The film you’ve rewatched more than any other.
When I was a kid, my dad got a 3/4” videotape deck. It came with a free bootleg cartridge of Woody Allen’s “Sleeper” and The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.” The experience of owning a film on tape at that time was very unusual, so I probably saw those films 30 times each, as a teen. Also, “The Big Lebowski,” Fellini’s “8 1/2,” ‘2001,’ “Dr. Strangelove,” “Paths of Glory,” “Three Women.” I saw “Barry Lyndon literally 15 times in the theater on its original run. I also had an intense “Harold and Maude” period that lasted a few years. My comfort film is probably ‘Lebowski.’ It just makes me happy.
The movie you love that no one would expect you to love.
I passionately love Carol Reed’s “The Fallen Idol.” I think because it has my favorite child performance of all time, and I just love the way the story is told through the child’s POV.
The movie that defined your coming-of-age/high school experience.
“Barry Lyndon.” Seeing it felt like using a literal time machine. It so overwhelmingly and beautifully and convincingly whisked me away to another era, one that was so different than my relatively bland suburban existence. I couldn’t get enough of it. I had the entire set of color lobby cards pinned to my wall. (I think I still have them somewhere.)
What’s a movie that you love, that is vastly underseen by the moviegoing public that you recommend.
“La Promese” by Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne. I love the simplicity of the filmmaking, and the honest way it blends its emotionally riveting story of a boy’s moral coming-of-age, and the tension generated by the simple plot device of a terrible “kept secret.”
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