Movies that Impacted My Cinematic Tastes

So I thought I would try to write more about movies here in the upcoming month.  I have a few articles planned out in the near future, one that's recap of the year and one that's a look ahead at next year.  However, I'm not quite finished with those, so in the mean time, I figured I would share some thoughts on the movies that really impacted my cinematic tastes.

Despite growing up with movies, I actually have a hard time coming up with one that I would consider my favorite.  This is a bit odd, as I can do this several of my other passions (anime, video games, music), but for some reason, trying to name a favorite movie or even come up with a Top 10 list, I struggle.  However, as I think back on my life, I know that there have been movies that I have become obsessed with or consider to be highlights in my movie-watching life, so here is a list of those movies instead.


Sleeping Beauty

I grew up with a number of animated Disney classics, I’m sure like plenty of other people my age, but the one I became really fixated on was Sleeping Beauty.  Perhaps an odd choice for a young boy, what with Robin Hood and Jungle Book around, until you remember that Sleeping Beauty has that great battle with a dragon at the very end.  In fact, I remember rewinding the tape just far back enough to see that fight again and again.  I haven’t watched in a while now, but I do remember that dragon being a big part of my younger years.

Great Mouse Detective 

This was the movie I watched whenever I went to my grandparents house.  Just the idea of a population of mice and rats with a civilized society living just under the noses of all the humans was fascinating, but it also had interesting characters and a great story.  This movie is still one of my favorites from over the years.  It’s also one of Vincent Price’s best (and last!) performances.

Aladdin/Nightmare Before Christmas 

These two may seem like a strange pair to group together, but these two movies were the first two where I became aware of movie soundtracks.  I remember having them on tape and just listening to them over and over again in my room.  While, they were great movies in their own right, their soundtracks are what stood out to me, the latter being one that still gets pulled out every Halloween.

A Goofy Movie

This movie is something of an underrated gem in the Disney animated canon, lost in the wake of the titanic Lion King.  It’s perhaps not as timeless as the others, but it remember watching this to death, loving the music and the heartfelt message.  I also recall this being one of the first films I saw with just my dad (as opposed to with my whole family), and still go to see movies together to this day.

Star Wars Episode 1

This may be a strange choice, especially since I’m going to praising it, not bashing it as you may think, but this was certainly my generation’s Star Wars.  Sure, I saw the remastered original trilogy when they hit theaters, but Episode 1 was the one that really blew my mind with its special effects.  I remember trying to physically duck and dodge the podracers as they blasted by on the screen.  I also remember this being the first movie I saw multiple times in the theater, which is something that doesn’t happen very often for me.

In hindsight, Episode 1 is certainly a flawed film, but I was never as down on it as many other people were.  Sure, Jar Jar was annoying, but he never broke the film for me.  In fact, I consider this one the best of the prequel trilogy!

Godzilla/The Mummy

Another unusual pair of films, but these would be my introduction to probably my favorite genre of movie: the action/comedy.  Both of these films do a great job of creating entertaining and funny characters that also have to take on a big monster, with big stakes at hand if they fail.

I personally think Godzilla has unfairly received a bad rap over the years.  Sure, it’s not much of a monster movie nor is it a very good successor to the classic kaiju films, it still remains an excellent roller coaster of a movie that never takes itself too seriously.

On the other hand, The Mummy movies are still pretty classic in their own way, and despite their aging CG, still hold up fairly well.  Let’s just not talk about the third one.

In any case, these movies helped me wet my taste for fun action films with their tongues in their cheeks, such as the Transporter trilogy, The A-Team movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, and much of the filmography of Jackie Chan.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The Phantom Menace may have been Star Wars for my generation, but in terms of pop culture prominence, Lord of the Rings was our Star Wars.  This trilogy of films simply found the right mix of fantasy and relatability, adapting a classic series of books into an iconic juggernaut of cinema history.  I love these films and have single-day marathoned the extended versions multiple times, and it never gets old.  If I’m forced to pick a favorite movie, it might be this one.  Yes, it’s one movie.  It just happens to be split into three parts.

The Avengers

It’s hard to think of what The Avengers didn’t change when it landed.  Being the sequel to five sparsely connected films and bringing the labyrinthine continuity style of comics to the big screen, it had a lot to live up to, and somehow, it pulled it off.  It felt like watching a master at work, pulling all the pieces together and paying it all off with a big climax in a way that seemed outright unprecedented.  The Lord of the Rings comes close, but that was really a singular work, divided into three films.  Avengers really had that Voltron-style magic.

The MCU has had it’s ups and downs since then, but remains a uniquely successful venture into deliberately reshaping the landscape of cinema.

Pacific Rim

Being a fan of anime, and specifically big robots, this really shouldn’t be a surprise.  Just so that you understand my love for this movie, not only did it speak to my inner ten-year-old fluently, it outright read my mind!  I distinctly remember sitting in the theater, watching the Gypsy Danger take on one of the kaiju, and thinking, “You know, this has been pretty good, but it would be even better of the robots had a big sword.”  And then, five minutes later, GYPSY DANGER PULLED OUT A FREAKIN’ BIG SWORD!  Like the movie knew exactly what I was thinking!  I was on Cloud 9 for the rest of the film.

The Lego Movie

When this movie came out, it did well, with most people considering it an above average kids film.  “A cash-grab with a heart,” I recall many reviewers saying.

However, I think in the years to come, as the children who saw this grow up and begin to analyze films as adults, they will find this movie to be an incredible example of cinematic storytelling.  Between its use and subversion of The Hero’s Journey, its distinct and accessible aesthetic, and its powerful, go-for-broke third act.  I remember walking out of the theater thinking that I had seen something truly special, something that was going to be more than just a blockbuster for its year.

Also think that, if the next generation really does abandon Post-Modernism and Gen X irony for a kind of New Optimism zeitgeist, this movie (along with the My Little Pony cartoon) maybe a touchstone for how such a movement got started.

Mad Max: Fury Road

These days, there are a number of options for entertainment, between Television, video games, and the internet, going to the movies sometimes feels like an pastime of an older generation, a 20th century hobby.  Sure, the movies still rake in money by the truckload, but the arguments for simply waiting until the film gets to RedBox or Netflix are growing.  It seems like the only reason to go see a movie anymore is because theaters simply have the exclusivity rights for a few months and people don’t want to wait.

But every now and then, a movie comes out that reminds us of why we go to the theaters.  For me, Mad Max: Fury Road is one of those movies.  I definitely remember walking out of the theater with the thought, “Now THAT’S cinema!” ringing in my head.

To be sure, it really is a two-hour car chase with great special effects, with tons of imagery reminiscent of 80s Thrash Metal album covers.  However, the way this movie comes together and takes you along, it proves with its sense of scale and visual spectacle some things just work better on a big screen. 

While I suppose that could be said for any big action film, I really think the last Mad Max film transcends its genre to become something that stands as a movie for cinephiles to fall back on when it comes to the great ones that really show what a movie can be.  I really have no issue placing Mad Max next to the likes of The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars: A New Hope, Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, and The Wizard of Oz; those movies that demand to be seen in theaters to truly appreciate their skill and grandiosity.

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Anyways, those are the films that had a big impact on me.  There may be others that I’m forgetting, but I think that’s a pretty good enough for now.  To be sure, there are plenty of other classics that I’ve enjoyed (12 Angry Men, Citizen Kane, the works of Buster Keaton, etc), but these are the ones that really stood out to me.  At the very least, it works as a decent background for my cinematic tastes as I continue to write movie reviews for this site.