What's Your all-time number one super duper favorite movie?

[DavidMcK]

I'm particularly interested in any reviews or comments on Fritz Lang, I've only seen 'Metropolis' when it was re-released some time ago.

David

[Roger Bissell]

Comedy/Adventure: Zorro, the Gay Blade

Science Fiction/Romance: Bicentennial Man

Comedy/Romance: Strictly Ballroom

Comedy/Science Fiction: Galaxy Quest

Adventure/Romance: the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair

Adventure/Science Fiction: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

(It was really hard to leave out Young Frankenstein. Plus, give me a complete set of Quantum Leap and of Battlestar Galactica, once it's finished. I'd like to see all those again.)

[Barbara Branden]

Some of my favorite movies:

Wuthering Heights

Brief Encounter

Casablanca

The Hurricane

Carrington

Samson and Delilah

Gone With the Wind

Judgment at Nuremberg

Rocky (and I HATE boxing)

Same Time Next Year

We the Living

I'm sure I'm leaving out some of my top favorites.

It's amazing how much one reveals about oneself by one's choices in movies and/or fiction! They are never an accident.(I just learned a lot about myself.)

[Roger Bissell]

Thanks, Barbara, for reminding me of my favorite romance of all time: Same Time Next Year. I'm not a big Alan Alda fan, but he was wonderful in that movie, and Ellen Burstyn (she was the female lead, right?) was glowing. The recurring theme song was a nice integrating factor for the film, too. <sigh>

Also, Dustin Hoffman was inspiring to me in Tootsie, though I can't imagine why. ;-)

And let me just throw in my favorite older movie musical, Brigadoon, and my favorite recent movie musical, Chicago.

And for similar reasons to why I liked Brigadoon, I also really liked A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (starring Bing Crosby). (Three Hercules Points to the person who guesses why first.)

reb

[Rich Engle]

Tough. I'll fly off the cuff, no order.

Blade Runner (preferably director's cut)

Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr. is amazing in it)

Fellini (pretty much any, but "City of Women" is fun)

Apocalypse Now

A Clockwerke Orange

Kurosawa (any)

Hitchcock (any, but "Rear Window" is great)

All That Jazz

There's a few for the pile.

[Aaron]

Some of my favorites, mainly relatively modern (some would a fair amount of shoe-horning to call 'romantic realism'):

Usual Suspects

Fight Club

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Shawshank Redemption

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Snatch

His Girl Friday

Monty Python - especially Life of Brian

[John Dailey]

~~ Working hard to keep the list short, those which I've seen at least 2x and could easily watch again are, but not limited to...

--Airplane

--Colossus: The Forbin Project

--Raiders of the Lost Ark

--Oklahoma!

--Casablanca

--The Sea Wolf

--West Side Story

--That's Entertainment (and sequels)

--Sequoia

--The Big Country

LLAP

J:D

P.S: It was mcuho self-restraint to stop at # 10. I mean, I didn't even mention...ummm...nm.

[Jody Gomez]

Dead Poets Society.

[DavidMcK]

Thanks everyone for sharing your favorite movies, I can't imagine a wider range of movies than the ones mentioned....it seems like the movies people like the best has more to do with the generation they were born in than anything else. I've seen maybe 3/4 of the ones mentioned, but some I had never heard of. My quick count shows only two movies were listed more than once...Casablanca and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

V for Vendetta just came out, a very anti-totalitarian message that some people are comparing to Atlas Shrugged (it isn't as philosophical nor as complex), but I really enjoyed it, with a strong female lead, and a masked man as the co-star; one great line: "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of the people." (Hope that is word for word). The dicatator was played by John Hurt (very well), and this is a movie by the two Wachowski brothers, who made the Matrix triligy. I recommend seing this one.

[Barbara Branden]

Aaron, Shawshank Rebellion would have been next on my list. And Jody, Dead Poets Society should have been on my list; it's wonderful.

[Kat]

I don't think I've seen nearly enough movies to pick a favorite yet. Ask me when I'm 80. I generally like comedies, odd movies and family films like the Harry Potter series. I also like Robin Williams in both his comedies and dramas like Dead Poets Society. I'm a huge Beatle fan and love all their movies and silly British stuff like Monty Python too. Here is an attempt at my list in no particular order:

A Hard Days Night

Airplane

Being John Malcovich

Wag the Dog

Rocky Horror

Beetlejuice

A Fish Called Wanda

Thelma and Louise

[Inky]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Dracula ('31 with Bela Lugosi)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

There are probably loads more that I haven't thought of yet. I've heard that A Clockwork Orange is really good, and I've been wanting to see it, I just haven't had a chance to. Actually, there are quite a few things on my list of things to see, mainly old horror movies, like Frankenstein and The Creature from the Black Lagoon and all that.

[Kat]

You are a bit young for that one missy!

[Aaron]

Airplane! I'd overlooked for humor movies, but it is easily the pioneer and best of modern satire films.

Clockwork Orange is a bit.. disturbing, and I generally considers things like Seven or Natural Born Killers or horror films no big deal. It is a worthwhile film (unlike NBK, IMO), but definitely no popcorn flick.

[jordanz]

I like so many movies for so many different reasons. For example, I love "Glengary Glenross" for the incredible dialogue and acting (even though the sense of life is disgusting).

But, if I had to put together a "desert island" set, maybe:

Life is Beautiful

Shawshank Redemption

Groundhog Day

The Edge

Flight of the Phoenix (the original)

For humor:

Anchorman (I know I'm insane, but this one makes me laugh uncontrollably)

Airplane (any of the Zucker brother movies for that matter)

Nutty Professor (original)

Too many more to list...

[Joseph-612]

I can't believe no one included The Godfather I & II on their lists. These are my absolute favorite movies (and not just because I'm Italian.) G-III

was a waste of celluloid.

I also loved LA Confidential, the real best picture of 1998. I have a soft spot for romantic comadies so I'll include Moonstruck, Chocolat, and Working Girl. Oh yes, I almost forgot Witness, still Harrison Fords best picture. I'm sure there's more, but that will be another time. Thanks for reading.

Joseph

[John Dailey]

~~ The only reason I didn't include The Shawshank Redemption (super title! from 'King', no less!) was that I decided to stop at #10...and thought of the others before I thought of it. --- You're right, Kat: a super movie, and, I hate to say it but, Timothy Robbins was...perfect. (What is it with these 'liberal' actors that are so good, like Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, et al? I even like Barbra Streisand's movies! Maybe I've been coming down with something.)

~~ I must add that I'm also sorry that I missed the listed (by Inky) The Nightmare Before Christmas. This is definitely Burton at his best: an imaginative and thought-provoking fairy-tale done in 'fantasy-modality'-cinema (claymation, stop-motion, whatever). On it's own a 'classic', yes.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

There are so many good movies that I don't know where to start. I love most of the ones given on this thread.

Three films that created a very strong impression on me (that haven't been mentioned so far) were:

Network

Witness

Meet Joe Black

In comedy, I like offbeat quirky things like:

Being There

Raising Arizona

Baghdad Cafe

I vastly prefer to see a movie in a theater than see it on TV (but I'll take TV over nothing). In a theater, there's always a wistful moment when the house lights come on and the magic starts to evaporate.

Michael

[Jonathan]

I don't think I could choose a single favorite, but in addition to several films mentioned already (Rocky, Godfather, Shawshank, etc.) I'd add a few favorites that I've enjoyed watching over and over again:

Awakenings

A Beautiful Mind

To Kill a Mockingbird

Dances With Wolves

The World According to Garp

Reservoir Dogs

Pulp Fiction

The Sound of Music

My Fair Lady

Mulholland Drive

Forrest Gump

J

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Jonathan,

How could I forget about To Kill a Mockingbird? The very first article in the Chewing on Ideas section here on OL was inspired in that film.

Of mockingbirds and blue jays and shooting and singing

Michael

[Paul Mawdsley]

The Matrix trilogy-- I love stepping into alternative realities that have an integrated logic to them. A great mind-bender. And just damned entertaining.

Amadeus-- It was experiencing the complexity and spirit of creative genius from the inside.

Good Will Hunting-- For similar reasons to Amadeus. "How do you like them apples?"

The Sixth Sense-- Another alternative reality with a twist that caught me by surprise. Although I felt afterward I should have seen it coming. The signs were all there.

Not a movie but any Star Trek episode that messes with time and causality. (Big Surprise!)

Already listed but has to be on my list:

Dead Poet's Society -- It speaks of the struggle to find one's own authentic voice and the courage to assert it.

A Beautiful Mind-- Very thought provoking about the interaction and breakdown of the elements of the psyche. A terrific example of how to cope with and integrate psychological deficits without pharmaceuticals.

Groundhog Day-- I watch it every year.

Scrooged-- Ditto

Being There-- A unique perspective on society. He likes to watch!

Close Encounters of the Third Kind-- It's fun to imagine the improbable of alien visitation.

Paul

[Barbara Branden]

I knew I'd forgotten some top favorites. Amadeus is definitely up there; what a beautiful movie!

[John Dailey]

~~ Then, of course, there's Disney's original Fantasia, and, the company's comeback Beauty and the Beast...

~~ This thread could go on forever. (Maybe it will?)

LLAP

J:D

[Paul Mawdsley]

I forgot about the movies I have watched more often than I can recall sitting with the kids:

-- Shrek 1 & 2

-- Toy Story 1 & 2

With many layers of humour, great characters, and interesting twists on reality, I'm still not tired of these.

[Kat]

Ever since he was about four years old, my son has loved Toy Story. He used to want to be a space ranger like Buzz Lightyear when he grew up. Now that he is older and much wiser, he wants to be a video game tester. Here are Sean's favorite flicks and his favorite characters...

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 (Buzz)

All the Harry Potter Flicks (Harry)

The Incredibles (Dash)

Kat