My 5 favorite movies of all time
I sometimes think its silly when people struggle to name their favorite movies of all time, like it's some sort of scientific test. Just say it and pick, and you can change them as much or as little as you like.
I remember watching movies as a kid and to me I couldn't describe what I liked about them or wanted. For most of my childhood and early teenage years Batman Forever was favorite movie of all time. I just remember enjoying everything about it, from robins backstory as a circus performer and wanting to get revenge for his family. To Jim Carrey as the Riddler who was so entertaining and funny to me. Of course now it is considered one of the worst movies but I didn't know or care at the time.
Movies were just something that was on or whatever. I didn't really pay attention or care that much about them. Then my friend gave me a bootleg copy of The Dark Knight, and the thrill and excitement I felt watching that entire movie was indescribable to me. I watched that movie so many times because I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. I already loved Batman from the animated series and all the previous Batman movies but this took everything to a new level. What I particularly loved was how clever and tricky the Joker was. When Batman had him in the interrogation room he was so confident that he could get the location of Harvey from him, but the Joker completely had him at his mercy. Batman then beats him expecting some sort of solution and the Joker just laughs in his face which solidifies Batman's powerlessness in that moment. It was incredible and remained my favorite movie for a long time.
The important thing is that I began chasing that high from a movie ever since. I quickly started by just googling best movies of all time and going through that. I have watched so many movies ever since and my favorite movie of all time has changed so many times, mainly because I am not militant about what makes a movie great. It's precisely because I have no idea what makes one movie great and another just bad that is so exciting to me. I went through a great period where I watched masterpiece after masterpiece back to back it was so incredible.
I watched the Godfather, Citizen Kane, Shawshank Redemption, 12 Angry Men, and Rear Window in the span of a few weeks. They all became my favorite movies. I then had to slow down because it was beginning to feel tiring, not that the movies were at fault but it kinda became like a must to watch all these classics otherwise I don't know movies somehow. I then began taking slow and in the process figuring out what I like in a movie and what I don't. I can also appreciate that a movie is a masterpiece while at the same acknowledging it isn't for me or that I didn't enjoy it. I can also now enjoy parts of a movie, for example an incredible performance by an actor in a movie that had dull story or a great soundtrack in a movie that is forgettable.
I love talking about movies more than anything, and writing about them has become a great substitute so I will do that more often.
