So I was tagged by Dan Mayes in a “boredom breaker” meme he has started inviting folks to list their top ten favorite films.

The rules of the “game” are simple:
1. list your top ten favorite films (in no particular order).
2. if you’re tagged, you’ve got to post and tag 3-5 other people.
3. give a tag back (some link love) to the one who tagged you in your post
4. give a hat tip (HT) to Dan

So here we go… My Top Ten Favorite Films:

1. Sideways - a great film full of amazing dialogue and some of the most passionate discussions of food, life, and “the moment” conveyed on film. What a trip! But many won’t enjoy it - be warned it is rated R for a reason.

2. The Last Supper - a film I stumbled over that just got me at the right time - I dig this exploration of sin, tolerance, and guilt. A black comedy that is not for the faint of heart - but it looks into the human heart in a powerful way.

3. The Breakfast Club - one of the first films I remember walking out of with my then girlfriend (now wife) and feeling like we belonged to our generation - though we felt “disposable” we also felt triumphant (or defiant - feeling like we were vicariously lifting our leather covered fists with Judd Nelson - declaring - “don’t you forget about me!”). Generation X finds it’s confused, troubled yet communal and determined voice!

4. Chariots of Fire - from the soundtrack to the acting to the inspiring story this portrayal of Eric Liddell enraptured me as a young teenager. I found a hero worth emulating (prior to this it was Pete Rose and Evel Knievel?!).

5. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - well I am cheating putting three films in one entry - but the whole grand epic was one I became obsessed with driving me back to read Tolkien’s work again. I think the film was brilliantly done. It captured the beauty of the “journey” and celebrated the relationships which make this story universal and so compelling. I am definitely looking forward to the two installments of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. “…not all who wander are lost!”

6. Star Wars - the first film (before it was “episode IV). This caught me off guard and I had never seen a film quite like it - but as a kid seeing it in the theatre it made a HUGE impression. Definitely a defining moment as a kid. There was pre-SW and after-SW; and after-SW - films and stories had a whole new standard to measure up to.

7. The Matrix - this was a very personal experience for me. I saw myself in that film - caught in the matrix and definitely (like many) saw myself as NEO finding my way out of the artificial and constructed world I had allowed myself to be “caught up in” This was for me just a great example of a powerful story told in the perfect medium! The Matrix is a very mythic and beautiful film displayed through a whole new world of special effects by the Wachowski Bros. (unfortunately for me neither of the sequels quite measured up - it may be that I just didn’t connect as well).

8. Magnolia - I love this kind of story telling (like Pulp Fiction & Memento) where you are submerged in the middle of the story and through flashback and the culmination of events all the various strands begin to intersect. In my opinion Magnolia does this in a memorable and fascinating way. Loved it!

9. The Name of the Rose - I loved Umberto Eco’s novel by the same title and I think the film captured very faithfully this murder mystery in a medieval Abbey. What’s not to love?!

10. The Silence of the Lambs - Saw this in the theatre and for the last half hour of the film was dying from the incredible suspense and tension! Wow! No film has had me so on the edge of my seat and jumping into my wife’s lap like this one (except the grandaddy of them all - the original Psycho). For me this is the ultimate “horror” film - I don’t dig gratuitous slasher films - but in this case J. Demme balanced the gore and the suspense with a smart written story. Great stuff - hold the fava beans!

I am tagging…

Light Lady - have some fun! (I am guessing Braveheart will make her list!)
Len - I am thinking he may dig Field of Dreams.
Justin - I think he may be a Napoleon kinda guy (just a hunch).
Chris - my gut says that Transformers (or another superhero kinda film) may make his list.
Brian - I think his list will be closest to mine (if not by film; by vintage)!

also Folmsbee can count himself tagged… it may be a way to break the silence over there! [I am fairly certain Hoosiers would be on his top 10]

Peter is also tagged - I think he may put Rosebud in his list (actually I am fairly certain it will make the list).

Okay, so guessing on what films may appear in those I tagged were somewhat genuine guesses - but also ways to mention other films that would or could have appeared in my top 10 on any other given day (well with the exception of transformers!)