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For Matt Walsh, some movies are linked forever with the place and time he saw them. They never stop evoking fond memories of who he was, and who he was with, when he saw them.
Case in point, speaking to the three films on his shortlist: โI saw โFiddler on the Roofโ on a church retreat when I was in high school. I saw โReturn of the Pink Pantherโ with my father. And โThis Is Spinal Tap,โ I was with one of my first comedy troupes. So theyโre very imprinted on me.โ
But he looks at his children, and realizes that this type of experience is gone for them.
Watching the original โStar Warsโ trilogy with them, he was startled during โThe Empire Strikes Backโ when his son said, โCan you pause and rewind that?โ
โThat made me think, like, โOh, I waited summer after summer for these things to come out and you could never pause them.โ You had to wait a year to next summer to see these things. I also remember plotting a year in advance, then watching it raptly โcause you knew you werenโt going to [go] back, unless you bought another ticket. Now you can go โLetโs watch the first one now.โโ
โFiddler on the Roofโ impressed Walsh with its mix of musical comedy and serious drama. โI love characters that talk to God. Any movie where a guy is telling jokes to God, or just having a conversation with the heavens, Iโm a sucker for that.โ
โโFiddlerโ is very serious and then thereโs these boisterous, rowdy songs. Keeping that continuity so you donโt leave behind what youโve created, but also letting these songs live in their own world. I think itโs a juggling act, directing a musical.โ
By contrast, โThe Return of the Pink Pantherโ has no such dramatic side. His synopsis: โItโs Peter Sellers doing slapstick for an hour and a half, or two hours. Thatโs what itโs about,โ says Walsh. โI love the silliness of the Pink Panther films, because itโs almost like silent movie stuff.โ
It was a film he originally saw on video, and it was his father who chose it, showing on VHS in their living room in Illinois. โIt was kind of a neat thrill for my father to share an actor he loved. I have a very warm memory of that.โ
He loves โThis Is Spinal Tapโ in part because it essentially invented the mockumentary. โThey discovered something that hadnโt really been unpacked and discovered, and thatโs whatโs really beautiful about that movie.โ
He also loves the improvised comedy in the film. โItโs really seamless. Obviously, the documentary style lends itself to improvising, because it feels raw and natural and sort of messy. But it’s obviously very well structured, and it succeeds in aping a genre.โ
โWhen youโre saying lines for the first time, or riffing off what your partner in the scene gave you, you can almost feel that quality acting happening, because itโs real. I think thereโs something very special about capturing authentic discovery and real reaction in the moment. I think thatโs what improv gives you.โ
To watch Walshโs โmemorable moviesโ — โFiddler on the Roof,โ โThe Return of the Pink Panther,โ and โThis Is Spinal Tapโ* — as well as other movies like these, start your Tribeca Shortlist free, seven-day trial here.
*Titles subject to availability
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