as if taking a cue from my buddy mike, i’m going to post about movies that matter to me. not my top 50 movies, but movies that i think if someone sees and enjoys, they may have a better understanding of who i am. if you hate one of the movies i list, that’s okay, you can still be my friend.

garden state – i loved how real this movie felt. it just dealt with what i thought were a lot of issues facing people in their twenties, reaching adulthood and trying to figure out your identity. where is life headed, what can you do about it? what does it all mean? it was very very good, top movie of 2004 easily.

swingers – i first saw this movie after a recommendation from a friend. its definitely more of a guy movie, and it gives guys such empowerment when it comes to girls. sure, maybe taking everything in the movie literally may not be the smartest thing to do, but a lot of it can be taken and applied. it definitely is probably my favorite movie of all time since i can watch it over and over and not get bored.

almost famous – i loved the music aspect of this movie. it treated rock music as something more than just something to listen to. i liked the relationships in the movie, and how william really grew up in the two hour movie. it was great, and to think it was a bit of a bio for cameron crowe, it kind of made me envious. incidentally, “its all happening” is from ‘almost famous’, but you probably already knew that.

signs – i liked this movie because its more about mel gibson’s faith than about aliens. when i graduated and spent over a year looking for a job, i really grew apart from God. it got so bad i remember being on the phone with my mom saying i wanted to deny God, i just had had enough. but i couldn’t. i couldn’t because i knew in my heart it was all true. eventually i found my way back, and looking back i see that God was watching me go through that trial to strengthen my faith. i guess when i graduated i was in that christian bubble, thinking everything would be okay if i believed. but it was when i was broken that i realized how lightly i was taking everything. anyway, i like how faith was dealt with in ‘signs’.

how to lose a guy in 10 days – i know i know, “how can you put a chick movie in there?” i remember matthew mcConaughey on leno when the movie was coming out, and he said something like “its a chick movie for guys.” i totally agree with him. i’m not the only guy who likes this movie, my friend andy i’m pretty sure considers it his all time favorite. maybe i identify with it because i’ve dumped girls who were clingy or needy (if a girl ever made me miss the end of a basketball game because she wanted a coke, whoa) and the only way i’d stay with someone like that would be the encouragement of friends and money. ;) it came on tv the other day and andie finally broke down when they went to his parents house. “when your mom hugged me, it was a real hug.” realness is never overrated.

i may write again about my favorite sports movies or maybe other movies that didn’t quite make the list, but i think these five will do for now. and being a lord of the rings fan, those movies are in their own category. i don’t think i could consider them with other movies. but that’s a whole blog entry for another time.