A Top 5 Favourite Movies List - Luke

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A LIST? Buzzfeed make their living off lists. Most people run their lives from lists. And I regularly make and remake my list of favourite ever films. But here we are - I am writing down and committing to the list, and it will be the list that I refer back to for the rest of time as the list of my favourites. So, here we are. Wish me luck:

About Time

I absolutely adore this film. Which is to be expected as I declare this as my FAVOURITE EVER FILM. Richard Curtis is a firm favourite writer of mine, and I feel like this film is him playing around with ideas and concepts that add a few more dimensions to his usual rom-com formula.

A dramatic, romantic comedy with time travel was always going to be divisive. But the charm and sweetness is turned up, even if the genuine comedy is toned down a little.

Why do I love this film? The story with Bill Nigh as Domhnall Gleeson’s father, and their relationship and the way the film deals with that is touching. The love story itself is straightforward (after the first 25 minutes) which again, is fairly rare for a rom-com. There are extra elements and all of the side-characters are endearing and realistic in equal measure and I JUST FUCKING LOVE IT OK.

Forrest Gump

I watched this film when I was super young, and for the longest time as an adult I was scared to watch this movie because I remember it being emotional, touching on subjects such as death, love and how people treat an outsider. It was about 5 years ago that I finally dragged myself to watch this film and right away it shot up to my top 5.

Tom Hanks is a great, great actor. He is the go-to guy if you’re looking to add warmth to a character. It’s a fun movie to see moments in history from a different angle, and being able to follow an outsider from birth, and track his story, is equal parts sweet and moving, and the relationship with love interest Jenny is a complex part of Forrest’s story (even if some parts don’t quite work in 2019).

Moonrise Kingdom

There’s a common theme within my list: sweetness. There’s a serious level of sweetness in most films I love, and it is no different here. Moonrise Kingdom is a coming-of-age adventure movie that deals with the innocence of youth with the classic Wes Anderson lick of paint and precision.

Following a young boy and girl as they run away to the woods together, and the subsequent hunt to find them, the adventure is as off-beat as expected, but still holds enough in the cast and performances that it doesn’t feel polarising or alienating. Anderson’s films always have a cult following more than a mainstream audience, but I would always, always, always suggest this for people to watch. Honestly, it’s bloody lovely. For fans of: smiling.

Big Daddy

Honestly, hear me out: Big Daddy is bloody great. That’s the end of my TED Talk.

But seriously, this film is vastly under-rated. It’s one of Adam Sandler’s last good comedy performances (1999…), it’s a sweet movie and it’s a film you can just put on on a Sunday and relax to, maybe shed a little tear to at the end, and leave behind in a lovely mood!

About a man who partly adopts his best friend’s child whilst his friend is away working for a year (his friend doesn’t know about the kid) to save a failed relationship, it’s a (not) father and son relationship story, and a story about freedom, childhood and growth, it’s just a bloody nice movie.

If you haven’t seen it, you should see it.

E.T

It’s hard picking a 5th favourite film, as once you get to this number it just feels a bit like you don’t care that much about whatever film it is you’re picking. E.T though is just so, so high on my agenda. It’s the film that I may love the most on this list in terms of sheer love of a film and how it has shaped my taste in movies. It is one of the most perfect movies.

You’ll tell on the list that I’ve used the term ‘sweet’ a lot, and I honestly think it all started with this film. The potential of youth, friendship and hanging out with your friends and being on an adventure resonates with me in the same way that Peter Pan will resonate with generations older than myself. The joy of cinema is right here in this wonderful film about an alien trying to get home, and a young kid.

Honourable mention to the end of the movie where Elliot has been sick, and it looks like E.T has died. As Elliot looks up and sees the plant (a visual metaphor for E.T’s life) starting to come back to life, he lets out a number of “ha!”s that brings me to tears every time. BLOODY LOVELY.