The 12 Movies Meme, or If I Held a Film Festival

I came across a meme the other day over at Bamboo Killers that sounded like fun. Originally started at Lazy Eye Theatre, the idea is to post your dream film festival à la Diablo Cody's turn at New Beverly Cinema.

Day One: LOVE 'EM OR HATE 'EM NIGHT
Moulin Rouge!
Elizabethtown

To kick off my festival, I'm starting with two films that seem to split the crowd between passionate love and passionate hate. My feelings about these two films fall into the "love" category, which is appropriate since this is my imaginary film festival.

Day Two: TIM BURTON, JOHNNY DEPP & SHARP OBJECTS NIGHT
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Edward Scissorhands

The most recent Burton-Depp collaboration followed by the first one seemed an appropriate way to pay homage to the pairing that has nearly become a genre in and of itself.

Day Three: SIBLINGS NIGHT
The War
Summer Stock

For Siblings Night, I polled my sisters for their picks. What came out of that was two films featuring siblings from my siblings that are generally underappreciated. I'm taking my middle sister's word for that on the first pick, which I haven't seen since it came out. The second one is a Judy Garland-Gene Kelly musical that is really quite charming. It's my youngest sister's favorite movie, and I actually prefer it over the better-known Singin' in the Rain.

Day Four: FAIRYTALE NIGHT
Stardust
Ever After

I originally had The Princess Bride slotted in Ever After's spot for Fairytale Night, but I think fewer people have seen Ever After. I think both of my choices are underappreciated, but, more importantly, they're both a lot of fun. Ever After had quite an influence on one of my first screenplays, and Stardust is going to have a major influence on what I'm writing for NaNoWriMo this year as well.

Day Five: INDIE BUT GOODIE NIGHT
Once
Playing by Heart

While it's grown in popularity, too many people still have not seen Once. As for my second pick, I think the only people who have ever heard of this movie are people I've told about it. I found it during the height of my X-Files mania when I was exploring the filmographies of Gillian Anderson (who stars) and David Duchovny. The cast is really phenomenal: Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands, Ryan Phillippe, Dennis Quaid, Madeleine Stowe, Jay Mohr, Ellen Burstyn, Jon Stewart, and a very young Angelina Jolie, among others.

Day Six: THE CLASSICS NIGHT
Casablanca
The Wizard of Oz

And we end with two undeniable classics. I don't think either one of these needs much explanation. It just felt right to end with two paragons of cinema, and these are the two that jumped to mind. They also made this list of the Top 50 Movie Endings, which seemed fitting for the last night of my imaginary film festival.

So, there you have it. This little exercise has made me wish I had my own little theatre so I could actually run festivals like this. Alas, the start-up cash for such a venture eludes me for the time being. Maybe some day. For now, maybe I'll just have to run my own one-man, one-viewer film festival in my own home.