By Megan Ruge, Staff Writer
I spend a lot of time talking about movies that I find interesting or important to current society. But I think that it’s important to change things up once in a while, which is why I have decided to talk about the favorite movies of my Quill colleagues.
The first of our films is “The Fighter,” favorite of Managing Editor of Content Nick Forbes. The film tells the true story of former professional boxer Micky Ward in his early days. Ward started his career under the shadow of his once-famous older brother. Now a has-been, his brother becomes his very unreliable trainer. Boxing with his family as his team, Ward is going nowhere and he is encouraged to cut his ties if he wants to make it.
Though the film acts as a biopic, it also tells the story of a family in peril. The film talks about how the family fell apart through the world of boxing and pressure of competition, but also how they were able to put themselves back together again. In the end, the Ward family triumphs.
I think this is an interesting pick for Forbes, but completely on-brand. The sports biopic is truly full of heart. It’s easy to say that Forbes is a sucker for an underdog story and I can definitely tell you this film is just that. This is a film I can tell creates a soft spot for our editor.
The next film on the list is “13 Going On 30,” the pick of our Living & Arts Editor Danielle Bettendorf.
The film, a classic for any 2000s tween, teen or young adult, follows the story of 13-year-old Jenna Rink. Jenna struggles to find her place in middle school, yearning to be a part of the popular crowd. When she is humiliated at her birthday party, she wishes away her youth in exchange for being “30, flirty and thriving.”
Waking up 30, Jenna finds that her adulthood is fabulous. She has the perfect job, is in with the popular crowd and has the best of everything. But Jenna realizes that everything that mattered to her 13-year-old self isn’t part of this new life. Jenna realizes she has to go back and accept the life she has been given, make the best of it to keep the things that matter to her most.
This is another editor whose pick is on-brand. Bettendorf is a sucker for a feel-good film. The coming of age film about embracing your individuality directly aligns with Bettendorf’s own belief in self-identity. The film is unapologetically girly and can be likened to that of a girl power movie, something that Bettendorf preaches in her own life.
Along with more on-brand flicks comes Assistant Sports Editor Rachael Cataldo’s favorite, “John Tucker Must Die.”
This film is not your ordinary chick flick, picked by not your ordinary chick. The film follows four girls, three of which find out they are all dating the same guy. To exact their revenge, they turn the fourth girl into everything John Tucker likes in a girl. Becoming the bait, the fourth girl lures in John Tucker and gets him to fall in love with her so that she can break his heart the way he broke the hearts of many girls.
In the end, John Tucker realizes that being honest is the best way to maintain his lifestyle without hurting anyone.
This film is jam-packed with feminist values and feel good moments to please any self-empowered woman, which is exactly what Cataldo is. As a strong woman in the world of sports, this flick and Cataldo both align in a perfect fashion. I say this because the film is inspiring, it’s hopeful and works hard to own everything we’ve come to know about high school while also fighting to defy stereotypes that befall it.
The next film on our list is a film that I cannot stand but can appreciate that our up-and-coming Editor-In-Chief loves. “Step Brothers,” starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly tells the crude story of two unambitious grown men still living at home with their parents. When their parents decide to marry one another, the conjoining of two families will turn the worlds of these two lethargic “kids” upside down. Though not a Will Ferrell fan myself, this film’s humor has a very unique schtick that makes something that would be ridiculous absolutely hilarious.
A regular film about a blended family could be just as funny, but what puts the rivalry between the two stepbrothers at its best is the age factor. Two children fighting is funny, sure, but two men acting like children transcends the normal rivalry and takes “boys will be boys” to the next level.
The final film on our list is quite possibly our most interesting. “Memento,” the pick of our Managing Editor of Design, Jill Baker, is quite possibly just as complex as the woman herself.
The film follows two timelines of a revenge plot about a man whose memory is affected in an attack that takes his wife’s life. This brings him on a quest to not only find his wife’s killer, but also solve the puzzle that is his affected memory.
The past is depicted in black and white and the present is depicted in color. This helps make sense of the cluster just a little, allowing you to understand what happened when. But because the movie is full of twists and turns, I found myself still lost when the film closed. Why? Because it ends exactly how it begins. And then I had to watch the film again.
The more I get to know Jill Baker, the more I find myself utterly confused and conflicted. Baker is such a complex person, just as this is a complex movie.