They don’t make movies like this anymore, I said to myself. And myself immediately replied: Oh dear god Esther you did not just sound a thousand-year-old right there!
Myself is probably right. But so am I. Lately movies are big and gorgeous and lovely and funny and so many things. I am a movie buff. The magic is very much alive for me. But also a lot of that magic today is CGI, or political humour (which if you’re not so inclined, can be a little off-putting), or polished to perfection and while brilliant as an escape, not things I would watch again and again.
I even watch the 10-minutes Recap versions of many movies on YouTube these days.
All this being said, I thought to myself, as I sit in the little server room at Agape Computer Institute playing Magistrate for NEET Exam, I should list out my top favourite movies.
And so, in no particular order, here are my Top Nineteen:
1. Nacho Libre, 2006: Everything about Nacho Libre is brilliant. I should go visit that dry-ass place one day and take pictures, wearing cream slacks and light blue T-shirt, and speak English with a heavy Mexican accent. Meanwhile, I shall consider dry rusk the heights of romance. Forget your Roman Holidays.
2. The Princess Bride, 1987: Very little is boring about The Princess Bride. The whole movie is simply so stunning and the cast is just perfect. The quotes are witty and lovely beyond compare. I shall watch it with my niece one day.
3. Mean Girls, 2004: I have played Mean Girls as white noise while I studied MBA. This is the movie that made me realise how amazing editors and sound engineers are. Unfortunately, ever since Faridabad and Mean Girls white noise, I have been much more critical of every other movie. It is that fetch.
4. The Help, 2011: The atmosphere of The Help is just perfection – goofy, painful, serene, scary, wild… every part of it is gorgeous. Their America and my Mizoram are so different, but this movie activates my Sociological brain with every re-watch and unfailingly makes me rethink my society. And of course, the pie.
5. Flipped, 2010: This movie makes me feel like I am in a Little Archies comic book brought to life. Nothing like Archies, of course. But just the whole vibe. I think this serene, whitewashed version is what MAGA people think their country and life used to be like. And if so, I can’t blame them. The movie is shot so beautifully. It makes you want to be in it.
6. Howl's Moving Castle, 2004: Hayao Miyazaki movies are always a 101% beautiful. But there are very little scenes – in Miyazaki’s world and beyond – that can compare to the Breakfast Scene at the castle. You know that. Right?
7. Monalisa Smile, 2003: For someone who graduated from what is sometimes referred to as the Wellesley of the East, Monalisa Smile is a must-watch and amazingly captivating. Their struggles, their discussions, their lives… worlds apart from my own. Yet at some abstract ideal levels, their problems are still very much a modern woman’s problem. Even now. Poignant. But beautiful.
8. The Sound of Music, 1965: My teenage years were defined by this musical. I liked it so much. It is only as an adult the Nazi implications finally set in. But I liked so much of the movie that even though I never really understood it, I love the movie. And the songs.
9. Lilo & Stitch, 2002: This movie is silly. Everything about it is silly and goofy and funny. I learned the word Ohana from here. And many Elvis songs. I can and have rewatched this movie time and again. I still love it. I love the story, the characters, the art, the music… I love this movie.
10. Steel Magnolias, 1989: I think the first time I watched this movie was in High School during movie night. Probably. I am happy that the cuppa-cuppa-cuppa recipe is trending on Instagram following Dolly Parton’s death. Because it took me back to that movie. That was a solid movie. Amazing.
11. Now and Then, 1995: Brendan Frasier, the hot soldier, Knock Three Times on a bicycle trip, girls v. boys, the girly world of pink, stuffing bras… nothing does coming-of-age like Now and Then. This is brilliant beyond brilliant.
12. Forrest Gump, 1994: It’s just sweet. Forrest Gump is lovely.
13. Shrek, 2001: If you want to know if a song is good, check if it is on a Shrek soundtrack. If it is, it is a good song. Very good check. And Shrek flipped off traditional fairy tales in ways no one had done before and has been forever emulated since. Such a good movie.
14. Stepford Wives, 2004: In some ways, Stepford Wives is the complete dismantling of something like Flipped. And it is done so wonderfully. It is set in a very definite white Utopian society but like all good post-modern writing, it makes you question everything about your own society. And they do it with gorgeous people in it who don’t have a single strand of hair out of place. Lovely.
15. The Gods Must Be Crazy, 1980: If some movies you love because of how beautiful they are, you love The Gods Must Be Crazy for how utterly un-glamorous it is. I watched it as a kid. Then I rewatched it as a Sociology student. What is a Coke bottle to you? Everything about this movie is brilliant. Everything.
16. Spirited Away, 2001: Natsume Yujinchou is one of my favourite anime series. Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away could fit nicely into this structure. Chihiro’s journey navigating the spirit world and this one is so gorgeously portrayed. I have to point out here how similar our versions of spirits, the Japaneese youkai and Mizo huai life seem to be. Ultimate comfort movie.
17. Men In Black, 1997: No other Will Smith movie would ever be as good as Men In Black, not even with dead CGI dogs. MIB was just so good. I have watched and rewatched it so many times. And it is still lovely even after the Nth re-watch. Just wonderful sci-fi. Makes you look at the moon and the stars in the night sky and make you want to go home to them. If you know what I mean.
18. Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1961: Big pearl necklace. Cigarette on a long stick. The perfect little black dress; in fact, the movie that introduced me to the concept of an LBD. Beehive hair. And Moonriver.
19. The Pink Panther, 2006: Steve Martin is usually always watchable. But the chemistry he has with Jean Reno in this movie is unmatched. There is nothing I don’t like about The Pink Panther. It is that good.
My sister will swear by Titanic and I love that movie and my heart will go on for it yada yada but I'd choose any one of my list over it any day.
And I stopped at 19 which is an odd number and an odder number to choose for a list, but the exam was for 3 and a half hours and we ran out the clock. So Nineteen it is.
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