I believe that someone’s favorite movies says a lot about them.
That said, here’s the movies that come to mind right now, as my favorites:
- All-time favorite: Back to the Future trilogy (Back to the Future (1985); Back to the Future Part II (1989); Back to the Future Part III (1990))
- I saw all three in the movie theaters when they came out. I loved the stories, the ‘technology’, the cool factor of the car in Part 1 (plus, they filmed it at a mall we went to as a kid,) and I have a passion for ‘time travel’ movies, because I love the idea of how things in life can change based on even small choices.
- Chick-flick: Sliding Doors (1998)
- Again, there’s a ‘time travel’ kind of element. If she had not have slipped on the stairs, she would have made her train, and she would have caught her boyfriend cheating on her. Sincerely, several times a week for many, many years, I think about this is my daily life. How even small, seemingly pointless choices, can make such a difference in outcomes. Of course, there’s no way of knowing until after the fact, but Sliding doors was the first ‘chick-flick’ that I connected with.
- Unique / love story: Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
- I do love movies, but 97% of them use the same formulas. So when the story/writing is so different and stands out so much, I’m way more into it. Plus, when an actor goes WAY against type, I love that too. Will Ferrell does such an amazing job in ‘Stranger’, and I love him for it. (I LOVE him in ‘Step Brothers’ too, which is why I love him so much in this.) And other than the “supernatural” element, I love the VO. Overall, it’s such a unique movie.
- Music-related movie: Yesterday (2019)
- I do love The Beatles anyway, but this movie was *nearly* perfect fun. The idea that “no one” remembers/knows of The Beatles except this one guy is just so fun… and again, unique. As a watcher, getting to be omniscient is often fun, but not usually with something that is so personal to EACH person watching… music. My single complaint is the forced love story. It ruins the story, pushing a love interest when it should have been a minor plot point. I also didn’t like the music producer character.. it was TOO over the top. And I never knew who ‘Ed Sheeran’ was/is, but I didn’t like his character either. But overall, it’s a favorite movie – so uplifting and fun.
- Church movie: The Mountain of the Lord (1993)
- I got baptized in 1994, and this movie had just come out. I’m a big history nut, so this movie was just so wonderful. I feel like it connected me to SLC. I’m so thankful that I got to visit and spend time around the SLC Temple and the area. I have a (very) tiny story about living on one of the roads where the Temple stone was hauled, and finding a squared-off block in the bushes near the house where I lived. About 9 months ago I finally tracked down the DVD, and have re-watched (or, re-played) this movie many times since.
- Disney: Cars (2006) and Moana (2016)
- When Cars first came out, I boycotted it for several years. I thought it was Pixar just doing a money-grab, trying to duplicate what they had done with Toy Story. Then I baby-sat a friend’s 4 year old for a whole day, and it was his favorite movie – so the movie played more than once. Some scene caught my attention, and I was hooked. I ended up sitting on the couch with Ty, and getting sucked into it. I play the movie, and the sound track often. Also, Moana. I finally watched this for the first time at the start of 2020… I just hadn’t spent the time to sit down to see it. But I do play Moana often now as well. It’s such a wonderful story about traditions and family, and how sometimes breaking a tradition can be good – and how expanding your world can lead to new things.
- Living Life: Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)
- I was a projectionist for several years, and was doing the job when this came to theaters. I was totally uninterested in it. Until one day when I did a sound check inside the theater, and a scene caught my attention… where the deaf son put his ear to the speaker to feel the vibrations of the music his dad loved so much. It totally captured me, and I ended up sitting in the theater and watching the rest of the movie… then after starting the next set, I went in and watched the whole movie. It connected with me because of my own life experience with school teachers who made such a huge impact on my life. And, no other movie (to that point) showed the full length of someone’s life from young to old, and how a single person can affect so many lives. Plus, I love period movies :) It’s been a while since I’ve watched it, but now I’m going to re-watch it today.
- “Scary”: Army of Darkness (1992)
- Another movie that was playing while I was a projectionist. I do not like horror movies (I watched several as a kid.) And I thought this was another zombie movie, as it was technically the 3rd in the “Evil Dead” series – which I had no interest in. But again, I was doing a theater check, and some scene grabbed me as super funny. I don’t remember which scene, but again, I sat down and watched much of the movie. It’s WAAAY funnier than it is a horror movie. It’s also what made me LOVE Bruce Campbell in anything he’s done. I wish he did more, actually.