Roxanne Downer

I wasn’t allowed to go to the movies as a little girl. Without going into too much detail, my mom had some pretty devout beliefs that made most movies off-limits. So naturally, film (especially the kinds that mom would hate) became one of my enduring loves. I snuck into my fair share of age-inappropriate movies (Dirty Dancing at age 9, Basic Instinct at age 13, just to name a couple) and procured a secret rental card from the neighborhood video store, which I used mostly for 1950′s musicals and anything starring Eric Roberts.

Eventually, mom loosened up. I started to act in high school and declared a theatre major in college.

These days, I get to practice my (other) lifelong love affair as a New York City-based freelance writer, covering luxury lifestyle and finance. My film tastes have matured to include art-house, indie, and foreign films as well as the traditional dramas, comedies, and thrillers. But I do still indulge in age-inappropriate movies (don’t ask how many times I’ve seen Power Rangers: The Movie), a good onscreen musical, and a cheesy B-action flick from time to time.

I guess I’d classify my favorite movies as the ones that I can watch time and again — whenever they’re on cable or I’ve got time to kill and a functioning DVD player — and will always make me feel as I did the first time I saw them. Included among those are:

- Pretty Woman
- The Breakfast Club
- Gone With the Wind
- The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day
- To Sir, With Love
- Kiss Me, Kate
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
- Run Lola Run
- The Usual Suspects

For the movies I dislike, the definition is a little more nebulous. I have to borrow from Supreme Court judge, Potter Stewart and say, “I know it when I see it.” And I know that these are pretty terrible:

- Star Wars (every single last one of them)
- The Pledge
- Schulze Gets the Blues
- Hellboy
- Girl, Interrupted
- Syriana

Caveat emptor: I readily admit to biases in favor of Cate Blanchett, James McAvoy and, yes, Eric Roberts and AGAINST Rosario Dawson and Sean Connery. I know he’s Bond but no matter what movie he’s in, he’s always playing Sean Connery. And playing yourself in every movie only works if you’re Denzel Washington.