“Four Favorite Films” and More, by B.E. Kerian

WRITER’S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on August 29, 2025. 

In recent years, I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos from Letterboxd, in which numerous filmmakers, actors, and artists are asked, right off the cuff, to name their “Four Favorite Films.” So, in that same spirit, here are the four current films that stick with me the most, as well as six more to round out a “Top 10.” 

(Courtesy Disney Movies) 

1. Fantasia (1940, prod. Walt Disney) 
A film that continues to influence my own work, in terms of embracing and understanding various genres, styles, and stories. A definitive combination of classical music and a Mount Everest of classic Disney animation. 

(Courtesy Bedford Playhouse) 

2. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, dir. Frank Capra) 
Like a gift that keeps on giving every holiday season, Jimmy Stewart’s everyman journey as George Bailey may be the most life-affirming arc in any film ever made. 

(Courtesy Amazon) 

3. Roma (2018, dir. Alfonso Cuáron) 
A masterpiece of captivating cinematography, immersive sound, epic scale, intimate storytelling, and deeply personal filmmaking, I felt like I was learning cinema all over again. I cannot recommend this film enough. 

(Courtesy ebay) 

4. Punch-Drunk Love (2002, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson) 
While I can’t recommend this quirky and surreal romance to everyone, I would say Adam Sandler’s complicated but sincere Barry Egan is the screen character I am the most like, as a lonely man who experiences (via sight, sound, and emotion) the difference between what is fake and what is real. 

*** 
Rounding out my current “Top 10”: 
Batman (1989, dir. Tim Burton) 
Jaws (1975, dir. Steven Spielberg) 
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989, dir. Hayao Miyazaki)—or any four other Studio Ghibli titles* 
Man With a Movie Camera (1929, dir, Dziga Vertov) 
Moneyball (2011, dir. Bennett Miller) 
Rear Window (1954, dir. Alfred Hitchcock) 

*Other Studio Ghibli selections/favorites include: 
Only Yesterday (1991, dir. Isao Takahata) 
Princess Mononoke (1997, dir. Hayao Miyazaki) 
The Secret World of Arrietty (2010, dir. Hiromasa Yonebayashi) 
Whisper of the Heart (1995, dir. Yoshifumi Kondo) 

#aug2025 #bereel #filmfreeq #bekerian #bekerianreviews #20thcenturycinema #21stcenturycinema #letterboxd

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