What are your top five movies and what makes them great as a movie, plus why they're special to you?
I don’t like to show favouritism, so I’ll just list 5 of my faves at random:
1) How to Train Your Dragon - They managed to take a story we’ve seen/heard a million times before and make it fresh, with beautiful animation, great characters and an amazing soundtrack. Plus, it set my dream to become an animator in gear.
2) Guardians of the Galaxy - It’s the perfect blend of action and comedy, while also adding some drama. And it is one of the very few movies I can watch over and over again and I’ll never get tired of it.
3) How to Train Your Dragon 2 - A sequel that does what every sequel should do: expand on the story. It’s still fun, heartfelt and action-packed like the first film and it isn’t afraid to take on some serious subjects (war, death, etc.) which I really admire. I love it because it proves that when DreamWorks wants to be dramatic/dark, they can go the extra mile.
4) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - While I enjoy both this and "Rise" equally, this one really sticks with me. I love the complexity of Koba’s character, I love Caesar’s development and I love how they managed to make the almost-silent apes the most interesting characters of the film.
5) Tarzan - It’s a childhood favourite and to this day, I’m still engrossed with the animation and the music. There are lots of movies that remind me of my youth, but this one - along with “The Little Mermaid” and “Toy Story" - outshines the rest.