4 Movie Challenge

The 4 Movie challenge is meant to pose the question as to what films you feel “define” you. It’s a deceptively complex exercise. Am I to post what films are my favourite of all time, which will therefore define me as cinephile? Should I be autobiographical and just pick 4 films that most resemble my life? Should I laugh it off and pick 4 American Ninja films? Jokes aside, for me the time that makes the most sense in terms of shaping who I’ve become- has to be those formative teenager years, where you’re just starting to discover who you are. It’s no coincidence that I own all of the music/scores that are in these films, as just as I was discovering music and defining my tastes, so too was I discovering my cinematic palate. Some of these picks are like those high school yearbook photos that make you blush, and others I still love to this day. Without further adieu:

4. Natural Born Killers

Likely the worst movie in this list, but back then (1994) for me Oliver Stone’s controversial ode to the 90’s was like taking LSD after living in a hudderite colony. Freed of constraints, tradition, and civility, there was only the psychedelic tale of Mickey and Mallory being celebrated by the media for their nation wide crime spree. Stone maniacally toggles back and forth between colour, black and white, and cartoons, and at times edits like he’s getting paid by the cut. Backing those rapid fire visuals, is an eclectic soundtrack (produced by a just getting started in film Trent Reznor) that introduced me to more bands than any other film I’ve ever seen (Leonard Cohen, Nine Inch Nails, Cowboy Junkies, Jane’s Addiction, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, not to mention more work by Peter Gabriel). Acerbically written by a promising young talent named Quentin Tarantino, I can think of no other movie that was as effective at making me realize that cinema is a collage of sight, sound, and lyricism- that can disgust, inspire, and be thought provoking.

3. The Shawshank Redemption

Coming out the same year as NBK, Shawshank was revelatory for me as a quietly rousing piece of inspirational sentiment. Initially, I viewed it as merely a pleasant little film, solid and full of optimism- nothing too mind expanding. But after viewing it more, it quickly became an all timer, as it never seems to get old. I’ve probably watched its last third a month straight cumulatively speaking. Morgan Freeman’s steady narration is butter, and it helps propel a strong Tim Robbins performance to make it one of the best Stephen King adaptions ever. I don’t think it’s a stretch to call it the most platonically romantic film of all time. While IMDB’s ranking of it as the #1 movie ever is a bit questionable, you’d have to be dead inside to not be moved by this tale of a man going through unjust and brutal hardship, while teaching us that hope is a good thing- maybe the best of things.

2. The English Patient

I didn’t know anything about 1996’s Patient when I saw it. I was visiting my grandmother in Lloydminister, and she, my mother, and I went to the movies. My grandmother thought the film was depressing- I was just stunned. I remember going back to the hotel, and catching the Oscars, which I didn’t even realize were on- and then watching Patient win 9 Academy Awards. Apparently I wasn’t the only one affected... Haunted by the poetic images of Anthony Minghella, and the jazzy, soaring score/soundtrack, I couldn’t sleep... The WWII based film about the hazardous romance of Hungarian Count Laslo De Almasy (Ralph Fiennes) and Brit Katherine Clifton (Kristin Scott-Thomas) is a serious love story that has highs Titanic only wishes it could reach. Grounded by the joint story of perpetually caring nurse (Juliet Binoche) and her sapper love interest, Kip (Naveen Andrews), I didn’t realize it at the time but Patient was the last of its kind. Its period piece themes are a call back to epic love stories of yesteryear like Dr. Zhivago or Gone with the Wind. All I know is that, for one restless night, it felt like my heart had been cut out- but in the morning it was full again.

1. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

My first favourite film. I remember initially being excited about seeing a restricted film (at a friend’s house of course) back in 1991, after being tantalized by the cool looking trailers. At the time, I thought it had everything a film could offer an adolescent boy: thrilling action, guns and vehicles aplenty, dudes in sunglasses surrounded by explosions, snappy catch phrases, and what would come to be known as James Cameron written melodrama. I wanted to be Schwartzenegger’s T-800 cyborg so badly- bad ass and efficient as a robot, yet kind of human. What’s funny, is how it served as a gateway drug to James Cameron’s other films (Enjoying in particular, Aliens and the superior, The Terminator). It’s the first film I can remember looking tack sharp, and the opening scene of a metallic foot crushing a skull in a futuristic wasteland feels more like a starter pistol going off to begin a breathless race.

Honourable Mention.

Heat

I couldn’t resist cheating, as its too awesome to leave out. Similar to Patient, I went in blind to the 1995 opus. I wasn’t schooled in how awesome actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were just yet, but I had heard of them. I also didn’t know who director Michael Mann was. What I did know afterwards, was that it was a sprawling tale of cops and robbers, told very poetically- with unbelievable action scenes. I fell in love with De Niro’s portrayal of the minimalistic criminal Neil McCauley, and thoroughly enjoyed Pacino’s workaholic cop, Vincent Hanna (this was right around the time second stage Pacino started to lapse into self parody). All of it comes to a head when the unstoppable force meets an immovable object, but not after much suspense. With a wicked soundtrack, and fine art inspired set design, Heat is a classic film, and despite being a hair too long and having too many characters, was a big part of defining who I am as a cinephile. After all, all I am is what I’m going after.