Lifetime favorite movies
I've been able to recall close to 700 movies I've watched over fifty years to include on my Facebook pages, and yes, I have favorites. On Facebook I've "LIKE"d only 56 of those 700, and these are my favorites among them.
Don't expect me to commend movies with great cinematography but depressing subject matter.
As I was born in Iowa, you should expect a little corn along with your meat and potatoes.
Don't expect me to commend movies with great cinematography but depressing subject matter.
As I was born in Iowa, you should expect a little corn along with your meat and potatoes.
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- DirectorFrédéric BackStarsPhilippe NoiretChristopher PlummerThe story of a shepherd's single handed quest to re-forest a barren valley.Please watch this film for me.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMyrna LoyDana AndrewsFredric MarchThree World War II veterans, two of them traumatized or disabled, return home to the American midwest to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed.I have a 1929 edition of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (not quite a first edition) and in perhaps 1,500 pages there is one searing paragraph where T.E. Lawrence bares his soul for all to see. Reading that great cymbal crash of revelation in the midst of a seemingly endless travelogue only made the impact greater.
Like The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, there is one scene in this movie that I find particularly poignant, though even telling you this much will change your perception of the movie and I certainly won't say which scene it is.
Unlike T. E. Lawrence's tome, this movie is consistently strong throughout, and tells us only a little about war, but everything about the people who, like my father, went away to war. - DirectorZoltan KordaStarsJohn ClementsRalph RichardsonC. Aubrey SmithA British Army officer resigns, burning his last-day summons to war in the Sudan. Accusing him of cowardice, his girlfriend and three friends give him white feathers. To gain redemption, he shadows his friends to save their lives.Just watch it. I want you to see it with an open mind.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas MitchellA town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.This movie is all about decisions and consequences and I can't praise it too highly.
Watch for how completely Lon Chaney, Jr. inhabits his character, down to the smallest gesture consistent with his character's ailment. - DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.I've heard it said that people experience Mozart with greater depth as the years pass, and my feelings about The Wizard Of Oz have certainly changed. I've watched it many times.
Viewing as a child, the parallels between the characters in Kansas and Oz seemed obvious, perhaps especially that the heartless Tin Man was actually the most sensitive one in the bunch.
But it took time for me to fully appreciate that the empty-minded Scarecrow was actually the brains of the outfit, and that it was the Cowardly Lion who sometimes went first in spite of all his fears.
Decades ago I bought a book about The Wizard of Oz and learned of the great celebration scene in the Oz square, preserved in only a few seconds as we see the Wizard on his podium. I wish that more had been preserved.
Now, having seen this movie so many times I have apparently internalized it so much that I have not watched it in some time, and while it may have aged a bit and grown less approachable to later generations of children, it remains in my heart. - DirectorPeter GlenvilleStarsDanny KayeCurd JürgensNicole MaureyJacobowsky (Danny Kaye), a Jewish refugee, flees from the Germans with Colonel Prokoszny (Curt Jurgens), an aristocratic, anti-Semitic Polish officer trying to get papers to England. Prokoszny learns to appreciate Jacobowsky, despite their competition for the same woman, and together they outwit their pursuers.An amazing movie from Danny Kaye and Curd Jürgens, two of my favorite actors, along with Nicole Maurey.
Don't like the Danny Kaye 1940's shtick? There's none of it in this almost believable tale set in World War II.
There are two possibilities: you may watch this movie, or your life may be a little poorer for not having seen it. - DirectorBrad BirdStarsEli MarienthalHarry Connick Jr.Jennifer AnistonA young boy befriends a giant robot from outer space that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy.Admittedly a movie with a message for both children and adults, it is a complete movie and I hope that when my son watched it he picked up just the tiniest bit of its spirit.
- DirectorDouglas SirkStarsJane WymanRock HudsonAgnes MooreheadA rich playboy whose recklessness inadvertently causes the death of a prominent doctor tries to make amends to his widow, and falls for her in the process.One of the things that struck me about the Charles Dickens books I've read was the reliance on coincidence, and there's some of that in this movie as well.
Absolutely a melodrama. Take it at face value. Watch it to the end. Let it get under your skin at least... a little. - DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.They've reassembled most of the original film by now, some from 16mm prints found in South America (Brazil I think).
This film does more than resonate with me, it moves me.
Don't watch it for some artsy, cinema lover reason. Watch it for what it is.
Then go out and get yourself several variants of the Eva Antiqua typeface by Spiece Graphics, which is the closest equivalent I could find to the modern inter-titles for Metropolis (I like it that much).
From the above you may conclude that I have some kind of relationship with technology (I'm an Eloi - Morlock hybrid apparently), morality and typefaces. - DirectorElliot SilversteinStarsJane FondaLee MarvinMichael CallanA young schoolteacher turns into an outlaw to avenge her murdered father.I was twelve years old when I saw this movie in the theater and it is probably the movie where I laughed the most and hardest.
The only competitors are The Revenge of the Pink Panther (or maybe The Return of The Pink Panther) and just one scene in Spaceballs. - DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsPeter SellersHerbert LomBurt KwoukTo prove that he still is strong and powerful, Philippe Douvier decides to kill Clouseau. Once news of his "death" has been announced, Clouseau tries to take advantage of it and goes undercover with Cato to find out who tried to kill him.One of the funniest movies I have ever watched. This will of course tend to make you more critical of it, but I hope you'll remember enough of this review to turn it on... but not enough to tweak your perceptions.
- DirectorDick PowellStarsRobert MitchumCurd JürgensDavid HedisonDuring WWII an American destroyer discovers a German U-boat, and in the ensuing duel the American captain must draw upon all his experience to defeat the equally experienced German commander.A wonderful World War II film with Curd Jürgens (also in Me And The Colonel) and Robert Mitchum matching wits and more.