Media that inspires me, media that helps me write

I love movies. They have drawn my bloodless imagination into a whole new ocean of emotions, ideas and inspiration.

Here’s an expansive collection of all media that inspired me, including movies and TV. I’ll just have a short description as to why. If you want to make a similar list, definitely link it in my comments.

Movies & TV (this includes children’s movies and cartoons and any genre)

Hugo: an unpretentious love letter to storytelling, movies and crafting art I love it

Princess Tutu: a sweet, unique and musical magical girl anime that I enjoy, its style of narration is interesting as the “author” is trapped in the story itself.

War of The Worlds: I just recently rewatched this one with Tom Cruise. It kinda scared me lol, I really enjoyed it a lot.

The Lion King (the original cartoon): Beautiful, detailed and emotionally compelling characters in a gorgeously animated film. The scenes of nature, especially transition shot of African rain that follows Rafiki and his tree home: just gorgeous with sweeping music.

Piano Lesson: damn this was just intricately and delicately crafted into one of the most intense films I ever watched.

Lord of The Rings: Peter Jackson’s opus. Love all these films but it takes so long to finish watching them all!

The Prince of Egypt: mesmerizing artful film that is emotionally resonant to me in many ways, for my Jewish heritage and appreciating Biblical history

Get Out: amazing modern horror that inspires me to write about memory and trauma

Babe: this family film is truly a genius, heartwarming masterpiece! I really love the nostalgia from this one!!

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: this Disney movie was so ahead of its time. Absolutely gorgeous visuals, viscerally emotional music, excellent storytelling and deeply drawn out characters. I often watch this one just for its beauty and sweeping music.

Homeward Bound: I find this one so deeply engrained in my childhood memory that it feels lived in. Love that ending reveal, tears every time!

Pearl: love this one, the music and more intentional and not overuse of violence

Ever After: inspired me with many characters and love the music

Sinners: Michael B Jordan was stellar in this truly dark and unique vampire movie. I really love this one!

West Side Story: love this musical and my son and I love to watch it together

Metropolis by Fritz Lang: fantasy and romance and science fiction meshed with insane visuals, amazing music!

One Flew Over The Cukoo’s Nest: my dad and I’s favorite movie to watch, the ending is so satisfying and brilliant. A testament to the human spirit.

May: Angela Bettis shines in this indie horror movie. I love the soundtrack too. The Kelley Deal 6000 is fantastic. Kim Deals vocals are my favorite part.

Paper Moon: inspired me to write my book The Half Paper Moon. Has carnival elements 😍and exceptional acting

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972): this inspired me in many ways in regard to science, dysfunctional relationships and human behavior.

The Brave Little Toaster: This is a gem. Definitely recommend. A nostalgic childhood classic.

Paper House: this is a surreal, beautiful and unique movie, it inspired me to write fears in a more surreal sense.

Pan’s Labyrinth: gorgeous, horrifying and brilliant movie! Love the music too

Nightmare on Elm Street(original): campy, fun, gory and funny 😁 I like the original horror series like Dream Warriors!!

The Florida Project: definitely a winner in my book. The ending, got me choked up!

The Lobster, Poor things, Dog Tooth and The Favorite by Yorgos Lanthimos: these films are gut wrenching, viscerally painful, grotesque and raw films that I really found deeply disturbing yet healing inspired writing in.

Melancholia and Nymphomaniac by Lars Von Trier: just painful to watch. Very painful. Brilliantly executed but full of lawless self-pity and grandiose characters.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me: damn this is a crazy one. Acting is stellar here. It’s a dark place to be in when you watch a David Lynch film. I love it.

Waitress(Keri Russell)- beautiful feature of food, freedom, love and peace. Music is really beautiful too. Keri is also pretty in this, and gives a deep performance.

Tommy Boy: my family loves this movie. I do too. Funny, heartfelt and sweet. I always love the wing scene the most. He gets his wings!

Legally Blonde: my guilty pleasure movie. It inspires me to be more confident and less doubtful of myself.

The Royal Tenenbaums: richly diverse character driven story with beautiful cinematography and fantastic music.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: a favorite of mine by Wes Anderson. A exceptional performance by all actors. Love it, so inspirational to me.

Moonrise Kingdom: a really intense and unique film. Very inspirational to me!!

The Little Princess (with Liesel Matthews): one of the most beautiful children’s movies. I love the music, cinematography and look of this film! I’ll watch this when I want to draw out my old feelings into new ones. I truly find the soundtrack just as inspiring as the film.

The Land Before Time: A sentimental masterpiece. This is a heartbreaking and heartwarming piece of art.

Trolls (yes all of the Trolls movies!): I like them. They’re fun and colorful and I enjoy it.

Rugrats: the original one was so good, showcasing the extraordinary power of imagination.

Hey Arnold!: what a brilliant and thoughtful TV Show. It shows poverty, neighborhood violence and trauma in realistic ways. Great vibes, great characters, excellent writing.

Lost: Character driven brilliance with science fiction and fantasy elements tied up in a strangely complex and religious narrative. -Walkabout is my favorite episode.

Breaking Bad: Evil people justify doing evil things. lol. I do love this show. Excellent writing, acting and directing. The last episode & Green Light: wow

Bojack Horseman: some of the best character driven writing I’ve ever seen. Truly an amazing show. I love it. “Stupid piece of shit,” what a brilliant episode.

My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, Spirted Away and Howl’s Moving Castle: all extremely gorgeous and beautifully executed films. These are all a huge source of my inspiration and my children grew up watching them.

Let The Right One in: A Swedish vampire horror film. This one inspired me greatly in the field of horror.

Infection by Masayuki Ochiai: a brilliant Japanese horror film that I definitely enjoyed watching with an inspiring spirit.

Frances Ha: a great movie to leave in the background and watch for its asthetic, vibes and humor. I love this one. I don’t care if anyone says it is pretentious. I agree. But I still enjoy it anyway.

The Color Purple (with Whoopi Goldberg): damn this movie always hits hard. I cry pretty much every time I watch this, multiple times. This inspires me with every wretched and twisted feeling I have inside.

Amelie: this movie is darling, genius and just one of the best films ever.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day: The best science fiction physical effects I’ve seen in any film or tv series, period. A huge inspiration of many genres in my opinion!

Menace II society: some of the best acting in any film I’ve ever seen. The movie is a masterpiece.

Friday: this is hilarious, well written and a great ending! Love this one for a Sunday to chill and enjoy.

Pretty Woman: obsessed!!! 😍

Seinfeld: funny show about nothing. Great to watch when you want to laugh and get ordinary dialogue.

Pulp Fiction: the out of order scenes in this glorious epic film is one of my favorites in terms of writing inspiration.

Reservoir Dogs: a movie that has no extra fat. Every scene works and is needed. A great example of excellent storytelling.

Inglorious Basterds: some of the best villian characters ever created. I love this one!

Kill Bill vol 1 and vol 2: a great, simple revenge story. Great visuals, storytelling and characters. I use the soundtrack for both films as a huge inspiration for my writing and work.

I’m thinking of ending things: a mind boggling work of insane genius.

Phantom Thread: the rich, velvety overtones of the secret, dark and mysterious world behind the two main characters is a whirlwind of madness, violence and chaos. This inspires me to write about the darkness of all men.

The Birdcage: hilarious and outrageous. My mom introduced me to it. I also love watching it with my son.

Steven Universe: a really nostalgic show that I watched with my son. Great music and interesting characters but the storyline is a little weak. Still recommend! The music is what inspired me here.

Adventure Time: I’d say this is the best kid’s show. Ever. Some of the best character writing, storylines, emotionally heart wrenching and just a brilliant show.

Rocky Horror Picture Show: a great movie that is campy, fun, weird and queer. My mom also introduced this to me.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972 film): also, another film my mom and I watched together. Brilliant acting!!

Ok KO!: a cute kid’s show my son and I loved to watch!

The Man Show: I used to watch this on cable when I was teenager late at night. I resonated with the male perspective.

La Strada by Federico Fellini: I have love for circus and carnival themes. This is truly a masterpiece.

My Dinner with Andre: Truly a classic with excellent dialogue that is thought provoking and compelling.

Toy Story: just nostalgic. I still enjoy it.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie: like a stage play on lsd and crack. Great social commentary on societal classes, rich and poor, revenge and corruption.

Ingmar Bergman(all his films): this is my absolute, hands down favorite director. Everything he has made is brilliant. Scenes from a Marriage, To Joy, Winter Light. Just some of the best films on humanity, life and death and religious philosophy I’ve ever seen.

The Ballad of Narayama: really fascinating and terrifying film.

Ikiru by Akira Kurosawa: a visionary of social commentary, brilliantly executed!

Jurassic Park: the best kind of nostalgia in a great movie.

Beetlejuice: great visual gags, great acting and cool characters. Horror and humor mix well here.

Edward Scissorhands and Big Fish: Burton’s best films. The aesthetic and storytelling of these films are just unmatched in their originality and depth. Also Big Fish has lots of carnival scenes and I love that.

Some media that gave me an existential crisis and terrified me:

(Twilight Zone episode) An Occurrence on Oak creek bridge: Nope. Never. Uh uh. The existential question of mortality in this one is too much for me.

Lost Horizon: can’t. Never. Hated it, I sobbed in terror of the one scene when they left paradise and the woman looked back (they were told to never look back) and she turned old & into dust.

Grave of the Fireflies: absolutely heart wrenching and destroyed me.

AI (Steven Spielberg): the ending had me traumatized and devastated after me and my mom left the theater.

Ok, that’s enough for now. I might add more later if I remember one, ha.

I’ll do another list for music and books next!