My Beloved Movies: A Horse Named Friday

Kindergarten Cop

I think I say “It’s not a tumor” at least once every week or so.

Lawrence of Arabia

This movie is absolutely beautiful. Movies try to be more epic and they always fail.



Lean on Me

Another movie I’ve seen a hundred times. For the longest time, I thought it was called “Free Mr. Clark.” It was years before I saw the horrifically violent opening sequence. This is my Morgan Freeman, decades before he was God.

The LEGO Movie

A piece of corporate art, made by true fans of the product. I’m into Legos now maybe even more than I was as a kid, and this movie gave me all the feels. Even down to making it ultimately a father-son story, this really spoke to me. If you’re going to do a feature length commercial, you better hit me this deep.

The Lion King

This Disney animated feature blows all others out of the water. Is there a more gut-wrenching moment in a kids movie than Mufasa’s death? That opening music number just gets you so pumped for the movie to come. In camp that year, someone had the soundtrack on cassette and we played it over and over. By the end, you’re just wrecked and so happy you stayed along for the ride.

Little Big League

My heart has a special place for kids baseball movies. I have no idea why I love this one more than the rest, but this is the one. It’s not just a kid magically in the big leagues like Rookie of the Year or Angels in the Outfield. This is a kid whose encyclopedic knowledge of baseball lets him keep his own with the pros. He didn’t just skate into the baseball team he inherited. He earned it. He reacts to everything like a kid would. And I use “don’t you think there’s a problem when you get that excited over a seeing-eye single” on a regular basis.

Little Miss Sunshine

Right up there with father-son stories for me are stories of unusual people finding their kindred spirits. It’s why I really got into Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac,” despite it being really hard to watch. This is a family, who already have each other, and they spend the entire movie learning to appreciate what they have. When they danced together at the end, I cried.

Love Me if You Dare

A lot of European movies tried to re-create the magic of Amelie, and only this one survived. I think it’s because of the then unknown Marion Cotillard. It’s two fucked up friends who wrap each other in a sadistic game and discover they love each other. It’s crazy as hell and sweeter than you can possibly imagine.

Magnolia

I re-watched this recent for the first time in over a decade, and it absolutely holds up. Every intense moment is just so well crafted. I love every character. I think I have trouble watching other P.T. Anderson movies because they’re not as good as this one. The cast is incredible, and going back to watch it, you find even more recognizable actors in small roles. Let’s be real, Tom Cruise is a Star, but he has never been a great actor. He’s great in this. And the surreal height of this masterpiece isn’t frogs raining from the sky, it’s every character singing Aimee Mann’s “Wise Up.” Pure beauty.

The Matrix

My friends dragged me to this movie. I had no idea what it was. I loved it so much I sat through the abysmal sequels. It just goes to show that nothing can replicate filmmakers with vision. It’s such a singular piece of movie making. It doesn’t matter that the script is a bunch of mangled pseudo-philosophy. It’s not about transcendent writing. It’s about a mix of practical production and computer graphics to tell a story about the melding of man and machine. Brilliant action.