Life of a Blogger: A Sort of Definitive List of My Favourite Movies That Is Subject to Change

Life of a Blogger is a weekly meme hosted by Jessi from Novel Heartbeat, where we talk about what we do when we're not reading.

This week's topic:

I'm sure we're about to get sick of me talking about movies, but I just really wanted to make this list because I haven't actually talked about movies for this meme before. (I've told myself that the next time a freebie comes along, I'll talk about music, because I very rarely talk about music)

Because I have so many favourite movies, I actually had a good hard think about what movies would go on a definitive list of my favourites. To make it easier for myself, I've seperated it into one film from every genre (minus action/adventure because I don't really like those kinds of movies and also art films because I've only ever seen one in my entire life). Obviously this list will change in the future because I'm constantly watching movies that are new to me, and sometimes I encounter new favourites. So anways, here is my list!

gif by fyspringfield
(this gif has literally nothing to do with anything but it's going here because I like it)

(please excuse the quality of a few of these gifs, i made them in a bit of a rush and didn't notice that a couple of frames are in the wrong place)

Tarzan (1999)

How well do you guys know me? Tarzan is my absolute favourite Disney movie ever, and I've probably talked about it a few times before because I have been obsessed with this movie since I was 3. This is the first movie I remember going to the cinema to see (it was either this or The Rugrats Movie because they both came out at around the same time), and I just can never get enough of it. In fact, I'm so obsessed with Tarzan that for the longest time I have been incredibly bitter about the fact that there is a serious lack of Tarzan merchandise produced by Disney. I sort of figured out that it might be due to copyright reasons because Tarzan belongs to Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. but I would still like at least one mug with Tarzan or Jane Porter on. Is that too hard to ask of? I don't think so.

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

This isn't Michel Gondry's strongest movie, but I can't help but love it so much. What I love about Be Kind Rewind so much is that it starts out as being a funny movie about two guys who are making their own versions of famous movies after all the tapes in their video store got erased, and it ends on how powerful movies can be and how they bring people together. Also it's pretty funny. I first saw this in the cinema when I was on holiday in London (the only good thing about holidays at home, imo) and didn't think it was as funny as I do now, but I'd definitely say that people should watch this. Especially if you like Jack Black, because he's in this. Oh, and there's a 'sweded' version of the trailer that only stars Michel Gondry. It's pretty funny once you can get past Gondry's heavy French accent.

The Godfather (1972) a.k.a. my favourite movie of all time

This movie. You guys, this movie. I just. Ugh, this movie is so freaking good.

(Okay, here's a real explanation. This movie is the one that lead me to be a cinephile. I watched it when I was about 14 and in the middle of a huge obsession with Marlon Brando, who I still think is the greatest actor who ever lived. I'd never seen anything like this. I had no idea that a movie that is nearly three hours long could hold my interest for the entire time, and I loved it so much that I then went on to read the book, which is one of my favourite books ever. I hold a pretty firm belief that this is the greatest movie ever made, and so far nothing has convinced me otherwise.)

Breakfast on Pluto (2005)

Dramedy is totally a genre. Trust me.

Ever wanted to see Cillian Murphy dressed as a woman? No? Well, now you have and it's all thanks to me. I don't remember how I ever came across this movie but I'm glad that I did because it's one of the funniest and heartwarming movies I've ever seen. This is the story of a transwoman from a small borders town in 1970s Ireland who comes to learn of her gender identity and aims to find her true mother who lives in London. This movie  has everything for me: the cast is awesome (Liam Neeson's in this movie too, before he became addicted to action movies), there's a fantastic soundtrack, and it's hilarious. I realise that some people take issue with men playing transwomen, but if you like Cillian Murphy I'd definitely say to give this a go. It's one of his finest moments, in my opinion.
Forrest Gump (1994)
Sometimes I watch a movie so many times that I get sick of it and never want to see it again (*cough*Mean Girls*cough*), but I don't think I'll ever get sick of Forrest Gump because it's such a beautiful movie. It makes me laugh at times and pulls severely on my heartstrings at other times. I love this movie so much that I'm having a hard time putting my feelings for it into words, so just seriously. Go watch Forrest Gump because it is just so good. Go on. Do it.

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

I'm not the biggest fan of fantasy (dragons and elves and hobbits definitely aren't my thing), but I absolutely adore Studio Ghibli's fantasy movies, with Howl's Moving Castle being my favourite. And no it's not just because Christian Bale voices Howl (and does an absolutely amazing job of it). It's because Lauren Bacall is in it too. No, I'm kidding. Howl is the first Ghibli movie that I saw and is the reason why I love their movies so much. That and the fact that they refuse to abandon traditional animation in favour of computer generated animation. I just have a huge soft spot for hand drawn animated movies, and Ghibli definitely satisfies that soft spot.

Ed Wood (1994)

This takes place in the 50s, therefore making it a historical movie because I said so. Anyway, Ed Wood is my favourite Tim Burton movie, and is severely underrated (a friend of mine hates it, probably because she thinks it's transphobic but this movie really isn't transphobic at all). Anyways, this movie doesn't have a ton of special effects like the vast majority of Burton's movies, but that doesn't matter at all because the storytelling and acting is just phenomenal. Fair enough, there are a few historical inaccuracies when it comes to Bela Lugosi's story, but I honestly didn't mind because I like a bit of sensationalism in biopics sometimes.

Psycho (1960)

This. Movie. Is. Fucking. Tense. I've seen the famous shower scene about five times now and every time she turns the water on, my heart just starts to race. I know what's coming every single time, but I still sit and tense up until my knuckles turn white. Want to have the same experience as me? Go on then. Click here and knock yourself out. I'm still not the biggest fan of horror movies (I actually hesitate to call this a horror movie), but I can easily watch this over and over again. As for the TV prequel Bates Motel, eh I couldn't really get into it. So I'll stick with this for the rest of time. Oh, and my creative writing assignment for my first year of uni was inspired by this movie, so that's how much of an impact it's had on me.

The Blues Brothers (1980)

I'm not the biggest fan of musicals, but The Blues Brothers is probably the best screen musical that I've ever seen. And fair enough, none of the songs that appear in the movie were actually written for it and they're mostly cover songs, but I don't mind at all because I like them and the performances are fantastic. I've known about The Blues Brothers since I was a kid because my grandparents used to have a holiday video from when they went to Florida (I think) in 2001 and the hotel they were at had Blues Brothers impersonators. And also one of the songs that they sing has been the Celebrations adverts for as long as I can remember. When you watch it for the first time it seems a little long, but I just love this film so much. And if you have to hear at least one song, you have to watch this video of Aretha Franklin's performance. It's just the best thing ever.

Only Lovers Left Alive (2014)

If you're a fan of Tom Hiddleston and you haven't seen this film, I have two questions for you: 1) why and 2) WHYYYYY?????? I made such a big deal about seeing this film in the cinema when it came out that I dragged my friends to the independent cinema in the next city over because that was the only place in the whole region where it was playing. I was literally that determined to see it in the cinema. No way was I going to wait until the DVD release when I could travel there for free (I can't now, but I could at the time). But really, if you're a Hiddleston fan, you absolutely MUST watch this film. I said so. That means that you really have to.

Oh, and there's also this lovely but brief shot:

(i'm so glad that enlarging this didn't make the quality go down)

You're welcome.
Star Trek (2009)
Any time that I mention this film I have to fully prepare myself for any flames or stones being thrown at me by other Trekkies. Why? I'll just say it: I like the nu!Trek franchise more than I like The Original Series. I will always defend this series because if you actually look at it and form your own opinion that is not based on Tumblr (that website has a serious case of mob mentality) you'll find that The Original Series is way more sexist than this series. And besides, if I hadn't watched this film I wouldn't have gotten into the Star Trek franchise as a whole. I think it's exciting, I like how the characters are portrayed (yes, I think Chekov is absolutely adorable and I always want to hug him. I probably wouldn't have payed any attention to Anton Yelchin at all if I hadn't watched these films), and the special effects are spectacular. It's an origin story and the start of a new franchise, it doesn't need to be deep or have any ethical messages about humanity just yet. Maybe once they're actually on the proper five year mission, but not here. If I want to watch the ethical and moral side of Star Trek, then I'll watch one of the TV shows (I still haven't finished Enterprise or started Deep Space 9 or Voyager), if I want something exciting though then I'll watch one of the films. Any of them.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Aww, I have such fond memories of this movie. The Dark Knight was the first superhero movie that I saw in the cinemas and it has a special place in my heart. If I hadn't watched this movie, I wouldn't have started reading comics or gone further into the DC Universe, or be as obsessed with Batman as I am now. And even though I like to pretend that The Dark Knight Rises never happened (I gave it a good review when it came out, but now I don't like it so much anymore), I love this series and TDK is probably the best superhero movie that I've ever seen. Ever.

American Psycho (2000)

This film here is the film that set my love for Christian Bale in stone. Seriously, that man is a beautiful god. Anyways, I read the book American Psycho after watching the movie, and it is so hard to stomach that I choose the movie every single time over it (I wrote a post last year i think

about that opinion of mine and I got comments telling me that I was wrong. Oh well). Because the book doesn't have Christian Bale's glorious butt (I was considering making a gif of Patrick Bateman's morning exercises, but decided against it because he does them in his underpants and there's a lot of people under 18 in the blogosphere) and I honestly think that the movie's funnier. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, I love this film and if you're too nervous to read the book then I'd definitely say give the movie a go because it's not as grisly or explicit as the book is. And there's naked Christian Bale. Who could argue with that?
Have you seen any of these movies? What are some of your favourite movies?