RECOMMENDING MY FAVOURITE MOVIES PART 1 // an excuse for me to gush about why i love keanu reeves & studio ghibli!

Hey guys, welcome back to my blog! I’ve been really in the mood to talk about movies on the blog lately and I feel like self-iso is the perfect time for some movie recommendations so here we are! I tried my hardest to avoid talking about superhero movies because I have plans to talk about them later on, on my blog. So, sorry if you wanted superhero recs, but I tried to recommend something for almost every other genre so hopefully you’ll find something you love!

Sorry in advance for all of the run-on sentences and possible swearing but I do that when I’m excited! 😂

         

SPEED – Okay, so these movies definitely aren’t in order but the first two are! Speed is my favourite movie of all time and I love it to pieces. It’s got that really weird niche plotline that could only have got greenlit in the 90s and I love it so much! There’s a bomb on a bus? And if they go under 50 miles per hour the bus will explode? And Keanu Reeves has to save everyone, including Sandra Bullock? Absolute genius. Love it.

THE MUMMY – (Not to be confused with the Tom Cruise movie pls never associate that trash fire with me or my bbs) Until I watched Speed earlier this year, this was my number 1 favourite movie for years if that tells you anything about me or how much I love this movie. Brendan Fraser is one of my favourite actors and this movie is exactly why, he’s goofy, he’s charming and he’s a total badass! Also, Rachel Weisz is in it and I truly adore her. Also if I see any slander against John Hannah’s character I can and will cry because he’s so British and I love him!

CASTLE IN THE SKY – This is quite a long movie but it’s so so worth it! I have a couple of Ghibl movies on this list but this is my one of my top 3 favourites! I am an absolute sucker for soft boys in film (and lit too obv) so this is obviously a perfect film for me. I can’t explain how much I love Pazu as a character but this movie always gets extra points from me because Sheeta (the main character) and Pazu are so heck’n cute. This is a Ghibli movie so obviously it looks amazing and has a fantastic soundtrack and loveable characters but something about this movie just speaks to me, it’s a wonderful movie and I barely know how to talk about it but just know that I love it!

SPIRITED AWAY – This is one of those stories that grows on you the more your watch it and truly improves upon each re-watch. I didn’t love this the first time I watched it, actually Id didn’t even like it *but* I did like the metaphor with the parents that’s explored. But, I decided to give it another try recently and it quickly became one of my all-time favourite movies, as well as one of my favourite Ghibli movies!

KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE – Kiki is the last Ghibli movie I’m talking about today and I think it’s probably my faouvirte which means I’ve talked about these movies completely out of order! 😂🤷‍♀️ I love this movie because it’s a very light fantasy with no real rules to it and it’s just a lighthearted, calm movie about a young girl who happens to be a witch, oh, and her cat Jiji who is a totally cutie and has a very sarcastic sense of humour and a very pessimistic view on the world which I can appreciate. It’s perfect for pretty much any mood but I love to watch it when I’m feeling tired and burnt out with life. It always manages to cheer me up when I’m feeling down!

BROTHER BEAR – One of the best and most underrated Disney movies with poaaibly the best soundtrack out there! It’s on Disney+ so if you have the service you officially have no excuses! This is on of those childhood nostalgia movies that I loved when I was younger but recently rewatched because I was sure it would probably disappoint me but needed to know for sure. But, I’m proud to say this movie still slaps! It has a soundtrack that, 17 years later, I still listen to and it has a fantastic focus on family and friendship. It’s really well balanced and has it’s really poinent moments, as well as really fun and humourous scenes too! It’s overall a great experience and it’s only an hour and a half so it’s one of the shorter Disney movies too!

         

THE MATRIX – Would you take the red pill or the blue pill? I don’t know but I love thinking about it! This is the point in the proceedings where I stop talking about my love for Ghibli and I get back to my love of Keanu Reeves because it knows no bounds! The Matrix is in my top 5 movies of all time because 1) Keanu Reeves 2) it’s the 90s. Y’all know 1999 was a GREAT year for movies! I’m not entirely sure what it is about this movie that I love so much maybe it’s the slight weirdness and science aspect of it where you’re not really sure what’s real, sort of like Inception. Interestingly my entire family hates this movie (they also hate Inception) so I think it’s an acquired taste but definitely worth the watch at least once!

ATLANTIS THE LOST EMPIRE – I said before tha I love soft boys in film, and so often we see them in animated movies rather than live action, hence Milo Thatch in Atlantis! He’s one of my favourite characters in film because he’s super smart and not a dickhead. aka. the bar is very low! So, I love Milo as the main character but I also love the whole “finding and exploring an unknown land” kind of vibe! If you love The Road To El Dorado or Journey to The Center of The Earth you’ll probably love this too!

LILO AND STITCH – I am really big on comfort movies, if you couldn’t already tell, so I watch this movie pretty damn often! It’s cute, Stitch is adorable and I love Nani so damn much! I never watched this movie as a kid but I feel like I would’ve loved Sitch or Lilo most but now, I understand Nani most and I really identify with her! Honestly, this movie just gives me an amazing homey feeling, even though it’s legit about tan alien on an island I’ve never been to! 😂

THE PROPOSAL – I don’t really have many romances on this list but this is one of my favourites that I rewatch a few times a year when I’m really tired but too awake to fall asleep! I love Sandra Bullock in this movie but, I think the humour is the real star if that makes sense? Obviously this isn’t going to be for everyone but I love it and it always makes me chuckle! Enemies to lovers isn’t my favourite trope but Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock do it so well!

JOHN WICK – I don’t quite know how to talk about these movies, I just love them ya know? They’re very violent, and they get increasingly more so with each film in the franchise but at the crux of it, the movies are about a man fighting for the right to live and be free in a system that’s near impossible to get out of. Also, he has a a dog.

I’m really not doing this story justice but i also don’t want to spoil it. Basically, Keanu Reeves’ character was once a hired killer sort of like the Mandalorian but with more blood and less outer space. but he meets a gal and decides he needs to get out so he can live a normal life with her. So he does, and he’s the only one to have ever gotten out which is all very impressive. But, unfortunately however many years later she gets sick and dies which means y’all get to experience sad Keanu BUT THEN his house gets broken into and something very bad happens which I’m not gonna spoil because if you know you know and then John Wick avenges said spoiler and the fourth movie will be out next year (hopefully). It’s all VERY aesthetically pleasing with fantastic cinematography and very pretty violence, if you’re into that like I apparently am.

THE LAKE HOUSE – “there aren’t many romances on this list” Apparently I’m a lying liar who lies because here we are with another romance that I genuinely love and oh my god what is that??? *shocked pikachu face* Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves! Again? you ask! Yup, I cannot be stopped! This is one of those heartbreaking movies that I love to watch because I’m a sucker! Buckle up because nothing is about to makes sense but I’ll try and explain it anyway. Basically Keanu Reeves is living 8 years in the past and Sandra Bullock is living in the present. She is leaving her home (aka, the lake house) to go live in the city closer to her new job at the hospital so she leaves a letter in the mailbox for the new tenant BUT WHATTAYAKNOW Keanu Reeves gets the letter because oh my god the mailbox is actually a time travel apparatus because DUH. So, they begin talking because they’re both very confused because of the dates on the letters etc.etc. and then they fall in love and realise it’s actually very hard to have a relationship with someone who lives 8 years a part from you and the ending makes no sense but I love it a lot. Pls hydrate before watching this movie. God, I love the 90s.

         

JURASSIC PARK 3 – Jurassic Park 3? WHAT? Yes, JP 3! If Jurassic Park, the first movie in the series is the best then this movie is my absolute favourite, if that makes sense. Like, I can appreciate and love the first movie for how brilliant it is but if I’m going to watch a Jurassic movie because I love it I’m going to watch this one. It has 2 out of 3 of my favourite dinosaurs in it (Spinosaurus, Pteranadons) so why wouldn’t I love it? Also, they managed to bring back Alan GRant and even Laura Dern for a hot minute and as long as you can admit that it’s not going to have the nuance of the first movie and go into this to have fun, you’re in for a great ride!

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON – If you don’t love this movie you don’t have a heart. It’s about a boy and his dog except the dog is a dragon and it’s all very very cute! So, again this is another comfort movie! At some point I’ll actually recommend some movies that aren’t go to when I’m in a “mood” but not right now. There isn’t a crazy overwhelming plot to this, probably because it’s a Dreamworkd movie for kids, but I love the small feelings this movie gives off! It’s just a story about a young Viking names Hiccup and his dragon friend names Toothless and that’s really all there is to it, and I love it. A LOT.

CRAZY STUPID LOVE – So, I’ll talk about another movie that does this in a minute, but this is one of those fun movies that has a bunch of characters that don’t have anything to do with each other bu actually joke’s on you because they do! Also Josh Groban and Kevin Bacon are in it so why wouldn’t you watch it? It’s got a great main cast and Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling do the DIrty Dancing jump thing and it’s very cute and Steve Carrell plays a mid-life crisis dad very well and the kid from Zathura is in it and it’s very very good. A+ humour!

AUSTENLAND – Oh my god, I don’t care if you love Austen or not, you need to watch this. In fact, even if you don’t like Austen you’ll get something out of this because the movie sort of makes fun of Austen’s stories too which is a lot of fun. This is one of my favourite movies of all time and I say that as someone who rarely laughs while watching  movie, there is not one joke that doesn’t land and this is pretty much 2 hours of me laughing non-stop and yelling at Kerri Russels to date Jj Fields instead of the New Zealander! It’s amazing and deserves more credit and SMeyer’s film company produced it if that makes anyone want to watch it?

THE HOLIDAY – I rarely watch seasonal movies and I don’t often watch a romance either but without fail, I watch this every year! I love the cast, I love how each character’s journey is different and I love how romance isn’t the end goal for every single character! It’s a lot of fun to watch, it’s funny, it’s heartwarming and it honestly just makes me smile. Perfect to sit down with a hot drink and just enjoy at the end of the night!

THE THREE MUSKETEERS – The fact that none of you have probably ever even heard of this movie, let alone watched it! 😭😭 This movie deserves so much more hype than it got and I’m mad at he world for letting it flop! It’s fantastic! It’s got Logan Lerman in the peak of his career, Mr Darcy, Gaston, the guy from those pirate movies, the dude who’s always a villain, Mads Mikkelsen and Caroline from Poldark. The fact that this movie had such a good cast and was set up to be a great franchise and y’all doubtless have never heard it will never fail to make me sad! This movie is fantastic and if I don’t stop talking about it now I’ll end up going into a deep analysis and possibly never stop. Please watch it. It’s what Logan Lerman deserves.

[IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT I’M WATCHING WHILE I’M WATCHING, YOU CAN CATCH ME ON LETTERBOXD]

HAVE YOU SEEN ANY OF THESE?
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE MOVIES?
an