Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Living at Home in Your Late Twenties the Concluding Chapter (I hope): Great Film Endings

My room is packed, and tomorrow I will be moving out of my house and driving with my dad and headed to my new apartment in Boston.  Living at home in your late twenties is interesting.  You learn what you you love and miss about your family, and you also learn how different you become.  My family has not changed, my parents and my sister are all the same (my sister is still young and that may change, more as she gets older).  I think I have changed a lot since I graduated from high school went to college worked full time went back to graduate school, and now will be living on my own in a new city.  I am the eternal adventurer, I think I always wanted to be but this took some risks and time to grow.  Many people asked me what I was going to do on my last day, and well I have been packed for a while, my answer has been "run some errands, relax, and hang out with my family" (that may end when my mom comes home).  With that statement it proves that sometimes we revert back to child like roles, and while on my own I take charge as my own person.  Living at home has been interesting, but like all movies it must come to an end.

Finding a great ending that everyone agrees with is difficult, but there are some films that just defy the odds, end perfectly.  Here are the films I think have perfect endings.  As I left graduate school I talked about sad movie endings this will focus on the overall ending to films.

Casablanca (1942) My go to film for many things perfect.  This movie just does it all right and it doesn't pretend that life ends happily or that they guy will always get the girl.  Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman show us that sometimes in the roller coaster of life time must go by, and we have to let go of the past.



Some Like it Hot (1959)  One of, if not the funniest ending to a movie ever!  Jack Lemmon finally reveals he is a man to his suitor, to which he replies "Well nobody's perfect."  The first time I saw this ending I laughed my ass off.


The Graduate (1967) As Benjamin takes away from her wedding and they run to catch the bus they are so energized and elated, then the look of their faces changes to fear and they are silent as they realize there may be no where for them to go.



Chinatown (1974) - "She's my daughter and my sister!" As Evelyn Mulrey drives down the street and  is killed we find out that greed and corruption still will win out and that our main character Jake has to forget about it because it's Chinatown.





The Silence of the Lambs (1991) As Hannibal Lector calls Clarice Starling and states "I am having an old friend for dinner", chills went down my spine and the film ended!



The Usual Suspects (1995) This film is narrated for two hours by Kevin Spacey, and in the end we find out that he is the villain the whole time?! The first time I saw I nearly fell off my chair, great ending!

These are only a few of my favorite endings there are many more, but I think the thing I learned from this ending is that things are more bittersweet.  Endings can be filled with laughs, tears, violence, pain, regret, but you have to remember with every door closed there is an opportunity to do more!

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