Here’s my trip down the memory lane--my top 7 movies of all time. I’ve seen most of them when I was either in in elementary or high school and yes these movies will never get old.
Ghost was shown in the U.S. in 1990 and back then, it takes a while before American movies hit the Philippine cinemas unlike today. So, I was either a freshie or sophomore in high school already when this movie became such a hit that all my female high school classmates started sporting that Demi Moore pixie cut. I never did because short hair never suited me even before so the shortest my hair could go is shoulder length and that’s it. I just had this inkling that if I can’t pull it off like Demi Moore did in Ghost, then ne’er mind. This flick also made Unchained Melody became such a hit all over again and boy it never sounded better until they used that darn song as one of Ghost's OSTs. For kids who haven’t seen this movie, I suggest you go watch it because you’ll be missing half of your life if you don't.
Ghost (1990)
Romantic/Fantasy/Thriller
Casts:
- Patrick Swayze (Sam Wheat)
- Demi Moore (Molly Jensen)
- Whoopi Goldberg (Oda Mae Brown)
- Tony Goldwyn (Carl Bruner)
- Rick Aviles (Willie Lopez)
Sam and Molly just moved in to their apartment in New York with the help of their friend Carl. Sam work as a Banker whilst Molly a potter. Carl and Sam work at the same Bank btw. One day, Sam told Carl a secret about one of those multi million accounts he’s handling. Carl became interested because of the huge sums of money involved thus hired Willy Lopez to steal Sam’s wallet so he could get the password and have access to Sam’s accounts. Things went awry after Sam budged and fought Willy since he’s not willing to give his wallet away. Sam unfortunately died after Willy stabbed him and he turned into a ghost. It took a while for him to get used to what a ‘ghost’ can do, but, after mingling with fellow ghosts he learned how to use his ‘powers.'
Sam, squeamish to know who's responsible for his murder, followed Willy home and learned that someone eventually ‘asked’ the later to steal his wallet. Carl on the other hand seemed to have expressed liking for Molly.
Sam, to his anger found out the it was Carl who masterminded his murder. He went to Oda Mae Brown, a fraud psychic, in his attempt to seek help and warn Molly. Sam realized that Oda can hear him so he bugged and refused to leave until Oda agrees to help him. Oda, no matter how she despised being the intermediary between Sam and Molly, relayed Sam’s message about Molly’s life being in danger. Molly, despite her reluctance believed that Oda communicates with Sam after the later revealed stuff that only the two of them know.
Sam, through Oda’s help, closed a 4M USD account under a fictitious name 'Rita Miller’ before Carl could transfer the money to his own account. Oda got upset though because Sam asked her to donate the check to charity so Carl won’t track her down. Willy and Carl chased Oda. They were both haunted by Sam. Willy died after Sam spooked him, scared to his wits, was hit by a car and died instantly. The demons took his soul. Carl, on the other hand died instantly also after shards of broken glass pierced through him. Carl now dead, saw Sam but before he got the chance to talk to Sam the same demons took his soul. Molly finally saw Sam’s spirit before he went into the light. The End.
Kids nowadays may find this movie cheesy because of the advent of 3D and stuff. But for me, nothing beats classic movies like ‘Ghost.’ Good old flicks are superb no matter how raw the special effects were lol.
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Comedy/Drama
Casts:
- Robin Williams (Daniel Hillard / Euphegenia Doubtfire)
- Sally Field (Miranda Hillard) - Daniel’s wifey
- Lisa Jakub (Lydia "Lydie” Hillard)
- Matthew Lawrence (Christopher "Chris” Hillard)
- Mara Wilson (Natalie "Nattie” Hillard)
- Pierce Brosnan (Stuart "Stu” Dunmeyer)
What I like about movies back then was, they’re not very lengthy yet the whole essence is there. No beating around the bush so all you need to do is just sit back and relax, watch a movie.
Miranda decided to file for divorce because he couldn’t endure Daniel’s antics anymore. She would often come home to a messed up house and she does all the chores with no help from Daniel. During the legal battle, the custody of the kids went to Miranda and this broke Daniel’s heart since he will only get the chance to see his kids few days a week until he proves to the court that he has the financial capacity to support them. A crazy idea came across his mind after learning that his wife is looking for a nanny, he posed as Mrs. Doubtfire, an old English nanny to his very own kids. Daniel’s gay brother helped him with his disguise.
Miranda and their kids didn’t know at first because Daniel has a talent for mimicking. Whilst pretending to be a woman, Daniel learned why his wife is divorcing him. Miranda, on the other hand, started hooking up with an old fling named Stuart or Stu which made Daniel extremely jealous. Chris, Daniel’s son discovered first that he is not who he is. Daniel was forced then to admit to Lydia (eldest daughter) and Chris that he’s only posing as Mrs. Doubtfire so he could see them. Lydia and Chris kept their promise not to tell their mom and little Natalie until Daniel’s Mrs. Doubtfire mask dishevels while he’s trying to help Stu from choking during their family dinner. Miranda was devastated and even more limited Daniel’s visitations rights to their kids.
Daniel got the job as Mrs. Doubtfire for a children's show, it raked good ratings. Miranda felt pity for Daniel, realized how his poor husband tried to put his life in perspective in the end allowed Daniel to visit their kids as normal.
The late Robin Williams is really brilliant. I love pretty much all of his movies because he’s not your ordinary actor since he can portray almost any character. There’s nobody else like him.
My Girl (1991)
Tragic/Comedy
Casts:
• Harry Sultenfuss (Dan Aykroyd)- Vada's Dad and owns Sultenfuss' funeral parlor.
• Shelly DeVoto (Jamie Lee Curtis) - newly hired make-up artist at the funeral home.
• Thomas J. Sennett (Macaulay Culkin)- Vada’s bestfriend
• Mr. Jake Bixler (Griffin Dunne) - Vada’s 5th garde teacher
• Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky)
Vada’s mother passed away two days after giving birth to her and nasty kids say that she is the reason for her mother’s death. Harry, Vada’s father barely pays attention to Vada because he’s often busy with his business, a funeral home. Along came Shelly, a make-up artists who responded to Harry’s ad ‘wanted: make-up artist’ not indicating it was for a funeral home. Harry, hired Shelly anyways. Vada hangs around with his only best friend, Thomas (who’s allergic to everything) everyday. Vada believes that she is very sick so she often visit the Doctor although she’s been told many times there’s nothing wrong with her. Shelly and Harry started dating. Vada disapproved at first despite Shelly’s attempt to connect with her.
Tragedy struck, Thomas died after having stung by a bee in his attempt to recover Vada’s mood ring in the woods. He was taken to Harry’s funeral home which even more devastated Vada upon seeing her only best friend lying in the coffin. It took a while before Vada recovered from Thomas' death. Vada realized then that there's really nothing to worry about because her mom will surely take care of Thomas, her only best friend in the afterlife. She came to like Shelly in the end.
I love this flick no matter how tragic it is. There’s just too many good things to pick up from it such as the the irony between life and death. That, the ones who were left behind shouldn’t stop living after a loved ones passing and being less enthusiastic about life means one is being a living dead himself or something like that. The movie title may be wholesome but the meaning of the movie is pretty profound that kids may not understand yet so this movie is for adults in my opinion.
Drama
Casts:
• Robin Williams (John Keating)
• Robert Sean Leonard (Neil Perry)
• Ethan Hawke (Todd Anderson)
• Josh Charles (Knox Overstreet)
Another one of those Robin William’s brilliant films. I have always liked this movie because it’s all about sucking the marrow out of life. This movie popularized ‘Carpe Diem’ or seize the day that, every time I think of Dead Poets Society, Carpe Diem automatically pops in my head.
The movie is about a group of young boys who went to Welton Academy which is an elite boarding school in 1959. The school have this reputation of bringing their students to ivy league schools after they graduate. One of the major characters is Neil, a son of an ex-military who allows his life to be manned by his control freak father.
Todd, a new boy in school who also came from family of scholars became Neil’s room mate. Neil introduced Todd to his overachiever friends in school.
Along came John Keating, the new English Teacher who also happened to be Welton’s alumni. He introduced the boys to his non-mediocre method of teaching. He taught the kids to ‘seize the day’ or simply break free. Neil found that Keating used to be part of a group in Welton called Dead Poets Society (DPS) and opted to be called O Captain My Captain instead of Mr. Keating. When Neil asked Keating about DPS, he told the boys to leave it in history and burn the book.
Neil revived DPS and the group found a hideaway cave somewhere close to the boarding school. They talked about poems and many other things during their meetings. The DPS is illegal though because they are breaking the school law for unauthorized after school rendesvous.
Neil, inspired by Keating, decided to audition for a school play by Shakespeare entitled A Midsummer Nights Dream, he got in. His father saw the play although Neil never intended to. Neil even wrote a fake letter of consent from his 'father' stating that he allow his son to be part of the school play so that his father will not know about it. Mr. Perry (Neil’s Dad) found out anyways and was so disappointed that he told Mr. Keating to stay away from Neil.
Neil, totally devastated his father’s lack of support, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The school found out about DPS, blamed it’s existence and death of Neil towards Mr. Keating. They fired him but before he left Welton, his students showed their support for Mr. Keating by stepping on top of their classroom chairs and uttered O Captain My Captain.
Very brilliant movie. I dare you to watch if you are in a middle of crisis like for instance you are torn between what your parents want and want you want for yourself. Carpe Diem.
White Fang (1991)
Adventure
Casts:
- Klaus Maria Brandauer (Alex Larson)
- Ethan Hawke (Jack Conroy)
- Seymour Cassel (Skunker)
- Susan Hogan (Belinda Casey)
- Jed (White Fang)
19th Century.
Jack from San Francisco went to Yukon in Alaska to go to his father’s claim. He asked Skunker and Alex to take him to the claim. Alex, declined at first but after Skunker persuaded him later on agreed since he was Jack’s Dad’s buddy.
En route to the claim, a lot of things happened. Jack almost froze to death after he stepped on a thin ice and nearly drowned then Skunker’s passing after a pack of wolves attacked them. A group of sled team shot a female decoy (half dog half wolf) in order to save Alex and Jack from the wolves. The female decoy sadly died and left behind a pup (this part really broke my heart). Along the way Jack saw the little orphaned pup/wolf and asked Alex how big is the pup’s chance of survival alone in the woods. Alex said zero if it won’t be with a pack of wolves.
Alex, upon reaching his destination bid Jack goodbye. Jack though continued to bug Alex and promised to leave him if he take him to his father’s claim, Alex agreed. Jack offered Alex a deal, he will teach him how to read and in return Alex will help him find his gold.
Alex and Jack visited a Native American settlement (because Alex is friends with the Chief of Tribe). Jack saw a wolf named ‘White Fang’ (not aware that it was the same pup he saw before because it's all grown). He tried to pet White Fang but the Chief prevented him. He told Jack that wolves are meant to obey their owners because they are their ‘masters’ and not because they're friends with them. Alone in the woods Jack was attacked by a grizzly bear, White Fang saved him so Jack owed the wolf a sense of gratitude.
White Fang had a tough life because the Chief needed to give him away (no matter how unwilling he was) to a group of bastards (the same men who robbed Jack the first time he set foot in Yukon) because they had their own dog beaten up by White Fang on purpose so they could use the poor wolf for dog fights. The men made huge amount of money from bets because of White Fang. During one White Fang’s fights, Jack recognized him and saved him from his slumber. Jack and Alex took White Fang to the claim and treated his wounds. White Fang and Jack became friends to Alex’s surprise since White Fang is a wolf.
One day, the makeshift mine crumbles, White Fang rescued Jack for the second time like he’s Jack’s guardian angel or something. Alex found gold particles on the wolf’s foot so they hurriedly went inside the mine and they found more gold. Alex sent Jack to town to have the gold tested, White Fang tagged along. Hours later, Jack happily reported to Alex that the gold were 98% pure which would make them friggin' rich. The men who used White Fang for dog fights followed Jack to the claim, set their cabin on fire but weren’t successful after White Fang attacked them.
Alex decided to go back to San Francisco and persuaded Jack to come along. He planned to use the money to build a hotel in Scott's honor (Jack’s Father), and would like to name it 'Hotel Scott.’ Jack set White Fang free upon Alex’s advise that the wolf belongs in the woods because that’s his home by nature. Jack, all ready to go changed his mind and decided to stay in Alaska, Alex understood though. White Fang came back to the claim and reunites with Jack.
This is a very beautiful story of friendship between a wild animal and a human being. This flick justifies that the world is filled with infinite possibilities.
Reality Bites (1994)
Romantic/Comedy/Drama
Casts:
- Winona Ryder - Lelaina Pierce, the main character; aspiring videographer & works for a TV show "Good Morning Grant"
- Ethan Hawke - Troy Dyer; band member
- Ben Stiller - Michael Grates;
- Janeane Garofalo - Vickie Miner, Lelaina’s friend, Manager at The Gap
- Steve Zahn - Sammy Gray, Lelaina & Vickie’s homosexual friend
Friends Lelaina, Vickie and Sammy are having a little celebration at the building’s helipad after their graduation ceremony with Lelaina filming the whole thing. Lelaina dreams of becoming a videographer thus would like to use her little video clips as materials for what seemed like a reality based TV show. Troy and Lelaina used to date.
Lelaina works for a morning TV show called "Good Morning Grant” hosted by a prick. She’s been suggesting a different format for the boring show but Mr. Prick refuses to change anything and undermines Lelaina’s talent. Lelaina, pissed off after he overhears Mr. Prick uttered something about firing her, she then wrote nasty stuff in his cue cards which led to her termination from the show. Vickie offered Lelaina a job at The Gap but the later refused. Vickie treated it as an insult since Lelaina was a ‘Valedictorian’ in college. They somehow patched things up.
Lelaina, now jobless became depressed resorted to Psychics. She made a 400$USD bill after her frequent calls to a 1-900 number. Vickie and Sammy talked to her about paying off the astronomical telephone bill. She used her father’s graduation gift, a gas card by raising 400$USD cold cash. In the movie, it was revealed that Vickie feared about having HIV after sleeping with tons of men, Troy a non-conformist who refuses to work for companies because of his notion that he’s making them richer and Sammy, who never told his parents about his being ‘gay’ until after college fearing his parents would be disappointed.
Lelaina met Michael, an executive for a cable channel called In Your Face (ala MTV) after she threw a cigarette into his convertible which caused his accident. The two dated. Troy hated Michael because she likes Lelaina. Michael bought Lelaina’s video footages and she didn’t like how it turned out at first because the editing changed the essence of her video project.
Fast forward, Vickie tested negative for HIV, Lelaina and Troy became romantically involved (finally) after enduring each other’s wraths.
You know what I love about this flick? The awesome OSTs. Let me also mention that I was a fan of Winona Ryder back in the 90’s because she’s one of those edgy, mysterious, gothic yet talented actresses back then. Remember Beetlejuice?
The Haunted (1991)
Horror
Casts:
- Janet Smurl (Sally Kirkland)
- Jack Smurl (Jeffrey DeMunn)
- Mary Smurl (Louise Latham)
- John Smurl (George D. Wallace)
- Ed Warren (Stephen Markle)
- Lorraine Warren (Diane Baker)
This movie scared me to my wits the first time I watched it because I was still a kiddo back then. But hey, it still scares me as an adult because it was based on a true story about a family haunted by poltergeists in their own home.
The Smurl family moved into their new home and started experiencing scary stuff. The Smurls were Ok at first but as time went on poltergeists started haunting them. The first to experience was Janet, since she’s often home. She started seeing ghosts, was hurled by poltergeist and everything else unimaginable. Janet sought help from ghost hunter couple Ed & Lorraine Warren. The haunting took years until they decided to leave their haunted house in lieu of a new one.
This movie is really scary even without the presence of gore because like I said, it was a based on true story and nothing beats the real deal.
If you may be wondering how come I did not include A Nightmare On Elm Street it’s cuz it wasn’t really scary for me. I found it more annoying than scary.
So, there you go. Happy moving watching folks!
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