Finally, a prompt I was MADE FOR.

1) Jurassic Park – My favorite movie of all time, bar none. Every single time I watch this movie I’m transported to my childhood. In that way, it helps remind me of what is important as a creator. At the very least, I know that I need to make at least ONE movie that gives some other kid that same kind of childlike wonder. It’s a groundbreaking film in a lot of respects, and I’ve devoured all the BTS articles and videos about it as well. I keep a running list of ‘once a year movies’ – movies I make myself watch once a year for inspiration. The last time I watched Jurassic Park I was in a really low spot in a lot of ways, but especially creatively. As soon as John Hammond says ‘Welcome…to Jurassic Park’ tears welled up in my eyes – and I don’t know what came over me but I instinctively went and grabbed my laptop. I opened up Final Draft (screenwriting software) and typed up a first draft for a short film that I’d had percolating in my brain for 6 years but never got around to writing. That’s the power of this movie for me.

2) Good Will Hunting – This is another one where the mythos of the film brings it up the rankings. Knowing that this was Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s first screenplay they ever wrote and they won the Oscar for it was a giant influence on my life when I first started this journey. I took a picture of them on stage after winning, blew it up at Walmart, and added the words ‘anything is possible’ to the bottom of the picture and I hung it up in my room from 2013-2015. I read the oral history of the film and fell even more in love with everything about it. And then the coup de grace – Robin Williams. When I first fell in love with this movie, I realized that Robin had won the Oscar for his performance and I recognized the immense value that he brought to the production. Then he passed away, and the performance became all the more heartbreaking. His park bench scene was the first monologue I ever memorized. I just watched this movie over the weekend and I was a bawling mess by the end of it. Robin – I miss ya terribly, chief.

3) Kal Ho Naa Ho – This movie probably was the single biggest influence on my personality other than my brother and my mother. Aman Mathur the character was everything I wanted to be – funny, charming, handsome, but also? A unifier. He brought so many people together in that movie, which to me was so admirable. He was so selfless in bringing everyone together and made sure he was there for everyone he was close to. It will forever and ever be my favorite Bollywood movie of all time.

4) Lion King (1993) – When I go do karaoke, Lion King is the first thing I look for. I know all the words to all the songs, and I sing them in the characters voices. I remember going to a friends house for a movie night when I was in high school and this was the movie all of us picked, which gave our parents a good chuckle. Favorite Disney movie ever and nothing really comes close.

5) La La Land – Watching this movie the year after I moved to LA was such a trip. I saw it three times in theater. I know all the issues with this movie, but they usually concern Ryan Goslings storyline. I love this movie for my celebrity crush Emma Stone’s story and that’s it. I mean, we’ve all seen the scene right? It taught me so much about the business before I really even got my feet wet. Also, the song ‘Engagement Party’ from that soundtrack is one of my never-skip songs. It feels both incredibly melancholic yet celebratory at the same time.

6) Inglorious Basterds – My favorite Tarantino movie. I love seeing Nazis get killed. What a great cast of characters. The Christoph Waltz scene at the beginning is such a masterclass in filmmaking. But mostly, I love seeing Nazis get killed.

7) Chinatown – Not a movie that everyone I know even knows about let alone puts in their top 10, Chinatown is a very interesting movie in my life. I first heard about it because it dominates every list of ‘best screenplays in history’ so I gave it a watch when I first moved to LA. I fell asleep. Then I watched it again and I was like ‘oh, this is a good movie, I get it now.’ Then I watched it a third time and was like ‘holy SHIT now I get why the screenplay gets so much hype.’ Then I learned about the behind the scenes of the movie, and where the story came from – and let me tell you this movie has dominated my LIFE ever since. I learned about the LA Water Wars, the long history of the LA River, and became engrossed in the history of LA. It actually helped me get over my homesickness because I found things to care about in the City of Angels. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you I’m a big LA River nut. The ONLY reason for that is Chinatown.

8) The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame – I’m cheating and putting all of these together. I watched the first Avengers movie 6 times in theaters. To me, it changed the meaning of superhero movies even more than Nolan’s Dark Knight did. I never knew superheroes could be that funny. And then the way they built the universe to unite the original 6 – what a groundbreaking concept that was. Infinity War is probably the best movie in the entire MCU and Endgame was such a great ribbon to tie up that first saga. Damn, this makes me want to re-watch them.

9) The Godfather – I know I know, this is so low. I love this movie so much. SO so much. I watch it once a year as well. I remember it actually re-released in theaters last year for its 50th anniversary and I took my friend Tanvir to see it because he had never seen it before. Watching him watch that movie told me everything I needed to know – this movie will stand the test of time. Incredible filmmaking.

10) Burn After Reading – Took me a while to come up with #10, but Burn After Reading is another movie that I watch every year. Brad Pitt’s best performance. A plot that really doesn’t go anywhere, which is honestly one of the things I love about it. Underrated Coen Brothers gem. Watching Brad Pitt say ‘that’s the shit’ over and over again. Or saying ‘appearances…can be deceptive.’ Or that dumbass face he makes before he gets shot. The fact that they got these movie stars in this movie to be complete dummies or assholes is such a lesson to me as an actor. When you get a chance to work with a funny script with some of your buddies from the industry, you take it. 11 times out of 10.