Your Top 5 Influential Movies

So I was super young, which made the impact that much greater, but ‘The Sting’ was about as good an example of a filmmaker fooling an audience as you will ever see.  Upon first viewing, I am confident that not a single audience member – anywhere, ever – thought that Newman and Redford’s characters had not been shot dead in the movie’s climactic scene.  Even at 8, missing most of the more subtle points of the plot and characters, I could still appreciate the joy of the moment represented in the film’s payoff.  ‘The Sting’ has one of the finest soundtracks ever (period inaccurate as it might be), featuring the music of Ragtime composer Scott Joplin. 

I even learned how to play (butcher) ‘The Entertainer’ on piano.

This was a film virtually devoid of joy or positivity of any sort.  And it seemed pretty accurate for the situation it represented, truly a cultural culmination of 30 years under threat of societal nuclear annihilation.  I remember being grateful that the subject matter wasn’t presented in a moralistic way, or that any attempt at making the audience feel better at the end was made, unlike the genre-similar made-for-TV ‘The Day After’. 

Viewers never know who attacked, or why.  Just dealing with the aftermath, awash in radiation poisoning and sickness as children throughout the neighborhood succumb one by one, and neighbors turn to more and more desperate, violent actions to survive.  For sure, this movie made me realize that fiction could be as rewarding as non-fiction if the subject matter was treated realistically.  I could not for the life of me remember why 3 high school age guys would choose this film, but then I remembered that Roxana Zal was in it!  Beautiful even at 14 or so, even if her character did up dead of radiation poisoning, wrapped in a bed sheet by her numb and distraught mother.  Bummer.

But still, the film made its point.  It was produced in an era that the porn industry has essentially left behind, during the height of the totally necessary anti-pornography movement.  It centered on a young stripper working in New York, and the efforts of the filmmakers eventually resulted in this young woman choosing to leave the business.  Certainly not the greatest documentary I’ve ever seen, but it made clear to me that every bit of care should be taken in docs - and fictional movies - to not bash the viewer over the head with your point of view.  Sad to say that copies of this are very hard to come by in America due to the sexually graphic material.  Klein is Canadian, and apparently it’s a little easier to get one up north.

More than any other movie, ‘American Beauty’ had a creepy ability to show how basic communication and feelings between people can become stifled, buried to the point that realities in relationships can be lost without even realizing it, or not knowing how to fix those issues until its too late.  It resonated deeply in regards to my own failed marriage, but much more than that, it made viewers feel grateful “... for every single moment of my stupid little life.”  We could all do a whole lot worse than to try to apply the lessons learned in ‘American Beauty’ on a daily basis.

What this movie taught me is that sometimes it’s better to just leave it alone.  Let the original stand on its own. (Geeks, don’t lecture me on Lucas’ full vision, I’m well aware).  I remember leaving the theater trying to wrap my head around “Why would Lucas do this?  What was he thinking?  Did I miss something?  Was it just that I was a kid for the originals?  And what’s up with that Jar-Jar Binks thing?”  I tried to just go with it & enjoy, but like a lot of other fans it was very difficult to come to the realization that as brilliant as Lucas might be, he’s human.  And sometimes, humans just can’t leave well-enough alone.   

Whadya think?  Got some better additions?  Some equally important suggestions?  Fire away.