Paramount
James Gunn, a unique character in pop culture, started his journey in the film industry as a young man. He co-authored the bizarre, yet humorous, Troma epic “Tromeo & Juliet” with Lloyd Kaufman. The movie is known for its bizarre plot, featuring everything from kinky sex and a bisexual Juliet, to cow monsters and mutant penis monsters, with an introduction by Lemmy from Motörhead. He later made a mockery of the superhero genre with “The Specials,” a low-budget film that explores what superheroes, who are mostly petty and obnoxious, do in their spare time. He maintained his position in Hollywood by writing scripts for two fanciful “Scooby-Doo” movies and Zack Snyder’s remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” before launching his directorial career in 2006 with “Slither,” a grotesque movie about body-invading worm monsters and eccentric mutants.
Gunn proceeded to further dissect the superhero genre with “Super” in 2010, a film theorizing that superheroes are mentally unstable and prone to extreme violence. The film is dark, tragic, and appears to despise superheroes. Therefore, it was a peculiar choice for him to direct the 2014 mega-hit “Guardians of the Galaxy,” one of the significant releases in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Guardians” was supposed to be the unconventional one in a typically serious comic book film series, but Gunn took a complete U-turn from his usual tone, treating the material with seriousness and sentimentality. “Guardians” was a cheerful, amusing, corporately endorsed, effects-driven comedy that showed Gunn had abandoned all his appealingly sour punk traits.
Following “Guardians,” Gunn evolved into a corporate giant, directing several genuinely sincere superhero films for both Marvel and DC Comics. At the time of writing, he is the chief of the soon-to-be-unveiled DC Universe, a brand-new cinematic continuity centered on Superman. The punk has now become the mainstream paradigm. So, one can’t help but wonder: what does Gunn’s movie preference look like? Fortunately, IndieWire asked Gunn in 2023 about his 12 favorite movies, and he shared a diverse list. He included Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West.”
James Gunn revealed his three favorite movies on X/Twitter
Focus Features
Many of Gunn’s favorite films are considered “traditionally masculine,” often favored by young male college students who are captivated by stories of crime and mental illness. Gunn is a big fan of Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver,” which seems to have influenced his film “Super.” He also admires Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather Part II,” which he openly states is superior to its predecessor.
Sergio Leone’s intense Western “Once Upon a Time in the West” can also be counted as a classic with a male-centric theme. The film stars Charles Bronson as a courageous gunslinger and Henry Fonda, in a role against his usual type, as his evil adversary. Leone had announced his retirement from Westerns after making “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” but he returned to the genre when Paramount offered him a tempting deal. “Once Upon a Time in the West” is as abstract and fevered as Leone’s previous three Western masterpieces.
In a now-deleted tweet, Gunn listed “Once Upon a Time in the West” as one of his three favorite movies. He also named Robert Altman’s 1973 deconstructionist noir “The Long Goodbye” as a favorite. The film stars Elliott Gould as a relaxed, somewhat reticent version of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, presenting the hard-boiled genre in a slightly more laid-back manner – soft-boiled, so to speak.
Among his top three, Gunn also selected Michel Gondry’s 2004 sci-fi romance “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” The film narrates the story of a heartbroken artist who, after splitting up with his girlfriend, employs a specialized memory-erasing service to remove all recollections of her from his mind. In the process, he delves into his own subconscious, reminiscing about the happy and sad moments with her. Gunn’s three favorites would not make an ideal triple feature.
James Gunn has eclectic taste in movies
New World Pictures
In addition to the above, Gunn’s movie preferences seem to be quite diverse, although he does have a soft spot for romance. Gunn chose Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 updated blaxploitation spinoff “Jackie Brown” as one of his favorites, a film that revolves around the romance between the titular character, played by Pam Grier, and the Oscar-nominated Robert Forster. He also appreciates Wong Kar-wai’s 2000 non-romantic film “In the Mood for Love,” a visually stunning movie about two married individuals, played by Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, who discover their respective spouses have been unfaithful to each other. Instead of starting an affair, they spend the film gazing at each other. It’s one of the most critically acclaimed films of its decade.
On the less romantic side is David Cronenberg’s “The Brood,” essentially a horrifying tale of a crumbling marriage. Cronenberg extends the emotional distress into the bodies of mutant characters, making the film bleak and intense. Gunn also chose Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic monster movie “Jaws,” which is about some kind of underwater creature, possibly a squid (just joking).
Perhaps a surprise is the inclusion of Paul Greengrass’ hyper-realistic plane hijacking movie “United 93,” a reenactment of the events of 9/11, told from the perspective of airplane passengers who managed to take control of a commercial airliner from terrorist hijackers, with the intention of crashing the plane into the Pentagon. Several survivors of the actual event played themselves in the film.
When it comes to comedies, Gunn enjoyed Preston Sturges’ 1944 satire “Hail the Conquering Hero,” a movie about a soldier who fortunately avoids service during World War II due to hayfever, but whose mother believes he had served overseas. He has to feign only a little bit of valor when he returns home. Gunn also liked Lukas Moodysson’s 2000 comedy “Together,” a satire designed to mock ’70s Communist communes, which were common in Sweden during that decade. The film features a debate about whether washing dishes is considered bourgeois.
Credit: www.slashfilm.com
