SK’s Top 3 Movies: Isa de Jong
Welcome to the next instalment of Studentenkrant’s Top 3 Movies. Each week, one of SK’s writers dives into their top three favourite movies of all time. Spanning different decades, runtimes, and genres, this series will confront readers with a diverse list of top tier cinema and explain to them what they are, why we love them, and why you should give them a watch!
This week’s writer: Isa
Introduction
I’m a simple person when it comes to watching movies. Whenever I hear someone say things like ‘They don’t make real movies anymore’ or ‘This is what we call filmmaking??’, best believe I’m making a run for it.
Yes, The Godfather was a great movie, I’m not here to tell you it wasn’t. But if you ask me if I’d rather watch The Silence of the Lambs or Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle on a Saturday night, I’m picking the latter. Movies that make me question my life are my favourite genre, but if I need to relax I just can’t bring myself to pay active attention.
I suppose that’s why my top picks also consist of movies some may deem to be basic or commercial. In my opinion, that’s where the beauty of cinema lies. Different movies can give you different things. Whether that’s laughs, comfort, tears, or an existential crisis. All are welcome.
Now, picking just three favourite movies is impossible, so here’s my list of honourable mentions:
– The Whale (Aronofsky, 2022)
– Everything Everywhere All at Once (Scheinert & Kwan, 2022)
– Grease (Kleiser, 1978)
– Legally Blonde (Luketic, 2001)
– The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Jackson, 2014)
– The Martian (Scott, 2015)
– Get Out (Peele, 2017)
– Parasite (Joon-ho, 2019)
– Despicable Me (Coffin & Renaud, 2010) -Yes, really-
– Bridesmaids (Feig, 2011)
– Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985)
Interstellar (Nolan, 2014)
I have a couple of favourite things in life: movies about space, soundtracks composed by Hans Zimmer, and movies directed by Christopher Nolan. Now throw all of these things together and you’re left with, you guessed it, Interstellar. I don’t use the term ‘cinematic masterpiece’ very often, but if I did, this film would undoubtedly be one.
Ex-pilot-turned-farmer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) discovers an anomaly in his daughter’s bedroom, providing him with the coordinates to a secret NASA base. Conclusion: the earth is becoming more uninhabitable as time passes.
Along with his NASA-assigned team, Cooper goes on a mission to find a new planet to live on. The catch? They have to travel through a newly discovered wormhole, completely unaware of what lies behind it.
There is nothing as abstract as the concept of time, which happens to be the main theme here. Although slightly mind-boggling at times, Interstellar is an incredibly well-made movie.
Because the soundtrack is truly spectacular as well, I highly recommend you watch it either with headphones or with your TV’s volume on full. Besides being aesthetically pleasing, the movie has a good overarching theme as well: Can we make hard choices with tough consequences if it benefits the greater good?
About Time (Curtis, 2013)
I like rom-coms, you like rom-coms, everyone likes rom-coms. Thankfully, About Time is no exception to this rule. It’s sappy, feel-good, and an absolute tearjerker: the perfect combo in my opinion.
Our protagonist Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) learns from his father (played by the incredible Bill Nighy) that all the men in their family have the ability to travel back in time whenever they please.
Whilst trying to navigate life with this newfound ability, we quickly discover that time-travelling isn’t always the quick fix he had hoped for. After all, the butterfly effect is very much a real thing and grave consequences are imminent.
Both hilarious and heart-wrenching, About Time will take you through a whirlwind of emotions. It highlights the importance of family, as well as showcases the range of emotion that comes with grieving. Whether that’s the loss of our loved ones, or the fact that we can’t change the past. It’s raw and it’s beautiful.
The Devil Wears Prada (Frankel, 2006)
There are a multitude of reasons why I love this particular film so much, one of them being the absolutely incredible cast. Is this movie life-changing, with an important lesson hidden behind its facade? No. But it’s my go-to comfort movie when I want to watch something fun and entertaining, without having to feel like I should be taking notes in order to understand what I’m seeing *ahem* Hereditary *ahem*.
Andrea “Andy” Sachs (Anne Hathaway) just graduated and intends to become a successful journalist. Looking for an internship, she ends up at *Runway* as a personal assistant to editor-in-chief Miranda Priestley (Meryl Streep). Andy is painfully unfashionable, leading the viewer to wonder how she’s going to find her place in this hip, fast-paced, fashion-centric world.
Full of cliches (‘girl with glasses removes said glasses and is suddenly hot’), this movie truly feels like a warm hug to me. Although I love movies with a plot that require you to pay close attention to details (like Interstellar), sometimes you just want to turn your brain off and watch something nice.
Seeing that montage of Anne Hathaway strutting down the streets of NYC in those designer outfits to Madonna’s Vogue just does the thing for me…
Final Thoughts
Although I’ve picked three of my favourite movies, Interstellar is truly one of a kind. It easily blows the other two out of the water. I’m aware that soundtracks are always made to accompany a movie perfectly, but the way Hans Zimmer does it is on another level. Go watch it if you haven’t. Seriously.