what i think the campers' four favorites on letterboxd would be:
(long ass textpost warning)
The Land Before Time and Dinosaur (2000) went triple platinum in the bowman household the moment darius turned 5. there was a time where he would watch them almost every weekend. everyone close to darius has been subjected to The Land Before Time at least once and came out emotionally devastated (literally one of the first things darius did when kenji got officially adopted was introduce him to that movie. when it was over, brand put a hand on a teary-eyed kenji's shoulder and said "welcome to the club")
Star Wars has a nostalgia element attached to it, because it was his dad's favorite movie and he got brand really invested in the franchise, so a good portion of holidays during his childhood were spent bingewatching the trilogies. even though he never got the gist of it, he holds that movie close to his heart because it reminds him of his dad and it's something brand and him can share to remember him.
The Lion King helped him out of his identity crisis when he returned to the main land. he was struggling a lot with rejoining society and trying not to worry his mom and brothers with the aftershocks of what he lived in the islands, all while still grieving his dad and his absence being even more obvious once back home. watching that movie with new eyes after everything he'd been through helped him reconcile with who he once was and who he's become.
brooklynn loves His Girl Friday especifically for rosalind russell's character, a woman journalist in the 1940's who's just as enamoured by her profession as she is. the satirical comedy and fast dialogue are just bonuses.
i feel like she would love the Knives Out trilogy, but especially the first one. she loves the way the case is written and finds benoit blanc's character incredibly enjoyable. she's not as fond of the second one, but she really liked the third one
she likes the satirical tone of Heathers. and also winona ryder. side note but i feel she would vibe with the musical.
Lady Bird was a formative experience for 15-year-old brooklynn. she saw a lot of her relationship with her dads on the relationship between christine and her mother, and connected to her longing for independence.
imo she would enjoy Babe because the movie doesn't shy away from showing what the life of an animal in a farm is like and what their fate is. living in a ranch and being around cattle showed her that at a young age, but it's nice to see a movie where that's not the case.
sammy and her sisters watched all the Barbie animated movies together as kids, they loved them and had the whole collection on dvd. even after they've all grown up and life has pulled them apart, they're still something that brings them together.
added @emberphoenixisgoingtolivee's Lilo and Stitch headcanon because it just makes sense. such a family-centered character and the movie with lines like "ohana means family. family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten" and "this is my family. i found it, all on my own. it's little, and broken, but still good". like it feels obvious /gen
sammy LOVES ghibli movies, they bring her an immediate sense of comfort and they're her go-to movies when she's feeling under the weather. her favorite is Kiki's Delivery Service, followed closely by Ponyo.
what do you want to know his favorite movies for. what are you, a cop? /j
zack stentz saying that ben's favorite movie is A Brief History of Time, therefore confirming him as a space nerd, and the show never mentioning that haunts me. i could've had it all.
however, i think if you ask him for his favorite movie, he's more than likely to say How To Train Your Dragon. that movie rocked his world at age 9. he connected a lot with hiccup and his troubled relationship with his father, and, even thought he was slightly afraid of them, wished dragons were real so he could have one as a friend. the world wasn't that far off when granting him his wish.
he's the type of space nerd that's VERY passionate about scientific accuracy in sci-fi (he cannot stand star wars or star trek without going on a rant), so when he watched Interstellar and read about the amount of research done for the movie he was delighted.
"or getting tired after reading an overly-thrilling book!" yeah he would've loved The Neverending Story as a kid i have no doubt in my heart.
(couldn't pick one profile picture lol)
Personal Best is about sapphic track runners. genuinely what else does she need to say.
a cousin of hers showed her what Monster High was when she was like 10 and it changed her (for good). her mom never bought her the dolls but she watched all the movies as they came out, even when she was "too old for them".
she loves a good slasher film like Halloween. no, she doesn't feel the same way for the sequels.
the first time yaz watched I Saw The TV Glow, it blew her mind like any good psychological horror. but it wasn't until she watched it again with sammy and ben (transfem and transmasc respectively) that she understood just how deep the movie was.
he's not a big marvel fan, but he really enjoys the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. he says it's because of the vibes and the soundtrack, but everyone knows it's because of the found family element.
i will push the "kenji kon is a Doctor Who fan" agenda as much as i can, i'm so serious about this. and of course his favorite is tennant (basic /J)
The Princess Bride is here because 1) i think he would've enjoyed it as a kid, and 2) the memeable moments. some mornings he jumps whoever's in the kitchen at the moment, grabs a wooden spoon and says "my name is inigo montoya. you killed my father. prepare to die". a comfort pick.
The Holdovers, yet another found family movie because he's a sucker for these things. was pissed at the main character for more than half of the movie until the scene at the principal's office.
