Alex Delany is one of the funniest people I have ever met. Mainly because of his dry delivery and matter-of-fact story telling style, dropping gems on me at a moment’s notice: “I once rode my bike to New Jersey to get a free route canal from my friend’s uncle. Yup. I was pretty broke”. He’s also got the best outlook on things in general: a perfect balance of laissez-faire aloofness and unflinching determination. And then there is Delany’s wardrobe. He’s the only guy I know that can successfully rock 3X sized Chinatown t-shirts, basketball shorts without a court in site, and most recently, a denim baseball cap embroidered with the American flag. #swag. Delany is one of my besties and he’s also my partner in an awesome new website we’re cooking up (deets soon!). And in case you were wondering his spirit animal is a koala bear. Here in no particular order is Alex’s The Perfect Ten.
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
On my school bus there were a whole bunch of kids named the “Bettencourts”. One of them brought in bloody antlers and frog eyes in a bag of water for show and tell. This movie reminds me of all the kids on the bus, the tortured and the torturers. Kids are crazy.
The Truman Show (1998)
Jim Carrey all serious and vulnerable. Laura Linney gets creepy. I love Truman’s paranoia and the studio in the moon.
Super Troopers (2001)
Mind blowing intro. I wanted these guys to make another hit, but they haven’t yet.
Bring It On (2000)
The Step Up movies are all handheld with quick cuts which is boring compared to the totally insane, made for camera choreography in Bring It On. I saw this on my year off from college and was so pumped up by the dance sequences and ridiculous depiction of high school that I dragged a bunch of male friends to the theater with big, big promises. They were REALLY mad at me afterwards. So it’s not for everyone but I think it’s GREAT. I even owned it on DVD for a sec. *Editor’s note: Step Up 3-D, see it.
Raising Arizona (1987)
I know Nick Cage is polarizing and lots of people can’t stand him (*ahem, Shanny) but I don’t think there should be any disagreements about this movie. Maybe my favorite Cohen Bros movie of them all. I also liked him in Bad Lieutenant and that YouTube video of him going nuts.*Editor’s note: Delany, you know my feelings about the Ragin’ Cage but there is something about his character and look in this film that I love.
Serial Mom (1994)
Kathleen Turner’s voice rules. Ricky Lake rules. John Waters and that guy from Scream too.
Donnie Darko (2001)
I remember when my friend was like “everyone in New York is really into this movie about a psycho bunny”. This was when I was living in Rhode Island and I was like “NEW YORK WOAHHH!!!!” *Editor’s note: One of my favorites and well and has a killer soundtrack!
Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Every holiday, this movie is at the core of my entire extended family experience. It’s very close to my heart.
Rushmore (1998)
Rushmore on your top ten list like admitting you listened to Phish, which is fine with me.
Wayne’s World (1992)
Big big impact here.*Editor’s note: Schwing!
Alex Delany is an video editor living in New York. Some of his videos can be seen here. He enjoys the internet and recently made this pyramid, a hilarious experiment in mechanical turk crowd sourcing. He is also a Mephisto enthusiast and a huge Lil Wayne fan.
Space out to his site here: http://www.alexdelany.com and stay tuned for our almost-not-secret web collaboration of epic proportions.
The Perfect Ten is a weekly series of top ten lists by friends of I Love Hot Dogs.
