Catholic in Film School

During the last part of my interview with Mark he asked me to give a list of my top 20 films and an explanation as to why. Well, I will have you know that the title is actually kind of a misnomer. Instead of giving a list of my favorite classic and award-winning films that make it look like they’ve actually taught me something in film school, I decided to give a list of films that I really enjoy. The following are movies that I have seen multiple times and continue to watch, some of which have had an impact on my life and career.

In no particular order:

1. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the second being my favorite of the three–why? Two words. Orlando Bloom. But besides Orlando Bloom, I love archetypal fantasy films.
2. The Passion of the Christ—the best depiction of Christ’s passion on film ever made in my opinion…I actually cried!
3. Rear Window—a classic Hitchcock film
4. The Godfather series (and yes I did like the third one!)
5. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid—It inspired my non-homicidal fascination with firearms and other weaponry.
6. Love & Basketball—a classic black teen film, it was the story of my life.
7. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—morally objectionable, but it still cracks me up.
8. The Ten Commandments—one of Charlton Heston’s finest pieces.
9. The Roots series—required viewing for every American, I think.
10. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner—It reminds me of my own “Guess Who” moments I’ve had with past boyfriends of mine.
11. Sisters in Cinema—Seriously…this movie inspired me and changed my life. This film together with Robert Rodriguez’s book “Rebel Without a Crew” gave me the push I needed to get into filmmaking.
12. Fishers of Men—a Catholic classic…I’m still impressed by it.
13. The Star Wars trilogy…and yeah I liked the more recent ones too.
14. The Exorcist (1973)—Mark started laughing when I said, “Well, it made me want to take my butt to church.”
15. Therese (1987)—an utterly stunning film.
16. The Color Purple—another black classic.
17. Sleeping Beauty—I’m debating on naming my daughter Aurora.
18. Toy Story—I love Pixar!
19. Sixteen Candles—Because my 16th birthday sucked too.
20. Bella—Because this movie made me feel something, and not many films can do that.

Honorable Mentions: Rebel Without a Cause, Raising Victor Vargas, Juno

Pax Christi, Rebecca.