If you told me a few years ago that I would fall in love with a movie about a man who falls in love with a computer, I would probably pray for you. If you told me that I would shamelessly crave to revisit the life of a semi-functional sex addict, I would throw some major shade. How about silently thanking the film Gods when an aspiring Francophile’s relationship with a married man plays out on BBC? No, merci. And yet, here I am listing off these films: Spike Jonze’s Her, Steve McQueen’s Shame, and Lone Scherfig’s An Education—all films at the top of my ever evolving film canon.
These movies are favorites of mine not simply for their striking cinematography (I’ll take Paris with Scherfig any day) or well-written scripts (take note Movie 43), but also because they’ve challenged me in unexpected ways to confront and accept (or not) life outside my comfort zone. When I’m not feeling character-driven stories, I tend to gravitate towards larger budget films that reinvent previously beloved characters. Jack Nicholson was my ultimate Joker until I saw Heath Ledger’s painted face appear in the frame. Jeremy Brett mastered his role as Sherlock Holmes, but there’s something about Benedict Cumberbatch’s interpretation of this icy detective that leaves me floored after every episode.
Speaking of Sherlock, and by extension TV, my favorite shows vary in length and genre, time period and location. In short, I’ll never say never when it comes to TV. Hopefully one day my screenplays will be lucky enough to be mentioned in some random student’s biography, but until then I’m content reviewing the latest and greatest Film and TV has to offer. As Meryl Streep’s character Miranda Priestly says in The Devil Wears Prada – That’s all.