Last night, esteemed critic A. M. K, aged 7 years and 360 days, released her list of Top Eight Favorite Films. To wit:
- Ghostbusters (2016)
- Ghostbusters (1984)
- Groundhog Day (1993)
- Mamma Mia! (2008)
- The Christmas Chronicles (2018)
- Shaun of the Dead (2004)
- Hot Fuzz (2007)
- The World’s End (2013)
The list was released unexpectedly last night, when she was in bed, right before stories. In retrospect, the timing makes perfect sense, spurred by last night’s viewing of latecomer The Christmas Chronicles (filmed on an old camcorder on Christmas Eve 2018—i.e. four days ago!—truly a technological miracle that Netflix was able to bring it to the people so quickly).
Another film that I suspect benefited from us having watched it the night before last was Mamma Mia!, the only musical to make it onto the list despite me making everyone watch both Singin’ In the Rain and the original Mary Poppins earlier this year.
Not surprisingly—though perhaps shocking to some given the critic’s less-than-advanced age—the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (dir. Edgar Wright, written by Wright and Simon Pegg, and starring Pegg and my fave, Nick Frost) swept in to claim spots 6, 7, and 8.
But it’s the top three that really counts, and your faithful correspondent may have let an “oh, I love you” escape her mouth when A. M. K. revealed that “Groundhog’s Day” had made the top three. Neither could I fault her designation of the top two spots. Some might dispute her elevation of the 2016 Ghostbusters above the 1984 original; but they would be wrong. The 2016 Ghostbusters deserves the top spot alone for the scene in which the Ghostbusters interview Kevin (Chris Hemsworth, in what is truly his best work) for the job of receptionist.
Pure. Cinematic. Gold.
