I have a theory that 12 years old is the greatest age. You are in the homestretch of your childhood and the world is at your doorstep. You haven’t quite entered the dreaded teenager phase where you start caring way too much about what other people think instead of just being yourself. Being 12 is great.
As a part of that theory, I also think that the movies you see when you are 12 will stick with you and potentially even shape your future. Look back for yourself. What movies did you see when you were 12? I was 12 in 1995 and I remember having some of the best times of my life in a movie theater. It was a different time then and I recall getting dropped off at the theater at lunchtime with $20 and getting picked back up at 5 o’clock or so having binged on popcorn and soda and soaked in the flickering light of the cinema for two full films.
I remember sitting in the theater as the lights dimmed for Toy Story, Jumanji, GoldenEye, Hackers, Batman Forever, Mortal Kombat, and A Goofy Movie. I remember sneaking into the theater for Se7en, Bad Boys, and Die Hard with a Vengeance. But my greatest memory in the theater was actually on the opening weekend of 1995’s Clueless.
My Greatest Theater Memory
I think it was my brother that took me to the theater when he was going to see Species or something like that. I got my favorite seat in those days which was literally front and center. I wanted my entire range of vision to be absorbed by the experience of the film. The house was packed and I had a group of what I can only describe as colorfully dressed punk rockers and skaters sitting there on the front row with me. The theater was a Regal Cinemas (as it still is to this day) and if you don’t know, Regal has a great intro video before all movies that make you feel like you are on a roller coaster zooming through popcorn showers and past waterfalls of Coca-Cola.
As the roller coaster came on the screen, I raised my hands to signify that I was ready for the ride with the confidence that only a 12 year old can muster. As I sat waiting for the coaster to pull out of the station, I looked around and it seemed to my 12 year old eyes that everyone was joining with me in this fanciful charade and we collectively swayed and gasped and screamed as if the coaster was 100% real. It was amazing. I shared a “gimme some skin” kind of handshake with the dude sitting next to me and we launched into Amy Heckerling’s wonderful teenage adventure. Even though I was just 12, I feel like that is the day I became a man, my cinematic bar-mitzvah.
Best Movie of 1995
As I press on to determine the best film of each year to fill out my Best Movie Bracket, it’s very hard to separate my nostalgic feelings towards some of these films from my critical thinking. I have such great memories of watching my VHS copies of Powder, Braveheart, and Mortal Kombat, but while they may be a lot of fun, they are definitely not the best of the year. That honor belongs to…
Win: Toy Story
Did you realize that there have been over 250 computer animated films released since Toy Story hit theaters back in 1995? What a way to start. If I look at Pixar’s canon of films, it is hard for me to count this gem out of the running for their greatest. It isn’t because the animation looks super realistic. I’m very glad they decided to go with toys because everything in this film feels plastic. However, the emotions that are conveyed certainly aren’t.
Toy Story presents us with a buddy cop comedy featuring two leads vying for the attention of their boss. It also feels like a real-life situation for a kid who might feel as though they are being upstaged by a little brother or sister. The emotions of jealousy and anger and fear are well displayed on their plasticine faces, and it touches way down into the hearts of the viewers whether they are 8 or 80.
Place: Se7en
David Fincher has made 9 feature films, ten if you count Alien 3 (Which I don’t). His experience with that film was so bad that he went back to directing music videos for 3 years and wasn’t sure if he would ever direct a movie again. When he did decide to come back, he created what is probably the most gritty and disturbing crime drama that you will ever see. Everyone asks what’s in the box, but there is so much going on outside of it.
Morgan Freeman is awesome as usual, this is the film that rocketed Brad Pitt into the stratosphere, and Kevin Spacey is a natural at playing the creepy sociopath. In fact, he gets to do it twice in the same year. The second was a better performance (if only because of screen time) but the movie itself fell just short of this one.
Show: The Usual Suspects
The director (Bryan Singer) and the lead actor (Kevin Spacey) may have shown their true colors as filthy scumbags, but that can’t keep me from loving the heck out of this movie. It has one of those twist endings that rivals The Sixth Sense, Soylent Green, and Fight Club, but this film has somehow flown under the radar to the point that you can actually find people who have not sullied their opinion of the film with spoilers. I’m certainly not going to spoil anything here, but Spacey is great as mild mannered Verbal Kint who serves as our narrator as we explore the crime ring led by the iconic Keyser Soze.
What is your most memorable or transformative movie moment? What 1995 film is your favorite? What movies did 12 year-old you watch and love? Let me know in the comments!
Gittes suspects that Hollis was murdered and launches his own investigation. This eventually leads Jake to Hollis’s former business partner, Noah Cross (John Huston). Noah also happens to be the father of Evelyn and he offers double Gittes’ fee if Gittes will track down Hollis’s younger girlfriend. As his investigation continues, Gittes discovers that Hollis’ murder was connected to both the continued growth of Los Angeles as a city and a truly unspeakable act that occurred several years in the past. Nobody, it turns out, is what he or she originally appears to be. I really can’t say anything more without spoiling the film for those who haven’t seen it before. 
This was another category that suffered from the use of vague language. What is a classic movie? What criteria would you use to define a classic? I think what determines a classic film is the same thing that determines a classic piece of literature: the test of time. No film or literature of substandard quality will survive that test. The key to passing this test of time is a work’s universal appeal. This asks for my favorite, not the most classic, so I am pleased to share my favorite classic movie, North By Northwest.
The 1950s were a great decade for Alfred Hitchcock. He had so many hits with Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, and The Man Who Knew Too Much. He also had a TV show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But in 1958, Vertigo was released and failed to impress critics or audiences. Hitchcock was undoubtedly disappointed by this and couldn’t know that Vertigo would eventually be considered one of his masterpieces. But he vowed that his next project would be a more tested and tried effort that would be more of a crowd-pleaser. The film was a box-office hit, second only to Ben-Hur for the year, and got positive reviews from critics.
It starred Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill a New York advertising executive who is mistakenly identified as a secret government agent, this put a target on his back. Then he’s framed for murder, this puts him on the run from the police as well as the bad guys. While on the run, he meets Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who apparently believes his story and wants to help. I’m not going to give you any more about the plot because I want everyone to see it. It has so many iconic scenes and it is still powerful today. It influenced a whole genre of action-suspense-espionage movies. Only three years after its release, the first James Bond film, Dr. No, appeared. Of course, James Bond is a spy, whereas Roger Thornhill was only mistaken for one. But both films have implausible action sequences in outrageous locations like Mount Rushmore. They both have beautiful but mysterious women who take an interest in the hero. And both have a well-dressed leading man who is suave, has a knack for one-liners, a fondness for liquor. You can probably think of dozens of movies since 1959 that have operated on those same principles.
With North by Northwest, Hitchcock tweaked the basic man-on-the-run story with witty dialogue, charismatic performances, and visually arresting action sequences. He demonstrated that these elements of basic popular entertainment, which are sadly looked down upon by some who call themselves critics, could be applied to big-budget studio films. He showed that a movie could be entertaining, thrilling, and funny, smart and well-produced. It didn’t have to choose to be either high-brow or low-brow. North By Northwest is an extremely entertaining thrill ride. There is not a lot of substance or meaning to it, it is just a tremendously fun roller coaster ride that Hitchcock takes us on. When I first saw it as a kid, I was hooked. And it set a precedent for hundreds of blockbusters that followed in its wake.