If there’s one things this blog is about, it’s the joy that comes from the movies. Thus when I read a post where someone devoted reason after reason to why they loved the movies, I felt a sudden urge to jump aboard this particular bandwagon.

John over at The Droid You’re Looking For has twice put together a list of 100 things he loves about the movies, and I thought I could get behind that sort of passion. So hopefully he’s alright with me borrowing his idea (Thanks John!), and I give you 100 things I love about watching movies, going to the movies, and all things cinephile related (numbers 11 – 100 are after the jump)…

1. Spouting off random lines from FARGO at work

2. Sitting down close to the screen for a larger-than-life film

3. The use of doves in any John Woo film

4. The constant innuendo that dots a 007 script

5. Any movie where John Malkovich goes “Full Malkovich”

6. The Universal Pictures logo, animation and theme music

7. Films shot in black & white

8. The moment the boulder begins to roll in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

9. Every Cameron Crowe soundtrack

10. “I’m your huckleberry”


11. 2-D animation that shows the art form ain’t dead

12. The way Keanu Reeves chews gum in SPEED

13. Great scenes in bad films

14. Any memorable John Williams score (Which is most of them)

15. “Mother’s…not quite herself today”

16. Watching a film for the sixteenth time and noticing something I didn’t the first fifteen.

17. Concert films.

18. Martin Scorsese

19. The “Falling Slowly” scene in ONCE

20. The way the crew in the OCEAN’S films seem to genuinely love hanging out together.

21. Watching a good comedy in a full theatre

22. The swimming pool scene in LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

23. Films that creep out the audience with what is left unseen

24. The sound of the lightning sending the DeLorean back to the future.

25. The gunfights in Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico trilogy

26. Digging a film that few others do.

27. “The greatest trick The Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”

28. Meeting new people at film festivals.

29. Susan Sarandon

30. Watching NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN when I’m home sick.

31. The TIFF Bell Lightbox

32. The conversations and arguments that happen in bars and restaurants after a movie on a Friday night.

33. “On the run from Johnny Law ain’t no trip to Cleveland”

34. Christopher Walken

35. Any film that reminds us to believe in heroes

36. Seeing a foreign film and wanting to visit the country it is set in

37. The theme music to THE GREAT ESCAPE

38. Falling asleep listening to my favorite films on my iPod

39. Seeing classics on a big screen

40. The five notes used to communicate in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

41. Shots that feature a silouette

42. The films that catch you off-guard and make you cry

43. The editing in any Danny Boyle film

44. Watching films outdoors on a perfect summer night

45. “They all adore him: They say he’s a righteous dude”

46. HIGH FIDELITY, FIGHT CLUB; Two favorite films based on two favorite books.

47. Hearing “Extreme Ways” kick in at the end of every Bourne film

48. The rare moments in film that make an audience burst into applause

49. Scenes that focus on a character doing something intricate

50. Crash Davis listing off what he believes in.

51. Films from Spain

52. Cheesy 90’s action flicks.

53. Movies about the making of movies

54. Movies so good you want to get right back into line when you leave the theatre.

55. 70mm

56. Wall-E doing his little HELLO DOLLY routine

57. Violent gangster films

58. Seeing a classic film for the first time and having it become a new favorite

59. “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you’re not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat coming around the corner”

60. Charlie Kauffman

61. A really great musical cue

62. Pixar

63. Watching SUPERMAN and believing a man can fly.

64. Weekday matinees where only a few other people are in the theatre with me.

65. The cinematography in any Ang Lee film

66. Depressing films that make real life seem better by comparison.

67. Sing-a-Long screenings of musicals

68. Dorothy Gale opening her front door and walking out into colour.

69. Films about food that make you hungry

70. “Never get outta the boat!!”

71. Clever scenes where a character declares their love for another character

72. DVD’s with great commentary tracks

73. The unappreciated films of DAVID FINCHER (PANIC ROOM, ZODIAC, BENJAMIN BUTTON)

74. A really clever title sequence

75. “Not on Rex Manning Day!”

76. Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle performing “Puttin’ On the Ritz”

77. Audrey Hepburn

78. Being the only one laughing at a joke in a full theatre

79. The colour palette in Baz Luhrman films

80. “Even bad men love their mamas”

81. Films about artists

82. Steven Spielberg

83. Hearing an audience gasp at a shocking moment

84. Introducing someone to CITIZEN KANE for the first time.

85. A really great heist

86. Starting a lazy Sunday with a dvd and a cup of tea.

87. Carey Mulligan

88. Skipping from one theatre to another and making a double-feature of the night

89. Films with an unexpected twist that plays

90. The Criterion Collection

91. Mining genres that are out of my comfort zone.

92. Hearing “That Thing You Do” for the ninth time in the film.

93. Marlon Brando

94. Any film that delivers above expectations

95. Bio-pics

96. Playing ‘Spot the Neighbourhood’ during films shot in Toronto

97. “…and if you ever get lonely, you just go down to the record store and visit all your friends”

98. Robert Downey jr.

99. Watching TOP GUN and feeling fourteen again.

100. Spreading the word of films I love to people like you.