9. Evita - And I never liked Madonna - but she makes a good corrupt politician with a bad reputation. I loved the beautiful location shots in Argentina. Madonna sings from the same balcony that Evita gave her speeches from. I want to learn tango and dance with Antonio Banderas too.
10. Fools Rush In - 2nd favorite chick flick. I love that Salma Hayak is so proudly Mexican-American, and that Matthew Perry is so befuddled and enamored by it. Loads of funny one liners. "Lucy, you got some 'splainin to do!".
11. The Crying Game - I saw this movie when it first came out, and was one of a theater full of people who gasped at the "surprise part". I had a hunch about it, but didn't expect my suspicions to be confirmed in such an in-your-face way. I was taken with the theme of entrapment in the movie. Every time a new character is introduced, you see them as having power over another in the movie. Then you see how they too are entrapped by circumstances.
12. To Live and Die in L.A. - another movie that made an impression but was not a favorite. It deals with police corruption, and even the hero in the movie is not really a good guy. The catch: I saw this in Ecuador, and was acutely aware of how horrid the movie made Americans look. Everyone was staring at my friend and I as we left the theater. Creepy. I swear I never cut off someone's finger. Really.
13. Romancing the Stone - a stupid, frivolous movie that toyed with the ego of a whole nation (Colombia, that is). I saw this right before going to Colombia. It was no preparation whatsoever for what the country was really like. Colombians hated it and booed it out of the theaters. Filmed on location in PANAMA.
14. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure - meet So-crates, take Napoleon bowling, and time travel with feisty young Keanu Reeves. 80's escapist humor at it's finest.
15. Hijo de la Novia (Son of the Bride) - an Argentine movie that has so many uncanny parallels to my own family that I swear they just rearranged some details to cover our identities. The protagonist's mother has Alzheimer's, and his father wants to surprise her and grant her wish for the church wedding that they never had. The church won't allow it, so it leads to an elaborate farce that poor Alzheimery Mom can't see through anyway. Funny and touching. I loved the use of almost literary motifs in the movie, such as the protagonist's reading glasses. He only occasionally holds them in front of his eyes to quickly read something in the beginning of the movie, but at the end when he is more happy and comfortable with himself (read: the jerk is redeemed) he wears them unashamedly.
Honorable mention goes to Fast Times at Ridgemont High: my brothers and I had mom convinced that a kid named Jeff Spicoli went to our school and was really pulling all kinds of pranks like ordering pizza during History class. When Mom was ready to call the PTA and raise a storm we had to fess up to our fibs.
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