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Favorite movies of all time:
(in no particular order, except for the first....)
These are not all necessarily GREAT
movies, but they're the ones I love to watch again and again (except Schindler's
List, which I can't watch again at all....)
The links here are to the
Internet
Movie Database -- they
give full cast credits as well as production notes -- a terrrrrriffffffic resource
for movie lovers....
be patient while the posters and photos load...
Lynn's
List:
(These links will take you down the page....)
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Some Like it Hot
Greatest comedy script ever written -- Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond were the writers;
starring Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis -- in drag -- and Marilyn Monroe, and the greatest
cast of character actors ever put together for the St. Valentine's Massacre.... A
movie with a punchline --magnificent.
You can also read my favorite Some
LIke It Hot memories here.
The Godfather, I
and II
Probably the best crafted movie since Citizen
Kane -- and with a story that feels like its about US. Most memorable image in film
history -- the final shot in the first Godfather, where Michael is seen in the office,
accepting pliants as his father had -- and the closing door.... And absolutely the
best sequel ever made. It is almost as great a piece of filmmaking as the original.
The chronologically edited "Godfather Saga" is also worth the trouble --
after you've seen the two individually.
To Catch a Thief
A mature and incredibly romantic Cary Grant. My first love....
Schindler's List
Hard to watch, but you're a better person for it. This is one of those movies that
will change your life. And you won't mind. Ultimately, it's about the grace and greatness
of the human spirit.
Shall We Dance?
Astaire and Rogers. Pretty, fluffy, cute, and romantic. Ahhhhh.
Il Postino
Sweet and sad -- but the story of the actor playing the postman is more tragic than
the story in the film. Both will break your heart.
Philadelphia Story
More fluff, but fast, funny, and sharp
as a tack type of fluff. Great dialogue and great performances.
Regarding Henry
Harrison Ford is always worth the price of a ticket, but this one will make you cry,
too. Can't do better than that.
Monkey Business
One of the best lines in movie history. Charles Coburn hands a stack of papers to
his secretary, Marilyn Monroe, and says -- "go find somebody to type this...."
No illusions about why she got the job.
Key Largo
Any chance to see Boggey and his bride is
worth it -- but the sets on this one are a treat, too. A hurricane to remember. Great,
great movie.
Grease
My nominee for best fluff in the universe. And no wonder Travolta became a star....
Arsenic and Old Lace
Oh, just funny and funnier. And a look at a time and a place that doesn't exist anymore.
Witness
My nominee for best dance between non-dancers in a movie. "don't know much about
history --- don't know much biology..." Don't kid yourself.
Wings of Desire
Well, this is another one of those movies that changed my life. The art of it will
take your breath away. Not to mention the idiosyncratic romance.
The poster (different from the one shown here) for this one has been framed on my wall since the year it opened.
Sabrina
(54)
Sabrina
(95)
Billy Wilder again wrote the story/script -- another Cinderella type. both are wonderful
but in very different ways. You get the feeling that all you have to do is have Harrison
Ford, Cary Grant, or Humphrey Bogart on a poster and it's automatically gonna be
good...
Kagemusha
The nobelest of all Japanese films. This is a "double" or "doppleganger"
story... the world is a different place while you're watching this one.
Blow Out
This is the one that reminded me I love movies. I saw it in it's first run after
not having gone to the movies in years. It so thoroughly enthralled me that I wrote
a thesis on film, concentrating on director Brian Depalma's work at the edge of acceptability.
Holiday
Archie Leach was always a charmer, but never more than in this one. HIs circus training
shows through... Just plain wonderful....
The Big Sleep
Mmmmmm. Phillip Marlow. Boggey and Bacall. Hard to believe it was ever a NEW movie.
It feels like part of the landscape.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Changed the course of movie history. Between this one and Star Wars, Spielberg and
Lucas invented the blockbuster. Well told, well acted, well constructed, well directed
-- and most of all, FUN.
Midnight
Finding this old gem (it's a retelling of Cinderella in early 20th Century Europe)
was like getting Christmas in the middle of the year. Don Ameche -- before Trading
Places and his other late-life work -- was a great and handsome comedy actor... I
love it! One of the best and most charming comedies of that era, and that's saying
a lot. Are we surprised that it was also written by Billy Wilder? (with Charles Brackett...)
Were all the great and lasting comedies of the 30's, 40's and 50's written by Billy
Wilder?
Sleepless in Seatle
Oh, just a sappy sweet love story. What can I say?
We're No Angels
My favorite holiday movie -- it's not
holiday sap, but instead a great little soft comedy about three escaped prisoners
from Devil's Island who turn out to be angels in deed. Wonderful.
Charade
The first time I saw this, I didn't figure out the mystery until the last frames.
Then the second time, ten years later, I didn't figure out the mystery until the
last frames. Then the third time, ten years later, .....
The Butcher's Wife
Magic, romance, mystery, and sweet true love.
Dinner at Eight
Another look at a life and times gone by. But the real discovery is just how funny
it is and how delightful Jean Harlow could be. It's also a chance to meet Drew Barrymore's
family if you haven't had the opportunity....
Pretty Woman
Cinderella strikes again. Good all around, but a handful of character actors almost
steal the show -- but end up just making it more memorable instead. And the great
soundtrack doesn't hurt.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
The movie that saved Columbia pictures -- and most of the rest of the Hollywood movie
industry. And the reason they started letting Spielberg do just about whatever he
wanted from then on. It's great in every frame.
It Happens Every Spring
My favorite baseball movie (and I have several).
More magic and romance in an unlikely place.
Heaven Can Wait
/
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Two very different movies with the same story. both wonderful in their own ways.
More magic on the silver screen. I love it.
Giant
It's about Texas! What can I say? And it also has James Dean in his last and best
role. Did I mention that?
Best line? After drunken, crude-oil soaked James Dean has kissed Taylor -- Hudson's wife -- and Hudson decks him, Chill Wills turns to Rock and says, "You should'a killed that boy when you had the chance, Bic. Now he's too rich to kill."
The Electric Horseman
This is one of those movies that says a lot more than it appears to. Which is good,
because through a lot of the film, Redford is doing his strong, silent act and "yes,
ma'am"-ing Jane Fonda a lot. But the content is there. Also a good film to use
for the study developmental models.
Bringing Up Baby
Oh, you know this one. Everybody knows this one. The archetypal screwball comedy
of the 30's. Hard to beat.
African Queen
Bogart and Hepburn and mosquitos and leeches -- hard to imagine how wonderful it
is based on a description like that, huh?
Missing
Costa Gavras' masterpiece. Revolution. Lost sons and husbands. Conspiracy. Deceipt.
And great filmmaking. Watch the light and shadows in this one. He builds mazes out
of them...
Looking for Richard
My nominee for best therapy for the aesthetically challenged and Shakespearily unaware.
This is Pacino preparing a production of Richard III with a great cast of actors
from both sides of the Pond. He not only shows rehersals and final performances --
but walks the audienice through historical research and scholarly criticism. Not
only a perfect interpretation of a masterpiece, but a glimpse of what most of us
don't know about how actors and directors do their job. If you thought it was all
just playing "let's pretend" -- this will break you of that illusion.
Cat Ballou
A great and often forgotten comedy. The best image is the drunken Kid Shilleen on
his drunken horse leaning against the wall of the saloon. But the scene where Lee
Marvin transforms from an old, has-been, drunk into a spit-polished gunfighter is
just too good to believe. Funny, clever, and fun from start to end.
Groundhog Day
What a great little movie. The laughs are warm. The characters and three dimensional.
The fairy tale is timely. And the story is so original and thoughtful that it stands
up to repeated viewing. These guys reallyknow how to make a movie.
Wizard of Oz
What can I say? This one is so much a part of the collective unconscious that you
can't hardly look at news footage of a tornado without imagining it. Best overlooked
song lyrics? "Your outta the woods...." Maybe they're overlooked because
nobody could understand those high-pitched fairy/munchkin voices.
Metropolis
Fritz Lang's first look at what science fiction will be. For him, science fiction
didn't exist yet -- so this was merely a look into the future. But watching Metropolis
is like going back in time for a preview of one of our most popular film forms. And
an interesting look into the mind of the past as well.
Damn fine poster art.
The Nutty Professor
Well, if this isn't the best of all the Jerry Lewis (sans Dean Martin) movies, I
don't know what is. Dr. Julius Kelp metamorphosizing into Dean Martin... errr....
Buddy Love is just priceless. For years, the copy shown on the various Turner channels
had two of the reels out of order and letters from the outside didn't seem to make
any difference. I have since stopped watching this on TV EVER, and stopped watching
Turner movies in general because of their unresponsiveness and seeming inability
to fix this problem. But if you get it on video (also a Turner connection, alas....)
you can see the whole thing as it was intended. That Ol' Black Magic still works,
dollface.
Ghostbusters
There are a lot of good things about this movie -- Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murrey, Harold
Ramus, Sigorney Weaver.... But it's the ghosts that realy steal the show. I once
spent nearly 6 hours explaining the concept of special effects to a 6-year-old so
she could go to sleep after having seen this movie... Now, by the time they're 6,
they can create effects like this on their home computer....
IS EVERYBODY READY FOR MAY 21ST, 1999?
Copyright (C) 1998, Lynn Maupin Webb
http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/ducksoup/555
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