Re: List your 15 Most Memorable Movies...
Wow, great question! Well, off the top of my head, and not in any particular order....
* "
Roman Holiday" (1953)- Audrey Hepburn truly dazzles in this film. She absolutely lights up the screen! And I love the final seven or eight minutes of the film. I love the way it ends. The ending makes sense and I like films where the love interests don't ride off into the sunset, hand in hand, with ridiculous grins on their faces. Life is nothing like that at all.
* "
The Pianist" (2002)- This film is the definition of survival. It's memorable to me for that reason, it's a portrait of survival. A truly remarkable film.
* "
Napoleon Dynamite" (2004)- This film makes me laugh soooo much!
I've lived most of my life in Idaho, and the film takes place in tiny Preston, Idaho. ( A lot of it was actually filmed in and around tiny Preston.) I can't tell you how much the screenwriters hit the nail on the head in bringing small town Idaho to life! There are dozens of memorable scenes in this film, and also a lot of touching ones. I wish somehow they could've made a cool sequel, but it's too late now.
*"
Shane" (1953)- A quiet masterpiece. I like thoughtful films, and this is an astonishly thoughtful film. Alan Ladd gives a phenomenal performance, as does Jean Arthur in the last film she was ever in. (Jean Arthur is my third favorite actress of all-time.) The cinemaphotography excels in capturing the radiance of Big Sky country (which I've spent a lot of time in.) The last seven or eight minutes of the film are superb. An A+ film all the way.
* "
Ride the High Country" (1962)- An incredible rollercoaster ride of a film. It takes several surprising twists & turns and the screenwriting is splendid. Incredibly, Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott's acting is three times better than the screenwriting, especially Randolph Scott. This is one of my Uncle's top five films and for years he was hounding me to watch it. My Uncle is odd, he refuses to listen to music that was released after 1976, promotes himself as a "non-comformist," and still sports his Ronnie Van Zant hair that he has had for decades. His movie tips are hit-and-miss for sure, but damn he hit with this one. A flat out awesome film, even though the one young cowboy character is hella annoying.
Randolph Scott & Joel McCrea
* "
They Might Be Giants" (1971)- This film is so memorable to me because there's truly no other film like it. It's like it came from another bizarre solar system. It's got everything; charm, humor, drama, acrobatics, danger, intrique, twists & turns unlike any other, thoughtfulness, ridiculousness, a giant supermarket food fight, "Grandpa" Al Lewis, everything. It's awesome! Plus it showcases my favorite actor of all-time (George C. Scott), and my second favorite actress (JoAnne Woodward.)I picked my user name, "Justin Playfair," from this film. This is the name of George C. Scott's character, or is it? I'm of the notion that he truly is Sherlock Holmes afterall!
* "
Windwalker" (1980) and "
The Revenge of the Pink Panther" (1978)- My Dad and Mom got divorced when I was really young. They each got 50% custody of me. I spent every Thanksgiving with Dad and every Christmas with Mom. Anyway, Dad & I always went to the movie theater on the night after Thanksgiving. Year after year we picked the worst movies to see, not by design, but by accident. Five or six years in a row we picked real stinkers. These two bombs really stand out in my memory as being awful. We still laugh about this every now and then.
I really like Peter Sellers and know nothing about Trevor Howard. I do know each were the stars of memorable Thanksgiving weekend fiascos.
* "
Scrooge" (1970)- I love Christmas movies! I love both versions of "
Miracle on 34th Street" (1947 and 1994, respectively). I love "
A Christmas Story" (1983)
! I have to admit I like "
The Santa Clause" (1994). I love "
It's A Wonderful Life" (1946), although not technically a Christmas movie, has been adopted as one by virtually everyone. With that stated I love "
Scrooge" (1970) more than all of them combined. This is the musical version starring Albert Finney as Ebenezer Scrooge. I love all of the songs, the pacing of the film, the set designs, all of the actors and actresses, and Albert Finney is exquisite! My Mom and I used to watch this every year during Christmas season, and she loves it as much as I do! I love this film!
*
"Amadeus" (1984) All I can say is damn, what a film. I know there's been controversy over how factually acurate "
Amadeus" (1984) is, but this doesn't detract from my viewing experience. Maybe it should, but it doesn't. Milos Forman is a superb director; as superb as Steven Spielberg is overrated, which is really saying something. F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce are absolutely incredible!! What a shame Hollywood chose to completely ignore both of them after this masterpiece. This movie is as near to perfection as a film can get.
* "
Harvey" (1950) The ultimate Easter movie, even though it has nothing to do with Easter! Another film my Mom & I used to watch together.
* "
Some Like It Hot" (1959) My StepDad's favorite film. My StepDad, my Mom, My StepDad's brother-in-law, two of his friends, and me, watched this film together two weeks before his death of cancer, in September of 2011. My StepDad, and all of us, laughed throughout this Great film. All of us had seen it before, but none of us had seen it in recent years. It was a wonderful night, and I'll never forget it. After everyone went home, except for me, I showed my Mom and StepDad a ninth season "
"M*A*S*H" episode entitled, "
The Best of Enemies." Neither one of them had seen it before and they were both surprised at how good it was. The half of the episode that features Alan Alda, Mako, and an actor playing a dying North Korean soldier is simply phenomenal.
"
M*A*S*H" "The Best of Enemies"
-I'm three films short, but that's okay. I posted the wrong "
M*A*S*H" pic so it ended up in "attached thumbnails."