Some of my personal favorite movies of all time!
I'm going to be totally honest (and I'm sure it's pretty obvious to those who only know me on a tangential basis), it takes a LOT to coerce me out of the house that's not related to food , work, or working out. I am the ultimate homebody, typically needing to either be dragged out of the house by my alcoholic and/or workaholic friends. Naturally, this makes the prospect of going to movie theaters with their comically overpriced food and tiny seats tenuous, especially in the age of streaming services when movies are going from the big screen to viewable at home faster than ever. This is even more of an obvious choice in the middle of a WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC when all the theaters are closed anyway! Even in the face of all these hurdles, a certain handful of movies have proven interesting enough to warrant a trip, and this entry in Ogre Chronicle will detail a handful of em! With all this ample free time I've re-watched just about all of these at least once and they still remain as memorable as the first viewing and I'm hoping you'll think the same!
THE DARK KNIGHT
I've always made it pretty clear where I stand on the Marvel vs DC debate. Whether it be in the realm of comics or movies I just believe Marvel has the superior cast of heroes both in terms of individual characters, coherent world building, and giving their heroes actually meaningful weaknesses so that there is actual tension within their conflicts without forcing them to act like idiots in order to do so (Yes I hate Superman how could you tell?). The Marvel Cinematic Universe especially puts DC's rushed hackjob to shame. There is one thing I'll give DC though over Marvel and that is Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy , and the almost inarguable crown jewel of that trilogy being its second entry, The Dark Knight. You're probably gonna notice a theme in all these movies where they all have fantastic, compelling villains, and I don't think Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker needs any introduction in that regard.
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Out of all of Leonardo DiCaprio's performances, this alongside his portrayal as Candy in Django Unchained are easily my favorites. This movie is just so memetic and quotable I find myself referencing it almost daily (I'M NOT ****ING LEAVIN). For all the drug fueled, ultra lavish hijinx that happens in the movie what really sells it to me is that the real Jordan Belfort himself claiming that the movie didn't go far enough in displaying what his life was like at his Wall Street peak, which really leaves you in a state of outright disbelief.
REMEMBER THE TITANS
Growing up in Texas, a place where football is essentially religion, I cannot tell you how many times I've seen this movie in its entirety growing up. Our middle school social studies teacher who was one of the football coaches would always play it whenever he needed to buy time to figure out the lesson player. Even as a grown up I really can appreciate the very relevant themes in transcending racial barriers to reach a common goal. It also is one of the few football movies where the in-game scenes aren't completely cringeworthy (Varsity Blues is especially guilty of this shit and I despise it to this day because of it).
PACIFIC RIM
I ****ing love giant robots (I swear I mention this in every post at this point). Power Rangers' Megazords, Gundams, Transformers, you name it. If any medium has them at the very least I will have a passing interest in it to check it out. Guillermo Del Toro's own interpretation of the genre was a soulful combination of both the eastern, Japanese roots of the Mecha genre while instilling more rugged, western design tenets that make it a unique creation all its own, even with it's somewhat cliche core plot. Besides, any form of media that includes Idris Elba is in a must watch in my book anyways
WRECK-IT-RALPH
And now we dive into the Disney-heavy portion of this list. I legit felt like a kid in a candy store watching this movie, seeing all these cameos of iconic video games characters I grew up with in tandem with a colorful, lovable core cast. My biggest worry going into seeing this movie would it would be a big nostalgia wankfest with very little substance but I've never been more happy to be proven wrong in my life.
THE LION KING (The original animated version not the soulless remake)
Not even the literal lifetime of jokes directed towards me because of this movie (and Coming to America for that matter as well) can dissuade me from liking this all time classic. I still remember not even being able to process the fact that Mufasa had died because of my undeveloped concept of death at the time and wondering why he didn't show up anywher else in the film. There's not a single bad musical number in this film and again, such a compelling shitheel of a villain in Scar makes it all the more engrossing. Even if the plot is just a G-rated version of MacBeth with an African Savannah coating.
The Avengers: Infinity War
If you think about it, the build up to this movie (and by proxy Avengers: Endgame) is something that may never be replicated again in cinematic history. Over 20 entire individual movies all for the purpose of building to an ultimate climax with literal universal stakes. Even as someone who was knowledgeable about the comics and had a general idea of what to expect regarding the outcomes of the Infinity Saga if they even remotely adhered to the source material, it still completely blew me away seeing it realized on the big screen. What makes it even better is that, in my opinion, they managed to make an adaptation of a character that surpasses the original. Thanos is a notorious villain in the Marvel Universe, but in the original comics he definitely comes off as a black and white mustache twirler. The MCU however, manages to give him an astounding level of depth, to the point if you're not careful you might actually find yourself rooting for him despite how completely asinine killing off half the universe is if you think about it for even a split second.
To keep the least from getting excessively lengthy we'll call it a day there. With COVID still in tow production of new movies is at a virtual standstill, so now is as great a time as ever to catch up on any old releases you may have wanted to see but just couldn't make the effort to go see. In my own personal case, that would be Alita: Battle Angel which I am literally about to start watching as I finish typing this up. Hope y'all have a blessed day and stay safe out there!
