10 Personal Touchstones in Cinema

Inspired by this guy, I felt compelled to give my imaginary readers a few reasons why I do what I do...sometimes.

Risky Business
One of many films I watched repeatedly while growing up with HBO. Like 'Adventures in Babysitting', it was fantastic to see a movie about an ordinary teenager in the middle of a seemingly endless suburban sprawl as a protagonist. Unlike 'Adventures...', this one is still funny, sexy, and gives off that same darkly hypnotic magic. My favorite of all time...?

Donnie Darko
Again, a teenager in the midst of suburbia. And like 'Risky Business', the bro-talk stands the test of time:
And much like my beloved 'Twin Peaks', '...Darko' goes somewhere within the wonderfully captured exterior and lets us look at something much more interesting. One of my top 2 favorite scenes of all time:

Mulholland Drive
I guess 2001 was just a great year for movies. Here Lynch took his most beloved protagonist, a woman in trouble, and put her in a phenomenal satire of the inner workings of Hollywood and a very intelligent statement on the nature of dreams.

Psycho
Hitchcock's best? That's for you to decide. But I think its his most influential ( by FAR) and his least dated-seeming. The house on the hill, the zoom-in on Perkins while he hears John Gavin calling out, the conversation about us all being in our private traps; it's got to be his best!

Sex, Lies, and Videotape
A perfect example of what you can do when you have little money, great actors, and someone who knows how to make wonderful ambient music.

Heat
I could go on. And on. And on... This is the one that sent me to film school. There's nothing like films that take you into the lives of multiple characters, all interlinked, then compress it all down to the two leads for a terrific ending (no matter how derivative). Great score too!

All The President's Men
Sometimes the best movies are the ones that take conversations between everyday people and make them into something you can't take your eyes off of. Make sure you've seen 'Zodiac'. The meetings with Hal Holbrook's 'Deep Throat' are masterfully done.

Last Tango In Paris
Marlon Brando is maybe the greatest of all time for many reasons. This film suggests that it's maybe because he is truly complex, hilariously funny, and deeply tortured. Otherwise, how could he do THAT! Bertolucci makes Francis Bacon come alive and gold feel very sad.

2046
Heavily flawed, this film is one I never-the-less felt I had to pick over In The Mood For Love here (if for no other reason, than the fact that my reverence for that film has been well documented already. This was one of my all-time favorite theater-going experiences. The 10:05 show on a sunday night. Empty, beautiful theater. HUGE screen. Quite baked. 'Casablanca' meets 'Brief Encounter' meets 'Blade Runner'.

Badlands
Just about as perfect as cinema can get, in my opinion. Every shot looks as if it could be a framed picture; the score is in a weird, wonderful world of its own; and the humor is that marvelous "when cool meets stupid" that would go on to have a big influence on David Lynch.