The Top Five Iconic Movies of My Life

I believe that a person’s taste in cinema is a view into their emotions and past. A person’s likes and dislikes are formed and matured by what we experience. These feelings can most easily be inferred from how they choose to spend their spare time. It is almost impossible to find someone with the exact same taste in movies, because of each person’s individual life experiences. The diversity in my movie taste exemplifies the impact of experiences on preferences.

• Aladdin
  This movie is the first movie I remember watching, long before I started school. I would sit down on my couch, usually dragging my family with me and watch the movie repeatedly throughout the year. As a kid I would sing along to the cheery songs and enjoy every viewing. It may not be the best movie ever made, but to me every time I re-watch it, I go back to a time when everything was simple and carefree.
• Die Hard
  It may be cliché but my family and I all gather around the TV every Christmas Eve to watch New York cop, John McClain, fight and save his estranged wife from terrorists. If that doesn’t summon up the Christmas spirit, then I don’t know what does.

Little Miss Sunshine pushed me into exploring little known alternative genres of movies, and helped me find my favorite type of comedy; dry and bitter.

• American Psycho
  This movie is the first started me thinking on how what society tells us will make us happy is almost never what will make us happy. And the more we are forced to conform to these unnatural suggestions, the more we are likely to be defiant towards society’s rules. Now we may not all confront society like Bateman, but he shows that we cannot simply assimilate where we do not fit.
• Pan’s Labyrinth
  This film was my first exposure to foreign films and to the director Guillermo del Toro. He blends different mythologies onto a back drop of Spain during World War 2. His artistic design gives new flavor to every mythos he takes from. He inspired me to internationally expand my cinematic tastes.
• Little Miss Sunshine
  Little Miss Sunshine is a perfect combination of comedy and dark themes. But most films avoid overt dark themes, leaving subtle references to be mulled over by the audience. However, this movie pushes these themes to the forefront. The dialog seems almost real and almost every character has an equally interesting back-story  and each is showcased in an individual scene. By the end of the movie you feel familiar with each of the characters and intrigued by them. This coupled with the impressive soundtrack makes for a near perfect movie. This movie pushed me into exploring little known alternative genres of movies, and helped me find my favorite type of comedy; dry and bitter.