This post was submitted by Rocky

It just occurred to me that this survey probably should have had a Halloween theme. Huh.

Anyway, welcome to this week’s Friday Staff Survey. Last week, we had a lot of fun with game I call “Top Three.” Basically, I asked the staff to give me their top three favorite books with a one sentence explanation for each one. And since everyone seemed to enjoy it, I thought why not try it again? So this week we’re moving away from the library and into the cinema. Pray tell TNG staff, what are your top three favorite movies and why? Check out what we all had to say below. And if you’ve got a great movie suggestion and you want to play as well, feel free to do so in the comments. Do it to it!

Zack, Editor-in-Chief:

1) Stop Making Sense: Not just a testament to Talking Heads at their creative peak, my search for the hidden meaning and narrative (it’s there) in this sublime concert film actually helped get me through a transitive, scary time in my life.

2) Four Rooms: Maybe I’m just a creature of habit, but I loved this movie when I was in my early teens and don’t want to face the fact that I’d probably be disillusioned if I watched it as an adult.

3. North Fork: The religious and fantasy-tinged story of a Western town preparing to be flooded and for the building of a dam manages to work in angels, sick kids and guns, but keeps the rarest of qualities for heartrending movies: an overall, pervasive, blessed sense of calm.

Michael, Co-founder and primary contributor:

Broken Hearts Club – A self-aware gay comedy that is at times sweet, hilarious, and completely true to life: “I got caught, flying solo, to an article on Antonio Sabato Jr.”

Soapdish - Camp humor at its best, including surprise endings, queer themes and an all-star cast: “She has a severe case of brake fluid… bran fluid… bran flavor… Yes, Brain Fever!”

History of the World Part I – One of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen: “Please step on the same foot at the same time. My tits are falling off!!!”

Rocky, Managing Editor:

Almost Famous – Basically, Cameron Crowe took every childhood fantasy I ever had about picking up a guitar and hitting the road and turned them into a movie with an awesome soundtrack, and Billy Crudup looking so fine and being such a fucking rockstar that… well, there are no words.

Harold and Maude - A beautiful, hilarious, and really weird “fuck you” to conventional wisdom and society, which I’m all about, and anyone who’s seen me in flesh knows I take a lot of my style cues from Harold.

West Side Story – It’s the one movie that makes me openly weep every single fucking time; I’m a closet romantic I guess.

Jolly, Events Editor:

Mean Girls – When I say I often have entire conversations consisting of nothing but Mean Girls quotes, I say it truthfully and completely without irony or shame.

The Fall – It was panned by critics, but beautiful shots from around the world, a child actor actually acting like a child and the fact that Lee Pace makes me tingly in my down-there-no-no place makes it a winner for me.

Boondock Saints – Not generally the kind of film I would gravitate towards initially, but I have some unexpectedly tender memories and feelings attached to it.

Andrew, Marketing Director:

As a film major this one is a no-brainer:

American Beauty – A perfect piece of cinema from the balance and composition of every scene to the cutting edge script and biting social commentary on the suburban American family. This movie made me want to be a film major.

The Royal Tenenbaums – Another near perfect film; every scene is chalked full of that Wes Anderson sense of detail and attention. A truly amazing dark comedy.

Bringing Up Baby – Hepburn in one of her best roles, it takes a true woman to put Cary Grant in his place; this film is outrageous and zany and it’s script is a contender for best ever in my mind.

Hans, Photo Editor:

A Tale of Two Sisters – It’s Halloween weekend, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t put at least one good horror flick on this list.

Thank You for Smoking – If you’ve seen this and didn’t like it, you are dead to me.

Pan’s Labyrinth – When I saw it in the theater, nobody in the room moved or spoke for 5 minutes after the credits started rolling, and just about everyone, from little old ladies to college jocks drug there by their girlfriends, was crying (including me).

Amelie, Staff Contributor:

Imagine Me & You — A movie about British lesbians who look like they just fell out of the Anthropologie catalogue= amazing.

Pride & Prejudice (A&E version) — The majority of the script is lifted directly from the novel, thus the film is five hours long, but the obsessive accuracy is worth it.

Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony — This documentary reminds me why I’m a feminist by showing me how hard women struggle to get basic rights, but also by reminding me how much more there is to fight for.

Jack, Staff Contributor:

John Greyson’s Zero Patience (1993; Canada): because all three of my favorites are heavily reliant on the affective storytelling of music in film and this particular piece also takes a particularly academic bent in the way it frames sex positivity, the HIV-AIDS crisis, and the politics of memory.

Ramón Salazar’s 20 Centímetros (2005; Spain): because it constitutes my ‘happy place’ and leaves you with an emotional satisfied smile at the end of the last musical number after having explored with some depth themes like sex work, queer poverty, and transgender chasers.

Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express (1994; Hong Kong): because the ecstasy of this film defies description so I won’t even try, except to give a particular nod to the centrality of The Mamas & The Papas + Faye Wong’s Cantonese Cranberries cover, which gets laid over a scene of the most adorable stalking one might ever imagine.

Levi, Staff Contributor:

The Conformist: Everything about this film just blew me away so completely (especially the cinematography) and I instantly became a Bertolucci fan.

Naked: You kind of feel sick while watching it, both from the actual acts done in the movie and the ethics of the characters, but you understand the philosophies behind them and that’s quite alarming.

Annie Hall: Woody Allen is responsible for a good portion of my sexual and romantic neuroses, either that or they were already there and he helped me to recognize them early in life so I can expect how fucked up my love life will be.

Kareem, Staff Contributor:

Un été à La Goulette (A Summer in La Goulette) – This film is ridiculously hilarious and a great guide to anyone on religious tolerance: it follows the exploits of three teenage girls, all best friends and all of three different religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) trying to hook up with three boys of opposite religions (scandalous!) before the end of the summer.

Star Wars – I was completely and absolutely a Star Wars kid.

Salt of this Sea – I wasn’t going to include two Middle East films, but whatev: two Palestinians (one brought up in America (Suheir Hammad), the other in the West Bank) meet by chance, rob a bank, sneak into Israel and take off for the coast: it is uplifting and heartbreaking and amazing.

Ben K., Staff Contributor:

1) The Godfather (1972), Francis Ford Coppola- This is the movie that
first made me love the movies, and remains my first love.

2) All About My Mother (1999), Pedro Almodovar- I love Almodovar for
his capacity to create in his films an entirely different world that
is his own, and in this film he combines great art with great
entertainment to tell a touching and well-crafted story.

3) Notorious (1946), Alfred Hitchcock- Every shot in a Hitchcock
movie is carefully planned, and he’s at his best in this espionage
thriller with Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains in a
love-triangle with international consequences.

Adam, Chicago Editor:

Drop Dead Fred – A movie from my childhood that is timeless and hilarious to me that taught me to be myself and not let anyone else control me.

Donnie Darko – I love this movie because everyone has different opinions about it and sees something different from it yet to me it is so hauntingly beautiful and tragic at the same time.

The Nightmare Before Christmas – My love of stop-animation, musicals and Danny Elfman all started with this movie as well as the tradition of watching it every Christmas Eve since it was released over 10 years ago.

Josh, Houston Editor:

1. Forrest Gump – This movie takes me on a journey and I never get tired of watching it.

2. Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? – Nonstop drinking and Elizabeth Taylor – there is no better combination.

3. Blade Runner – “The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long.”

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