1. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Close your eyes and tilt your head up towards the sun. Remember the family bonds as blessing and burden, the little butterflies in the glade and the tree as a shrine, the windy grass and the warm nights in the dreammade garden, all so gentle and fleeting.
2. The Parent Trap (1998)
I saw this with my mom in theatres when I was 6 years old, during summer vacation. Marveling at the double Lindsay Lohans, I whispered to my mom during the movie, “how did they film that?” She whispered back an explanation. I still didn’t understand, but I nodded anyway because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. One day, a few years later, I noticed that my mom held my hand less tightly than before while we walked to school, and I asked her why. “Because you’re older now,” she said, “and I know you won’t run away.”
Bonus Track: There She Goes — The La’s
3. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Forget serums and creams and yoga and greens. The best-kept secret to immortality is to become a mystery.
4. Old Joy (2006)
Fewer things make me sadder than laughing at an inside joke gone stale, letting my phone keep ringing, forgetting just how many shades of green there are in a single forest, tree, leaf.
Bonus Track: Leaving Home — Yo La Tengo
5. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
What if we kissed at the intersection of who I want to be and who I want to be with? The type who impresses parents, partners, pets. Who can hold their drink but still let go. Who remembers what to buy at the grocery store without a list (salami, 2% milk, havarti, salted butter). Who knows when their eyes should linger or wander. Who can pick up any instrument, language, girl. Who sweats and looks covered in jewels.
6. Body Heat (1981)
Best enjoyed naked, melting in tandem with your cherry slushie.
7. Point Break (1991)
What’s the most you’ve ever risked to show someone you’re cool? Baby Keanu and Crazy Swayze are skydiving out of airplanes with no parachutes, but all that comes to mind for me is buying a burgundy shirt from American Eagle in grade 7 just like the cool girls, even though I really didn’t want to. The fabric was so unbreathable, I was scared of raising my hand in class and everybody seeing my pit stains.
8. Magic Mike XXL (2015)
The house lights turned on in the theatre, and our faces were all flushed. “I can't believe that was real,” said a dazed but happy middle-aged woman next to me. “It wasn’t,” said her friend. The first piece of framed art I ever owned was a gargantuan poster of this movie, signed by Channing Tatum. It hangs in the dining room, where things are devoured.
Bonus Track: Gooey — Glass Animals
9. A Bigger Splash (2015)
I love pools — craters, amphitheatres. We orbit one another, for others, warm and wet.
10. Midsommar (2019)
The sun never sets, but my skin never scorches. I finally get to wail without warning in broad daylight. Wish you weren’t here.
1. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Close your eyes and tilt your head up towards the sun. Remember the family bonds as blessing and burden, the little butterflies in the glade and the tree as a shrine, the windy grass and the warm nights in the dreammade garden, all so gentle and fleeting.
2. The Parent Trap (1998)
I saw this with my mom in theatres when I was 6 years old, during summer vacation. Marveling at the double Lindsay Lohans, I whispered to my mom during the movie, “how did they film that?” She whispered back an explanation. I still didn’t understand, but I nodded anyway because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. One day, a few years later, I noticed that my mom held my hand less tightly than before while we walked to school, and I asked her why. “Because you’re older now,” she said, “and I know you won’t run away.”
Bonus Track: There She Goes — The La’s
3. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Forget serums and creams and yoga and greens. The best-kept secret to immortality is to become a mystery.
4. Old Joy (2006)
Fewer things make me sadder than laughing at an inside joke gone stale, letting my phone keep ringing, forgetting just how many shades of green there are in a single forest, tree, leaf.
Bonus Track: Leaving Home — Yo La Tengo
5. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
What if we kissed at the intersection of who I want to be and who I want to be with? The type who impresses parents, partners, pets. Who can hold their drink but still let go. Who remembers what to buy at the grocery store without a list (salami, 2% milk, havarti, salted butter). Who knows when their eyes should linger or wander. Who can pick up any instrument, language, girl. Who sweats and looks covered in jewels.
6. Body Heat (1981)
Best enjoyed naked, melting in tandem with your cherry slushie.
7. Point Break (1991)
What’s the most you’ve ever risked to show someone you’re cool? Baby Keanu and Crazy Swayze are skydiving out of airplanes with no parachutes, but all that comes to mind for me is buying a burgundy shirt from American Eagle in grade 7 just like the cool girls, even though I really didn’t want to. The fabric was so unbreathable, I was scared of raising my hand in class and everybody seeing my pit stains.
8. Magic Mike XXL (2015)
The house lights turned on in the theatre, and our faces were all flushed. “I can't believe that was real,” said a dazed but happy middle-aged woman next to me. “It wasn’t,” said her friend. The first piece of framed art I ever owned was a gargantuan poster of this movie, signed by Channing Tatum. It hangs in the dining room, where things are devoured.
Bonus Track: Gooey — Glass Animals
9. A Bigger Splash (2015)
I love pools — craters, amphitheatres. We orbit one another, for others, warm and wet.
10. Midsommar (2019)
The sun never sets, but my skin never scorches. I finally get to wail without warning in broad daylight. Wish you weren’t here.