at the response. That was a great conversation, and I offer a belated thanks to you all for reading and/or commenting.
Obeying the laws of Hollywood, I have decided a hit demands a sequel, but this time I would like to ask a different question:
What films have influenced you the most personally?
Most everyone has at least one film that had a big impact on their life, whether it made them fall in love with movies, or it gave them a new outlook on life, or whether it introduced them to someone special.
Me being the film nut I am, I have several.
Yellow Submarine: I have pointed out more than once on this blog that this was the first movie I could clearly remember seeing in a theater. It turned me on to the two things that gave me my claims to fame - the Beatles and movies. (In school I was famous for being the Beatlemanaic - so much so I can do things like name the seventh word of the ninth song on the sixth Beatles album - which, for the record, is “story.”)
Also - I first saw the film at the Victoria Theatre, which was then known by the slightly less regal name “Victory.” Note to the programmers of the just-announced classic film series there: I WOULD LOVE IT if you could book the film in your theater some year!
2001/A Clockwork Orange/Taxi Driver/After Hours: I list these all in a group because these were the ones that kicked my interest in movies into high gear in the late 1980s. These were the movies that A) Made me aware of what a director does, and B) Made me recognize different directors’ styles, so I could like at a movie and say “That’s a Scorsese” or “That’s Kubrick.”
The Fisher King: The film itself didn’t influence me per se, but it did give rise to my alias. I was so taken with the movie - one of my favorites of that year - that I wrote my review using ye olde medieval language, on the order of a night. I called myself Sir Phil M. Critic. The name stuck and has been my moniker ever since.
Hercules: Most people don’t rank this 1997 Disney film all that highly, but I do. It brought me to two very special people. When I first saw it, I was absolutely dazzled by the female lead Megara, who had this wonderful, femme fatale voice you normally didn’t hear from a Disney. Here’s the scene that really wowed me:
“Who IS that? I’ve GOT to find out!” I said.
And so I did. Her name is Susan Egan. I got in touch with her, told her how much I loved her work and was lucky enough to get to be friends with her. That’s what she calls me on her Web site. See?
And Hercules’ influence doesn’t stop there. Because I became a fan of Susan, I met fellow fan Angela Allen, who has been a dear and loyal friend for 10 years. You may remember her as the co-author of the review of the American Girl movie. So anybody who cracks on Hercules deals with ME!
I could name many more, but I want to turn this over to you. What films have had the most impact on your life?
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