Film

50DMC – 2 – First Movie I Remember Seeing

50DMC firstmovie tmntmovie

The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here to see all 50 questions in a nice and organized list. It’s such a pretty list.

TODAY: What is the first movie you remember seeing in theaters?

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen other films before Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie in the theater, but I don’t remember them. I was quite the fan of the Turtles from the start, so when the film came out I absolutely HAD to go! I remember being drawn in by how well the puppetry was done in this film, as well as how dark the film was in comparison to the Saturday morning cartoon. And while the film has gotten a bit silly with age, I distinctly remember it being “the best thing ever.”

The scene I embedded below is perhaps my favorite scene in the entire film, and the one that got all of us kids who had gone to see it roaring with laughter. “Damn” was a bit of a naughty word at that age, and to hear it in the movies was a bit of a thrill. What would our parents do when they heard THE MOVIE SWEARING?!?!

It’s probably best that Dad took me to this one. Mom might not have been too thrilled.

50DMC – 1 – My Favorite Movie

50DMC favoritemovie gardenstate

The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here to see all 50 questions in a nice and organized list. It’s such a pretty list.

TODAY: What is your favorite movie?

Whenever I tell someone that I’m interested in making movies or that I’m “kind of a movie buff,” they almost invariably ask me to name my favorite film. For the longest time I would randomly say whatever film came to my head that sounded cool or that fit the social scenario I was in. If I were among classmates from film school I would say that Dr. Strangelove was my favorite film in order to impress them, or if I were at a bar with people who quoted Old School like it were god’s gift to cinema I would say that The Princess Bride was my favorite film so I could feel superior to them. But somewhere in the journey that is life I decided to settle down and actually pick a favorite film. Garden State is that film.

Having just dealt with tragedy in my life and feelings of estrangement from my family I was able to connect with the film in a profound way. The selection of music and the overall mood “spoke to me,” to use a cliche. I was already a fan of Zach Braff from Scrubs and to see him take on a more serious role was refreshing. Not only that, but this film marked the birth of the “manic pixie dreamgirl” that we’ve come to roll our eyes at.

Here’s a trailer with great music and a pretty accurate feel of what the movie is like.