Five Favorites:

As promised, here is another installment of five of my favorites! As tempted as I am to share more amazing albums, I am going to stray ever-so-slightly and go with movies this time.

Requiem For A Dream.
-Darren Arnofsky is a genius... and Jared Leto ain't too shabby to look at either. I've seen this movie more than any other movie. I'm not typically a "movie person", so this carries a lot more meaning than when most people say it I feel.


Closer.
-This movie is perfection. I relate so much with Natalie Portman's character in this film... this was where I really started to be in awe of her raw talent. Panic! at the Disco borrows one of her lines and splits it into two song titles off their first album: "Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off" and "But it's better if you do". Fall Out Boy even borrows a line Julia Roberts says for the chorus of one of their songs: "He tastes like you, only sweeter." I love it.

Fantasia.
If you loved this movie as much as I did as a child, go out and buy it to watch it again. Every now and then I babysit for my co-worker's adorable little girl and I brought this movie with me one day... I think I enjoyed it just as much as she did. As a child, I never realized the racist and sexual nature of a few of the segments. If you're familiar with this, do you remember the king who is drunk off of his rocker off of wine? Yeah, well his servants are half zebra and their human portions are black. Wow, could you allude to slavery a little more obviously? Also, the scene before that with all of the half human, half horses seems an awful lot like a brothel... the girls get all dress up and walk seductively past the men, who then choose which one strikes their fancy. Bunny Ranch, anyone? It's still good entertainment though.

Saw II.
I really like the first three of these movies, but the second one was my favorite. It's so gruesome and messed-up, but I can't keep my eyes off the screen. I know it's been done before, but I'm a sucker for the benevolent-killer motif... even though Jigsaw's benevolence can definitely be disputed.

Fight Club.
This is just a classic. The best plot-twist I have ever seen paired with the hotness that is Brad Pitt at his prime results in one of my all-time favorite movies. (I'm all about short-spikey-haired Brad.) Edward Norton is just a phenomenal actor and definitely one of my favs.