Welcome to Scribeing Cinema with Shane! What do cinephiles love to do most? Rank all things movies and that is what we will do in this series. Favorite actors… filmmakers… genres… narratives… you got it here! This will be a special edition that I am doing in honor of my one-year anniversary with my wife. These are the Movies of My Marriage…
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
This might be the film I have watched the most times with my wife. We have a Valentine’s Day tradition of each picking a romance and watching them together. This will be her pick nine times out of ten. This is one of the funniest movies I have watched and just enjoying the laughs together is great. The best part of this movie is that we are both Peter. I would totally eat cereal out of a mixing bowl and my wife has bought me the containers for my cereal. She would totally lay around in her sweats for seven days without a single thought. But we will both be waiting for the tickets for Dracula the Musical to come out so we can get front-row seats together. That is true love right there.
The Princess Bride
MAWAGE brings this list together…today. This is my pick for Valentine’s Day nine times out of ten. This is the greatest “kissing” movie ever made and I love sharing this charm with my wife every year. This film has it all. Laughs, thrills, action, scares, and of course romance. We probably quote this film to each other on an almost certain daily basis. What’s even better is my wife has even witnessed people telling me that I look like Andre the Giant…. Those are the extracurricular reasons for loving this film. She also knows how much I love Mark Knopfler and will most certainly mention he did the score every time we watch it. And she is most certainly not a witch…she is my wife.
The LEGO Movie
Little did Jess and I know that we would be laughing more that day than all the children in the theater combined lol. The LEGO Movie has no business being this good or this genuinely funny. My wife laughs so much at this one and that is a sight that I love to see. The cheesy music, that great vocal cast, the insanely clever writing, and big gags make this an animated effort that is firing on all cylinders. There are so many laughs to be had and surprises around every corner. My wife and I really enjoy Lord & Miller, and this will not be the last of them on this list. But it is the wonder of all things crazy and fun that makes this an endlessly watchable experience for the whole family.
22 Jump Street
I told you, didn’t I? Back in the summer of 2014, my wife and I made a habit of going to the Somerdale Cinemark for discount movies every week. It was a summer of movie dates that will always stand out for me. We saw some great movies that summer including Edge of Tomorrow, Godzilla, and most importantly 22 Jump Street. Lord & Miller certainly know how to make my wife and I laugh. I don’t think we have collectively laughed harder than during that credits sequence of promised but never delivered sequence ideas for this wonderful franchise. I am also sure no one named Jeff will ever be safe from our shared movie references thanks to this film. And probably not ice cubes either.
Onward
This film is so special for two reasons. First, Onward spoke about the early childhood loss of a parent like no other film. I saw my wife cry and was moved by this film on a whole other level. This film helped him feel seen and that means so much to me and it was an amazing experience to share together. The film is so charming and wonderful to begin with and this experience just added layers to it. This film also has the distinction of being one of if not the last film I experienced with my wife in a theater before COVID. Due to her health concerns, we did not really go out in public and especially not to the movie theater for well over a year after that. We appreciate this cinematic experience just a little bit more than others.
Tenet
Why is this one on here? You might think my wife and I have a shared appreciation of Christopher Nolan. That is 100% NOT true. She is a huge critic of Nolan and not really a fan of his work. But this was the first film we experienced together outside of our home together during COVID. The Philadelphia Film Society was having special drive-in screenings during this time. It was in an abandoned section of the Philly Naval Yard and the screen was draped on three shipping containers…lol. This was exactly how Nolan meant for us to experience his film. Ludwig Goransson’s score was impressive (and even better that I could control the volume on my radio). The effects were so impressive that they looked great projected on a screen hanging from a shipping container. Tenet was an unforgettable cinematic experience for my wife and I.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
The Coen Brothers had to be on here somewhere, right? They are my favorite filmmakers as well as my wife’s. There is just something about their voice that speaks to both of us, and we can share that understanding. O Brother, Where Art Thou? is one of those films that are so stuck in our brains that we cannot help but quote it on a regular basis. My wife loves a good American tradition and this film has plenty. This made me appreciate folk and bluegrass so much more. But we both share in our love for Ulysses Everett McGill. George Clooney’s character has the ultimate gift of gab…just like my wife.
Once Upon a Time in the West
When did I start loving Westerns so much? Appreciation must be given to my wife. She is the one who really got me to start watching them when we first got together. She showed me all the best Spaghetti westerns along with Clint Eastwood’s directorial works. But it is Once Upon a Time in the West that stands out to me as a film we shared together. This Sergio Leone western epic is a slow-burning masterpiece. It makes for an amazing watch especially when you are watching it with someone like my wife, who loves westerns just as much as me.
Brooklyn
Is this the story of our romance? Maybe a little. My wife is certainly as pale as Eilis. I am also a baseball-loving Italian American like Tony. But this sweet and tender romance just moves my wife and I in such wonderful ways. If I am not picking The Princess Bride for Valentine’s Day, I am probably picking Brooklyn. This is a wonderfully beautiful film that is just full of heart and romance.
Here is a special thanks for a wonderful first year of marriage with my loving and supporting wife, Jessica Conto. I would never be able to watch so many movies if she wasn’t so willing to share this passion with me. We have certainly seen plenty of movies that we love together (and quite a few that she did not enjoy) but the experience of watching them together makes it so much better.
