So, let’s hear it from you! What are your five favorites?
Me? Sigh. As he says, for anybody who loves movies, it’s hard, but here goes:
1. The Philadelphia Story–good God I love this movie. Nobody puts a foot wrong. By turns hilarious and very touching and everybody is great.
2. Mary Poppins–Yes, I said it. I’d say it again if I had to. The recent Saving Mr. Banks did a lot to justify it. Put aside your preconceptions and just let the artistry–and, yes, the whimsy–flow over you.
3. The Maltese Falcon–You’ve got to have one post-WWII hardboiled California gumshoe on any movie list and Samuel Spade is mine. Featuring the holy trinity–Bogart, Greenstreet and Lorre, each doing just what you want them to do.
4. Singin’ in the Rain–See it on the big screen and tell me you don’t love it. Hopelessly meta before anybody thought of such a thing, and the apex of what a studio can do. Gorgeous.
5. A Night at the Opera–Filmed just months before the untimely death of the great Irving Thalberg, everything that the Marx Brothers were was poured into this movie. Slightly sad, because they would never be this good again.
Your turn!
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Then:
Superman: You will believe a man can fly.
Now:
Superman: You will believe that a computer-generated character can do the most eye-poppingly frenetically, ridiculously unbelievable things, assuming you can watch it without getting motion sickness (did we mention its in 3-D?); meanwhile, forget any ideas about an actual STORY.
(Oh, and he flies).
Are you saying you think that was better?
Don’t feel persecuted, I’ve never heard anyone say it was a bad thing to like Mary Poppins for the last thirty years. (And would have put it on mine, if somebody else hadn’t first.) Every studio had one ultimate everything-into-the-pot movie, like MGM with Oz or Selznick with Gone with the Wind, and this was Walt’s.
Didn’t the Brains do some “I love to laugh!” refs when things were funny floating in Rocketship X-M, or what episode am I thinking of?
(And oh, THIS gets posted, but the list of my actual lifetime favorites is “Awaiting moderation”?)
The more I look over all of these great lists, the more I realize that my choices are hopelessly odd and eccentric (even as I’m sticking with them). I have to say that Sampo’s list strikes me as classic. I haven’t actually seen The Philadelphia Story, but I really want to now. And I remember little about Mary Poppins, but I have been wanting to see it again ever since my Mom passed away three years ago, because it was one of her favorites.
For me, the great thing about aging (I’m 52) has been that I am just SO MUCH more open-minded about, well, EVERYTHING than I was when I was, say, 20. And maybe because I teach for a living, I simply ENJOY hearing about other people’s tastes, regardless of whether or not they mesh with my own.
#38: I have found myself spontaneously saying that It Conquered the World is my favorite B movie of the fifties (that’s the 1950s, Tom:) ), so I was happy to see your honorable mention! :)
Off topic: my copy of Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXXVI arrived in the mail today. Did anyone else get their copies?
Big Trouble in Little China
A Shot in the Dark
The Three Musketeers (Reed/York)
My Neighbor Totoro
Alien or Gigi
Stuff that almost made it: Life of Brian; Our Man in Havanna; Jackie Brown
Also: I was tempted to put in: Random Favorite Kurosawa of the Week; Random Favorite Marx Bros. of the Week; Random Favorite: Coen Bros. of the Week
At the moment, I’ll say:
This is Spinal Tap
A Clockwork Orange
Citizen Kane (yes, it’s a cliche answer, but I love it and have read way too many books about it not to include it)
Metropolis (the 1920s film)
Pulp Fiction
These are five of my favorite films.*
*films that I have watched many times, have never been disappointed by, continue to find reasons to love them for, would recommend that everyone watch, and would not stop loving if someone disagreed.
– Lady and the Tramp
– Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
– Harold and Maude
– The Fugitive
– Moonrise Kingdom
#53: YES, my copy of Volume XXXVI arrived today as well, and I couldn’t be happier! :)
Regarding my previous post, I would like to add that I don’t distinguish between “B movies” and “A movies.” If I like a movie, I like it. I adore The Deadly Mantis (I do!), and I adore Wild Strawberries (I do!). They might be different (no, really?), but I love both.
Thanks for the question. I am honored. How about a bit of a twist? I will pick five non science fiction movies from those LISTED HERE so far today.
1. Citizen Kane – Orson Wells was a genius on both sides of the camera.
2. North By Northwest – No one wants to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of this Hitchcock tour de force.
3. Casa Blanca – Bogart’s face when he hears You Must Remember This” … . Only in The African Queen did he come close to that level of on screen presence.
4. Young Frankenstein – You’ve got to have a comedy on your list and this is the one for me. “Frau Blucher!”
5. Baraka – This treasured documentary nearly became my final exam for an introductory World Geography class, but I could never detach myself from the film long enough to turn it into a gradable event. Sigh.
I will add one more that has not appeared (yet) on our WDT:
Black Orpheus (1962) – The ancient love tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice rendered in a contemporary Brazillian favella high above Rio during Carnival. You will laugh, you will cry.
THAT was a quirky, fun film. Love that one.
Oh, and need I say it….?
KIM CATTRALL!!!
I’m lucky enough to have been in a theater in the pre-VHS 80’s when Disney still had to release their movies in theaters, and we were sitting with a local high-school-YA crowd who didn’t remember a thing about the movie if they’d ever seen it in their lives. We watched the movie with an almost absolutely clean slate and it blew us away–There was so much pure wit and spectacle (and a Rob Petrie-era Dick Van Dyke) for two and a half hours, and Walt kept upping his ante with a bigger surprise around the corner every single scene literally up until the end credits.
And we were still coming out of the old 70’s gags, where anything G-rated with Julie Andrews was punished for Sound of Music driving us up the wall, but anyone who accuses Andrews of being “sugary sweetness and light” in this movie hasn’t seen her perfectly infuriated keep-calm-and-carry-on deadpan while craziness is going on around her.
I’m always jealous of anyone else who gets to watch it with a clean slate.
Lately, there’s been a movement that even the fans who thought they “didn’t need” their disks have been noticing that actual old and recent movies are disappearing from Netflix and HBO like rabbits. (Oh, darn, forgot to put Willy Wonka on the list…)
Studios are so determined to sell us digital, they don’t WANT us to see their movies anywhere else, and it’s started to fire a homegrown revolution movement to appreciate disks again–One way is that we’ve been telling people to go back and check their local libraries again, just like we used to at the old Blockbuster on Friday night. Even if Warner might have banished their Busby Berkeley or Fred Astaire disks to the MOD Archive because we didn’t buy enough of them, at least one library in your neighborhood did, and will be happy to loan it to you for free.
Anyone whose curiosity for old classics has been peaked by the list, it’s time to look up…wait, what am I saying, MST3K fans already KNOW how important it is to keep classics on disk before they disappear! :)
Movies that stuck with me from childhood:
1. RoboCop
2. Big Trouble in Little China
3. Aliens
Favorites found as a teen:
4. The Godfather
As an adult:
5. The Long Goodbye. (Elliot Gould is the best Phillip Marlowe.)
That makes for more interesting lists and discussions, though! Everything would be a little more boring if everyone’s three favorite films were (A), (B), and (C).
We see that here in the MST3K discussions. Ask a collection of MSTies to name their five favorite episodes, and you’re likely to get some wildly different answers and reasons behind those choices. Fan favorites like Manos and Puma Man are bound to crop up, but you end up seeing some unexpected picks like Fire Maidens from Outer Space or The Amazing Transparent Man.
The Big Sleep in one of your lists and a Thin Man film in the other were especially neat choices.
Good choices!
I appreciate the mention of Black Orpheus. Turner Classic Movies would show that every once in a while. The cinematography for that was unreal.
Just want to pop in again and say thank you to Steve K @#43 for reminding me that The Dark Crystal exists. And yes, I have it ON DISC!!!
Green Switch: Thanks! :) Looking over your cool selection of films, I couldn’t believe I didn’t include anything by Hitchcock (imagine Prof. Gunther smacking himself in the head after he read your list. :) ).
*groan* This will be tough.
1. The Secret of NIMH
2. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
3. Back to the Future
4. The Lion King
5. The Fugitive
That would be awesome, POS!
Boy, it’s been a LONG time since I posted here. Still been lurking though…anyway, here is my list of my 5 favourite movies:
1. 2001: A Space Odyessy- Truly a stunning film in every way. I have to be in a certain mindset to watch it but it never fails to amaze me.
2. The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre- Bogie’s best film IMO. His acting during the campfire scenes just leave me speechless.
3. Marx Bros pre MGM- I love these movies too much to pick one…all so well done. It’s a shame that we may never see the uncut version of Horse Feathers.
4.(6 way tie) Pinocchio, Alice In Wonderland (1951), Cinderella, The Jungle Book (1967), Robin Hood (1973), Aladdin- I love the majority of Disney’s output but these are the ones that stand out the most in my eyes. Ironically, Zootopia left me kind of “meh”. Weird, right?
5. The Invisible Man- Not only is it the best Universal Horror film, I’d wager its one of the greatest horror films ever made. Claude Rains had just the right amount of menace to make it work, to say nothing of the incredible special effects.
Honourable Mentions (buckle your seatbelts,it’s a long one): The Time Machine, Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Superman (1978), WALL-E, Westworld, Moby Dick (1953), The King and I, An American in Paris, The Bandwagon, The Roaring Twenties, Die Hard, Monsters Inc, King Kong (1933), Singing in The Rain, Frankenstein/Bride of Frankenstein, Jurassic Park, The Muppet Movie, Way Out West, It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Monsters Inc, Some Like It Hot and The Long Duel. Phew.
The difficult thing with picking a Hitchcock film for a list like this is picking a Hitchcock film for a list like this. There are many terrific Hitchcock films to choose from, and a person’s list could end up being dominated by those titles. Hitchcock film domination on lists like these wouldn’t be undeserved, though.
Yeah, The Invisible Man is good because it has a much better story than Dracula or Frankenstein. I say down and watched this two properly last year and boy was I disappointed. Both movies are too short and neither one has a good ending.
In no particular order:
1. The Best Years of Our Lives
2. The Sting
3. The Stranger
4. The Wicker Man
5. Glengarry Glenross
…but honestly, this list could change completely based on what week it is, what I’ve just watched, and my mood. There are just TOO many films I like and for disparate reasons. But there you have it.
Blazing Saddles
Airplane!
The Godfather
The Dirty Dozen
12 Angry Men
Lots of folks have listed movies that’d make my top 10 but since this only five I’ll go with:
The Matrix – I love smart action movies and this does both things well. I even like Reloaded up through the freeway chase.
Silence of the Lambs – It stirred in me an interest in how good guys catch bad ones.
Die Hard – The greatest Christmas movie ever!
Alice in Wonderland (1951) – First movie where I noticed the lighting techniques.
In the Heat of The Night – Never mind that my Dad is a dead ringer for Sidney Portier, it has some of the best lines in cinema history.
In no particular order, except the first two are tied as my favorite movie of all time…
1) Forrest Gump – Epic of the Baby Boom era, in culture and “current” events. Commentary of the politics of the film always seemed off base to me, though.
2) Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Came along when I’d finally gotten to see the pre-1948 color WB cartoons. My love of classic animation was even stronger by the time this came out.
3) Animal House – As big-time SNL fan, this was a given. Much better than its early reputation as a raunchy-fest.
4) What’s Up, Doc? – Just a perfect absurd slapstick comedy romp!
5) Planet of the Apes, the original from 1968 – As soon as I saw it on TV in the ’70s, it was an easy favorite.
Also:
Mad Mad Mad…World, This is Spinal Tap, most of the Marx Brothers films (Groucho’s my favorite, for his characters’ wit), A Christmas Story, Airplane, the Naked Gun movies, Groundhog Day, the Disney live action comedies of the early ’70s, A Shot In The Dark, the mid-’70s Pink Panther movies, American Graphiti (1 AND 2), Dazed And Confused, Take the Money And Run (kind of a forerunner of the ZAZ movies)…
Star Wars
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Amadeus
Princess Mononoke
A Fish Called Wanda
Favorite movies? Such a hard thing to decide. Almost impossible since the list fluctuates on an almost daily basis. I’ll just say this;
Back in the year 2000 I saw my first DVD- it was “Gladiator” so I will always have a soft spot for that movie- and I immediately realized that VHS was a dead medium. The next day I went out and purchased a DVD player. Now, you can’t buy a DVD player, take it home, hook it up and just stare at it. So I needed a DVD. After perusing the entire selection available at the time I finally chose two: Caddyshack and Night of the Living Dead.
So, there you go. I still love both of those movies and will argue their respective merits vociferously.
1. Life of Brian – Symbolic of his struggle against reality
2. Start the Revolution Without Me – I thought it was a costume ball
3. Back to the Future – What the hell is a gigawatt?
4. O Brother Where Art Thou? – That’s some mighty fine pickin’ and a singin’
5. Pride and Prejudice (Jennifer Ehle & Colin Firth) – She is tolerable I guess but she’s not handsome enough to tempt me.
1) Vanya on 42nd Street (David Mamet adaptation of Checkov’s Uncle Vanya. So well written and superbly acted!) – Don’t bother watching it though, not one other person I’ve met has ever been able to get through it, let alone enjoy it.
2) This Is Spinal Tap. I’m a sucker for anything with Nigel Tufnel in it. I quote this movie in my head on a weekly basis.
3) Hannah and Her Sisters. Saw this on another’s list and have to agree. Although if I swap it out with Woody Allen’s Play It Again Sam I still like my list.
4) The Big Lebowski. I hate to put it on there because it’s so filthy, but The Dude abides. Another one I quote endlessly to myself.
5) Schindler’s List. Only movie that ever made me cry in public. Man’s inhumanity to man and all that.
Vertigo is my #1
After that it’s blurry
The Graduate
8 1/2
Surprised there are no mentions of Paul Thomas Anderson yet.
Star Wars is up there
I know The Royal Tenenbaums made me laugh so hard in the theater.
I have tried to watch a Marx Bros film or two and I just can’t get into it. I will have to try again.
No mentions of Chaplin, Keaton or Lloyd?
Charlie Kaufman can blow your mind
Jacques Tati
Somebody above got The Long Goodbye, and add to that Farewell, My Lovely. After that, it gets really tough; two hundred movies are jockeying for position, “Pick me! Pick me!”
Except for the unquestioned Numero One-o: The Loved One. I saw it when it came out, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen it since then; at least thirty, all the way through. You either Know or you Don’t Know. If you Know, welcome, brother.
I own VHS copies of Night of Horror, of World’s Greatest Sinner, and of Alabama’s Ghost. I saw 2001 on a Cinerama screen when it came out, for God’s sake. I’ve been hopelessly lost at the movies since I saw Invasion from Mars when I was seven, on a screen set up on a seaplane ramp into Guantanamo Bay for military dependents.
And nothing gets close to The Loved One. Ayllene Gibbons–’nuff said.
Imagine Blazing Saddles, except nobody you know has ever seen Blazing Saddles. It’s like that. Wow.
IYLMAIKIA (if you’re like me, and I know I am), then you have been reading through these lists thinking “Man, I can’t believe I forgot about that one!”. I can’t believe I forgot about –
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) –
550,000 servicemen and women return to civilian life. PTSD before anybody called it that. Alcohol, divorce, physical injury. The movie deals with all of that in an intimate and loving way, but glosses over the huge number that did not adjust so well. Still, Best Years deserves a place of honor, I think.
Fargo
The Shawshank Redemption
Pulp Fiction
Cast Away
And of course; Mystery Science Theater, The Movie.
In the order I think of them…
The Magnificent Seven
Snatch
Double Indemnity
Duck Soup
Manos: The Hands of…wait, that’s not right.
Once Upon a Time in the West
Got my copy of Vol XXXVI with the lovely bonus disc today too! (No, thank YOU, Shout Factory!)
Hmmmm…top five at this moment, after most Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields films have been exhausted of course, I would have to go with:
The Thing From Another World (1951)
For A Few Dollars More
High Anxiety
The Cameraman
The Big Sleep (1946)
In no particular order, my top five:
Waking Life
Mr. Bean’s Holiday
Spirited Away
Yellow Submarine
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Honorable Mentions: Disney’s “Aladdin” (it’s my personal record for most theater viewings – eight!), Disney’s more recent “Zootopia” (four theater viewings!), Bubba Ho-Tep, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Rat Race, Masked and Anonymous (this movie gets panned as a horrible Bob Dylan vanity piece, but I love it), Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and The Last Unicorn.
Honestly, mine should just be a Top 15 list instead. And I could go on.
– Pacific Rim
– Transformers: The Movie (1986)
– Star Wars Ep IV
– Lord of The Rings: Return of The King
– Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?
After that would come some more Star Wars & several Godzilla movies. Plus UHF, Kung Pow: Enter The Fist, Aliens, Tron, and several studio Ghibli movies (Nausica, Totoro, Laputa, etc..).
The top three for me are more or less consistent, while the last two may change depending on my feelings any particular day.
1. Dr. Strangelove. It’s been on several other lists, but there’s a reason for that. Brilliant, a bit frightening, and, of course, hilarious.
2. The Big Lebowski. My personal vote for funniest movie of all time. Almost requires multiple viewings to fully recognize some of the subtler gags and dialogue.
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Duh duh duhduh DUUUH! May drag a little in places, but still beautiful and heartwarming.
4. The Avengers (2012). Everything a big budget, high-octane summer superhero flick should be.
5. The Great Mouse Detective. I had to put at least one Disney animated flick here! This one is just plain fun. Vincent Price’s Ratigan is one of the greatest vocal performances of all time.
Yay! Someone else likes this one too!
3 directors – Tarkovski, Kubrick, Kurosawa. & 2 movies – Sorcerer, The Conversation
In no particular order.
The Princess Bride
Mallrats
Pulp Fiction
Fast and Furious 5
Eyes Wide Shut
Ask me again on another day, when I may not have my DVD shelf in front of me, and you might get entirely different answers. Three of these picks are obviously some kind of director loyalty. Really, FMJ could stand in for EWS but I think EWS is a much more challenging picture and also it’s a singular narrative. FMJ is three short subjects woven together masterfully, but I don’t like the missing time. Sometimes I’d prefer the conceit of Apocalypse Now (yes I know it’s Coppola and not Kubrick). Ultimately it just wouldn’t feel right leaving Kubrick out. I think I’ll see if I can hunt down a copy of EWS and AN. Been a while.
Casablanca (1942)
The General (1926)
Stagecoach (1939)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The Godfather (1972)
Can I just say how much I’m enjoying this thread? It’s fascinating to see the vast array of films fellow MSTies love!
1. L.A. Confidential – I could watch this one once a week but I don’t want to ‘dilute’ it, so to speak. I try to put at least 3 months between viewings to keep it fresh.
2. Miller’s Crossing – Same as L.A. Confidential.
3. Broadway Danny Rose or Manhattan or Bullets over Broadway or Midnight in Paris or one of many Woody Allen movies – I am surprised at the lack of Woody Allen films on the lists here. In some ways I think I could fill my top 5 entirely with his movies.
4. The Shop Around the Corner – A wonderful, charming movie.
5. La grande bellezza (The Great Beauty) – A stunningly gorgeous film.
Honorable Mention
8½
Ran – Another stunningly beautiful and powerful movie.
Big Night – I am 100% Italian, I love food, I think that the late 50s was a great time and I especially like the character played by Ian Holm.
A Bronx Tale – Full of classic scenes such as Sonny backing up his car driving from home to the Chez Bippy and, of course, the door test, among many others. And the whole Italian thing.
That Thing You Do – I joined my first rock band, a typical garage band, in 1967. Tom Hanks perfectly nailed the 60’s garage band phenomenon and the songs perfectly capture the mid-60s feel. A charming, sweet, funny movie, perfect in its own way.
Cyrano de Bergerac – The 1990 Gérard Depardieu version.
Diner – Incredible cast, great music. On Friday and/or Saturday nights, in the early 70s, my buddies and I would hang out in various eateries, cracking wise.
Mystery Science Theater The Movie – natch.
Twenty years or so ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’ topped my list. I have seen it 21 times–IN THEATER!–and for many years refused to watch it on a TV screen until I broke down last year and watched it (on TCM I think). Still a great movie but no longer #1 or even in my top 5.
I can’t really say I have a list of most favorites, I love so many movies. So here’s 5 random picks.
The General
The Producers
A Shot in the Dark
Odd Thomas
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Dittos. I’ve already added quite a few to my “Movies to watch” list based on some really wonderful sounding diverse films from you great loveable bunch of MSTies!
It’s hard for me to narrow it down to just five, so, I’ll give my favorites across five different categories.
Overall Favorite Movie: Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope. (No need to explain. And Han Shot First!)
Favorite Animated Movie: Aladdin. (If the Best Animated Feature Oscar had been around in the early 90s, this would have won hands down. And Jasmine, very easy on the eyes.)
Favorite Musical: 1776. (I try to watch this every July 4th. If only they’d release the movie soundtrack on CD.)
Favorite non-franchise movie: Down Periscope (An oddball comedy, but, if I see it on TV, I turn it on.)
Favorite movie of the current century: The Avengers (Cementing why Marvel Studios knows how to do their movies right.)
I’m REALLY surprised it took someone this long to mention it…
Anyway, I’m not McLargeHuge into movies, but I’d say the following would be my top 5:
1. A Shot in the Dark. Great cinematography, hilarious comedy timing and gags. Even though I’ve seen it a million times, I still laugh at the jokes.
2. The Big Lebowski. Another great comedy with some great nuggets of humor. It’s almost like an episode of MST3k, where you need repeated viewings.
3. The Silence of the Lambs. Superb drama. The sound of Anthony Hopkins sucking on his teeth haunts me to this day.
4. Requiem For a Dream. Really dark, and anyone who’s ever been involved with narcotics or knows someone who has can relate to it.
5. Donnie Darko. A disturbing tale which takes repeated viewings to make sense of it.
not necessarily in this order:
Forbidden Planet
Robin Hood (Errol Flynn)
The Lord of the Rings (the entire trilogy)
Duck Soup
The Bank Dick
In no order:
Seven Samurai
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Rear Window
Clerks
The Matrix