Films of My Childhood
In celebration of my 21st year of being alive, I present the movies that sowed the seeds of my romance with cinema and illuminated my younger years. Ordered by past and present importance to me.
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- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppWinona RyderDianne WiestThe solitary life of an artificial man - who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands - is upended when he is taken in by a suburban family.Still one of my top 5 favorites. Burton taught me here what a mystery love could be, and what creative film design could produce.
- DirectorPete DocterDavid SilvermanLee UnkrichStarsBilly CrystalJohn GoodmanMary GibbsIn order to power the city, monsters have to scare children so that they scream. However, the children are toxic to the monsters, and after a child gets through, two monsters realize things may not be what they think.
- DirectorPenny MarshallStarsTom HanksElizabeth PerkinsRobert LoggiaAfter wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult.
- DirectorBobby FarrellyPeter FarrellyStarsCameron DiazMatt DillonBen StillerA man gets a chance to meet up with his dream girl from high school, even though his date with her back then was a complete disaster.For a long time, this would be my near-automatic answer to what my favorite film was.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsJames CaanKathy BatesRichard FarnsworthAfter a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.
- DirectorPeter LordNick ParkStarsMel GibsonJulia SawalhaPhil DanielsWhen a cockerel apparently flies into a chicken farm, the chickens see him as an opportunity to escape their evil owners.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsRobin WilliamsDiane LaneBrian KerwinBecause of an unusual disorder that has aged him four times faster than a typical human being, a boy looks like a 40-year-old man as he starts fifth grade at public school after being homeschooled.Still one of the most personal and important to me.
- DirectorStephen SommersStarsBrendan FraserRachel WeiszJohn HannahAt an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Hamunaptra, an American serving in the French Foreign Legion accidentally awakens a mummy who begins to wreak havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long-lost love.What I saw the most times back then, and very likely up to today.
- DirectorHenry SelickStarsPaul TerryJoanna LumleyPete PostlethwaiteAn orphan who lives with his two cruel aunts befriends anthropomorphic bugs who live inside a giant peach, and they embark on a journey to New York City.
- DirectorJon FavreauStarsWill FerrellJames CaanBob NewhartRaised as an oversized elf, Buddy travels from the North Pole to New York City to meet his biological father, Walter Hobbs, who doesn't know he exists and is in desperate need of some Christmas spirit.Nothing but joyful memories with this one.
- DirectorBill KroyerStarsSamantha MathisChristian SlaterRobin WilliamsThe magical inhabitants of a rainforest fight to save their home, which is threatened by logging and a polluting force of destruction called Hexxus.
- DirectorPeter SegalStarsAdam SandlerDrew BarrymoreRob SchneiderHenry Roth is a man afraid of commitment until he meets the beautiful Lucy. They hit it off and Henry think he's finally found the girl of his dreams until discovering she has short-term memory loss and forgets him the next day.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKate CapshawKe Huy QuanIn 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.The seminal pop culture introduction.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsKevin BaconElisabeth ShueJosh BrolinA brilliant scientist's discovery renders him invisible, but transforms him into an omnipotent, dangerous megalomaniac.Most imaginative thing I can recall seeing back then. Also frightening and a little traumatizing as well.
- DirectorWilliam MaloneStarsGeoffrey RushFamke JanssenTaye DiggsAn amusement park mogul offers a group of diverse people $1,000,000 to spend the night in a haunted house with a horrifying past.The first horror movie that I was ever excited to watch and not distressingly terrified by, though I am still decisively scared by the thought of it.
- DirectorRon UnderwoodStarsBill PaxtonCharlize TheronRade SerbedzijaA legendary fifteen-foot tall mountain gorilla named Joe is taken to an animal sanctuary in California by zoologist Gregg O'Hara (Bill Paxton) and Jill Young (Charlize Theron), with whom he grew up. Poacher Strasser (Rade Serbedzija) returns from the past to seek vengeance on Joe.
- DirectorTony BancroftBarry CookStarsMing-Na WenEddie MurphyBD WongTo save her father from death in the army, a young maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China's greatest heroines in the process.
- DirectorGary WinickStarsJennifer GarnerMark RuffaloJudy GreerUnpopular schoolgirl Jenna Rink makes an unusual wish on her birthday. Miraculously, her wish comes true and the 13-year-old Jenna wakes up the next day as a 30-year-old woman.It is still one of the go-to guilty pleasure movies of my life. My '80s-philia draws some of its beginnings from here.
- DirectorHarry WinerStarsJamie Lee CurtisKevin PollakKyle HowardDesperate to keep their various parents from getting divorced, a group of teenagers kidnaps them and holds them prisoner in a basement to force them to reconcile.
- DirectorRob MinkoffStarsMichael J. FoxGeena DavisHugh LaurieThe Little family adopt a charming young mouse named Stuart, but the family cat wants rid of him.
- DirectorAlex SichelStarsAlison FollandTara SubkoffCole HauserClaude and Ellen are best friends who live in a not-so-nice area of New York. They're involved in the subculture of '90s youth, complete with drugs, live music, and homophobia. All is changed one night when a violent, meaningless death rocks their lives.The circumstantial introduction to urban movies for me.
- DirectorAnthony WallerStarsTom Everett ScottJulie DelpyVince VielufAn American man unwittingly gets involved with French werewolves who have developed a serum allowing them to transform at will.Certainly not the best of movies, but it enabled me to actually enjoy a horror flick, which was unprecedented at the time, and was a very early first sighting of Julie Delpy for me.
- DirectorKeenen Ivory WayansStarsAnna FarisJon AbrahamsMarlon WayansA year after disposing of the body of a man they accidentally killed, a group of dumb teenagers are stalked by a bumbling serial killer.
- DirectorRobert RodriguezStarsCayden BoydGeorge LopezKristin DavisA young boy is recruited by his imaginary friends Sharkboy and Lavagirl to help save their planet.Loved this movie growing up, was transfixed by Taylor Dooley. Not so much anymore. Also the first 3-D movie I'd ever seen, for what it's worth. Not so bad, coming from Rodriguez.
- 1997–20231h 30mTV-G6.3 (4.5K)TV EpisodeDirectorAlex ZammStarsDabney ColemanWill FriedleElisabeth HarnoisA teenager unwittingly falls for the American President's daughter, and the pair soon find themselves off on a wild adventure.A very strange primer on courtship for my young boyhood mind. Subsequent revisits have revealed a mild but innate wit.