Guest Book - Responses to the Registration Question:
"How has a movie affected your life?"

Part III (June, 1998)

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Generally the movies that have had the greatest effect on my life were movies that I watched when I was a pre-teen. Now when movies have powerful effects on me, they go through proxy of my dreams when I was young. I remember clearly the first time I saw "It's A Wonderful Life." I had an old black and white television in my room. This TV didn't even get the three network channels in very clearly; but late at night I could pull in stations from other network areas. I needed tin foil, wire coat hangers, tape, and usually had to sit with a leg tied to the hanger with another hanger. Yes, a bit driven... At 1:00 am on Christmas Eve when I was 11. I didn't see that movie again until I was 25 years old. I wanted to take the TV to my room turnout all the lights and sit too close and dream. - Iowa City, Iowa

Tough question.I honestly can't recall.But I think movies are a major influence in my life since I spend a great deal of my time watching them... - Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

No movie has ever affected my life... - Vista, CA (USA)

Made me want to make them. - New Orleans, USA

Movies changed my life. Now I do my own, of course small, movies. The best I have produced up to now is "Dr. Praxis Adventure Journey to Afghanistan" - Lustenau, Austria

My favorite movie is "Gone With the Wind" and it has made me always want to keep my waist small; my second favorite is (the new, though I like them all) Romeo and Juliet, it has made me a compleete R J fanatic. - Sarasota, Florida, USA

"The Shawshank Redemption" and "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" - Columbia, USA

Since my childhood when I saw any movie I usaually took the good things which I can benefit myself with. Usually I take the iadealistic things from them and I try to do them. This thing makes me a good man. - Beirut, Lebanon

No comments! - Perak, Malaysia

Well, movies have affected my life becuuse thay give me a diffrent point on things. - Woodinvill, WA

"La Strada" - Stockholm, Sweden

Of corse, mowies and theatre plays are just as important for me as food, sleep, love and music. - Sweden

"Liar, Liar". - Stockholm, Sverige.

"G.I. Jane" inspired me to do what ever I want no matter how many people tell me I can't. I know that people need to believe that equal rights is a must! - USA

It depends on the film which I watch. Sometimes I get some information or I afraid. Sometimes I change my opinion for any things. - Ankara, Turkey

I saw "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (my favorite movie) when I was an 11-year-old Texas kid. I knew I had to learn French to lose my Texas accent and move to the East Side of Manhattan. I did both. - Santa Monica, U.S.A.

My life is a movie. I am a movie dealer, but I really love a good movie. - Brasilia, Brasil

Very entertaining, inspiring and it can really releive tension. - Baguio City, Phillipines

Movies in general provide me with an introduction to many areas that I may not have explored. My mother took me to see "Gone With the Wind" when I was six years old. I don't recall that experience, but I do know movies have been an important and exciting part of my life since I was ten. I belong to a movie club now, with discussion of pre-release films following the showing. It's great, and helps keeps me young! - Boca Raton, USA

Movies never really began affecting my life until I saw "Resevoir Dogs" 2 years ago. Up until then I had only gone to see the formulaic, Hollywood crap. But then I discovered actors like Steve Buscemi who introduced me to the world of indie film. Ever since then I've loved movies, and living in Berkeley there's no shortage of good ones. Now I go see a movie every Friday after school, spend Saturday watching videos with friends and go see more movies on Sunday. I know this sounds like a pathetic life, but I love it. - Berkeley, CA (USA)

I work for film related publicity and promotions so films are my life!! - London

I am affected by my classmates. Since I have liked Brad Pitt two months ago, I like movies best in my life. Bye bye! - Taoyuan, Taiwan

Well, certian movies make me want to go out and do some part of what the character has done. They inspire me I guess, but when I see any war movie it makes me want the armed forces after college more and more. The marines perferrable. I don't by any means really want to go on active duty, but to just be a part one the system. Of course I am aware that life in the armed forces isn't like it is in the movies, but war movies or movies in that area really inspire me into wanting to really do something in life. - Clemson, United States

The movies used to affect me quite a bit as there was always heros to emulate; now, however, the movies seem to portray people that I wouldn't be seen dead with as heros instead of the sick people that they really are. Like another commenter said, we don't need all the explicit sex and violence as there is enough of that in real life. I think that a movie should present fantasy so you feel good when you leave the theater. - Blairsville, GA, USA

No - Sosua, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

I love watching 'em. - Kent, USA

First, about the above comment "Rarely go" - my husband doesn't believe in spending money on theater tickets, but I usually see at least one movie a month on TV or by renting the video. I can't think of any particular movie that's had a big effect on my life, but in general seeing how people deal with their problems onscreen helps me to tackle my problems with patience, optimism, and faith. - Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

"Deadman"; "Blade Runner"; "Three colors:'Blue','White','Red'"; All films by David Lynch; All films by Peter Greenaway; "Naked Lunch"; "Full Metal Jacket"; "Apocalipsys Now"; and many more... - Moscow, Russia

It gives fun... - Istanbul, Turkey

Every time I watch a film I get a break fom life....I remember that I have emotions. - Leeds, England

I think they're awesome - Surrey, Canada

It has cataloged the best and worst - Winchester, England

I could experience lots of life types from the movies. That's a great thing...It has changed me a lot without knowing..... anyway a movie is the best creature men made...I really think so.... - Seoul, Korea

Showed me parts of myself. - Dothan, USA

Movies are a mirror for your life. You can always see yourself in many characters of movies.So life is always reflected in it. - India

After "The Warriors", my friends call me Swan - Chiasso, Switzerland

I have looked up to characters and found myself trying to emulate them when I can apply their teachings to real life - San Antonio, USA

Hi, (I'm not speak english very well). The movies for me is the way to travel out of this world and feel the "inside experience" in my mind and spirit. Is a new reality where evrething can be real without hurt someone. (Translate)... Hola, (yo no hablo ingles muy bien). Las peliculas para mi es el camino para viajar fuera de este mundo y sentir la "experiencia interior" en mi mente y espiritu. Es una nueva realidad donde todo puede ser real sin herir a nadie. - Santiago, Chile

Sometimes I get stiff when I am scared. When I get scared I hug my mom. When my mother gets scared she grabs my arm. And after the movie I complain about my mother pulling my arm off. - Ann Arbor, Michigan

2001 made me so interested in film that I am seeking a career in the field - Lafayette, LA

I am a founding investor in the foreign film distributor, October Films. They nearly captured the Academy award last year for "Secrets and Lies", so my investment has payed handsomely.: ) - Englewood, FL USA

Playing good - "Braveheart" - Chiclayo , Peru

Not really, that I can think of. My favorite movie (although certainly not the "best" movie I've ever seen) is "Phantom of the Paradise". A good movie-related Website is FlickPicks: http://www.flickpicks.com - Mission Viejo, CA, USA

YES! "The Crow" (the original) has totally changed my life, making me come to grips with the loss of a close friend. - Saint Albans, VT (USA)

As an 18 year old filmmaker, movies are a chance for one to experience a world they never could. Magical and wonderful, they are a gateway to somewhere never seen before. - New York, NY

Movies can be uplifting, help alleviate stress, take me away from my life and give me hope that one day I can be the actress that I want to be. - Fort Worth - USA

Made me think of things in a new way - Evanston, USA

No yet - Hong Kong

It's my job. - Stockholm, Sweden

"Welcome to Sarajevo" really brought home the tragedies and horrors of the war in Bosnia. A beautifully made, devastatingly effetive movie. - Los Angeles, CA

In many forms... - Brazil

"Scream 2" made me think that all moives aren't the same. - Hillsboro, MO

Very educational and entertaining - Sydney, Australia

I'm very interested in the field of making movies and I want to do something in the movie business when I grow up, maybe actor or director. - Danville, CA

I can learn a good things from the movie - Jakarta, Indonesia

"The Yearling" made me want to be in this business, which I am. At the cusp of producing, have written, at the cusp of directing a big one. Love the business, hate what it does to my family life, but couldn't have a real job after 20 years in this industry... - San Leandro CA, USA

Everyone in the world seems to be a movie buff. I find a good documentary to be the most enlightening because the truthfulness of the story controls the film. Films such as "Gimme Shelter" and "Roger and Me" inspired me to create my own documentary "Where's Bolivia?" - for more information on the doc: www.boliviaweb.com/articles/documentary.htm - Wayne, PA

Very much - Malaysia

it makes me have fun - Boston, USA

How haven't they? - Visalia, USA

A lot - Cochranton, USA

Never. - Sweden

"The Fifth Element" is my favorite movie ever, much like "Leeloo", it's perfect, I found it very entertaining and I collect and read everything about it I can find. All the rest of Luc Besson's have the same effect on me such as "The Professional (Leon)" and "Nikita". - Sydney, Australia

"Natural Born Killers" traumatized me to this day. I am very paranoid of people I don't know. It makes me sick to see what people are capable of. Even if it is a movie I think mankind would be better off without seeing that kind of horror. It can give weak-minded individuals ideas that have been glorified by the depictions of the film makers. - Albion, USA

I don't know how it has - Ketchum, USA

They show me a different world where life can be hard or easy or whatever you want it to be. They change your view on life. - E. Patchogue, USA

In very many ways. - Jackson, MS

Absolutely. Many have made me laugh, made me cry, helped me examine my life. And... alas, some have put me to sleep. I come to your site in an attempt to avoid the sleepers. - San Marcos, CA USA

All movies affect my life... I am a film major in college, and every movie I see I absorb it. - Santa Barbara, USA

Gives me another perspective on life, allows me to escape, gives me hopes and dreams, brings out emotions - Washington, D.C.

I am a movie FANATIC. I love movies so much that I took a job at Blockbuster. I am a walking movie trivia game. - Overland Park, Kansas, U.S.A.

I love going to the movies because it helps me dream a little dream. My dream is to one day be an actor. I love to make people laugh and feel good about themselves. It's hard because now a days you have to know someone or be screened. I would just love to get a chance to be in movies or commercials. I've always dreamed of one day being a star or just making people feel good or help them realize that they have a chance to accomplish their own dreams. I go to bed at night just thinking about acting and wake up thinking about it also. I'm just saying I would like to have chance to this, so if there is any way you could help me with my dream! Truly a fan of the movies. - Montrose, United States

A lot. - Manama, Bahrain

There is no one movie in particular that has so affected me in the way you are asking. Many movies have touched me deeply on many different levels. "Good Will Hunting", however, has inspired me to carry my passion for films a step futher so that I now aspire to write my own. Because of Ben and Matt's strugle, I am currently working on my own screenplay. Whether or not it will get produced is another matter. I simply loved "Good Will Hunting" and thought that if two kids from Boston could do it, a small town girl from Maryland could play a hand too. - Middletown, US

It has affected my life by giving me a different prospective on life. And gives me a good place to go to for the lastest fasion trends. And lets me get an idea of what I am going to do as an actress when I grow up! - Santa Clara, USA

"The Wizard of Oz" gave me terrible nightmares for days while I was a child. I still experience anxiety as I watch those flying monkeys. No movie since has had the same impact upon me, not even "The Exorcist", nor Woody Allen flicks. - Ft. Hood, TX

For all my life, movies in general have fueled my imagination. Not to mention how my childhood revolved around the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" trilogies; from everything to the toys I had, to the games I played, to the heroes and idols I looked up to. But now, as I'm getting older, I'm growing wiser to the way in which films influence and reflect society as a whole. With films, you can see, in one sitting, everything that's right with the world, everything that's wrong with it, where we've been, where we are, and, of course, in some films, possibly where we're going. - Los Angeles, CA, USA

I have made it my profession to see movies for the theater I work in. I will open my own movie theater soon and there's nothing I love more than see other people happy when they saw a movie they liked. Please keep scouting! P.S. You have a wonderfull site. - Grave, The Netherlands

"Tender Mercies" has always been a touchstone to remind me of the joys and the redemptive virtues of simplicity when life becomes too complicated. - Birmingham, MI

I love movies, they're great. They dont affect my life though - Marlton, NJ USA

My favrite is "The Christmas Tree". It was a lesson in helping someone's life be happy even when they are dying,also showed a parents love & how they sacrafice for their child. A very moving story. I saw it when I was a kid. Hal halbrooke I think was in it. I have never forgotten it or changed my choice for my favorite film. In fact I think I will go out and rent it right now!! - Robbinsville , N.J. USA

Movies have affected my life in the fact that I live movies. I love going to them, I love experiencing them, I love the idea that you can go into a dark room and lose yourself for 2-3 hours in a whole other world. I feel that I was born into the movies. I write movies (god help me someday someone will buy one). But it's not for the money, the power, whatnot. It's the fact that this has been a dream of mine for so long I can't even remember. The way movies have affected me, I want to affect people like that too. Movies let me dream, they let me hope, they let me smile and forget about my problems for awhile. It is ingrained in me to be involved in the movie industry, I can feel that every day of my life. I know I sound green but I did live in L.A. for awhile so I know how the whole thing goes. But that's drifting off the subject. I want to create that whole other world and let others loose themselves like I have. For instance, when "E.T." came out, I was seven. I saw that movie 13 times in the theater. I remember walking up to the theater when I was little, buying my Reeses Pieces, (just so I could be like Gertie, I'd be wearing that same red hat that she wore and just stare at that screen, amazed. That made me think about outer space, as did "SpaceCamp" (incidentally I always wanted to go to SpaceCamp because of that movie). I remember watching "Return of the Jedi" when it was first released and being scared shi***** of Jabba the Hut, but having the biggest crush on Chewbacca. We had all the toys, the storybooks, the figures. The movies of my adolescence are really what locked me into a life in the movies. "Young Guns II", I saw that one 7 times. "Pump up the Volume" played a big part in my self-esteem. But the two biggies, I may be wrong, would be these: "Pulp Fiction", which made me believe that anyone could make a great movie. Quentin Tarantino is someone that all of us movie junkies can really identify with. He showed us that it's cool to be a movie geek, when he won the Palm D'or at Cannes, it was (excuse my language) a big Fu** You to all of those who said that us so called Generation X-ers couldn't possibly have anything to contribute to this business. Another big movie moment in my life was when I took a film course in college. We read "Heart of Darkness" and then saw "Apocalypse Now". I had already seen it of course, but our professor had a GIANT screen in the auditorium that she lowered down. Unless you have a humongus screen T-V at home you really can't experience this movie the way it was meant to be experienced. Gosh, I feel like I'm rambling but you guys left all this space and the movies are my favorite topic so I figured I should fill it. I really like all types of movies, anything that will catch my eye. BUT, and no offense to anyone reading this who did like them, the two movies that I HATED and wished I hadn't spent money on were "Nothing but Trouble" and "Something to Talk About". Now to give credit where credit is due, Kyra Sedgewick was totally believable and hilarious in "Something to Talk About" bt that was about the only thing. "Nothing but Trouble" - I can't think of one good thing about that movie. Maybe I am to obsessed with movies, but they have expanded my knowledge in this way; when I see something in a movie that interests me, I research it. I research it to the bone until I have found every piece of information on it that I can. Example: "Alive", I researched that whole plane crash, the whole situation, I found newspaper article back from when it happened, I found as much as was possible to me. Oh well, I think I've talked enough. Hope you guys got a good laugh at my overobsession on this topic. Anyway, see you at the movies, and I guarantee you this; one day you will see movies written by me. I have no doubt at that, if I have to slave until I'm 90 years old to sell a script I will. Bye all... - Marion, United States

Movies allowed me to travel through time and countries I'd never seen. After watching a movie, it's a bit difficult to return home. - WIntzenheim, France

It hasn't affected it THAT much... - Las Vegas, NV

Taken me to new places -- I've left the theatre with a sense of lightness and air I've never felt in real life. Sometimes I swallow movies in big gulps . . . one after another. Now I go rarely though I'm not sure why. - New York, NY

Some get rid of the tears stored inside, other bring out a laugh sorely needed. Adventures are yours, lovers are handsome, and you can always walk out - Napa, CA USA

Some movies have given me more hope, etc., but most of them just either make me feel happy, or something to that extent at least for a day or so. - Hershey, U.S.A.

No but sometimes it makes me experience emotions - Austin, Texas

I don't feel that one particular film has affected me greatly. Yet some have served for motivation and to inspire me to not stop dreaming. - Orlando, U.S.A.

I already like martial arts. I go to class every day. I think that it is good for people who need to focus. It helps them understand how. - LaGrange, USA

There are quite a handful- "The Graduate", "M", "Stranger than Paradise", "Repo Man" & "Wings of Desire". During my adolescence the film which had the most profound effect on me was "Ordinary People". The angst and rage of growing up in middle-class suburbia and all its ideals hit so close to home. I still can't watch the interaction or non-interaction between Mary Tyler Moore and Timothy Hutton. I remember watching it with a close friend and it was the only film in which both of us cried. After, we talked into the night till daylight about our lives. A true film experiance. - N.Las Vegas, NV

I want to write movies because I have good imagnation and I am inspired by seeing people like Quentin Tarantino hit it big. - Medford, NY, USA

"Sheltering Sky" - I now have vacationed in Morocco and West Africa after being influenced by the location shots in the movie. - Los Angeles, CA USA

Movies are a big part of my life. I'm a movie critic for a radio station here, and I have fun doing it. I love to take apart movies and see how they're made. I also like to get involved and just go into that world for two hours. I think movies affect my life in general. Affect my outlook on life, and my clothing sense. - Portland, Oregon, United States

I love movies they help me escape the struggle of reality which helps me relax - New York

Continued - Part IV

Back - Part II

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