Movie musings

[gurdymonkey]

Well, the Entertainment Weekly top 100 does not exactly jive with my idea of classics. Or even favorites. So here are some of mine in no particular order.

House Favorites: these are movies I will stop surfing for and watch even though I've seen them before. House Favorites are the comfort food of home movie watching. They range from mental popcorn to Cordon Bleu. In short, they are what I like.

Bull Durham
Forrest Gump
A League of Their Own
Die Hard With A Vengeance (Jeremy Irons AND Sam Jackson - Yippie Ki Yay, baby!)
Kill Bill (both of them)
The Hunt for Red October
High Fidelity
O Brother Where Art Thou
Raising Arizona
Master and Commander
Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. (Temple of Doom does not rate House Favorite status)
My Fair Lady
Always (don't watch this if you have recently lost a loved one).
Empire of the Sun
Must Love Dogs
Jaws (only the first one)
Cinderella Man
Lawrence of Arabia
Dr. Zhivago
Rear Window
Restoration
Ugetsu
The Legend of 1900
Star Wars. The first one. Before they decided it was "Episode 4."
An American In Paris
A Man For All Seasons
Anne of the Thousand Days
The French Lieutenant's Woman
Silverado
The Right Stuff
Victor Victoria
Honky Tonk Man
The Madness of King George
The Professional
Wasabi (which The Professional made me think of)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Das Boot
Cyrano de Bergerac (with Depardieu)
Twilight Samurai

Possible future House Favorites:
The Holiday  (Jude Law should be available by prescription only.)
Stage Beauty
Cold Mountain
Music and Lyrics (simply because who knew Hugh Grant could sing?)
The Libertine
The Da Vinci Code (yes, it's hooey, but it passes the good storytelling rule).

Comments

Wow!

[dustinmartinez.livejournal.com]

I look on your list and some some greats!

Honky Tonk Man, Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia

but I figured you for a Cool Hand Luke fan.

[reynardine.livejournal.com]

Cold Mountain is a well-made movie (with GREAT music!!!) that mainly suffers from Jude Law and Nicole Kidman, whose attempts at a Southern accent are positively painful to the ear. But if you're not from the South, it may not be as bothersome.

I didn't think I'd like the Da Vinci Code movie, but it was surprisingly good. I've got the book around and really ought to read it one of these days.

I don't remember, but have you seen When the Last Sword is Drawn (Mibu gishi den)? If not, be sure and check it out (and bring your hankie). Brilliant film--I think I'd rank it even above Twilight Samurai, which I also loved.

[karisu-sama.livejournal.com]

Star Wars. The first one. Before they decided it was "Episode 4."

OMG YES.

Re: Wow!

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Maybe that's because I have a die cast Anubis on my dashboard. ;-D

Add Butch and Sundance. How could I have forgotted Butch and Sundance!!!!

[gurdymonkey.livejournal.com]

Nope, very definitely a Yankee, though I did find it rather ironic that so much of the cast was from the other side of the pond. (BTW, I think Brendan Gleeson is a terrific character actor.) Dialect issues notwithstanding, CM is a good adaptation of a good novel and definitely had its moments. (Speaking of dialect issues, I grew up in Northern NJ and was delighted to hear Russell Crowe actually SOUNDING like a mook from North Bergen in "Cinderella Man.")

"Da Vinci Code" works very well on film, Tom Hanks' haircut notwithstanding. They came up with an effective way to visually depict Langdon's internal thought processes without bludgeoning the audience with it too much. And there's something extremely compelling about that final shot of Langdon kneeling over the pyramid - he might not have been a Priory knight in name, but he is in spirit.

Thanks for reminding me about "When The Last Sword Is Drawn." I need to hunt that one down and rent it.