The Hungry Hungry Writer

Comment on: GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME

Just so you know, this list can change at a drop of a hat at any given moment due to mood swings, stress, joyful happiness or even during those bad hair days, I may or may like something more than something else. That’s why it’s a top 10 for ‘THIS MOMENT’ and not ‘OF ALL TIME’!

As I look back at Oscar winners, at my own DVD collection, at movies I’ve seen in the theaters or on TV since I was a kid, here are my CURRENT TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF, and a comment about them: not a movie review, just an anecdote that brings me back to that day I watched it for the first time. And yes, I own all ten!

As of November 14, 2006, some time after having a Triple Chocolate Dove Bar, here is…

GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME #10

Tootsie (1982)
My Rating: 10/10
I had to include one from the 80s. There were so many – The Breakfast Club, Say Anything, Sixteen Candles, My Bodyguard… I can go on and on. Each one could be on this list. But I’ll go with Tootsie. I wasn’t old enough to drive but my buddy, Stan, was 16 and we went to see this movie. I think we watched it three times in two weeks or something ridiculous like that. It was such a fulfilling movie to me. I wanted to be an actor. I wanted to be Dustin Hoffman and do what it takes to get a roll. I wanted to move to New York. This was a dream of mine… and this movie really, really played it out for me. If the theme song EVER comes on the radio, I can’t ever pass it off. Stephen Bishop’s “It’s You”.

GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME #9

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
My Rating: 10/10
On a rare night that Donna and I were able to go out, this was the movie we chose. Jacob was a baby and my mom and dad were in town to watch him. It was just after Christmas when we went to see it and let me tell you, I came out of there feeling like I’ve never seen anything like it before! I’ve never done the Chinese sub-title film in a theater before. This was the first and I was praying for more of the same after the film. The first serious fight scene in the dark, with the music, climbing the walls and flying over the rooftops… I nearly got up from my chair and screamed, YEAH BABY!!! What a movie.

GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME #8

The Usual Suspects (1995)
My Rating: 10/10
Before this movie I thought Pulp Fiction was the most creative and entertaining movie to hit the theaters. Then came The Usual Suspects and let me tell ya… its hard to beat this storytelling. Wow. In the theater I remember when it hit me. He’s Keyser Söze!!! He’s Keyser Söze! I was so excited I wanted more but it was over. Bummer. It was one of the first movies on DVD that I bought!

GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME #7

Jerry Maguire (1996)
My Rating: 10/10
Say Anything didn’t make my list, but one Cameron Crowe movie did. I saw this in the theater with Donna. I’m not a sports agent, I’m not even close to being one or even knowing the life… but I felt it, I was there, I was Jerry Maguire writing that mission statement. One we all wish we could write but never do. I think I watched this movie more than any other movie on this list. I don’t know why. It just has such appeal to me. Crowe’s use of music really grabs a hold of me and locks me in and this movie really-really says something to me. I love it. I wish I was Jerry Maguire!

GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME #6

Shawshank Redemption (1994)
My Rating: 10/10
I went to see this in a dungy theater in Burbank. Well, it wasn’t so dungy, just small. I usually don’t see movies there but this was the only place it was showing. Well, I’m glad I caught it on film. And I don’t usually ever cry at a movie. I mean, unless its like Major League or something like that, but I cried in this one. I had a lump in my throat so big I couldn’t breath! As I walked out of the theater I felt like I just saw one of the best movies ever made. I then went to Office Depot and bought a $200 office chair.

GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME #5

Adaptation (2002)
My Rating: 10/10
I saw this movie alone; and I couldn’t wait to see it again so I made sure Donna came. I’ve done that a couple of times if I thought a movie was great. And I picked up so much more the second time around I was glad I did it so soon after the first time around. Normally, you try to stay away from a movie about writing. Why? Because it’s boring! But… this story was so unique that a movie about writing made it interesting! Kaufman is a genius!

GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME #4

Lost in Translation (2003)
My Rating: 10/10
Donna and I saw this on a late showing one Friday night. Mom was home to watch the kids and we were able to catch a late night showing. I didn’t know anything about it. We just walked in and walked out thinking, wow… I was breathless. The setting was breathtaking, the performances were refreshing, the movie was beautiful. I was breathless!

GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME #3

Shakespeare in Love (1998)
My Rating: 10/10
As I walked out of the theater with Donna I thought to myself, “why didn’t I think of that?” It was so perfect, so well acted, so well written, I fell in love with the movie right away. We watched it one night at the Burbank Six. There were maybe 10 or so people in the theater so we caught it late in its release. And thank goodness we did because its possible I may have waited years before seeing it. Okay, I couldn’t really buy the whole Gwenth Paltrow boy thing. But I suspended my disbelief and bought into it and that was that. It was one of the first movies on DVD that I owned!

GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME #2

American Beauty (1999)
My Rating: 10/10
The characters, the dialogue, the story… it was dripping with emotion! I saw it at a crowded theater – the Burbank 14 as it was called at the time. I remember walking into it with no expectations and coming out of it thinking, there’s the script I wanna write some day! I couldn’t believe how good it was! I still watch it with the same anticipations and emotional apprehensions I have for each character. It’s almost the perfect movie ever made!

GLENN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE MOVIES OF THIS MOMENT IN TIME #1

Boogie Nights (1997)
My Rating: 10/10
I don’t think I knew anything about this movie and dragged my wife and her friend Carolyn to see it with me. They decided to go because the last time the three of us went to the movies, my wife and Carolyn decided to see a movie called, “Up Close and Personal” instead of watching, “Fargo”. What a mistake that was right? So I decided on Boogie Nights and they came along because I obviously have better taste in movies.

I came out of Boogie Nights with my mouth open. Wow. I had to discuss it with Dale. How did PTA get away with this?! I immediately was a fan of PTA and rush to see everything he makes. The performances were top notch, the music was a key to bring you back to the time and feel, and the directing was good.

I highly recommend this movie. That is, if you’re not afraid of Porn.

And that’s that… That wraps up my top 10 list and as I mentioned before, it can change at a drop of the hat. As a matter of fact, these movies could fight their way into the lineup now as it is six days since I started this list…

Kramer Vs. Kramer, Leaving Las Vegas, Punch-Drunk Love, Fargo, Pulp Fiction, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Requiem for a Dream, Home Alone, The Sting, Some Like it Hot, The Sixth Sense, The Ring, The Sound of Music and even Aladdin!