My Favorite Movies

God, I love this movie! It never fails to reduce me to a blubbering idiot several times throughout the movie, and by the time we hit the finale in the Bailey living room, I'm a wreck. George and Mary Bailey are the perfect screen couple, not sickeningly cute, with a small wry streak but basically two decent people who are perfect for each other. It's sentimental, but never really sappy, mostly because Stewart's portrayal of George Bailey has a bit of a dark streak in him. He gets angry, he lashes out, he can be bitter about his life. In short, he's a good ol' American human being, and it's that performance that anchors this one in enough reality to keep this from being eye-rollingly sappy. A truly timeless classic; in my humble opinion, one of the best movies ever made.

One of my all-time favorites. It really is amazing just how great this movie is. Every time I watch it, it astounds me just how many great lines there are in this and how many of them have since been woven into the fabric of everyday speech even now. You can't go wrong with a love story involving Nazis and Humphrey Bogart. Bergman is radiant, Bogart is at his Bogartest, Sydney Greenstreet is corpulentastic, Peter Lorre is weaselriffic, and my favorite, Claude Rains, is Vichy-wunderbar. A great date movie, a great World War II flick, a great movie for aspiring screenwriters to study, just a great movie!

One of my favorite movie musicals ever. Not as complex as the BBC mini-series it's based on (starring the best actor EVER, Bob Hoskins), but it stands up great on its own. It's unlike any musical I'd ever seen, none of the characters actually singing, but rather lip-synching old standards from the Depression era. And the story is pretty damn bleak for a movie musical. The musical numbers are some of the best, most visually exciting this side of "Singin' in the Rain" and "Moulin Rouge!" You could tell Steve Martin was trying to break free from his "wild and crazy" persona on this one, playing a fairly unlikeable cad who you still somehow find yourself rooting for. Bernadette Peters is cute as a button, particularly in her "Love is Good for Anything" number, and Christopher Walken. . .oh Christopher Walken. His striptease routine is one of those rare screen gems that more people should see but haven't. This one belongs with modern musicals like "Dancer in the Dark" and "Once", taking the audience's expectations of what a musical is and turning it on its ear.

The film that started my unhealthy obsession with stories involving dead people trying to eat living human flesh. To be fair, though, it also turned me on to how great ultra-low-budget movies can be, paving the way for my enjoyment of flicks like "Shadows" and "Killer of Sheep". This really is a great movie. The gore aside, it's just a well-done story. Rather than just using the zombies vs humans as the conflict, Romero makes the real tension happen between those trapped in the isolated farmhouse, between Duane Jones and Karl Hardman, between Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman, between Judith O'Dea and her own sanity. And even larger than that, Romero uses a cheaply made horror flick to comment on the state of race relations in the United States. Using Jones as the hero was a pretty bold move for Romero, as was the ending. Seen with his other movies, the "Dead" series, like the "Body Snatchers" movies, are great barometers of the American psyche at any given time. If you can, watch it with the original score. There've been several attempts to "improve" it, but can't beat the original.

So wonderful! One of my favorites. The poetry of the dialogue as the angels listen in on their human counterparts is still one of my favorite screen moments. Bruno Ganz is wonderful as the angel, as is Peter Falk as himself. Just a beautiful movie. Whatever you do, please don't watch the sequel, "Faraway So Close".

Woo hoo! It's been awhile since a movie really grabbed me, and this one grabbed me by the throat and didn't let go. I'm a QT fan anyway, so I'm more than a little biased, but Tarantino accomplished exactly what he set out to do: he made a loud, trashy pulpy movie with all the requisite Tarantino-esque dialogue. It starts out at a leisurely pace, but when we get to the final showdown, it is one of the most intense, exciting, and funny action sequences I've ever seen. Kurt Russell does a great job as Stuntman Mike, you can tell he's loving every minute of this role. Side note: if there was any question that Tarantino had an unhealthy foot fetish, this movie will definitively answer that question.

With both "Shaun" and "Hot Fuzz", Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright not only lovingly send up their favorite movie genres, but they also made great movies that stand up just fine on their own. You can feel the love for "Night of the Living Dead" in every frame of this one. Even better, though, it's just a great comedy. I watched this one the first time with several friends who are decidedly not fans of the zombie movie genre in any way, have even called into question my mental stability because of my own love for them (a fair question at that), but they absolutely loved it and were laughing hysterically right along with me. As long as you can stomach the gore, this is one of the best comedies in the last 20 years.

Yay! My favorite musical ever! It just makes you happy every time you watch it. The songs are all great, the numbers are all great, it's got genuinely funny laughs, the cast is awesome (Debbie Reynolds is so damn cute!), it's just a wonderful movie. On top of that, when you consider that the writers for this were basically just told to write a movie around a bunch of songs from the 1920's, the fact that they came up with such a clever story just makes me appreciate it that much more. What a glorious feeling indeed!

Breaks my heart every time I watch it. One of my favorite musicals, and also just one of my favorite movies. It's worth it just for the visuals alone, but the musical numbers are wonderful and seriously, what a flippin' great cast! Nicole Kidman is beautiful, always love to watch Ewan McGregor, but it's Jim Broadbent who's my absolute favorite. He's just so. . .expansive. David Wenham is actually really great as well as the couple's barrier to happiness. The scene where he sings "It's a little bit funny" still cracks me up. Excellent date movie, even if the date is just with your cats.

One of my favorite movies. While it's not the best in terms of pacing or story, it is absolutely worth it for the performance of Victoire Thivisol. The most amazing child performance I have ever seen. She will break your heart.

If you want proof that David Lynch is a brilliant filmmaker, forget "Blue Velvet", "Twin Peaks", "Eraserhead". THIS is the movie that showed me exactly how great an artist Lynch really is. That the man who came up with the cat-milking of "Dune" and the severed ear of "Blue Velvet" could make a wonderful G-rated movie about a senior citizen journeying across Iowa on a lawnmower. . .that, my friends, is true genius. This is so far from anything else Lynch has ever done that you kinda have to prepare yourself for the LACK of disturbing imagery. The late, great Richard Farnsworth is a delight to watch, and the slow, gentle nature of the story has made this not just one of my favorite David Lynch movies but one of my favorite movies period.

I still get chills with those opening visuals of shifting clouds and that great theme song. It still amazes me that the guy who did "Das Boot" is the same guy who did this fantasy tale. Then again, there are some pretty dark sequences here. I mean, seriously, I still have nightmares about the Gamorg and the Nothing (probably too much information, huh?) Like "The Dark Crystal", this is one of the most unique fantasy movies ever made. Falcooooorrrr!

Soooo scary! I nearly broke my date's hand when I saw this at the theater I was holding it so tight (I don't think my whimpering helped add to whatever manly image I was trying to convey, either). Scary monsters in a well-made movie are bad enough, but throw it into the tight confines of an unexplored cave and forget it, dude, I'm terrified. Even before we're introduced to the creatures (and it's one of the scariest intros ever, incidentally), just the scenes of women wriggling through and almost getting stuck in tight, vise-like tunnels are enough for a horror movie of their own. I have to admit, I didn't buy the actions of one of the characters near the end, a bit too pre-feminist to be believable here, but it definitely didn't detract from the overall horror. As much as one can love a movie that reduces you to a screaming five-year-old, I sure loved this one.

Quirky, sweet, cynical, sad, and hilarious. Toni Collette? Awesome. Greg Kinnear? Awesome. Steve Carell? Uh. . .AWESOME. Alan Arkin? Super awesome. Abigail Breslin. . .all right, you get the picture. Just looking at that yellow dvd cover makes me want to watch the movie every time. It's an indy movie in the very best sense of the word, and the first time I saw the big number at the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, I literally fell out of my recliner laughing. The cats did not find it as amusing, but what do they know?

Kudos to Tom Hanks for making his first directorial feature about the most fun, unpretentious flick you could find. Full of fun music and a great young cast, this is one of those you can watch over and over and has slowly become one of my favorite movies. It was also my first introduction to how damn funny Steve Zahn is. I don't know if they were ad-libbed or not, but his riffs at the Iowa State Fair and during one of the radio interviews still make me laugh just thinking about 'em. Fun, all-ages movie with a sweet love story to boot.

Next to "Pennies From Heaven", my favorite Steve Martin flick. One of those comedies that seems to have slipped under the radar, but it's really damn funny, full of the same absurd humor of "The Jerk", "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", and "The Man with Two Brains". Charles Grodin is absolutely hilarious as Martin's even lonelier best friend Larry. The scene where he complains about Michael Landon's hair is priceless. One of those rare movie gems that are a delight to discover.

The first time I watched this one, I never would have dreamed it would become one of my favorite movies ever. I expected a bunch of Farrelly-style funny but tasteless fat jokes and that was about it. And while the requisite fat jokes are indeed there, along with some other gross body humor, this is actually a really well-done movie about the difference between physical beauty and what's inside that counts. And whereas most such movies sum everything up by telling us that the ugly duckling just needed a good shopping spree and makeover, in this one the ducklings stay ugly, and it actually forces you to consider just what does ugly mean, anyway. A surprisingly touching comedy. Plus Jack Black calls Tony Robbins "banana hands", and that's just plain funny.

I've seen this one more times than I can count. It's one of those popcorn flicks, you can watch it endlessly and it never gets old. It's funny, silly, Drew Barrymore is adorable, I think EVERYBODY has felt like Robbie Hart at one time or another, there's a great Jon Lovitz cameo, fun 80's musics and jokes, and I cry like a baby every time during the big finale on the plane. It's romance crack.

Come back, Vincent! After watching "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" double feature, and thoroughly enjoying both of them, I decided to take another Vincent Price horrorfest out for a spin. And I'm glad I did! "Theater of Blood" is basically a remake of "Abominable", only this time VP is bumping off arrogant theater critics rather than arrogant doctors. "Theater" is "Saw" for the intellectual set, with Price designing elaborate deaths based on various Shakespeare plays such as Richard III and The Merchant of Venice. High-minded and high camp, you can tell Price is relishing his role, getting to play so many different classic Shakespearean roles AND getting to dispose of theater critics in very gruesome ways. Plus Diana Rigg's in it. Growr. Too bad about the poodles, though.

I typically shy away from silent dramas. Silent comedies tend to translate well to a "modern sensibility", but in my experience, it's generally not the case for dramas. Too much overacting for me to really immerse myself in the story. But "Greed" is a rare exeption, and is in fact one of the better movies I've seen. Von Stroheim is a masterful director, getting the most out of both his actors and his locations. Gibson Gowland is fascinating to watch; his physical power leaps off the screen, and he has a fascinating, expressive face. At over two hours (cut down from an original nine), the story never slowed, and the ending was good and bleak. Highly, highly recommended.

Hilarious movie about illegitimate children and pints of Guinness. Colm Meaney is so great as the patriarch of a huge Dublin brood all under one roof, struggling with his daughter's scandalous pregnancy and trying to be a sensitive dad in an environment where that's nearly impossible. What's great about the Curley family is that they just roll with every setback with a wry determination, resigned to their woes, but resigned with a great love for their family and a great sense of humor. Would make a great double feature with "The Castle", another movie with a great working-class film family.

Rented this on a whim a few years ago after a suggestion from a coworker. Since then, it's become one of my favorite movies. David Byrne is such a gentle, sweet-natured narrator, and all the characters are so darn cute and likeable, you can't not smile when you're watching this. Plus you can't beat Talking Heads music. An odd, funny, wonderful little flick.

20 years later, it's still my favorite movie of all time. As a kid, I was fascinated by the technology that blended cartoon characters and live actors so seamlessly that you really could believe that there was a place you could actually meet Bugs Bunny in person. And in this day of CGI, the work on "Roger" is still a marvel when you consider that every cel of animation on this was hand-drawn and painted. Bob Hoskins deserved an Oscar for his performance in this; the fact that he was able to make us believe he was driving a cartoon cab and yanking a cartoon rabbit around by his ears, and the amount of concentration and talent it took to do so is a feat few actors could have pulled off (for example, all the scenes where he was handcuffed to Roger, they used a spring-loaded handcuff, meaning Hoskins had to adjust his wrist to move where Roger's wrist would eventually be, all while doing the rest of the acting as well, talking to an imaginary bunny). Amazing, and Hoskins to this day is still my favorite actor because of it. And to top it all off, a smart, clever, funny script with shades of "Chinatown" that puts the story first and lets the very special effects accent it rather than letting the wow factor make the story take a backseat. Great, great movie, a shining example of the magic that can be made in Hollywood when they really set their minds to it.

One of the best, if not THE best, romantic movies I've seen, bar none. Also another great addition to the modern movie musical. Like "Dancer in the Dark", this proves again that a movie musical doesn't have to have huge sets and spectacle to make a successful musical. And here, there are no real "numbers" per se. The music is an organic part of the story. And it's great music. A wonderful movie about two people who literally make beautiful music together. Loved it!

So great! A neo-noir/comedy/action/buddy/romance. . .I don't know what else to slash with it. Shane Black's directorial debut is funny, clever, and just fun to watch. Robert Downey, Jr. is perfectly cast as the hapless narrator who guides us through a great story full of twists, turns, and unfortunately-placed spiders. The narrative style is superb, matching Downey's haphazard character as he sometimes has to stop and back up to fill us in on what we may have missed. Val Kilmer seemed to have flamed out the last few years, but his role as Gay Perry is one of his best to date and gives me hope he can still get past his huge ego to make a great role. Michelle Monaghan takes what could have been a pretty by-the-books "oh, yeah, there's a woman in the movie, too" role and injects it with wit and sarcasm. I'd heard a lot of great things about this one and they were all true. Awesome movie!

Besides the goodness that is pretty much anything that comes out of Pixar, this is my favorite animated movie. It's still hard for me to believe that this is a Disney movie. It's pretty subversive and just so out there humor-wise it's something I'd be more likely to believe came out of Dreamworks. The animation is gorgeous and shows there's no reason that 2-D can't survive in the age of computer animation. And the characterization is perfect. Ving Rhames as Bubbles and Kevin McDonald as Pleekly (sp?) are my favorites, but everybody's wonderful. You can't go wrong with a movie set in Hawaii involving Elvis, aliens, and the importance of family. A family movie for really cool families.

It's hard to believe that the first time I watched this one I thought it was just okay. Now of course, after having watched it umpteen times, it has become one of may all-time favorites. I think this one is the zenith of the Coen brothers' oddball comedies. If they ever top this one, it's going to be a helluva day for stoned college kids everywhere. Where to start on how awesome this movie is? Jeff Bridges as the Dude? John Goodman violently explaining why he won't roll on Shabbas? The Little Lebowski Urban Achievers? The Creedence? There was a point where I was watching this every night and it literally never gets old. The performances are so great and the visuals and music are damn near hypnotic. One of the best movies in the last decade, by far. It really tied the room together. . .

One of my favorite movies. When I saw it way back when, I figured it would just be a throw-away movie, a too-long SNL sketch padded out for 90 minutes like "A Night at the Roxbury" or "It's Pat!" But Al Franken took a mildly humorous, mildly annoying character and made both him and his life three-dimensional and even more shockingly, relatable. Really an adaptation of Franken's "I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!" (again, a surprisingly good read), rather than ridicule Stuart's addiction to twelve-step programs, the movie actually takes a look at some serious issues like alcoholism, child abuse, and depression and presents them in a funny yet serious light. If the movie hinged completely on Franken's Smalley, it might not have worked, but his family members, played by great actors like Harris Yulin, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Shirley Knight, anchors this in enough reality that you can actually relate to Stuart. Relate to Stuart Smalley. That is no small feat. A funny, surprisingly touching movie. I still cry when Donny shows up (you'll know what I'm talking about).