"Films That Defined Us" Blogathon

Hey, movie community! Marc over at Go, See, Talk! has developed an excellent blogathon premise titled: The Films That Defined Us. We'll be talking about some of the movies that we loved as kids- the ones that inspired our cinephilia, or developed certain tastes within us, or had us destroying the VHS tape from too many repeat viewings.

I broke mine down into 8 films that I watched often in grammar school (that's pre-K through 8th grade for you non New Jerseyans). Each had some sort of impact on my tastes or understanding of film and storytelling, and I'll wager that they're not all what most people might expect from me. List after the jump, organized by date of release.

Pollyanna (1960)
This didn't actually have that much of an effect on my future movie tastes, I don't think, but I watched it so much as a kid I thought it worth mentioning. My copy actually belonged to my nanny (babysitter who lived with me, not grandma), who had a major influence on what I watched during my formative years. I loved Pollyanna because of its old-timey feel and how quaint Hayley Mills is, but I think a big part of it was that I was intrigued by a movie that was older and not very well known (at least not by my peers)- just the idea that these great films exist outside the commercials on tv. Eventually I developed a taste for classics and today I continue to seek out lesser-seen films, so I do feel a connection between my experience with Pollyanna and moviegoing habits today.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Here's one I'll still enjoy today. It has a delightful old-timeyness to it as well, and for a time I thought it was made much earlier than 1968. The epic journey, catchy songs, and slight magic to it all greatly inspired child Alex (who, incidentally, was adorable), and to this day I'm a fiend for musicals and fantasy adventures. Dick Van Dyke is delightful, and everybody else is super British. I loved all the wacky inventions and the thought of a time period when everything was changing so quickly (it escaped my immediate notice that I was living in a similar era). Interesting fact that I learned only when I saw the Broadway play a few years ago: The script is co-written by Roald Dahl, and it's based on a story by Ian Fleming. Cool, huh?

Star Wars Trilogy (1977-1983)
Alright, I can only assume this will be on everyone's list, but it's well-deserved! I also got these from my nanny, who loves science fiction and definitely instilled that life-long interest in me. I loved everything about Star Wars, from the destiny-fueled journey to the badass lightsaber fights. It was The Empire Strikes Back that left the biggest impression: that was the first time I'd ever seen a movie in which the bad guys won in the end. The idea fascinated me, that maybe sometimes good guys didn't win in the end, and now I almost always enjoy unfortunate or twist endings.

Grease (1978)
My best friend/neighbor and I used to watch this movie an unhealthy amount of times a month when we were in 3rd or 4th grade, along with Batman & Robin (discussed later) and Weird Al music videos. These were our tastes. We used to take turns singing along as different characters, but Sandy was so lame we'd have to fight for Danny's parts. The sexual innuendo tangentially taught me some things about adulthood (like what a hickie is). I love musicals, I love the 50's, and I love people who frequently dye their hair, so Grease still plays a major part in my interests today. I also enjoy makeovers and changing personalities to please a love interest. For even more disclosure I will admit that I have totally seen Grease 2 multiple times. Of my own volition.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)
My favorite Disney movie, still, it was also my first Broadway play (which I've seen 3 times total). The story is the right amount of fantasy, romance, and comedy (Lumiere still cracks me up), and the animation is gorgeous. I identified so strongly with the character of Belle, moreso than I did with any other girl in a family film. She's incredibly independent, intelligent, outspoken, and an avid bookworm, and I could both relate and look up to her when I was young. As I grew up I became increasingly interested in the feminist movement and I think characters like Belle laid some of the groundwork.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
It's a well-known fact in my family that my dad and I have almost exactly the same off-beat and stupid sense of humor, often to my mother's chagrin. My love for Mel Brooks was instilled early by my father, and Men in Tights is the first one I remember him showing me. And then I obsessed over it for weeks. I already had something of a crush on Cary Elwes from The Princess Bride, and the addition of sword fights, musical numbers, blind jokes, and Dave Chappelle ensured its enduring power over me. To this day it's one of the 5 or so movies I can quote word for word. And to this day I remain a fan of really silly movies.

Pride & Prejudice (1995)
I know this is technically a miniseries, but it's quite relevant! This shows off my mom's influence over my tastes, which include everything Jane Austen, British, romantic, and period piecey. I remember the night she decided to start showing me the BBC Pride & Prejudice tapes, and it was like I had reached a step in maturity, like I was finally deemed ready. It later became one of my favorite books, and I've continued to seek intelligent female authors and women-centric romance films ever since. Plus my mom and I still love to sit down and watch cute romantic comedies and dramatic period pieces from time to time. Hell, who else would see The Young Victoria or Coco Before Chanel with me?

Batman & Robin (1997)
Ok, big secret movie confession that isn't really all that secret: I have seen Batman & Robin more times than anyone can count, and I love it, and I know all of Poison Ivy's lines, and for a long time this is the only thing I identified George Clooney with. It was part an obsession shared with the same neighbor who loved Grease (she was Poison Ivy for Halloween), and we were never able to explain why we loved it so much. We only knew it was usually the movie we wanted to watch at any given moment, once in a while broken up by a viewing of Batman Forever. Hell, I feel like watching it right now but my VHS copy's back home. In terms of my cinephile development, I think this is a good early hint of my love for cheesy and campy action films, and my eventual adoration for superheroes in any medium. To bring it all together, I was pretty psyched when I saw Barbarella for the first time and realized Uma Thurman's monkey suit striptease was a reference to the zero-gravity opening scene.

There we are. A bunch of sort of disparate movies that influenced a lot of my movie tastes in later years. Cool. What about you guys?