Cameron Crowe’s Films, in Order of Quality (Objective), Worst to Best

7.) We Bought a Zoo

6.) Elizabethtown

5.) Vanilla Sky

4.) Singles

3.) Jerry Maguire

2.) Say Anything…

1.) Almost Famous

"I've always been able to do this, break up with someone and never look back. Being Un Gajje: there's a certain dignity to it." (photo from stereogum.com)

Cameron Crowe’s Films, in Order of Preference (Subjective), Least to Most Favorite

7.) We Bought a Zoo- And here’s the big drop. So far away in quality from the preceding six films, I’m tempted (but not hacky enough) to label it with a much larger number to convey my point. For Crowe, a bizarre entry that seems to suggest he forgot all he heretofore demonstrated he knew about real human feeling.

6.) Vanilla Sky- I’d argue that this is actually a very good movie full of big crazy ideas. Unfortunately, it’s also a bit sterile and that what puts it low on the list. Still would recommend.

5.) Elizabethtown- It’s sweet. It’s poppy. I recognize it does not really work and it is a bit too fantastical and not on purpose, but it makes me bounce along with it just enough.

4.) Jerry Maguire- Arguably his biggest reach for mainstream success and populism entertainment, it still has a beating heart under its loud catchphrase spouting exterior. It sometimes gets a bit too mired in the melodrama, but the moments it hits authentic emotions…they crush.

3.) Singles- Maybe it is nostalgia for a grunge scene that I never directly experienced. Maybe it is because Seattle is a great place. I don’t know. I just know that even now, in my mid 30’s so probably 7 or 8 years removed from the protagonists’ ages, and long married…even now, I feel connected to the characters.

2.) Almost Famous- Cameron Crowe gets music better than I do. He understands it more and, I think, loves it more. But I still recognize that love for something that can’t love you back (because it’s just a thing) in myself. It is one of those movies that makes my heart feel like it is swelling as I watched it.

1.) Say Anything…- My wife and I’s first bonding moment came about because a mutual love of this movie. It’d probably be my favorite even if that weren’t the case. But it is the case, so, there you go.

"We are Un Gajje. We carry on." (photo from welcometoladyville.com) — "We are Un Gajje. We carry on." (photo from welcometoladyville.com)