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I'll start by saying that i own Fight Club, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and many others you all have mentioned. I respect that they are so highly acclaimed and influential, but i'll admit that neither really changed my life.
My list is as follows, along with actual accounts of how they changed my life. Im not sure why i suddenly feel like sharing so much, but here it is. The Epic tale of my life as told through it's most influential movies.
Clerks. Smith, 1994
I've been a film student for several years now, and one thing i've learned is that we all outgrow the same things that once had us so captivated. I'll admit that i was once a pretty devout Kevin Smith fanatic. This was high school, and his movies offered a sort of social alternative to all the other crap i was putting up with. I didnt have many friends, and of the ones i had, only a few were real. Since then, i've grown. I still enjoy his movies, but needless to say, im now able to appreciate film as a language, as expression, as passion. Smith's movies dont utilize film for what it is. Their only real merit, in fact, is the writing. But they led me to where i am, so i will always respect them.
I first saw Clerks my freshman year at the request of a buddy of mine who said i would love it. It took me a few viewings, but it grew on me. It provided me with a sort of mirror for my own life. I was miserable, in almost every way. At first, the movie just gave me new ways to b*tch and moan about my life. I could relate, because i worked at Subway and knew those annoying customers. I knew how it felt to be breatted by them at every turn. As time went on, the movie helped me realize that there was no aspect of my own misery that wasnt under my own control. If i didnt like something about my life, i had the power to change it. This was a hell of a lesson to learn as early as high school.
Today, i can watch the movie and remember what i was feeling back in the old days. I remember where i came from, and why i made the decisions i did. Clerks II provided an especially poignant follow up for me. It seemed to pick up, thematicly speaking, exactly where i would have been if the first flick hadnt reached me so deeply.
So go ahead and laugh, MoFo's. I put a Kevin Smith flick on the 'Life Changing Movies' Thread.
I wrote and directed my first movie in the 2nd grade. It was one of my first passions, though i didnt stick with it. After that, i wanted to be a firefighter, an astronaut, and engineer, a biologist, a photographer, an FBI agent. I went through the whole list. 2003 was a hell of a year for me, because it marked the return of my passion for film. Lost in Translation is what did it for me.
I started taking Video Production class my Junior year in high school. It was an easy A, to be sure, and i had a moderate interest in video cameras and things like that. The teacher for this class was incredible, and really got me passionate about it. I started thinking seriously about film as a career. Later in the year was the Breckenridge Film Festival. I attended with a friend from class, to the opening feature. My friend spent the flick in stitches, laughing at Bill Murray and the complete irony of the flick. I spent it mostly in silence, not because of any sort of dispondence, but rather, in complete and wonderful awe at the sheer beauty of what i was seeing. The images went directly into the heart of me. It took several weeks to fully digest, but the outcome was a desire to create something just as beautiful. My future was born, you could say. I graduated high school and went to University of Colorado where i am currently seeking a BFA in Film Studies.
There were many thematic aspects of the flick, which i could say changed my life. I didnt notice them until a few years later, but when i did i took them to heart. I related to this idea of connections, of forging them when there are no other connections to be had. I realized, that in my own life i had to try to make real connections with people, and no matter how brief they are, respect them for what they can teach me. This movie remains one of my all time favorites.
My own attempts at filmmaking up to that point had been utter failures. I admit that i had little to no concept of what makes a good frame, and my editing was something you would expect from a surrealist on angel dust. I couldnt not attribute my failures to anything, and i was becoming increasingly frustrated. Like my earlier mentor, Kevin Smith, i could write a hell of a piece, but i was having trouble putting anything on film. My freshman year in college i had two professors tell me to change my major. One of them said, "I just dont think you have the understanding of movies that you need to be a film major." I remember the other one saying, "Well, not everyone can make movies. Maybe you're just mean to love them, and enjoy them. But not make them."
Disheartened? Yes. So i focused on critical studies for a while instead of production. I went off to New Zealand and studied at Victoria University in Wellington. (I would give it about 10 years, and this will be one of the hottest film schools anywhere.) I was just aching for the missing piece that was given to me with Le Samourai.
The lights darkened, and like to good little student i paid attention. Im not sure if i blinked for the next 105 minutes, but when i came to im pretty sure there was a string of druel down the side of my face.
I had to write my final paper on the movie, so i had to watch it 5 or 6 more times in the weeks to come. Each time i was simply glued to the screen. What i discovered was a true, primal passion for the filmic image. Unlike my experience with Lost in Translation, this movie brought about a very passionate love affair with the very building blocks of cinema. I had already fallen in love with narrative. I had fallen in love with acting, with sound design, with editing, with lighting. The only thing i was missing was a clear image of what transpired when all these aspects were nailed directly on the head. What i needed, in short, was a masterpiece. My passion for film was ignited in a way i could have never imagined. That very same passion has found a home inside of me, and allowed me to view every movie from that point on in a new light. And now, i cant wait to prove those old dusty professors wrong.
And in all honesty, folks, this film is f*cking beautiful...
I have about 5 more of these to do, if anyone feels like reading them. When i get the time, i'll post them for sure.
My list is as follows, along with actual accounts of how they changed my life. Im not sure why i suddenly feel like sharing so much, but here it is. The Epic tale of my life as told through it's most influential movies.
Clerks. Smith, 1994
I've been a film student for several years now, and one thing i've learned is that we all outgrow the same things that once had us so captivated. I'll admit that i was once a pretty devout Kevin Smith fanatic. This was high school, and his movies offered a sort of social alternative to all the other crap i was putting up with. I didnt have many friends, and of the ones i had, only a few were real. Since then, i've grown. I still enjoy his movies, but needless to say, im now able to appreciate film as a language, as expression, as passion. Smith's movies dont utilize film for what it is. Their only real merit, in fact, is the writing. But they led me to where i am, so i will always respect them.
I first saw Clerks my freshman year at the request of a buddy of mine who said i would love it. It took me a few viewings, but it grew on me. It provided me with a sort of mirror for my own life. I was miserable, in almost every way. At first, the movie just gave me new ways to b*tch and moan about my life. I could relate, because i worked at Subway and knew those annoying customers. I knew how it felt to be breatted by them at every turn. As time went on, the movie helped me realize that there was no aspect of my own misery that wasnt under my own control. If i didnt like something about my life, i had the power to change it. This was a hell of a lesson to learn as early as high school.
Today, i can watch the movie and remember what i was feeling back in the old days. I remember where i came from, and why i made the decisions i did. Clerks II provided an especially poignant follow up for me. It seemed to pick up, thematicly speaking, exactly where i would have been if the first flick hadnt reached me so deeply.
So go ahead and laugh, MoFo's. I put a Kevin Smith flick on the 'Life Changing Movies' Thread.
Lost In Translation Sophia Coppola, 2003
I wrote and directed my first movie in the 2nd grade. It was one of my first passions, though i didnt stick with it. After that, i wanted to be a firefighter, an astronaut, and engineer, a biologist, a photographer, an FBI agent. I went through the whole list. 2003 was a hell of a year for me, because it marked the return of my passion for film. Lost in Translation is what did it for me.
I started taking Video Production class my Junior year in high school. It was an easy A, to be sure, and i had a moderate interest in video cameras and things like that. The teacher for this class was incredible, and really got me passionate about it. I started thinking seriously about film as a career. Later in the year was the Breckenridge Film Festival. I attended with a friend from class, to the opening feature. My friend spent the flick in stitches, laughing at Bill Murray and the complete irony of the flick. I spent it mostly in silence, not because of any sort of dispondence, but rather, in complete and wonderful awe at the sheer beauty of what i was seeing. The images went directly into the heart of me. It took several weeks to fully digest, but the outcome was a desire to create something just as beautiful. My future was born, you could say. I graduated high school and went to University of Colorado where i am currently seeking a BFA in Film Studies.
There were many thematic aspects of the flick, which i could say changed my life. I didnt notice them until a few years later, but when i did i took them to heart. I related to this idea of connections, of forging them when there are no other connections to be had. I realized, that in my own life i had to try to make real connections with people, and no matter how brief they are, respect them for what they can teach me. This movie remains one of my all time favorites.
Le Samourai Melville, 1967
I was hardly excited when the opening shots of Le Samourai came on during my Auteur Study Class. It was early in the morning and my mind was elsewhere. I was starting a block of film classes which would last until late afternoon, and at that point in the semester, i wasnt even sure what i was doing. I was hardly in the mood to read subtitles.My own attempts at filmmaking up to that point had been utter failures. I admit that i had little to no concept of what makes a good frame, and my editing was something you would expect from a surrealist on angel dust. I couldnt not attribute my failures to anything, and i was becoming increasingly frustrated. Like my earlier mentor, Kevin Smith, i could write a hell of a piece, but i was having trouble putting anything on film. My freshman year in college i had two professors tell me to change my major. One of them said, "I just dont think you have the understanding of movies that you need to be a film major." I remember the other one saying, "Well, not everyone can make movies. Maybe you're just mean to love them, and enjoy them. But not make them."
Disheartened? Yes. So i focused on critical studies for a while instead of production. I went off to New Zealand and studied at Victoria University in Wellington. (I would give it about 10 years, and this will be one of the hottest film schools anywhere.) I was just aching for the missing piece that was given to me with Le Samourai.
The lights darkened, and like to good little student i paid attention. Im not sure if i blinked for the next 105 minutes, but when i came to im pretty sure there was a string of druel down the side of my face.
I had to write my final paper on the movie, so i had to watch it 5 or 6 more times in the weeks to come. Each time i was simply glued to the screen. What i discovered was a true, primal passion for the filmic image. Unlike my experience with Lost in Translation, this movie brought about a very passionate love affair with the very building blocks of cinema. I had already fallen in love with narrative. I had fallen in love with acting, with sound design, with editing, with lighting. The only thing i was missing was a clear image of what transpired when all these aspects were nailed directly on the head. What i needed, in short, was a masterpiece. My passion for film was ignited in a way i could have never imagined. That very same passion has found a home inside of me, and allowed me to view every movie from that point on in a new light. And now, i cant wait to prove those old dusty professors wrong.
And in all honesty, folks, this film is f*cking beautiful...
I have about 5 more of these to do, if anyone feels like reading them. When i get the time, i'll post them for sure.
then movies do it for them 
My parents were the lovelist 2 people you could ever ask for 