By Tyler De Nawi
Batman Returns (1992)
My memories of this start with begging my neighbour to let me watch it when she’d babysit me. Her son had the wickedest VHS collection. Shelving the biggest blockbusters, and amongst them, the Batman series… the gold title and the Warner Brothers emblem stuck out to me from the spine. Batman Forever was my favourite. Set at Christmas time in the dark, steamy and snowy nights of Gotham City, featuring a grotesquely comical Central Park as the Penguin’s lair. It was my dark Christmas movie that took me to another world as a kid.
Enter The Dragon (1973)
This one was my father’s doing. Our movie nights consisted of playbacks of boxing fights and an Elvis or Bruce Lee film. I’d cringe at most, but I kept watching this one as I grew up. The opening scene starts with Bruce Lee winning a mixed martial arts fight by armbar submission. This guy was way ahead of his time. In celebration he then does a roundoff, handspring to a backtuck over four men. Even though I later found out it was a body double who pulls off this move, it was still the most amazing thing I had ever seen before. It’s probably what lead me to become an acrobat myself. There is so much to love about it – action, bad acting, and a long showdown with an evil villain that left us with the most famous image of Bruce we know of today – that fight stance with bloodied scratch marks to his face, chest and stomach. It also features an awesomely memorable soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin, mixing funk and jungle beats with oriental sounds. Thank you dad for the culture.
Bloodsport (1988)
Speaking of bad acting and martial arts! This was one of my favourite all time growing up. The Kumite is life! If I’m sick in bed, give me old school action blockbusters any day – I think I’ll be cured and back on my feet in no time. What’s so cool is this year Van Damme and I worked at a charity together. I gave him the famous roundhouse kick pose and he blocked it. I then printed the photo and signed it for him along with DVDs of my earliest TV work and thanked him for being one of the biggest inspirations to me in becoming a martial artist and having the tenacity to pursue acting as a career. Maybe a little wanky to give your own autograph to your childhood idol?
E.T. The Extraterrestrial (1982)
As a child, I had an imaginary friend – didn’t we all? I used to make weird noises that only he and I understood. So E.T. also means life, and if you ever want to phone home, you can watch this film amongst Spielberg’s other masterpieces. Besides its nostalgia, I think there’s a lot to learn about love with a story about a boy and his best friend that is considered alien and a threat to the government, and guess what probably made him sick? All that canned food! I found the soundtrack on vinyl at an op shop for $5. Score! I play it when I need to be inspired again. It takes me back to my childhood. Don’t mind me talking to myself…
Predator (1987)
“You’re one ugly motherf$%&er” and scary too! Who agrees with me that this gem is so underrated? And please stop trying to recreate it! You can’t mess with the O.G. Another film about a monster with a show down against a big action hero at the end… Even though Hollywood milked this formula, I loved the time when movies were about a simple premise, with good guys, bad guys and a whole lot of action packed fun for the whole family to enjoy and fear.
A few honourable mentions:
Zodiac
Kill Bill Vol I & II
Taxi Driver
There Will Be Blood
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
Under the Skin
Menace 2 Society
A Walk to Remember
The Notebook
(these last two definitely don’t need explaining)
For tickets and session times for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, head over to the official site.
