My Favorite Films, by Rich Paschall
We all have to grow up and learn the lessons of life. Some are fun. Some are work. Some are terrifying. Many films show these various aspects of growing up. The movies may be a Risky Business or capture 400 Blows. They can introduce you to Harold and Maude or perhaps to Willie Wonka. You may find a birthday of Sixteen Candles while you are Pretty in Pink. You may find a Rebel Without A Cause or a Lion King. You could be on an island or just at A Summer Place.
As a boy, a teenager, and even as a young man I would identify with the younger heroes of the story, whether they were the lead character or not. When I saw Swiss Family Robinson, I was more interested in the young son’s adventure (James MacArthur) than the parents who were trying to protect themselves while stranded on an island. I was quite young at the time but remember it well. If you saw Disney films in that era, you knew there was a young hero for kids to identify with, who might also own a dog or horse. I loved those movies.
As I got older I saw more mature themes. Some are poignant. Some are jubilant. Some are sad. Since there are so many great films in this category, I could not cut it to a top 10. My “shortlist” had a lot of entries. When I subsequently looked at some published lists, it reminded me of others. There may be better ones that I have not seen, but these are my favorites from my local theater or living room screen.
Since you may be spending a lot of time at home this year, you may wish to add some of these to your playlist:
20. Mysterious Skin. A young Joseph Gordon Leavitt is a teenage hustler. This is not your “feel good” movie.
19. St. Elmo’s Fire. The 1985 Brat Pack classic is about recent college grads.
18. Donnie Darko. The 2001 cult hit stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an odd teenager.
17. Good Will Hunting. Matt Damon is the young math wiz and Robin Williams is the therapist who tries to reach him. Ben Affleck also stars.
16. The Breakfast Club. If you served high school detention on Saturday morning, you get it. A John Hughes classic film.
15. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Ferris cuts class and comes to Chicago with a couple of friends. Matthew Broadrick is Ferris.
14. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. A young man (Johnny Depp) and his mentally challenged younger brother (Leonardo DiCaprio).
13. October Sky. Based on the true story of a boy (Homer Hickam) who dreams of being a rocket scientist. Jake Gyllenhaal stars.
12. Big. Tom Hanks stars as the boy in a man’s body. The best movie ever to try this film trick.
11. The Karate Kid. It does not matter which one you see (Ralph Macchio or Jaden Smith). Skip the sequels.
10. The Last Picture Show. A black and white film about life in a dead-end southern town. The 1971 film stars Timothy Bottoms and Jeff Bridges, with Cybill Shepherd and Cloris Leachman.
09. American Grafitti. It’s the end of summer vacation 1962 and you are cruisin’ in your convertible and listening to Rock and Roll on the car radio. You might be getting into a little bit of mischief as well. The low-budget 1973 film was box office gold.
08. Dead Poets Society. High School seniors form a poetry society and learn to “seize the day” (carpe diem) from English teacher Robin Williams. The setting for the 1989 film was an elite academy in 1959. The film won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
07. Billy Elliot. An 11-year-old boy in a poor northern England town ends up in ballet class one day while going to his weekly boxing class. The coal miner’s son is in for a rough time but sticks with the dance class against his father’s wishes. The film’s success led to the eventual Broadway play.
06. Dirty Dancing. “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.” Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey get up close and personal on the dance floor in this 1987 film. It’s forbidden love and hot dancing. What’s not to like?
05. Old Yeller. A boy, his dog, and another Disney tear-jerker. This one may be for kids, but many will cry at the end. Is this a good lesson for kids? Next, I suppose you will tell me Bambi’s mother is dead.
04. Summer Storm (Sommersturm). This 2004 German-language film follows the friendship of two boys on the rowing team as one learns his feelings for the other. It was a winner at the Munich Film Festival among others.
03. The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho). The 2014 Portuguese Brazilian film shows the difficulty of seeking independence for a blind boy who does not know the way he looks or if he will be attractive to others. His life becomes more complicated when he starts to have feelings for another student. Based on the amazing viral success of a short film, the feature was made soon enough thereafter to star the original three teenagers. We discussed this film’s development in the article, In Another Language.
02. A Separate Peace. Like many of the above, I guess you might call this a “loss of innocence” story. Based on the 1959 best-selling novel of the same name, the 1972 movie is set in World War II England at an all-boys boarding school. The author is quick to point out there are no homoerotic implications. “It would have changed everything, it wouldn’t have been the same story.” It’s a love-hate relationship between friends. I have not seen the 2004 Showtime film.
01. Harry Potter 1-8. It really is the greatest coming-of-age movie of all because it is actually 8 movies. How fortunate that we were able to have the same young actors throughout the ten-year film-making odyssey. It took all these stories for young Harry to become the man he needed to be to defeat the evil that confronted him throughout. Daniel Radcliffe will forever be everyone’s vision of the boy wizard who grew up before our eyes.
Click on any movie title above to see the trailer.
See also: In Another Language, SERENDIPITY, July 2, 2017.
Categories: film, Movies, Rich Paschall
“A Little Romance” is another keeper along with “Summer of ’42” which should be a rite of passage consideration.
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Yes, I loved Summer of ’42. I saw it in the theater. It should have made my list.
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Some great titles! I loved “A Summer Place.” I had a vintage copy of the book and left it at the beach by accident, years ago. I read online that many thought the movie to be much better than the book.
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I did not read the book so I don’t know. I saw the movie so long ago it is a distant memory.
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I was very young when I first saw it and focused on the story of the young couple. As an older person, I could see the main story was of the parents.
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Becky, “A Summer Place” is one of my guilty pleasures. Oft watched.
“Susan Slade” is probably a chart topper because of my “thing” for Connie Stevens. I replay the short scene where she sings “Lullaby” to her baby multiple times with every viewing. 57 years after I first saw this film, I still have a crush on Connie Stevens! (Film includes scene where they play “A Summer Place” theme. Director Delmer Daves who helmed both films was stealing from himself).
“A Loss of Innocence” (aka “The Greengage Summer”). I also had a gynormous crush on Susannah York. This film hooked me.
“Stand By Me”. The story and the music still get me.
Rich, you have a formidable list. Thanks!
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I haven’t seen Susan Slade or A Loss of Innocence, I don’t think. I’ll have to look for those!
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Becky, they aren’t masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination. They are personal favorites because of the stars, the sappy story lines and the happy endings. No connection with real life – then or now. But that is why I love them. We have plenty of reality in front of us everyday, If you recall any of my celebrity stories, you should know I never met any actresses on whom I had crushes. Probably very lucky for me. The one exception – Katherine Hepburn. She was so “real”, natural and nice to me that I didn’t have time to make a fool of myself.
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I sure hope you’re still working on your book, Garry, compiling your celebrity meetings, near misses, and other great tales!
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Thanks, and you have some good additions for the list.
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RICH, I Just thought of “American Graffitti”. A nice rite of passage flick.
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I really loved that one. I saw it in the theater which is always a better experience, methinks.
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Becky, I read “Parrish” before Delmer Daves and WB bought the rights. Delmer Daves was front and center with those late 50’s and 60’s tearjerkers for the young and young at heart. Daves wrote, produced and directed flicks like “A Summer Place”, “Susan Slade” and “Parrish”, etc ad nauseum.
They were big favorites at the Drive Ins of my yoot.
Yes, I found my thrill at one of those Drive In movie nights.
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Drive-Ins could make a comeback and we can social distance from the other patrons
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Rich, we have TWO relatively local Drive-In’s. They are currently closed due to COVID-19.
COVID-19 ….could be one of those 50’s sci-flicks with Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning and Hans Conreid as “Dr. Demento”.
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I just read the closest one to us also opened a new location near Sears Arena to the north. Between Soldier Field where the Bears play and McCormack Place exhibition hall is a giant parking lot on the lake front. Since neither facility needs the lot, they are running movies Wednesday thru Sunday. So the drive-in is making a comeback.
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Oh, really?!
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We have two functioning — and EXTREMELY popular — drive ins nearby. The only problem is that they are SO popular, you have to line up hours in advance to get it … at least 2 hours in advance. They show a double header AND cartoons and have a very retro menu. It’s GREAT because you can get a whole van in for about $20! But those retro treats will cost you big.
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I used to love going to the drive-in as a kid…all except the mosquitoes!
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Becky, LOTS of Bug Spray – but it used to also repel the girls.
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LOL
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We still have one drive in located in a near west suburb. The rest are gone. Forty miles north is a drive in that has been there since 1940. I’ll bet these places are glad they hung on.
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Film lists are tough to make, and I think this is a good one. Just sad to see that my favorite one is missing –Louis Malle’s ‘Au revoir les enfants’. I saw it in Santiago, as an adult man, just days away from the referendum that would mark the downfall of the Pinochet regime (on my first visit to Chile after the coup), so the voiceover at the end made it particularly evocative and poignat. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. The Criterion Collection dvd of it should still be available.
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I’ll look for it. There are many good ones that could have made the list. I thought of a few more that might qualify.
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Yes, please DO look it up, you won’t regret it.
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I found a trailer on You Tube.
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And I just found the full movie on YouTube as well, but I’m not sure if you’ll be able to view it in the US:
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Movie Lists are great initial ventures. Then, you sit down and start the list…..you realize it’s a mission impossible..everyone, including yourself, is disagreeing with your choices. Rich, you have true grit.
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I stand by my list, but maybe it should have been 25 instead of 20. I can think of a few more goods ones that I have seen.
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great choices, I’ve seen many, but not all of these. I always have thought of ‘the graduate’ as my favorite coming of age story, but he was older having just graduated from college and being thrust into the adult world
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Yes, I think that is a good choice for the list. It reminds me that Summer of ’42 would be a good also.
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Rich, I just tossed “Summer of 42” in. I saw it when it opened. Yes, I was immediately smitten with the lovely Jennifer O’Neill. Loved scene where the guys go to drug store to purchase Trojans. Ah, memories are made of this.
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I saw this one at a theater. We were awkward kids watching an awkward moment.
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So very, very, very awkward.
Ohhh, Jennifer!
Rich — who were you? Oskie or Hermie?
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I’d have to watch it again to say, and then I might have to take the fifth.
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Great list Richard.., I have a few of them on DVD/Blue Ray. You may have just prodded me to watch a couple. Thanks
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If you have them anyway, you might as well watch again.
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Bro, do you have “Susan Slade”? Connie Stevens! Oh, My! There’s a scene in which the director, Delmer Daves, sneaks in “A Summer Place” as incidental music. Daves also directed “A Summer Place”.
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