The Movies That Shaped Teenage Me
16 Going on 32
“The way I see it, you spend the first fifteen years of your life is a sponge, soaking up influences and experiences, and the remainder of your life recycling, regurgitating, and reprocessing those first fifteen years.” — Martin Short
Today, I am this old.
If you are in the gift-giving mood, maybe today’s the day to consider upgrading to a paid subscription…
Anyways, 32 is a weird number, but it does mean something big in terms of Marshall and the Movies. That means I’ve been writing about movies for half my life now.1 If you told me then that I’d be preparing to talk to the winner of the Palme d’Or, well…
When I turned 30, I put together a list of the 10 movies that shaped my twenties.
Today, I offer a similar list — but for the ones that defined my teenage years. In these sponge-like years, I took in a lot of cinema that taught me about how to relate to the world at a time in my life during which I didn’t feel I could. I owe these movies a lot for allowing me to practice empathy and learn how to be a person in the world, even if I didn’t put a lot of those lessons into practice until much later.
As with the prior list, I’ll let the movies do the talking with quotes that
An Education, available to rent from various digital platforms
“Studying is hard and boring. Teaching is hard and boring. So, what you're telling me is to be bored, and then bored, and finally bored again, but this time for the rest of my life?”
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Paramount+
“I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”
Fish Tank, Criterion Channel (until 10/31)
“🎶 All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray / I went for a walk on a winter's day / I'd be safe and warm if I was in L.A / California dreamin' on such a winter's day 🎶 ”
Into the Wild, available to rent from various digital platforms
“Happiness only real when shared.”
Juno, Hulu
“The best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with.”
Knocked Up, Amazon Prime Video
“Do you ever wonder how somebody could even like you? The biggest problem in our marriage is that she wants me around. And I can't even accept that? I don't think I can accept pure love.”
The Social Network, available to rent from various digital platforms
“I was your only friend. You had one friend.”
Up, Disney+
“Russell, for assisting the elderly, and for performing above and beyond the call of duty, I would like to award you the highest honor I can bestow: The Ellie Badge.”
Up in the Air, Max
“If you think about it, your favorite memories, the most important moments in your life... were you alone? Life's better with company.”
Win Win, available to rent from various digital platforms
“Me? I’m pretty good.”
Last weekend, my paid subscribers were treated to this great conversation with
, the author of the outstanding new book Baseball: The Movie.
I also interviewed filmmaker Pascal Plante about his new cyberthriller Red Rooms for Slant Magazine. For all you true crime heads, seek this movie out on VOD.
You wouldn’t know it from their promotional activity, but Apple TV+ has a new series out by Alfonso Cuarón. I reviewed Disclaimer out of Venice for Decider, and once you dig in, you might guess why I think it’s flying a bit under the radar.
You can keep track of all the freelance writing I’ve done this year through this list on Letterboxd.
You can always keep up with my film-watching in real-time on the app Letterboxd. I’ve also compiled every movie I’ve ever recommended through this newsletter via a list on the platform as well.
This made me feel deeply, painfully, and meaningfully. Highly recommend. (I’m further convinced I will achieve my final form when Andrew Garfield’s PR team approves me for an interview.)
While I didn’t care much for The Substance, I came away with a different lens on how to appreciate what it does well from my friend
’s personal essay in Dazed.I loved this Vanity Fair profile of Spike Lee that finds an entry point to the great director’s life through a less conventional route: his sports fandom, specifically Arsenal.
Here’s to another year.
Yours in service and cinema,
Marshall
We’re not measuring the tape here, but technically I was nearly 17 when this started. I’m going with round numbers and not waiting until closer to 34 to claim the milestone.