Top Ten Favourite Movies

I go to the cinema a lot. I mean, every week, sometimes twice. In the past seven years, I've seen over 300 movies on the big screen alone, never mind the movies I saw on Sky or on DVD. Narrowing it down to a top ten is a little bit unfair, but it comes down to this: if I'm looking for a movie I want to re-watch, whatever I think of is worthy of a place on the list.

In a similar fashion to my book list, there's a caveat or two: there is no set order to this list, and, if a movie is an adaptation of a book I read before seeing the movie, it won't appear on the list. (So, no The Fault in Our Stars or The Perks of Being a Wallflower, for example.) Onto the list!

Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World

My first time seeing it, I was alone, and I loved every bit of it. I loved it so much that, the next day, I watched it again with my brothers. It was quirky and weird and funny, and it played off so many perfect video game and comic book devices that I couldn't not fall in love with it. (So far, I've only read the first graphic novel, but I loved that too. Double win!)

The Breakfast Club

First year in college, when I should have been studying for exams, a bunch of us sat around a laptop in a lecture room and watched a movie. This movie. This was during a tough period of my life (see A Bad Seven Months), and it helped me come to terms with myself in a way that I needed about five years beforehand. I felt more secure in who I was. More than that, I felt confident in who I was, for maybe the first time in as long as I can remember. I needed the movie, and the experience, and the people I shared it with.

Ferris Bueller's Day off

Did you ever see a movie that made you want to take a step out of your life for a while? For me, Ferris Bueller was that movie. I can't remember the first time I saw it, because I've seen it so many times since. I've watched it with family, with friends, with family of a friend, drunk and sober, and sometimes I've barely been able to hear it, and every time it made me want a friend like Ferris who could make a day off possible.

Stranger Than Fiction

My favourite Will Ferrell movie isn't a comedy. It's funny, in a way, but it's more charming and romantic and weird than it is funny. It forced me to think about what I write a little more closely, and it made me want to try new things in my life. I revisit it every time I'm feeling a little lost in my writing, and while it doesn't always serve as a therapy session, it does succeed, every time, in making me feel better.

Never Let Me Go

When I needed a story that sought out life, I found Never Let Me Go. I found a story of people who just wanted to live their lives together, against all the odds. It was beautiful and heartbreaking, and I fall in love with it every time I watch it.

Across the Universe

What do you get when you take Beatles songs and make a movie out of them? A pretty damn amazing movie, that's what! We watched it in a friend's house, on a laptop, all of us cramped together in a little room, and when it was over, I wanted to watch it again. (So I bought it, and did.) It has all the psychedelic nonsense you need from the Beatles' later albums, it has pro-peace rallies, and drinking, and bromance, and all the sort of stuff you need to make a movie set in the 60s all the more awesome.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Don't even ask me how I heard of it. Somehow, it found its way into my life, perverse and sexual and full of crazy dance numbers, and I never let it go. On the off chance I'm ever out on Halloween night, I request that the Time Warp be played, so I can teach people the dance moves. It takes everyone by surprise. The show even found its way into The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which made the reading and watching all the better, and when Glee did a Rocky Horror episode, complete with soundtrack, it was all I listened to for a long time. (And, you know, sang along to. Every time. In public. Including Touch Me.)

Chef

New to the list, after a salivating viewing experience a few weeks ago, is Chef. It's all about what it says in the title - a chef. Specifically, one who loves to cook real authentic food. And he drives a food truck. And makes amazing sandwiches. And between the outright food porn and the score, I came out of the movie feeling more upbeat and thrilled with life than I ever have.

The Muppets

Yep, the Jason Segel one. When I watched it, I was reminded of an experience that no one should ever truly forget - my childhood. It felt like being a kid again, sitting in the cinema, laughing out loud and not caring whether anyone was judging me. It was upbeat, hilarious, and released a soundtrack that I still listen to to this day. (I even ended up watching old Muppet movies afterwards, and getting two mugs from the Disney Store in Dublin.)

Seven

Ending on a darker note, we have Seven, the crime-thriller with a series of murders, each based on one of the seven deadly sins. It was disturbing when I first watched it, and it stuck with me. Years later, then, when I was writing my undergrad. research paper, I had something I could use as part of my research, as a primary text I could study. It was one of several saving graces that made the paper more enjoyable to write overall.

When I'm Not Writing

When I'm not writing, my time gets divided up with a few different activities, some regular, others less so. Work aside, because that's a whole other kettle of fish, I tend to do as much as I can to fill up my time. Sometimes it's productive. Other times, not so much.

The biggest regular activity is my weekly visit to the cinema. I've gone almost every week for the past seven years, or so, sometimes twice a week, and almost always with the same 2-3 people that I went to secondary school with. Take that as a load off your worries if your academic situation is in any way like mine was when I started college - none of your friends are in the same college as you, and none of them are studying the same subject. We managed to use the cinema to ensure we met up regularly, and as a result we've also seen a huge chunk of the movies that came out over that period of time.

Aside from that, and my various online activities, I try to work in a balance of reading, baking, and watching television. Don't get me wrong on the last one, though - I despise just casually watching reruns of something. I end up doing it, occasionally, for nostalgia more than anything else. Usually, I'm watching a particular series, and it's more likely than not that it's been recorded in advance.

The latest edition to any of my non-writing hobbies is photography. But let's just be clear: as of writing this, I am not a photographer.

I own a nice camera. It takes really good pictures. I enjoy taking them. But I can't exactly call myself a photographer. When I start taking pictures more often, when I start getting around with the camera a bit more, I'll describe myself as an amateur photographer. When I actually start making money from it, then I'll upgrade the description to photographer.

But not a moment sooner.

The most I've done is an excursion to the Botanic Gardens, to take as many pictures as I could in the blistering heat. And, because I'm so new to this, I want to keep doing things like that. I want to try get to the point when I'm taking pictures a lot, so I can call myself a photographer, of some description. But for now, photography is just a hobby, and one I'm not even sure I'm any good at yet.

Something I'd love to do would be to combine my various hobbies - taking pictures to accompany writing pieces, food photography when I get my ass in gear and go beyond a couple of different recipes, writing about film and television and stories generally. That sort of thing.

Is it bad that I want to make a living from hobbies? Maybe. I mean, from a bank's point of view, yeah. But in terms of personal fulfilment, I don't think I could find anything better.

Thoughts on Iron Man 3

The finale of the Iron Man Trilogy demonstrated that just because the second film wasn't up to scratch doesn't mean the third has to follow suit. Iron Man 3 was a wholly different film than the previous films in the series; it wasn't a simple case of Stark's own technology being used against him while he tried to prove himself to Pepper Potts.

Spoilers Follow

We're taken into the anxiety-filled world of a post-New York life, post-Avengers Assemble. Tony isn't capable of standing on his own two feet at the thought of the battle, at the thought of entering into the wormhole and damn-near dying. In the comic books, he doesn't experience such a cruel fate of heroism, at least not so early in the Avengers career. In the comics, he doesn't have to deal with the fact that he almost died so early on in his life. In the comics, instead of dealing with a severe anxiety problem, he suffers from alcoholism.

Stark's demons are at the core of Iron Man 3. We see a lot more of the man behind the mask in this instalment, much more than we've been given a chance to see the previous three films he's had an important role to play in.

As for the Mandarin... my experience with Iron Man as a child showed the Mandarin to be one of his most dangerous enemies. He also used magical rings. That's a bit of a stretch for Marvel with these films. Though Thor and Loki use magic - in a sense - no human has ever used it. So, we see the Mandarin leading the Ten Rings, a terrorists organisation. You might recognise them from the first film. They were the crowd that kidnapped Tony Stark, from whom he escaped using the first Iron Man armour. I always knew Marvel had a plan for these films, and that just proves it.

However, the Mandarin wasn't the only thing from the comic books that made its way on-screen. Extremis, a DNA-altering drug, shows up as a terrorist weapon. We don't have Mallen, the first person to be injected by it in the comic books, but we do have Eric Savin - Coldblood - to take his place. He's a violent one, the lead henchman, and provides more than enough trouble for Stark...and the US government. Extremis was used well within the film, creating a real sense of danger for innocent people, and creating a situation that made victory difficult for the troubled Stark.

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT

My one big question though, is how do they intend on bringing in Tony Stark into Avengers 2? A simple case of heart surgery changes everything. He's no longer attached to an electro-magnetic-ARC-reactor. He's no longer his armour. He's no longer Iron Man. And he blew everything up.

Where the hell do they go from there? Yes, it was the ultimate sign of his redemption, his ultimate transformation from self-obsessed billionaire to Regular Guy in a Relationship billionaire, his way of finally dealing with his anxiety issues, his complications, his troubles. But it separates him from Bruce Banner, the other hero who is his armour, like it or not.

With only rumours as to who will join the cast in Avengers 2, though a confirmation that we'll see the Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver (!), it's hard to tell where they plan on going. Even with the notice after the credits that Tony Stark will return, can we confirm that he'll be an Avenger? Only time will tell, and there's plenty of it before we even complete the four announced films that make up Phase 2 (Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy). Still plenty of time for Marvel to sign new contracts with the actors, right?

The Importance of Pym

Why Ant-Man? That was a question that kept coming up in discussions about Marvel's line-up of films. Of all the people in the Marvel universe to introduce in films in the current plan, why Hank Pym?

Don't know who he is? He's the many-times rebranded superhero who can shrink himself down to the size of an ant, or grow himself to a hundred feet tall. Changes in mass accompany such size changes. He received his powers from messing with particles he later dubbed Pym-particles. He's a scientist. He's a genius. And he's a wife-beater. Let's see them explain that in a kid-friendly way in his big-screen appearance.

So, it's kind of handy having someone who historically has shown to be able to literally squash the enemy. Except, it seems like the only good thing he ever did was set up the Avengers. Yes, him. He was one of the founding members, and one of the ones who really made them work as a team, if I understand his role correctly.

But his significance goes beyond that. Let's look at it like this:

He created Ultron. That nasty piece of work is a self-improving, constantly growing mastermind Artificial Intelligence, as smart as Pym, as blind-sided as Pym, and with none of the conscience you would expect a hero to have. (Except, you know, wife-beater. Poor Janet.) But, aside from the big-bad that he created (and that he's always been necessary to stop), how important has he been?

Think Planet Hulk. Think the prison in Civil War. Think the interdimensional dome that appeared in what I believe was Messiah War. Every time they've needed scientists, he's been there. He's been a douche about it, but he's been there, he's helped, he's been important.

What about Ultron? Well, Ultron made Vision. Vision, another cyborg/android/biological-robot thing, had children. Actual children. With the Scarlett Witch. They died. Twice. The first time, House of M happened. That led to No More Mutants, which led to Avengers Vs. X-Men, which led to what we have with Marvel now. Including Xavier being dead...

But those kids of Vision's came back. Twice. The second time as actual people, and not just weird demon things (as it was explained to me). They were important parts of the Young Avengers, along with (wait for it) Hank Pym's daughter. She also found Pym particles.

So, Pym has been kind of important. One of the big-but-young teams in Marvel have him to thank for their existence. Many mutants lost their powers because of him. He's locked people up, thrown them into space, and created one of the most dangerous beings in the universe. Big deal, right? But what if he never existed?

SPOILER ALERT

They've started to explore this in Age of Ultron. Issue 7 shows a world in which Hank Pym had been killed before he created Ultron. The Secret Invasion went a little differently, but people seem to be okay by-and-large. Unless they've been killed and we just don't know yet. Also, Iron Man seems to be Vision. But still Tony. And he's in charge of the whole planet.

Things got weird, I'll admit.

Was Hank Pym so important that without him the Avengers form in a different way? They're not even the Avengers in issue 7. They're the Defenders. Rubbish, right? That doesn't sound so heroic. And they're not the same heroes, either. Captain America is there, yeah. But missing an eye for some reason. Wolverine is there. The Hulk is there. Janet - the Wasp, Pym's wife - is there. Doctor Strange is there. But then, Cyclops is also there. It's as if the X-Men don't need him anymore, and he can he join the Avengers. He probably hasn't killed Xavier.

I have to say, if I had to choose a world with Pym, or a world without Pym... I'd probably go for the former. But then we have to try reconcile the fact that Ultron has kind of broken the whole planet...

All in all... I can't explain why they're bothering to bring Ant-Man into the movies. All I know its, Hank Pym is important. One of the most important men in Marvel history. He just also happens to be useless to Marvel right now unless they can also get Reed Richards. Which they won't. (Reed is part of the fun Brain Squad of the Avengers - him, Pym, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner like saving the world as a mastermind group of super scientists.)

Marvel fans, what do you think? Is Hank Pym important? Should they be bothering with him in the films? Did I miss out on another really big event in his life that has a massive impact on the way we should look at him?

Can I Be Happy?

I set the target – write a piece on happiness. On discovery. On freedom. And I thought, “I’m going through a good period. I can do this. Easy.” Not so. I have an unfortunate way of slipping into moments of darkness, spiralling down into a pit of insecurities. It drives me mad, and most of the time I’m not happy. Not alone, anyway. I’m rarely happy when I’m alone anymore, not if I think I’ve done something to deserve being alone.

I’ve been called a “little self conscious bastard” by someone. It’s not entirely false, either. I’m self conscious, a lot of the time. Other times I don’t care. People can hate me if they want, once they understand that whatever they hate me for is in their own head. I don’t do things to intentionally get on people’s nerves to that extend. I intentionally aim not to offend people.

So I thought – happiness. I can write about that. This is it, I suppose. This is me writing about happiness. I lack it. It’s not in enough quantity. My insecurities get in the way of that. They drive me absolutely mad. Can’t be happy like that. I know that, you know that, and one of my very best friends knows that. He’s the “someone” from before.

I deserved what he said, of course. I was being a strange little cretin, and I deserved it. And once everything had been sorted out, for the umpteenth time, musical education. “Seriously? Just like that? Musical education?” Yes. Music has a profound effect on me, and this friend, he has a wonderful way of knowing exactly what song to have me listen to. It started with Bob Marley, Don’t Worry Be Happy. He was taking the piss, a bit. But he knew what he was doing.

It moved on from there. He showed me music I’d never heard before, or showed me songs I’d heard before but never knew who performed it. Donovan, Sunshine Superman. Ben Folds, There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You. Ennio Morricone, The Mission Main Theme. Those are just a selection of the songs. Admittedly, there weren’t very many songs during this time, but there will likely be more in the future.

So why did I just tell you the songs I was told to listen to? Music, I’ve told you, has a profound effect on me. It lifts me up inside. I get lost in songs. The lyrics, the story of the song, the beat, the rhythm, the sounds of the instruments. Each and every one of these songs pulls me into them, into the happiness they’re capable of creating.

And in all this? Discovery. I hadn’t heard of a few of the people I was asked to listen to, and most of the songs. Music, I’ve decided, is happiness and discovery. And freedom? I suppose. I mean, I never feel more free than when the world slips away around me. Only darkness. Not the bad, soul eating type of darkness, but the type that’s there because nothing else needs to be. The world just leaves, goes away. The traffic and the mayhem around me as I walk down the road? Gone. Not important. If I was brave enough, I’d completely forget about them and just spin around in circles as I listen to The Doors. They make me want to do it, as my head gets filled with a strange euphoria, as I feel let loose, allowed to wander about inside my own head.

Musical education: my path towards freedom, towards happiness. I know it sounds absolutely bonkers, unless you really, really understand music, but that’s how it’s happened for me. Just last night, literally. And, I suppose, into the early hours of the morning. Earphones in, volume on just loud enough to hear, or I’d be deafened, Facebook chat open.

So I still ask myself, Can I be happy? I mean, all the time, can I be happy? I don’t know for sure. But I have these songs, now. I have the things that made a difference, and I’m listening to them all again and again in whatever order suits me. I’m letting myself fall back into that same mood as I was in last night, after all the worry that I was making a huge mistake, after all the doubt I placed in my head about whether or not a friendship was what I thought it was. I won’t lie – I do worry. A lot. I try not to, but I can’t help it. I worry, and it kills me on the inside.

And then... then the music plays. All sorts of music does the job, but new songs, new to my ears, at least, they do it better than anything else. While I don’t consider Glee to be an education in good music, the very fact that’s it’s new is all I need. Something new, something fresh, something lively, most of the time. It does the job, just like Ben Folds, just like Donovan, just like James Tiberius Kirk – William Shatner – doing his version of Common People.

Can I be happy? That’s the whole point of this, isn’t it? To see if I can be happy? I write, and I can be happy. I listen to music, and let it take me away on a strange new journey, and I can be happy. I go to a movie, and even when I’m feeling upset, like when I lost my job back in February, whenever I worried whether or not Jonny Havron, rest his soul, was safe or not, and for a while, at least, I can be happy. Senseless violence, I think it was. That was all it took. Feel good movies from explosions and banter. But, that’s different. The writing, that’s in solitude. The music, that’s a shared experience sometimes. Especially when it’s music someone’s shared with me, or something I can share with someone else, like Sorcha and my entire back collection of DFTBA’s finest. The movie, that’s with friends. I never go alone, and I mainly go with the same group of three or four people, and every time it’s over, every single time we get out of the movie, we walk to the end of the road while I wait for my dad or brother to come to pick me up, and we just talk and laugh, and make fun of the movie we just saw.

So can I be happy? I think so. I mean, if the past couple of months are anything to go by, I can be an annoying, self conscious, somewhat depressed little git, but I can be happy, too. I can most definitely be happy, when I have my friends there, the words, the music and the movies, the light-hearted entertainment and the escape from the world. And if I can be happy, with all my worries, and fears and doubts, there’s nothing stopping you from being happy, too

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Written as part of Summer of Writing 2010, Challenge 1 - I Can Be Happy. Deadline: June 26th 2010, 18:30 BST.