Of course the character development has to be absolutely amazing … but just as important is how the story is told! And also for me (perhaps you too?) there must be a ‘gotcha’ moment that lingers on well after having seen the film.
This is an odd one, but ‘Man in the iron Mask’ sadly the Leonardo Dicaprio one. He was god awful, but he rest of cast made up for it.
Good Will Hunting
A Beautiful Mind
Willow
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Time Lapse (a creative independent film)
Requiem for a Dream not a specific movie, but any epic movie involving the romans, gladiators, fantasy, medieval war, etc
The Shawshank Redemption
My only criteria for a good movies is that (1) I need to get totally caught up in the story and (2) feel better after I’ve seen it than before. There are a few exceptions, but not many.
To Kill a Mockingbird
2001: A Space Odyssey
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
A Beautiful Mind
Forbidden Planet
Days of Heaven
Apocalypse Now
Lawrence of Arabia
Avatar
Lord of the Rings EDIT: Grand Canyon (needed to add this favorite) ONE MORE EDIT: Midnight Cowboy OK, JUST ONE MORE: Monty Python and the Holy Grail CAN’T SEEM TO STOP: Contact
Favorite movies are ones I could watch over and over again and not get tired of them. None of them are deep thinkers.
In no particular order:
Ben Hur (1959)
War of the Worlds (1953)
Scarecrow of Romney March (1963 Disney 3-parter also released as a movie)
Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Dracula (1931)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
The Great Escape (1963)
2001: Space Odyssey (1968)
House of Dark Shadows (1970)
The King’s Speech (2010)
Oh boy, I watch tons of movies. I have no real criteria other that I’ll know fairly quickly if I am going to like it or not. I also have a tendency to love what movies critics hate and hate movies critics rave about. Needless to say … I don’t base my viewing on critics lol
I’m sort of like PD in the fact I would consider favs those movies I can watch over and over and over… and have
Here goes - in no particular order.:
All About Eve 1950
Gone With The Wind 1939
I Was a Male War Bride 1949
White Christmas 1954
Funny Girl 1968
Breakfast at Tiffany’s 1961
Fried Green Tomatoes 1991
Baby Boom 1987
The Dirty Dozen 1967
Avatar 2009
The Shawshank Redemption 1994
Tombstone 1993
Stargate 1994
Psycho 1960
Empire of the Sun 1987
The Birdcage 1996
The Green Mile 1999
Dances with Wolves 1990
Mildred Pierce 1945
Some Like It Hot 1959
Overboard 1987
I don’t follow directions very well it seems lol
Now I’ve gotten carried away and could go on and on. There are many, many more lol
Here are some honorable mentions:
Any James Bond Movie… and I mean any. I loved them all.
A Taste of Honey (1961)
The Leather Boys (1964)
Nothing But the Best (1964)
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
Whisky Galore! (1949)
Alien (1979)
The Ladykillers (1955)
Warlock (1959)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Blade Runner (1982)
Scaramouche (1952)
The Fastest Gun Alive (1956)
Groundhog Day
Almost Famous
The Committments
Il Posto (1961)
A Hard Days Night
The Big Lebowski
O Brother Where Art Thou
Intolerable Cruelty
Rushmore
Dazed and Confused
I consider my fav’s the movies that show up on the TV and you can’t not watch.
Star Trek Into Darkness
Star Trek Nemesis
Shawshank Redemption
Batman (Christian Bale stuff)
Dracula (Oldman)
Interview with a Vampire
The Girl In Photographs
The Others
The Wizard of OZ
Shooter
Interstellar
Raging Bull
The Godfather
Django Unchained
Behind Enemy Lines
Gladiator
Heaven Help Us
Gigot
Jaws
Scent of a Woman
For a Few Dollars More
Grand Prix
The Verdict
Inglorious Basterds
Toy Story
Braveheart
The Time Machine (2002)
Off the top of my head, and in no particular order;
2001 A Space Odyssey (1968)
Life of Brian (1979)
Blade Runner (1982)
Seven Samurai (1954) - so much better than Magnificent 7
Kagemusha (1980)
Akira (1988)
Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003) counts as one movie for me
The Apartment (1960)
Spirited Away (2001)
Casablanca (1942)
Honourable mentions to;
all the Harry Potter movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark series, Alien (1979) - just the first one, Gladiator (2000), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Usual Suspects (1995), The Philadelphia Story (1940), Star Wars (1977) and some but not all of the rest of the series, Silence of the Lambs, The Matrix, … I’d better stop there.
From this list it is clear that my favourite directors are Akira Kurosawa and Ridley Scott.
