In honor of Johnny Depp’s birthday today I tried to narrow down my five favorite Depp films. It was tough folks.

Here we go…

Edward Scissorhands

Johnny Depp becomes a lovable man-creature in Tim Burton’s modern day fairy tale Edward Scissorhands. I think this is the role where Depp stood out from most actors of the time, securing his place as the best character actor in Hollywood. Did you know Tom Cruise could have been Edward Scissorhands? Rumor has it Cruise turned it down. Thank goodness Burton met Depp.

Let’s watch as Arsenio Hall asks them a few questions about the movie.

Cry Baby

Oh that single salty tear! Cry Baby cry!

I grew up listening to Elvis Presley & Ricky Nelson so when I saw Depp as a swooning bad boy heartthrob I was in love. Johnny lip synched in this movie, James Intveld supplied his sexy singing voice. Johnny Depp did dance though and that’s good enough for me.

Pirates of the Caribbean

I remember the day I stepped out of a movie into the foyer and noticed a movie poster of Captain Jack’s face under the title Pirates of the Caribbean. Imagining my favorite actor meshed with my favorite Disneyland ride was too much for my Pop Culture Syndrome mind to handle.

I’m not the only one, look at this fan video of Johnny as Captain Jack saying hi to some eager fans. Can you imagine this happening to you every time you went to work?

Oh no only two more left. Like I said, tough folks. Depp is getting closer to 50, and so is the amount of films he’s made. I don’t like every movie he’s been involved in. Let’s take Private Resort for instance. Let’s not. Instead we’ll move on to number 4 on my list.

Sweeney Todd

Unlike the movie Cry Baby, Depp does sing in this one and he isn’t half bad. I love the soundtrack too.

Like most Burton/Depp creations this movie has enough humor to balance out the film. Some people don’t think they can handle Sweeney Todd because of all the blood and gore. I say give it a try because it really is a bloody good time.

Whenever I need a laugh, I watch this interview.

Trying to pick one last film is nearly impossible because I like so many. I went back and forth many times, but because I said Five Fave, I’m sticking to the plan.

Benny & Joon

You can tell Depp is a young actor in this film but you can also see how much he is getting into his role without being serious about it. Some say his interest in silent movies and use of his “acting eyes” came from preparing for this role.

Johnny Depp had to watch a lot of Charlie Chaplin to get this one right.

Remember this is just 5 of my favorite Depp films. My list could go on and on. Can you narrow down five favorites?

Back in the 80’s day, there was a song called Five Minutes of Funk by Whodini. It wasn’t very funky, but it was five minutes of a great rap/ hip hop tune.
I caught myself singing the lyrics to 5 Minutes of Funk the other day, which led to the idea of 5 Videos of Funk. For those of you not familiar with Funk as a music genre let’s get a breakdown from Wikipedia:

“Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground. Funk songs are often based on an extended vamp on a single chord, distinguishing it from R&B and soul songs centered around chord progressions….
…many of the most famous bands in the genre also played disco and soul extensively. Funk music was a major influence on the development of disco music and afrobeat, and funk samples have been used extensively in genres including hip hop, house music and drum and bass. It is also the main influence of go-go, a subgenre associated with funk.”—Wikipedia

As Whodini would say, “…separate the good stuff from the junk…” Here are 5 of my favorite funky videos:

I play this video whenever someone gets on my nerves. It helps me remember how to behave on this planet. The YAY at the end of this video & The Dating Game style groovy music is fun too!

I love this video, not only because the Ohio Players really know how to get funky, but because Wolfman Jack introduces them.

If we’re gonna get funky, we’ve got to Get Down with the Soul Train dancers.

It’s not only the guys that can get down and get funky. Here’s Chaka Khan with Rufus telling us something good.

Good God! Give us those funky horns! James Brown says… “Get Up Offa That Thing”

Remember these are 5 of MY favorite funk videos. What funky songs get you up offa that thing?

 Rochelle

Chris Rock had a show loosely based on his real life family and the character named Rochelle is his mother in Everybody Hates Chris. You can watch the show via Nick at Nite, click here for more info.

I was searching the HIH archives looking for an HIH rerun to share when I stumbled on this one from last year’s first weekend of summer. Perfect fit since it’s the first official weekend after the Summer Solstice of 2009. Also a perfect fit because I mention Jeff Goldblum who was recently in the news with an internet death hoax. Click here to read more. Thank goodness Jeff is fine in Los Angeles.

 I was cruising the internet late Saturday night and stopped by moviefone.com. Since this is the first official weekend of summer I found their Summer Movie Guide and had fun checking out lists dedicated to the sun and fun season. From summer comedies to summer chick flicks, and an info packed roll call of The Biggest Summer Openings, I soaked up the movie trailers, photos, and box office earnings information.

With trivial overload my mind was jolted into wondering what my personal favorite summer movie of all time is. Since I can never pick just one of anything, here are a few of my favorites:

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

So this was the film that gave me JDOCD, otherwise known as Johnny Depp Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The merging of my favorite Disneyland park ride with the charisma of Captain Jack Sparrow was too much for my system to handle. Like so many in the world, I was altered by this amazing merger and very happy because of it. Of course I like the last two Pirates movies, but the novelty of the first one can’t be beat. Captain Jack Sparrow coming into port on his sinking ship, I mean boat, is probably the best scene of any summer adventure.

Jurassic Park

I remember the hype and excitement about this film in 1993. How time flies, aye? Fifteen years ago I was nice and cool in the comfort of a movie theater, devouring artificially buttered popcorn and Cherry Coke. This was the perfect summer blockbuster for the big screen. Action, comedy, landmark computer generated animation, special effects and being directed by Steven Spielberg helped add this one to my summer favorites. How many summer hits can one man create?
There are rumors buzzing that 2009 might bring with it a Jurassic Park IV. For those of you involved in the making of this film try to grab some DNA from the original and make sure Jeff Goldblum is in it too. What is Jeff Goldblum up to these days? I’ll leave that for another insightful blog post.

Jaws

According to Wikipedia, Jaws is regarded as a watershed film in motion picture history, the father of the summer blockbuster movie and one of the first “high concept” films.

I was only five years old when this movie hit the screen and I watched with my eyes closed and hands over my ears for more than half the film. I wasn’t nice and cool in a movie theater for this one, instead I was wearing my footed jammies, all cuddled up in the family station wagon at the Drive-In theater. Ahh, the days of snack bar intermissions and the real Coca Cola! Good times!

So what’s your favorite summer movie of all time? Okay, you don’t have to pick only one. What are a few of your favorite summer movies?