Films That Defined Us

Friday, August 13, 2010 4:33 PM By Simon

So, see, Marc, proprietor of the illustrious blog Go, See, Talk has created hisself a new bloagthon. And I know, ya'll are thinking, 'For fuck's sake, not another one!', to which I reply, '[something dirty and insulting in Russian, or Hebrew, or something]'.

Anyway, I forgot that I had sent him a list, like, and hour within the time he sent out a mass email. And now I've found it! Esepcially for you! HAZZAH!

5) Pinochio
The first movie that ever scared the shit out of me. Of course, it was the donkey thing. It's always the donkey thing.

4) Kiki's Delivery Service
My first non-Digimon encounter with anime, even though it was the awful dubbed version (I didn't realize this, of course). As it would be, my only lasting memories of this more fanciful of the Studio Ghibli are Kiki riding around on her broom, and her lying in a bed asking if she was going to die. This first got me into anime and Asian cinema.

3) Sailor Moon Prequel I Forget The Name Of
You asked what shaped my childhood, and I am not known for my memory. I remember watching a DVD of this, and secretly hoping I'd end up a Sailor Senshi, get my own planet (though I'd probably have ended up with one of the moons or something). But it also set off my lifelong-so-far paranoia of cats.

2) Mysterious Skin
Arguably my introduction into indie films, I initially only watched it because of a sudden obsession with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Back when he was Cameron in 10 Things I Hate About You and Michelle Trachtenberg was the main character in Ice Princess, I Youtube(d) this expecting...I don't remember, I just know I couldn't watch another rerun of 3rd Rock From the Sun ever again.

1) Cannibal Holocaust
Um. This was more to do with the controversy than the movie itself. I got much props from my sixth grade Scoial Studies teacher for putting this as one of my favorite movies on one of them 'get to know you' sheets. Like, six real animal deaths (one of them was a spider, but whatever), and the stars had to parade themselves about a courtroom so the director wouldn't get arrested for making a snuff film. My twelve year old brain was in awe.

5 comments:

Heather said...

Of all of these I've only seen Pinocchio, but a great story it is!

I had forgotten all about Sailor Moon. I was totally into that show in high school.

And that's hilarious to have a fear of donkeys. :) Bet you hate Shrek then.

August 15, 2010 at 5:18 PM
Simon said...

There are many reasons why I hate Shrek.

August 15, 2010 at 9:10 PM
Anonymous said...

Don't bring up the donkey thing. The ears, oh God, the ears!

I was a Pinocchio addict too - Mainly because of the terror of his chances of becoming a real boy and also because of my fondness for the name "Geppetto". Excellent choice of film.

August 16, 2010 at 5:21 AM
Marc said...

From this list, I've only seen Pinocchio but that donkey sequence was pretty terrifying, I'll agree. Also the 'Elephants on Parade' from Dumb made me scared of acid trips so talk about a film with an untended say no to drugs message:)

I'm on a Studio Ghibli kick and Kiki's next on my list. Just finished Porco a little while back. Excited to check it out. Thanks for participating Simon:)

August 16, 2010 at 11:30 AM
Franz Patrick said...

1. I haven't seen "Pinocchio" but I feel like I have. Been to Disneyland way too many times.

2. This is embarrassing (for a guy) but I watched Sailormoon when I was about 7. I got up until the Sailor Scouts had to battle those circus people. Then it got stupid. God, I need to watch an action movie right about now.

3. When someone asks me to name some of my top favorite movies, one of the very few I immediately think of is "Mysterious Skin."

4. I saw "Cannibal Holocaust" today. Poor turtle! I thought of Blastoise the pokemon and I wanted to perform bloody vengeance. My favorite.

August 16, 2010 at 9:04 PM