We were in an awkward dialogue, the topic of which I cannot remember. I decided to inject some life into the room by asking Christopher Plummer and Steven Spielberg to tell us their top ten favorite movies of all time. Christopher Plummer could only come up with three, one of which was Gone with the Wind: Special Edition. Yes, the “special edition”. I don’t know what that means, nor do I remember his other two movie selections.
Steven Speilburg asked to have a few moments alone before revealing his list, so he left the room. He returned shortly thereafter and wrote his top ten list on a chalk board that had apparently been in the room the entire time. I did not recognize a single movie on his list. A few of his selections were little-known live action short films. My unidentified friend explained to me that one of these movies consisted of nothing but a hand moving randomly for 10 minutes as it extended from an empty fish bowl. He explained that this film was highly regarded in the film industry. The rest of Steven Speilburg’s list was clearly Japanese animation titles. This was confirmed by my unidentified friend.
I sensed that I just been part of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. In the dream landscape, having knowledge of Steven Speilburg’s top ten favorite movies was a big deal. This was important information. I would release this list to the public and become famous. It was almost too easy. I explored the possibility of starting a website that would display the top ten list. I began thinking about Google AdSense, search engine optimization strategies, and web design. I would need to seize this opportunity as soon as possible.
Then, I woke up. I still had that overwhelming sense of urgency and optimism inside of me. But, I immediately snapped back to reality–why would Christopher Plummer only be able to come up with three favorite movies? That doesn’t even make sense.
Ridiculous.
March 8, 2009
movies, pensive reflections