For those of you who know me well, you will be aware (as I
have previously stated) that music is my biggest day-to-day passion. Whenever I
get the chance to engineer a music-listening situation I take it. I think it
would be a dream come true if I could work in music radio. I have also already
written about ‘a few of’ the books that have nudged me towards being out here.
In my head, there is only one relevant omission in this tripartite of personal
inspirations and that is films. I am DEFINITELY not a film buff and I have not
seen many films that others would call classics or must sees but I know what I like and I generally like what I have
seen. I shan’t pre-amble too much so let’s do this.
I’ll be vaguely chronological and list the films in the
order they came into my life:
The Blues Brothers. Jake, Elwood,
THE BAND and one the greatest supporting casts ever, right up there with Escape
to Victory. I first saw this when I was quite young. Young enough to deeply
cherish the music but more importantly, one of the greatest cars chases of all times
BUT old enough know what swearing was and that it was naughty. It blends
action, humour and music seamlessly. There is a gentle background plot of
trying to raise enough cash to save an orphanage which is fun but it the
constant surprises and semi-surreal lunacy that is ever present throughout the
film right down to the closing scene. I am not sure how it DIRECTLY inspired me
to wander off into the world but I am fairly sure that this film slightly
helped mould me into the person I am today... and it has this quote:
“It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of
cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it.”- Jake and
Elwood Blues
One
of my favourite indulgences in life is listening to and telling stories and I’ll
listen to pretty much anyone. When I saw a trailer for Big Fish I was pretty
excited, so much so that I did not see it in the cinema or when it came out on
DVD but about 3 years later when one of my flat mates own and let it to me. I
like Ewan McGregor and he plays the protagonist - Edward Bloom in the
re-telling of his life stories and the myths he told of himself. The
colourfulness of the patchwork the Tim Burton brings together is truly invigorating.
I think I love this film, and forgive me for sounding narcissistic, because it
reminds me of me a little and how I want to live my life and be remembered.
There is also a line that has always stuck with me. It goes a little something
like this:
“ Now I may not have much, but I have more determination then any
man you're ever likely to meet”- Ed Bloom
Into the Wild is the most
obvious and clearly direct influence on my life as it stands at the moment. The
story is based around a young fella who graduates from high school as valedictorian
(whatever that means) and gives all his college fund to charity and disappears
off on the road on a journey to the hallowed land – Alaska. He gives himself
the road name of Alexander SuperTramp a direct influence on me giving myself
the name WonderBear (capital W, capital B). The stories he tells, the pace at
which he lives his life and the priorities he aligns himself to are very
similar to those that I aspire to PLUS, my first trip away ten years ago was a
convoluted journey to Alaska. It is a must see... and one day, I will get to
Slab City the setting for some of my favourite scenes. As an added bonus, the
Eddie Vedder written score is brilliant enough to stand alone as an album. I
know it sounds a bit clichéd but I hold the following mantra pretty close to my
heart:
“The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences” – Alexander SuperTramp
KickAss – a modern day fable about one man’s desire to make
the world a little bit better with a slight tinge of what some might call
vigilantism. The vivid colours, graphic fight scenes and bold plotline are directly
correlated to its origin as a comic book. KickAss’ message evolved around not just
idly standing by while someone is being wronged. He finds something and gets involved – a phrase I coined for myself while
trying to build up some positive momentum a few years back. I admit that it is
not the deepest film nor the most unique but it can be quite an inspiring film
if you allow yourself to be swept along in it. Let’s face it, ANY film that has
a twelve year old girl as an untouchably hardcore superhero is going to be fun.
“Guys, doesn't it bug
you? Like, thousands of people wanna be Paris Hilton and nobody wants to be
Spiderman” - Dave Lizewski
I would love to hear your thoughts although I am not going to commit to agreeing with them to them but I promise I will at LEAST read them...
Happy viewing,
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