Ten Movies I Could Watch Over and Over (and one extra)

Everyone has a top ten list of favorites, whether it's songs, foods, books, lines from that show you watch over and over. And of course, we all have our top ten movies that we just love. Some of them make us look completely vapid, some of them make us seem much more thoughtful and introspective, while others make people look at us and go, "...really?" In the spirit of fun and honestly just needing to update this blog and get myself back into the swing of things, I bring you my top ten list of movies I can watch over and over, and one honorable mention that I think absolutely everyone should watch at least once.

• The Last Unicorn - This movie was one of four that I watched constantly as a kid, the others being The Secret of N.I.M.H, The Dark Crystal, and A Flight Dragons. Is it a wonder that my main genre for writing is Fantasy? All four of these movies served as a foundation to what would be a long love of all things magical and fantastical. As much as I loved them all, none of them stuck with me the way The Last Unicorn did. Maybe it had something to do with the music that, even as a kid, stirred emotions within me that I didn't fully understand. As an adult, I love the story of this female who is frightened and unsure, but willing to do whatever it takes to save her kindred. Of course nothing goes as planned and the friends she makes along the way, something she's never had before, add humanity to a creature who has lived such an emotionless life. The story is just beautiful and will always remain my ultimate favorite movie. Meeting Peter S. Beagle, the author of the book from which the movie was inspired, and being able to give him a copy of my first book was an amazing moment for me.

• The Hobbit - Return of the King - Yeah, I'm lumping them all together into one. What are you gonna do about it? I love all of them and they're part of the same universe and...and...I don't have to explain myself to you! I can just watch these movies over and over and just be happy. They're comfort movies because they have a lot of good memories attached to them. I used to be able to pretty much quote LotR line for line but I have been slacking in my rewatching of this series over the past few years.

• Phoebe in Wonderland - If you've heard of this movie, I'd be shocked. If you've watched this movie, I'd be even more blown away. Back in 2008, a young Elle Fanning starred in this beautiful movie about a little girl dealing with some pretty significant mental illnesses. This was done back before we took mental illness in children as seriously as we do now, and the story is both enlightening and heartbreaking. You see this sweet child going through her every day, not always feeling like something is wrong even when others do, but when things are bad for her, they're really bad. And then there are her parents who are trying to understand what's going on with their daughter and how to help her. Elle's character actually inspired one of my own who has yet to make an appearance in the AoV series, but she's been waiting to be introduced ever since I saw this movie years ago.

• Frozen - Ooooh, I hear so many of you silently judging me. And one of you vocally judging me. How dare. You leave me and my animated/CG movies alone. It's not the first on the list and it won't be the last. I love Frozen, okay? I love it because right off the bat, I saw so much of myself in Elsa. Like many others, I likened her locking herself away, her "conceal, don't feel, don't let them know," mentality to how I dealt with my anxiety and depression. Her anguish was something I felt in a very real way, as well as her isolation. On the surface it looked rather self-imposed, but she grew up being told she couldn't show who she really was by her parents. Of course she chose isolation over risking exposure. And then there's Anna, who I am also very much like. The eternal optimist when it comes to people I love, willing to risk anything and everything to help them when they are in need, and just wanting to know what true love feels like. And also saying things before my brain has a chance to stop my mouth from moving. Y'all, let me love this movie, okay?!

• The Proposal - Okay, I just laugh thinking of this movie. I hate RomComs, but this movie... This is one of the rare few movies that I can watch and laugh like it's the first time I've seen it every single time I watch it. I mean, with the combination of Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, you can't go wrong to begin with, but throw in Betty White, the gorgeous Alaskan scenery, and a little puffball of a dog named Kevin that causes way more trouble than should be possible, and it's just so freaking funny.

• Spirited Away - A top ten list would not be complete without at least one Studio Ghibli move on it, amirite? It was realllllllly hard to choose, especially with Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle in the running, but I have to go back to Spirited Away for nostalgia sake. I've seen this movie so many times and I still love it just as much when I watch it now. Chihiro is just the sweetest reluctant protagonist, and I love her relationship with Haku. My favorite character is actually No Face. Which I know he shouldn't be, but he is. I don't really know why I love this movie as much as I do because there's no great life lesson in it or anything, and there's a terrifying giant baby thing. It's a ridiculously weird movie overall, as many of Ghibli's movies are, but I just love this one so much.

• Mean Girls - Yep. I'll own it. This is one of my favorite movies and I would want to be stranded on a desert island with a copy of it. And a way to watch it. Easily the most quotable movie on my list, I have seen Mean Girls so many times by now, it's ridiculous. I don't know many people who haven't seen this movie and most love it as well. In case you're wondering, I am wearing pink today.

• I Am Legend - This was an instant love movie for me. I'm a huge fan of Will Smith to begin with. I'm not one of those "he can do no wrong" fans because there are a few movies of his I've just been like O_o. But I loved this one. He didn't have his usual quirky comments or physical comedy bits to play off of. This was real drama and isolation, and moments of sheer sadness and even a little madness. I thought it was brilliantly acted and had the perfect amount of thrill and fear thrown in.

• The Village - M. Night tends to be a polarizing person and people either love or hate his movies. While I don't love all of his movies, I'm actually a fan of most of his work and am so stinking excited to see Glass! Ahem. Anyway. This movie...this movie. My brother made me watch this movie and I was terrified the first time I saw it. Then I was mad at the ending and thought it was the stupidest thing ever and vowed to never watch it again. And then I watched it again to see all the clues to the ending and kind of enojyed it more for the intricacy of the storytelling and the writing. And somewhere along the way, I just fell in love. Also, Bryce Dallas Howard, ladies and gentlemen. She gave me one of my favorite lines ever from this movie. And I love her.

• The Fast and the Furious - Okay, you can judge me for this one. I give you permission. I will watch this movie over and over and over until my dying day. I love Vin Diesel. Is he the best actor? No. Not by a long shot. But I love him. And I love movies with fast cars and lots of action and explosions. What can I say? Destruction makes me happy when there are hot guys involved. Does that make me shallow? Okay. I can accept that.

• Cyberbully - AKA the one movie on the list I could not watch forever but I am so glad I did watch it and think everyone should see it at least once. This movie will gut you. There is no way around it. But if you have kids in or near the age of middle or high school, if you work with kids these ages, interact with them in any way, you need to watch this movie. Emily Osment, Haley Joel Osment's little sister, plays the role of a girl who is bullied and attacked online to the point where she sees no other way out of her torment but to take her life. I can't tell you how many buckets I sobbed, but this movie is so important. It's on Netflix right now. I'm so serious. Go watch it.

So were any of these a surprise to you? Do you agree with any of my choices? What are your top ten? I'd love to hear what they would be!

Ten Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Me

1. When I was a freshman in college, I won a karaoke contest by singing "...Baby One More Time," by Britney Spears. I grew up convincing myself that I wasn't a good singer unless I sounded exactly like the person whose song I was singing, a talent which later helped me greatly when I started dabbling in voice acting, so I had a four octave range that allowed me to reach the super low notes Britney was known for and the high ones singers like Mariah Carey likes to belt. I started singing, making my voice sound just like Britney, and my RA jumped up from his front row seat and screamed, "THAT'S MY RESIDENT!" After I won, he and a bunch of others from my dorm made me sing a few more of her songs down in the commons for fun. One of my favorite college memories.
2. Drinking too much plain water gives me acid reflux. Crazy, right? Same thing happens to my mother, too.
3. I have read "Watership Down" by Richard Adams more times than I can even count. There was a time when I was reading it once every summer but I've been so busy reading books for other people these past few years, it's fallen to the wayside. I was forced to read it in eight grade and I hated it. Some years later, for whatever reason, I picked it up again and decided to give it another chance. This time, I loved it. So much so, in fact, that it became a yearly tradition to read it. Each time through, I picked up new nuances and themes. A sweet friend of mine and fellow writer once compared my writing style to that of Mr. Adams, and it was truly one of the best compliments I could have ever been given.
4. Nerd alert! I prefer Marvel over DC any day, but my favorite caped crusader is Batman. Even as a child, I was more drawn to Bats' story than any other superhero out there, and I can't quite put my finger on the reason why, even to this day. Yes, it's tragic, but others have had just as heartbreaking beginnings as he has, some even worse. Many have had lives that were wrought with tragedy and chaos, reasons to love them and cheer them on, but Batman has always been my guy, followed closely by Wolverine. I have a thing for tortured souls, apparently. coughLokicough
5. My biggest fear is drowning. Like, it's to the point where I have a hard time watching the end of Titanic without hyperventilating, and I sure as heck can't watch movies like Poseidon. I go into a full blown panic attack. It's ridiculous.
6. Don't ask me who got me into this habit, but one of my favorite indulgences is a big glass of ice cold milk (which I can't drink anymore. Getting older is so much fun.) and molasses. So. Much. Yum. Don't judge me. You know you have weird food things, too.
7. When I was a kid, and we're talking like five or six, I was often told that I used words that were too big for me even though I was using them correctly. It made me very self-conscious about the way I spoke and to whom I was speaking. There were times growing up that I would "dumb down" my sentences so I didn't sound like a pompous know-it-all. Sounds arrogant, but it's true. Along the same vein, my third grade teacher told me that my stories were "too wordy." When I saw her again a couple of years ago and told her I was now an author, she simply grinned and said, "I believe it."
8. Apparently I'm related to Mandy Moore. You know, the woman who makes you cry every week on This Is Us? Yeah, she's like my third cousin twice removed or something. I don't even know. It's distant, but we're related.
9. I can't get through Frozen without crying. Even after five years, if I am watching this movie alone, I will cry like a baby. I relate to Elsa on such an emotional level. As a person who has struggled with anxiety and depression for the majority of my life, her whole, "Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know," motto hit me hard. Her whole freaking life hit me hard. Take away the ice powers and the isolation she deals with growing up and as an adult...it just kills me every single time. I feel it to my bones, guys. I need to see the Broadway show. Like, if there is one thing on my bucket list that I can check off before the ticking time bag behind my heart goes off, THAT has to be it!
10. Call me weird, but I don't really have a favorite color. I love anything jewel-toned - those rich, deep colors, teal especially, but no real favorite. What can I say? I have rich taste.

What about you? What is one thing most people don't know about you?