Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things. – Oscar Hammerstein II
One year ago today I wrote, “As we now move into Yuletide, you may notice many of my columns become more lighthearted and fanciful; this is not to say I plan to spare my scalpel on those who deserve it, but neither should you be surprised if I sometimes veer more toward cuteness than bitchiness.” My columns for today and tomorrow are examples of that; back in June I mentioned a few of my favorite things, and I’d like to share a few lists of other favorites with you. If any of you are curious about what my favorite fill-in-the-blank might be, just ask in the comments and I’ll answer if I can (there are a surprising number of things I really don’t have a favorite of, such as food). Since I’ve already written at great length about my favorite horror movies, let’s start with my 14 favorite non-horror movies, arranged in the same reverse chronological order I used before:
1) The Princess Bride (1987) Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…what’s not to like? This fairy tale can literally be enjoyed at any age, and bears repeated watching better than nearly any other movie I’ve ever seen.
2) Big Trouble in Little China (1986) Like The Raven below, this flick is as effective a comedy as it is an adventure fantasy, and there’s even a prostitution connection; a Chinese girl is kidnapped by a gang of human traffickers, from whom she is in turn stolen by an undead emperor of ancient China. Her fiancée and his truck-driver friend (Kurt Russell), with the help of an eccentric wizard, must then rescue her from a palace hidden beneath San Francisco’s Chinatown before it’s too late. The only reason this movie isn’t much better known is that 20th-Century Fox didn’t bother to promote it at all.
3) Heavy Metal (1981) This anthology of short fantasies inspired by the magazine of the same name is one of the last examples of hand-drawn North American big-screen animation. Those who take it too seriously often dislike it; those who view it for what it is generally enjoy it. Mae and I first saw it together in the theater over a year before our relationship turned sexual, and every time I re-watch it I am reminded of what it was like to be a 14-year-old in the first blush of young womanhood, giggling with her best friend at sexual situations in an R-rated movie we technically shouldn’t have been admitted to without a parent, in a cool, dark theater with a gigantic bag of buttered popcorn on a hot summer afternoon in New Orleans.
4) Excalibur (1981) John Boorman’s spectacular retelling of Arthurian legend is still my favorite film version of the stories; it’s one of the few movies I’ve ever seen in a theater more than once. Jeff took me to the very first showing in New Orleans, and from the minimal but powerful opening titles I was enthralled. This movie shaped my view of what a fantasy universe should look like forever after, and even introduced me to the now-almost-legendary Helen Mirren.
5) Witch’s Sister (1979) I apologize for listing this one, because if you haven’t already seen it, you probably never will. It was a multi-part teleplay on the children’s television series Big Blue Marble, based on the book by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, and was only broadcast once to my knowledge; in 1988 it turned up on Showtime as a unified film and I taped it, then in 2003 I transferred the aging tape to DVD. The plot is a simple one; ten-year-old Lynn Morley imagines that her older sister Judith is taking lessons in witchcraft from their old Scottish neighbor, Mrs. Tuggle, and fears that her young brother, Stevie, is in danger. Like Heavy Metal, this is a movie which evokes a certain time in my life, so it’s impossible to explain why I love it so except to say that I identified with both Lynn and Judith, if that makes any sense to you at all.
6) The Last of Sheila (1973) An all-star cast sets sail on a cruise along the Riviera aboard the yacht of a movie producer with a taste for parlor games and sadistic jokes. Even if you don’t like murder mysteries you may enjoy this one; it’s the earliest example I know of what I call “puzzle movies”, films such as The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects and Fight Club in which the genre takes a back seat to the game the filmmakers play with the audience: “All the clues are on the screen in front of you; can you put them together before we explain it to you?”
7) A Clockwork Orange (1971) I like just about everything Stanley Kubrick ever made (with the possible exception of Barry Lyndon), but I must admit that this is IMHO the one which most bears repeated watching. It’s a sign of the strength of Burgess’ novel and of Kubrick’s mastery of his craft that the movie actually succeeds in getting the viewer to sympathize with a sociopathic rapist and murderer, and practically everything about this film from music to set design to dialog is both striking and highly memorable.
8 ) 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) This George Pal gem, in which Tony Randall plays 7 different roles, never fails to make me feel good. A mysterious Chinese wizard teaches the residents of a small Western town to treasure what they have: “The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it. The way the sun goes down when you’re tired, comes up when you want to be on the move. That’s real magic. The way a leaf grows. The song of the birds. The way the desert looks at night, with the moon embracing it…that’s circus enough for anyone. Every time you watch a rainbow and feel wonder in your heart. Every time you pick up a handful of dust, and see not the dust, but a mystery, a marvel, there in your hand. Every time you stop and think, ‘I’m alive, and being alive is fantastic!’ Every time such a thing happens, you’re part of the Circus of Dr. Lao.”
9) Jason and the Argonauts (1963) Ray Harryhausen’s masterpiece, full of excitement and derring-do and those wonderful stop-motion creatures which still look better to me than 99% of those generated by computers. Add to that performances by two of my favorite 1960s actresses, Nancy Kovack (as Medea) and Honor Blackman (as the goddess Hera) and you have a foolproof formula to holding my attention. In the days before home video, I watched this movie literally every time I caught it on television.
10) The Raven (1963) Roger Corman’s “horror comedy” starts as a takeoff on the legendary Poe-m (sorry about that) and quickly develops into a battle between a good wizard (Vincent Price) and an evil one (Boris Karloff), with Peter Lorre, Hazel Court and a very young Jack Nicholson as interested parties. The film climaxes with the best magical duel of the entire pre-CGI era.
11) North by Northwest (1959) Cary Grant at his most charismatic, Eva Marie Saint at her loveliest and James Mason at his most villainous star in this tale of a hapless executive drawn into a web of intrigue, directed by Alfred Hitchcock at the height of his powers. Need I say more?
12) Forbidden Planet (1956) Before Leslie Neilsen became a comedian he was a leading man, and here he portrays the character who is generally considered to be the original model for Captain Kirk. Add Anne Francis, Walter Pidgeon and Robby the Robot to a script based loosely on Shakespeare’s The Tempest and you’ve got one of the all-time classics of science fiction.
13) The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) This is one of the first serious science fiction films, and since the minimal special effects take a back seat to old-fashioned concepts like “story”, “character development” and especially “acting”, it’s still better than just about everything which has come along in the genre since. Michael Rennie’s portrayal of the alien diplomat Klaatu set the bar for humanoid aliens for decades.
14) Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) José Ferrer in the role he was born to play, the swordsman/poet with the enormous nose whose love for the beautiful Roxanne clashes with his unbending pride. It starts out a hilarious comedy, quickly develops into romantic intrigue and exciting adventure, and invariably ends with my crying my eyes out accompanied by racking sobs. I don’t think it’s possible for anyone who watches this powerful film to remain unmoved.
Tomorrow: My favorite music.
inconceivable!!!
You know … I was gonna slam you because some of these are pretty cheesy. And then I thought I would “psychoanalyze” your list and why you liked these movies. Then I thought about what MY list would look like. “Braveheart” … “Gladiator” … “300” … the HBO series “Rome” … and the Starz series “Spartacus”. So yeah, I’m not one to judge because any psychoanalysis of that list reveals it’s pretty darned shallow. 😛
I could throw in “Time Bandits” and the “Wizard of Oz” – because I like those two but they only make my list more bizarre.
I DO like the Princess Bride though – especially Wallace Shawn’s character, who I think he actually modeled after Rush Limbaugh … just my guess. But the battle of wits scene is hilarious! “Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line!”
Krulac, I’m disappointed in you! Though “cheesy” used to have a specific meaning, since the advent of the internet it is generally used to mean either “featuring special effects which were state-of-the-art for their time and more than good enough to tell the story but below some arbitrary 21st-century standard” or “something I dislike without a defensible reason.” 😉
I must point out that I am not saying these are “great” movies; I’m not a film critic and I’m not analyzing them by some supposedly-objective standard of quality. This is a case of “I don’t know art, but I know what I like”, and I would be happy to rewatch any of these. That having been said, I want to quote Penn Gillette (of Penn & Teller); back in the early ’90s they hosted a TNT showing (on the Our Favorite Movies program) of Them!, and he said something to the effect of “I hate this ‘so bad it’s good’ crap. The purpose of a movie is to entertain, and a movie which succeeds in doing so is a good movie. How many times have you seen Them!? Now, how many times have you seen Gandhi?”
The purpose of a movie is not just to entertain, but also to enlighten, challenge, mystify, move, illuminate. I have seen entertaining movies that aren’t great art, but I have never seen a great art movie that is not entertaining.
If this was Facebook I would like your comment 🙂 But I have to agree with Maggie. One of my most favorite movies is the KIng of B-movies (Army of Darkness) Evil Dead 3. And that will never be a great art movie. 🙂
That’s one of Grace’s favorite movies as well; whenever she watches it she laughs so hard I sometimes worry she’ll hurt herself! 😀
We share some of these favorites as well, Maggie. Namely, the first two. I remember being very young when I first saw Big Trouble in Little China and being obsessed with our local Chinatown ever since. Since you like Jason and the Argonauts, are you also a fan of Clash of the Titans? The original, obviously. I’ve never heard of Heavy Metal before so I will definitely have to check that out.
I’m really not fond of Clash of the Titans; though it has some excellent stop-motion work (especially Medusa), there are a number of things about it which rub me the wrong way. Aside from Jason my favorite Harryhausen flick is The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.
You don’t watch South Park?
For Heavy Metal fans, check out the episode “Major Boobage”.
That’s how I learned about the movie Heavy Metal.
I rarely seek out an episode of South Park but if it is on, I probably wouldn’t turn it off. I like the show but usually at the bottom of a long list of other shows I watch.
Okay, this is a little creepy considering how close this list is to mine, so a couple of self indulgent meaningless points. My son is a senior in college (and yes, he has a job lined up after graduation) who’s been dating the same girl since freshman year. She recently moved to our city to start graduate school and we invited her over for movie night and it turns out she had never seen Princess Bride. As you say, it really is one of the few movies that is for all ages and it’s now on her favorites list. My favorite Halloween costume ever was my senior year in high school when I went as Alec and three of my best friends as my droogs. Sadly, most of the other attendees had no idea who we were supposed to be. I have to say, I’m glad Kubrick went with the American version of the book’s ending rather than Burgess’ original. Always loved the costuming and cinematography in Excalibur, but really given how easy it seems to chop completely through that armor, why bother wearing it? And Uther, please, a gentleman should always take his armor off before taking a lady to bed. If you think sand can get in all the wrong places, just think about rust flakes.
Ooh, I disagree about the armor; I think that scene was totally hot. 🙂
True, but once I found out that Igrayne was played by Boorman’s daughter it always has a bit of an ick factor for me. And yes, I know she’s an adult and a professional actress and I am fairly openminded but a father filming a nude scene of his daughter just doesn’t seem right.
Hollywood types just don’t feel the same way about stuff like that, just as whores don’t feel “violated” by having sex with strangers. Consider that Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal (siblings) have gone on record as saying they love watching each others’ work…which includes Secretary for her and Brokeback Mountain for him!
Happy Holidays everyone! I’m new to this blog, I have to admit I am aware of only about half of these movies and have watched none of them in whole. Would you not have some favorite movies that you like that are more recent? 😛 90’s or 2000’s
Also I think most of these movies make you reminisce of your past, instead of the actual story, I think you have attached a special memory/time to most of them. Also a lot of them seem to be sci-fi or fantasy. Most associated with geeks like me. (Yes, I have to admit to being a geek… at least I’m tall and good looking) 😛
PS If you had to recommend only one of them to me which would it be?
I wouldn’t say most of them; Heavy Metal and Witch’s Sister, absolutely. Jason and Excalibur, a little. But the rest definitely not at all. As for recent movies, though I like some of them very much I can’t say any of them are really favorites.
If I had to recommend only one I think it would be Cyrano, because if you’re a sci-fi/fantasy fan you’ll likely stumble on most of the others on your own. 😉
Lannister, eh? 🙂
yeah? 🙂 game of thrones anyone? 😀
In that case, you’ll certainly be interested in Aspasia’s latest post on her own blog. 😉
I just wrote an entire blog post about different types of prostitutes in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire.
I have to warn you though, I side with the Martells and Dorne. Unbent. Unbowed. Unbroken. 🙂
Ah, Maggie beat me to plugging my blog. Thanks!
Watched the HBO movie. Have not yet read the books. Currently reading Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. I am Lannister through and through. I identify with them, which is kinda wierd since they are the bad-guys. Their house crest is Lion. It is in my attitude and in my real name. 😛 If anyone who is related to me closely is redaing this, they’ll know who I am… Oh, but what the hell.. Let’s post!
I read your blog post and enjoyed it a lot. I would be limiting my interactions with you in Maggie’s blog as I might spread myself too thin if I also subscribed to yours. 🙂 But I have to disagree with you in saying he is America’s Tolkien, Robert Jordan is through and through the equivalent of Tolkien and may have even surpassed Tolkien. I would think that his character development is more entertaining. Though as I said I have not read ASoIaF instead am still reading WoT. Sorry Maggie I was Off-topic.. 😛
Books: The American Tolkien. Like I said in the post, “…has been hailed as the American Tolkien by many critics.” But I completely agree: I enjoy Martin’s writings much more than Tolkien’s. Don’t worry about spreading your self thin between my blog and Maggie’s: she writes much more often than I do. I’ll probably only have another two or three posts this month. If it’s more than that I’ll amaze even myself! Heh.
I always thought The Princes Bride would have been far bette had they cut all of the ‘contemporary’ storytelling scenes between the Fred Savage charecter and his grandfather.
I will admit their were some cute interactions and some good voice overs buy the old man, but not enough, in my opinion to justify all of the interuptions to the story line
The original book was way more so. Having read that, it’s hard to imagine The Princess Bride without a meta-layer.
Big Trouble in Little China! Now that was a film! Though it’s been ages since I last watched it and I was very young when I did. How it didn’t traumatise me I’ll never know though it did cement my interest in fantasy and freaky beasties.
Why didn’t they promote it better, was it anything to do with the prostitution connection?
According to the IMDb trivia:
However, it is noteworthy that studio head Lawrence Gordon interfered with production so badly that Carpenter went independent afterwards.
The commentary track on the DVD (the source of the quote you inserted) is priceless; one of the best DVD extras ever. Yet I keep running into people who have the DVD, watch the film regularly, and have never even tried the commentary track. Go figure.
My copy was actually burned to DVD from a VHS tape. Hmm…I just thought of some DVDs to add to my shrinking Amazon wishlist! 🙂
I think “Animal House” should make almost anyone’s list. But I did like “Big Trouble in Little China” and “Heavy Metal”.
Ah, yes, “The Princess Bride”, it never fails to cheer me up. It is probably the only movie that can beat Star Wars in quotability, too.
INCONCEIVABLE!!!!!!
I find your lack of faith disturbing…
There’s this little game called “May the Pants Be With You.” You take a line from the Star Wars movies and replace one word with the word “pants.” Thus you get gems like:
“Boy, it’s lucky you have these pants.”
“I use them for smuggling.”
“I find your lack of pants… disturbing.”
And so on. Yeah, maybe it’s a bit middle-school, but it’s funny.
The Firefly series is rather quotable, I think.
“I wanna go to the crappy town where I’m a hero!”
We dont want to tell them what to think, We want to teach them how to think
(As if there is a difference)
And one of my favarites
Kaylee Frye: Goin’ on a year now I ain’t had nothin’ twixt my nethers weren’t run on batteries!
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Oh, God! I can’t *know* that!
Jayne Cobb: I could stand to hear a little more
I think there can be a slight difference.
“Take all things into consideration before making a decision, including things you may have thought to be untrue.” -That’s teaching someone how to think.
“Only believe this, all else is wrong.” -That’s teaching someone what to think.
Just my $0.02
Oh, I agree. When my husband asks me to do something I invariably reply “As you wish”, and on more than one occasion I have responded to a completely moronic attempt to argue with me online with “Truly, you have a dizzying intellect.” 😀
“Because I know something that you don’t know. I am not left-handed!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7zvffHu_wo
I’m not sure whether I liked the sword fight or the wrestling match best. And I love the “Truly, you have a dizzying intellect” line.
But I have to come down on the side of Cyrano de Bergerac as my favorite movie.
Laura, don’t watch this! We’re going to watch this together as soon as it makes its way to the top of your queue or mine.
My favourite Princess Bride line:
Wesley: (to unconcious Giant) I do not envy you the headache you will have when you awaken, but in the meantime rest well, and dream of large women.
Aaaaamen to that idea 😉
Oh, Maggie! You keep cementing the impression that you are the catch of the century! Your husband is a lucky guy.
A woman who could deliver the “Farm boy… fetch me that pitcher.”-line (and not just mechanically repeat it) would have me half-way there already.
Myself, I have applied the “You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means” to a lot of buzz-words that regularly jump out of some peoples mouths. Too bad they have almost never seen the movie so its lost to them and they start getting huffy and explain that it is indeed what it means. And I though I was literal-minded…
Well, I like to think so, anyway. 😉
I like North by Northwest, but my favorite Hitchcock is The Trouble with Harry.
And the best Hitchcock Hitchcock never made was Charade.
I liked the Day The Earth Stood Still when I was a kid, but I haven’t seen it in a very long time.
I saw Big Trouble In Little China when it came out on video, but I remember nothing about it.
Jason And The Argonauts is all right.
I LOVE North By Northwest and the Raven. And The Princess Bride is one of the greatest movies ever made!!
In no particular order:
The Lion In Winter.
Undercover Blues
Major Barbara
Hobson’s Choice
Spirited Away
Support Your Local Sheriff
Eldorado
Alegro non Troppo (sp?)
Hopscotch
How To Steal A Million
The Italian Job (original)
What a great idea, C.S.P.! Any other readers who wish to post their lists are welcome to do so (I see Comixchik already has), and please everyone feel free to discuss them as you please! 🙂
Some movies on my favorite list:
Jurassic Park (The first ones)
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Batman: The Dark Knight
Legend of 1910
Vagabond
V for Vendetta.
Raiders is a good one; it’s on my “long list” of favorites. But even though most people seem to have preferred The Dark Knight, I liked Batman Begins better. And strangely enough, though I was always a DC reader who was only generally familiar with Marvel heroes, I’m really enjoying the recent Marvel hero films much more than the DC ones; they seem to me to be more reverent to the source material and their continuity is excellent (though I thought they really dropped the ball on Fantastic Four 2, making Galactus a cloud instead of a giant in a Kirbyesque costume). When I saw Captain America with my husband in August I thought about how they could easily do Wonder Woman that well, but if they ever do a WW movie I’m sure they’ll ruin it by making her contemporary and putting a bunch of idiotic contemporary-feminist dialog in her mouth.
“I’m sure they’ll ruin it by making her contemporary and putting a bunch of idiotic contemporary-feminist dialog in her mouth.”
I’m not too sure about that. Supposedly like they were going after Megan Fox who isn’t exactly known for being, to use your term, neofeminist friendly. Oh, there will still probably be “female empowerment” stuff, but that’s because Hollywood can’t seem to believe that a female cannot be a strong character, just a “strong woman”.
erm, should read “can’t seem to believe that a female can be a strong character”
Well, since I’m correcting myself with a double post, I’ll throw in a few of my favorites that haven’t been mentioned yet while seconding most of the other posts:
Childhood favorites that stuck with me:
Neverending Story…the big rock guy with the “big strong hands” still breaks me up.
Fox and the Hound
Where the Red Fern Grows <– I was a wreck after watching this movie because my dad raised and trained coon hounds so it really hit home
Aladdin
Fantasia
Secrets of NIHM
Other movies:
Spaceballs — I wore out the VHS.
The Trial (it was like a Twilight Zone episode, but in full movie length!)
Inherit the Wind — awesome film adaptation of Robert Lee's play about the Scopes Monkey Trial
I sort of hate myself for liking Romeo and Juliet, but I excuse it by saying it's all because of the soundtrack.
A Christmas Story is all kinds of awesome. I still can't believe people have never watched it.
Guys and Dolls
Red Sonja
The Arnie Conans
Ladyhawke
Most everything by Pixar
A Christmas Story is one of our favorite Christmas movies, and one of my husband’s favorites of any kind. You may be interested in my columns of last Saturday and this coming Monday. 😉
Heh, I had missed that picture because I’ve mostly been following through the email subscription. Definitely have to get back to actually coming back to the site more.
You don’t see pictures in your notification emails? My husband gets them in his, though the formatting is all screwed up so the placement looks awkward.
Silly me. I never bothered clicking the display images at the top of emails. Just went in and corrected that and they show. I never even looked for it because they come formatted, just assumed that it didn’t send the image. Verily, verily. Where shall I ever put my face?
My favorite Christmas movie is “Bad Santa”.
In no order
Pan’s Labyrinth
Human Traffic (not what you think, I swear!)
Hot Fuzz
Jaws
Tropic Thunder
Pulp Fiction
Lord of the Rings
The Godfather (first one)
Snatch
In Bruge
Men In Black
The Thing
Ghostbusters
The Breakfast Club
Fight Club
Airplane
The Green Mile
In no particular order
A Fish Called Wanda – “ASSHOLES!!!”
Blazzing Saddles – “They said you was hung. / They were right”
Boondock Saints – “FUCK” (I think its the word used most often)
Dumb & Dumber – “Naw, they caught up to him a half mile down the road and slit his throat”
Dune – like them all but prefer the new version, then the extended 1984 version
Firece Creatures – “Where does the third one go?”
Frailty – it proves McConaughey is more than just a pretty face
Her Alibi – Not something to watch over and over but good every once in a while
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – “Don’t worry, I saw Lord of the Rings. I’m not going to end this 17 times”
Logans Run – sure its not like the book, but its one of the few translations for book to film I can stand
Office Space – ” ‘PC Load Letter?’ What the fuck does that mean?”
Resivor Dogs – “No it wasn’t Pam Grier. Pam Grier was the other one. Pam Grier did the film. Christie Love was like Pam Grier TV Show without Pam Grier.”
The 13th Floor – first thing I noticed Vincent D’Onofrio in
The Big Empty – “No, Dan, I’m waiting to deliver a mysterious suitcase to a hooker-killing cowboy who’s supposed to give me $27,000. On top of that I’ve got my neighbor’s head in a bowling ball bag under my sink.”
The Dark Crystal – Jim Henson was a motherfucking genius
The Great Escape – Steve McQueen was good in just about everything
The Shawshank Redemption – only Stephan King based film that isnt total crap
The Witches Of Eastwick – cause who doent want to be a powerful meglomanical asshole banging three hotties at the same time?
Troll – the sequal sucked, I dont know howe it got greenlit
UHF – yes it is Weird Al, but its totally worth it
Willow – “Her name is not Sticks! She’s Elora Dannen, the future empress of Tir Asleen and the last thing she’s gonna want is a hairy chest!”
Looking back it seems they are in alphabetical order
I’m a bit late to this conversation to participate with everyone, but I’ll add my own two favorite movies of all time. The first is my favorite science-fiction, the second my favorite non-science fiction:
1. Blade Runner
2. Chinatown (1974)
The second movie was directed by Roman Polanski, who has a new movie coming out this month called “Carnage”. And I will go and see it.
In regards to Big Trouble in Little China, that’s a movie I’d like to watch again. Even just to see Asian prostitution without all the “rescue” stereotypes of today.
I’ve thinking it over the last coupld of days. I’ve not very good at coming up with lists like this. I’m always changing my mind.
Obviously, any movie chosen has to be something that you can watch over and over, even when you have it all memorised. So that really leaves out a lot of great movies that I can only handle if I wait years between seeing them.
I’d definitely have to include the Princess Bride, too, and quite possibly North By Northwest.
I know I’d include Amelie. Maybe One, Two, Three. Purple Rose Of Cairo, maybe, and definitely Melody. That one really needs to become better known.
In no particular order, and leaving out any on anybody else’s list so far:
Sailor Moon R: The Movie (1993)
She’s ready to let loose the Crystal, and her friends don’t want her to die, and this high school girl is staring Death in the face but she turns to her friends and smiles and tells them it’s OK, and then… [weeps]
But please, watch the sub.
Grease 2 (1982)
I seem to be one of about five people on this planet who like the second movie better than the first. Well then so be it.
Superman: The Movie (1978)
So good the comics changed canon to be more in line with it. And who doesn’t feel a little stronger when they hear that music?
Fantastic Planet (1973)
This movie may have led to my becoming an anime fan, even though it isn’t Japanese. I was about eight, maybe nine years old and a teacher decided ‘oh, I’ll take all the kiddies to see a cartoon!’ This wasn’t Bugs Bunny, and I knew from then on that animation didn’t have to be silly, or kid stuff, or so on.
The Blue Lagoon (1980)
I was fifteen, and it spoke to me. The beauty, the romance, the sexuality that was strong and sensual without being nasty or snickering. Yeah, it has to go on my list.
I’m really fickle about favorites, be they songs, movies, and so on. Ask me in a month and my list may look quite different. But I suspect these five would be near the top of any really long list of favorite movies I might try to make. Which I won’t.
I want to see the list for books.–
Books will require a lot more thought; I’m saving that one for a future column.
Excellent. I’m very curious.
Your lists so far are full of affection and devoid of affectation, so the book list will be the great reveal. 😉
Any one who likes _The Princess Bride_ (and can work in the dialogue from the movie into conversation with others, whether or not they understand the reference) gets many benefits-of-the-doubts with me, even if I completely disagree with him regarding everything else.
Yes! Bernard Herrman at the height if HIS powers.
Very true! I’ve always liked Herrmann’s work, but as I get older I find I appreciate it more and more.
Event Horizon (creepy horror SF)
Two for Sailor Bassoom & Laura, specials, cos of Anime Horror and Romance:
Monster City Shinjuku
Ninja Scroll
Two for Maggie, with a nod to Excalibur:
First Knight
The Last Legion
For a few dollars more (the final showdown with the watches? brilliant!)
Star Trek, the motion picture
Serenity
Seven Samurai / the magnificent seven
Enter the Dragon (cmon, people, its a classic😈)
and finally, because everyone should punt downstream with a violin-playing goat at least once in thier life,
Notting Hill