Some Girls Buy Shoes, I Buy Film-Classics!

I'm a 90's-child, which means that when I was old enough to gain an interest for films (that weren't one of Disney's children's-films) we had already spent a lot of time in the 2000's. And when one of my favorite things to do was to go to the cinema I naturally watched a lot of new films...

Don't misunderstand! A lot of the best movies I know were made quite recently. But now, that I'm older, I have suddenly become interested in the classics. The ones that shaped the industry and the epic ones that stay with you forever. Somehow some masterpieces survive their own time and generations and engage new audiences year after year. As a self-declared film-geek there are some films I just *need* to have seen.

But! When I say classic, it's truly a very loose term. For me it can be used of silent-films (Chaplin) and black-and-white films (Double Indemnity) as well as some of the great pieces made in the late 90's and early 2000's. Yesterday it hit me that 1995 was not quite recently... it's actually nearly twenty years ago! So I must say that movies like these (and a lot of others I don't have here with me in Bergen at the moment) has earned the right to call themselves a "classic"

Gladiator (2000), Edward Sissorhands (1990), Black Hawk Down (2001), Catch Me If You Can (2002)
The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Return of the King (2002), Two Towers (2003), Braveheart 1995)

That being said, I suddenly and compleatily unplanned bought no less than four movies today! I was just going to the grocery-store when I noticed thet the local record-store had a thon of film-classics on sale... Weak as I am I simply couldn't resist. But to justify it all I pretend that I bought them using some of the money I got for my birthday. That somehow makes it more "ok" to buy four dvd's on a whim. Anyway, here's my result...

The Usual Suspects (1995)
"A boat has been destroyed, criminals are dead, and the key to this mystery lies with the only survivor and his twisted, convoluted story beginning with five career crooks in a seemingly random police lineup."

This one is the only one I was actually looking for (along with Memento, which was sold out). A guy recommended it to me this past sunday, and I became so curious I knew I had to see it. With brilliant reviews and the position as #26 on IMDb's list of the 250 best movies in the world I figured it was worth a try?

Cosmopolis (2012) 

"Riding across Manhattan in a stretch limo in order to get a haircut, a 28-year-old billionaire asset manager's day devolves into an odyssey with a cast of characters that start to tear his world apart."

This is the only new one I got. I remember reading about it in Empire a while ago noting that it had gotten a lot of great reviews. I'm sure it's a very odd and peculiar movie... but that's not necessarily a bad thing? Anyway, it's got Robert Pattinson, and in his post-Twilight-days he's become one of my all-time favorites.

Fight Club (1999)

"An insomniac office worker and a carefree soap maker form an underground fight club that transforms into a violent revolution."

This sounds kind of brutal. I won't deny that. But it holds the #10-spot on IMDb's top-25-list. There must be a reason? At least it's got both Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter...

Lèon (1994)

"A professional assassin rescues a teenage girl whose parents were killed in a police raid."

As always I find myself almost drawn to the slightly odd movies out there... This one reminds me a little of a better version of "Hannah". If so, I think It'll be good. Gary Oldman and a very young Natalie Portman makes this look interesting. It'll either be brilliant or disastrous, as is often the case. Currently at #31 on IMDb's top-250-list I'm hoping for the first.

As you can see I've actually started at the top of the ever-so-famous list Internet Movie Database has made of the 250 best/most liked movies in the world at the moment. I figured it was a good starting-point to get to know some of the must-see movies out there. And as this actually is a combination of fun and school-related education it makes it easier to find the time to enjoy a film now and then...

Lastly, If you're sitting there thinking: "But Bente, what about all the "real" classics? Won't you watch anything older than the 90's?" My answer is no, I've *not* forgotten about them! I'll definitely find time to watch movies like "The Godfather", "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "Casablanca", "To Kill a Mockingbird","Vertigo" and "Citizen Kane" which I very nearly bought today. Want to have a movie-night with me!?

Also on my watch-list at the moment...