5 Favorite Movies

Igby Goes Down
I happened to catch this on Showtime when I was a junior in high school. Ever since then, it has been my favorite film. There's about 500 million things right about this film, with a plot that centers around the life of Igby, a young man in a wealthy family. He is intelligent but consistently fucks up in school and is constantly attempting to escape life by going on the lam and staying at his godfather DH's loft, meeting a host of incredible characters along the way.
The dialogue is damn good, sharp as a steak knife. Too many good quotes fall from this movie; my favorite one being when Igby laments "I'm drowning in assholes." We have all had that moment, I'm certain.
The characters are all vibrant with personality, the scenery in New York is shot during fall so you get all those autumn nostalgia, and the soundtrack is phenomenal. Anything with The Dandy Warhols is golden.
I have always been drawn to movies about families and it is often reflected in my writing. I just love to see family dynamics portrayed on the screen. Most of the time, I can't stand them though because families in film are seldom realistic and most of the time demand we martyr them and feel bad for their pity parties.
Because I grew up in a family that did not sugar coat life for you or decided that we will persevere on with a smile, I find that I always look for a family on the big screen that reminds me of my refreshingly candid, life's a bitch toting philosophy laden family.
And Igby, while not exactly on par, does this for the most part.

Edward Scissorhands
I grew up on Tim Burton and still continue to idolize his works but the story of the most gentle, compassionately innocent man with scissors for hands has been with me the longest. Everytime I watch this movie, I still wonder why Winona Ryder's character Kim never went back to visit Edward. It breaks my heart but at the same time, it's a clean break. They could never make a sequel of this movie. It just wouldn't be right.
Plus I adored the score by Danny Elfman. I find that in movies music plays a huge factor in whether I'll like it or not.


Love Me If You Dare
This little French gem I also found on Showtime in high school. I am not usually a girl who flocks to the romantic films but I love this one for it's simplicity. The love between Julian and Sophie is based solely upon being game; a show of oneupmanship by completing dares. Each dare sets the bar higher and puts hearts on the line. Everyone gives a passionate performance and I just really adored this film.


Dazed and Confused
This movie is two hours of eternal summer and I find I am infatuated with movies about summertime because summer can change you as a person. We all remember the best summer of our lives and the events that came out of it. Dazed chronicles the last day of high school and the 24 hours afterwards that change the lives of a group of seniors. I have '70's lust after watching it and I wasn't even born during that time period.
It feels old to say it but I know that my generation is absolutely appalling in comparison. We are the most spoiled, irritating, self-centered group of brats in generations and the worst part is, we just don't care. I know it doesn't apply to everyone but in our age of information, we know more and are jaded for it. There is so much of an innocence and youth here in this movie that I don't see outside anymore.
And the soundtrack is amazing. Peter Frampton, Aerosmith, Foghat at the ending. Oh yes!


The Royal Tenenbaums
More family dynamics brought by the way of Wes Anderson, in which the family is obscenely wealthy, quirky in ensemble, and lifeless when speaking their dialogue.
But still, didn't you ever want to be a Tenenbaum? I always did. A family of geniuses whose setbacks have put them in seclusion for years and only by the announcement of their father Royal's cancer do they all come together. Of course the cancer is a lie but that's the fun of the film.
Anderson has great use of color and camera angles and Alec Baldwin is a great narrator. The soundtrack is, once again, another marvelous component of the film.

Love to you all,
Heather