At one stage my cousins and him were discussing Al Pacino and someone (I forget who now) wanted to know what films he was in. The Film Geek rattled off a few, and I added Dog Day Afternoon, which made him turn to me and say, 'You must be a bit of a film buff, huh?'
'I like films.'
'To reference Dog Day Afternoon, though, you gotta fancy films a bit.'
I just shrugged. It's an old film, made before Pacino started chewing on the scenery, and not a bad one at that, but it hardly rocks my world. If anything, I like the title more than I like the actual film, and if I could, I'd steal it.
'So what's your favourite film then?' he asks. 'I got a theory that everyone's favourite film says something about them.'
'I dunno, I like a lot of films--I don't really go for that favourite thing.'
'You must have one.'
I hate those kinds of questions--there's more to the world than one kind of film, and more than one kind of opinion, and I always struggle to find a way to explain without coming across like an arrogant shit. Eventually, I said, 'I like Jim Jarmusch films.'
'The black and white one with Johnny Depp?"
'Yeah, but Mystery Train and Ghost Dog are the ones I like the most.'
'That French speaking shit in Ghost Dog sucked--that film sucked.'
'So what's your favourite film?'
I figured he had an answer and he did, real quick: 'Fight Club.'
The first word in my head was 'dilettante', so I suppose he was right about his theory that favourite films say something about you.
