"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Monday, September 10, 2012

My 50 Favorite Films (again)

I made a list of my 50 favorite films before, deciding that "favorite" meant films I enjoy much more than anyone else does. That gave me a list of dark, weird and shoddy films, as I have a high tolerance for those things. This time, I decided that "favorite" meant films that made me feel good after watching them, so I ended up with a very different list. These films are all well made, the worst being a three star (out of four) movie. It's very heavy on comedy and action and surprised me with 6 westerns and 5 World War II films. The average release date is 1960 and the newer the film, the less certain I am it belongs on the list. What's most interesting to me is what names are missing: Hitchcock, Spielberg, Scorsese, Bergman, Kurosawa, Orson Welles, Cary Grant, Chaplin, Olivier, Brando, Streep.

The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1938
The African Queen, 1951
Annie Hall, 1977
Arsenic and Old Lace, 1944
The Bank Dick, 1940
The Bourne Identity, 2002
The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957
Cool Hand Luke, 1967
The Court Jester, 1956
Destry Rides Again, 1939
Diggstown, 1992
The Dirty Dozen, 1967
Duck Soup, 1933
Fitzcarraldo, 1982
Four Weddings and a Funeral, 1994
Funny Bones, 1995
The General, 1927
The Great Escape, 1963
Harvey, 1950
High Noon, 1952
The Icicle Thief, 1990
It's a Gift, 1934
Kill Bill Vol. 1&2, 2003
The Killers, 1964
Kind Hearts and Coronets, 1949
Knife in the Water, 1962
The Magnificent Seven, 1960
Miracle of Morgan's Creek, 1944
Mr. Hulot's Holiday, 1953
Monsters, Inc., 2001
Never On Sunday, 1960
Night of the Hunter, 1955
The Quiet Man, 1952
The Red Shoes, 1948
Rififi, 1955
Robin Hood, 1922
Ruggles of Red Gap, 1935
A Shot in the Dark, 1964
Some Like It Hot, 1952
Star Wars, 1977
Support Your Local Sheriff!, 1969
The Thin Man, 1934
That Obscure Object of Desire, 1977
To Be or Not to Be, 1942
Tight Little Island, 1949
The Wages of Fear, 1953
Way Out West, 1937
Witness for the Prosecution, 1957
You Can't Take It With You, 1938
Young Frankenstein, 1974

6 comments:

PiccolaPineCone said...

Great Escape.. what a feel good story even in the face of somewhat limited success in their endeavor. Loved that movie. Arsenic & Old Lace... an unsung favorite of mine too. But no Casablanca??

SteveQ said...

Casablanca was, of course, on the short list, but it's a relationship movie, not action or comedy (and after replacing Stagecoach with The Red Shoes at the last minute, I didn't want to keep second-guessing).

Rupert Pupkin said...

Great stuff Steve!!

Karen said...

I think I'm too young to have even hear of most of these, but I love Monsters Inc. :)

Anonymous said...

no "On the Edge" (1986)? lol

Jean said...

Fantastic list!

Love "The Bank Dick," "Duck Soup," "The Great Escape," "A Shot in the Dark," and "The General." Absolute classics.