writercises | EXERCISE: the top ten movies? Or nine, at least?

Original posting 30 April 2009

I missed at least one of these, but this was a recent special on Japanese TV, counting down the top 100 movies? They had little clips from each of the movies, and some commentary about what it was about these movies that made them special. Kind of interesting.

Since I only managed to list the top nine, why don't you pick a number from 1 to 9? Have you got your number? Okay, here's what you picked.

9. Miracle on 34th St. -- Magic in everyday life
8. Breaking Away -- the underdog
7. Grapes of Wrath
6. ET -- child grows up and letting go
5. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington -- the little guy who wins
4. Rocky -- keep on fighting
3. Schindler's List -- man's inhumanity to man
2. To Kill a Mockingbird -- stand up for the right
1. It's a Wonderful Life -- what one life means

Feel free to disagree with those short little blurbs about each of the movies. Think about what your movie, the one you picked, means to you. Then think about trying to put that theme, that insight into human life, that conflict and resolution, into a story of your own. Simple, right?

Incidentally, I suspect this was from one of the AFI specials -- don't ask me which one. Plenty of lists over here http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/movies.aspx in case you want to try another list.

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