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My cousin, Kessel Junkie, published a blog post in which he stated that one of his favorite icebreaker questions with people is, “What are your five favorite movies?” He claims that a person’s answer reveals a lot about them. I’m 52 years old. I don’t think I could possibly limit myself to five. So, keeping in mind how I watch movies, here we go.

The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman

I’ve written briefly about this one. I first saw it in high school as part of an English class assignment. We spent a couple of days breaking it apart. It’s a multi-layered film that makes you think if you’re ready and willing to do so. I was quite proud of myself for being the only one in the class (including the teacher) who noticed something in the film: The knight’s strategy in his game of chess against Death was a combination of the knight and bishop. If you consider the film’s theme and the knight’s intellectual struggle, it was not only appropriate that he’d use those pieces, but also appropriate that Death would trick him and defeat the strategy.

The Godfather, Part II

I don’t need to justify this to you or anyone else. This was simply a masterpiece, and most agree (both humans and film professionals). The only thing it lacked was comedy. Fredo was a joke, but not in that sense.

Caddyshack

I’m a sucker for comedies, and this one somehow stuck with me for years. It hasn’t aged well (no surprise considering how sensitive we’ve become), so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to anyone. The movie is stupid fun mixed with a large dose of childhood nostalgia. My childhood was rarely happy, so I tend to latch on to the few good memories with a death grip.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I’ve already explained why this is my favorite MCU film, but why is it in the top five? I’m also a sucker for action movies, and in particular, the superhero genre, so that gives it a boost. Nevertheless, this is, as usual, a bit strange. I can count on my digits how many comic books I’ve read in my lifetime (so no more than 21). I’ve never been a fan of them, but the movies have grabbed me, so my favorite among them makes it into the top 5. Honestly, the top ten probably includes two more of them, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Shazam!, but I’d need the help of a psychologist to properly explain to you why they’re in that list.

Number 5?

So, what’s number five on the list? I can’t say. If I choose a fifth movie, it automatically rules out so many that I’d instinctively say are “top five” movies. There are just too many, and I don’t want to definitively slam the door on any of them (including the GotG2 and Shazam!). I don’t even want to provide an “honorable mentions” list for fear of leaving some very good movies off that one. Thus, the list above is arbitrarily chosen from a much larger list, rendering this post largely meaningless. Don’t you wish you knew that before you read it? 😊 If you think you can do better, go for it. See if you can limit yourself to just five.

This would get even tougher if I tried to provide my top five songs or music bands. Don’t get me started. Dammit. I’m going to do these next, aren’t I? Bands, here

So, for all you psychologists in the crowd, what do these selections (and refusal to select) tell you about me other than that I’m a coward?

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