Advise and Consent, 1962
Amadeus, 1984
Anne of the Thousand Days, 1969
At Play in the Fields of the Lord, 1991
A Beautiful Mind, 2001
Becket, 1964
Beetlejuice, 1988
Beloved, 1998
Ben Hur, 1959
The Big Country, 1958
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969
The Color Purple, 1985
Contact, 1997
The Crucible, 1996
Cyrano de Bergerac, 1950
Dances With Wolves, 1990
The Dead Zone, 1983
Dirty Dancing, 1987
Doctor Zhivago, 1965
The Education of Little Tree, 1997
A Few Good Men, 1992
Gaslight, 1944
Ghost, 1990
The Ghost and the Darkness, 1996
Giant, 1956
Gone With the Wind, 1939
Great Balls of Fire, 1989
The Haunting, 1963
The Homecoming, 1971
Iceman, 1984
The Inheritance [TV movie], 1997 (Thomas Gibson, “Hotchner” in “Criminal Minds”, was in this movie. It's based on an early Louisa May Alcott novel.)
Julia, 1977 (About Lillian Hellman, Dashiell Hammett's friend--starring Jane Fonda and V. Redgrave)
Julius Caesar, 1953
The Juror, 1996
Last of the Dogmen, 1995
The Last Samurai, 2003
Legends of the Fall, 1994
A Man For All Seasons, 1966
The Manchurian Candidate, 1962
Meet Joe Black, 1998
Mercury Rising, 1998
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1935
Misery, 1990
My Fair Lady, 1964
Out of Africa, 1985
Places in the Heart, 1984
Rebecca, 1940
The Reivers, 1969
The Robe, 1953
A Room With a View, 1985
The Scarlet Pimpernel, 1934
Seabiscuit, 2003
Searching for Bobby Fischer, 1993
Sense and Sensibility, 1995
The Shadow, 1994
Shakespeare in Love, 1998
The Sixth Sense, 1999
Soylent Green, 1973
Starman, 1984
The Sting, 1973
Sweet Dreams, 1985
A Tale of Two Cities, 1958
The Third Man, 1949
The Thirteenth Warrior, 1999
Thunderheart, 1992
Titanic, 1997
True Grit, 2010
The Uninvited, 1944
The Way We Were, 1973
Wuthering Heights, 1939
***
Notice that I only liked a few movies—The Homecoming (about the Waltons), Soylent Green, The Sting, Julia, and The Way We Were—that were made in the 1970s. And I wasn't wild about any of these except The Homecoming. The best thing about The Sting was Robert Shaw, and Ray Walston reading the racing tape. After 1980, the movie industry got back in the groove.
As for art and cult movies, I don't care for them. Not that I've seen very many. I've seen a little bit of Rashomon and two or three Charlie Chaplin films, and as much of that Crouching Tigers thing as I could see before going to sleep. I loved Groucho Marx and his TV show, and the book Why a Duck?, but the Marx Brothers movies are boring; I'd rather watch the 3 Stooges.
***
UFO Bust: I haven't finished anything. It must be that this cold weather has frozen my sewing machine as well as my camera and printer. The printer rattles and buzzes and spits out blank sheets of paper, and when I ask what's wrong, it says, "Disable wireless." The sewing machine tangles up all the top thread in the bobbin thread. The camera just gives me a blank look.
Book Club Today: At least the Tracker still works (knock on wood).
Friday, January 14, 2011
Some Favorite Movies
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Hey! Don't jinx it!
My favorites in your list:
Beetlejuice
Butch Cassidy et. al.
A Few Good Men
The Ghost and the Darkness
The Sixth Sense
The Sting
True Grit
Movies I would add:
Unforgiven
Jaws
Miller's Crossing
The Incredibles
Casablanca
Master and Commander
The Dark Knight
The Princess Bride
From Dusk 'Till Dawn
Aliens
Terminator 2
Miami Blues
Groundhog Day
My Cousin Vinny
High Fidelity
LA Confidential
Rob Roy
The Silence of the Lambs
Apocalypto
Casablanca & The Princess Bride are the best date movies, bar none. Miami Blues and From Dusk 'Till Dawn top the B-movie list. Apocalypto is not a great movie, but has to rank for "best chase scene." Also, watching it feels like looking back in time.
Unforgiven may be the best movie of all time. Jaws and Casablanca have to rank up there, too.
I know I'm forgetting a lot. I didn't forget the Lord of the Rings movies. They were good, but the acting (particularly in the lead roles) was so god awful. As time makes the special effects less impressive, I think they will slip even further down the list. On the other hand, Aliens and Terminator 2 are not mainly special effects movies - they're great adventures.
I haven't seen Unforgiven, but I've read reviews of it. I believe I would prefer The Outlaw Josie Wayles as the best Clint Eastwood movie. I liked Apocalypto, too. I've tried several times to watch Princess Bride, but I don't get it. Master and Commander was very good, but I still think A Beautiful Mind is Russell Crowe's best to date.
Errrr...what is a date movie? Maybe that's why I can't make no sense of Princess Bride. I don't think I ever saw Casablanca. And if it's one of those Humphrey Bogart jobs, I probably won't ever.
Casablanca is also the best Claude Rains movie. And Unforgiven has at least 4 great actors doing the best work in their careers. Mom, you have to see these movies.
I think Claude Rains was in "The Little Foxes" and/or "Mr. Skeffington" opposite Bette Davis. Both were excellent movies, or I thought so many years ago when I saw them.
I Googled Casablanca, and yes, I did see it a long time ago. I guess it's the best Bogart movie, excepting "The Caine Mutiny." I'll watch it again.
Now I can start browbeating you to watch Unforgiven ...
Take care - Jed
Post a Comment