These are in no particular order, just my five most-favourite films ever.
Girl, Interrupted
I first saw this film about nine years ago, before I even began my Angelina Jolie obsession. My friend and I rented it one evening on recommendation from the lady who owned the video (!!!) shop, and being 16 and bored gave it a watch. If you’ve never seen this film, then I recommend you do. Not only does it have a stellar cast (Whoopi Goldberg, Angelina Jolie, Winona Ryder and Clea Duvall to name but a few), the storyline is both affecting and heartwarming. It’s by no means a happy film, especially as it’s based on the true-life memoirs of Susana Kaysen (Ryder’s character), but the human strength depicted in it, as well as mental care home conditions in the nineteen sixties, make it well worth a watch.
Moulin Rouge
Another one that I saw around nine years ago (no pattern to this, I promise) and ended up seeing it as we’d turned up at the cinema to see something else – can’t for the life of me remember what – and that was sold out so we saw Moulin Rouge. Being an emotional, hormonal thing with a knack for missing crucial lines during things, the line uttered by Ewan McGregor, “The woman I loved is now dead” at the start bypassed me completely so I was devastated when Satine died from consumption at the end. This is a film where you can just get lost in the magic of the romance and the music. It’s a little cheesy in places (the highly camped-up version of “Like a Virgin” springs to mind) and not all the cast are hugely talented singers, but it still remains a firm favourite of mine.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
This is such a classic, and I don’t really need to say any more on the matter.
The Emperors New Groove
This is a little gem from Disney, before everything went CGI, and was one of their less-famous titles. Which is a pity as I genuinely think this is the best Disney animated film ever! It’s the usual “life’s lessons” storyline of an extremely selfish Emperor who gets his comeuppance by living in the body of a llama for a while. He learns important lessons and by the end of the film is no longer the selfish little so and so he was at the start. The storyline is less important than the hillarious sub-characters, Yzma (Emperors’ aide) and Kronk (Yzma’s aide). So much so, that the character of Kronk earned himself a spin-off film (which I’ve yet to rent and watch). Just another one I highly recommend. Oh, and look out for the immortal line from Yzma, “and when it arrives… I’ll SMASH it with a hammer!” … it’ll make sense in the context of the film.
The Importance of being Earnest
This is the film version made in 2002, starring Dame Judi Dench, Colin Firth and Rupert Everett, plus others. It’s a very good adaptation of the Oscar Wilde play (which is one of my favourites anyway) and it’s a nice alternative if you a) can’t afford to go and see the live play or b) it’s not being performed anywhere near you.
So they’re my top five films. If there’s any you haven’t seen then I’d recommend a rental, all are worth an evening in with a bowl of popcorn and a snuggly blanket.