My Top Movies- Favorite 15 Review

I love favorites lists because they make no sense. They make no sense because they are based on what a person likes not what the critic thinks is good. Why we like something sometimes makes no sense at all. I have been a list maker for many years and the lists change all the time A movies comes along that disrupts the list and forces change. Here is the list for 8-3-09. Most of the titles have been on my list of 25 favorite movies for some time. Now to cut my list to 15 by eliminating 10 of my favorites.

1) The Thin Man: A great read and a great movie. William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles. A detective story that is as light and fun today as it was the year it came out. My mom was a kid when this hit the theatres the first time but it is jusyt as good today. A story with a plot not 2 hours of action. Make sure you watch it as it was make, in B&W. 

2) The Maltese Falcon: Bogart at his best and a great supporting cast. Mary Astor, Sidney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre. Film noir at it's best. A gritty harsh detective story about ". . . what dreams are made of."

3) Some Like It Hot: Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe is a romantic comedy that is a classic. Jack and Tony are running from the mob. Where can they hide so no one can find them? In an all girl band featuring Marilyn as the lead singer.

4) Young Frankenstein: Mel Brooks at his best and a first rate cast. Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, and Madeline Kahn start the all star line up and it is completed with Terri Garr, Cloris Leachman and Gene Hackman filling in any gaps. A simple yet brilliantly hilarious retelling of the creation of Frankenstein's monster. Many of the set dressing pieces are from the original Karloff motion picture. 

5) Dark City: A dark and moody sci-fi movie with strong performances by William Hurt, Jennifer Connelly, Kiefer Sutherland, and Rufus Sewell. A story about reality and the power of the mind. Visually stunning with a story that is creepy and disturbing this movie is one a love to watch.

6) Die Hard: One of the first modern one man against terrorist team movies with special effects that take the audience member's breath away. Bruce Wills at his wise cracking best as John McClain the New York cop fighting high scale crooks in the top floors of a still under construction office tower. Wear comfortable shoes for this one. 

7) The Great Mouse Detective. A Disney animated tale of Basil of Baker Streeet. The Mouse equivilant of Sherlock Holmes. With villain Ratigan voiced by Vincent Price and a music hall number by Melissa Manchester, Sherlock Holmes fans must add it to their collection. 

8) Duck Soup: The Marx Brothers at their best. Though Harpo doesn't play the harp in this one it has everything else. My father introduced me to the Marx Brothers when I was in my teens and I am still a fan in my 50's. My kids love them too.

9) Dark Knight: Though Keith Ledger's performance took much of the focus away from the rest of the cast's performances this is still one of the best comic book hero movies. After acknowledging Ledger's performance the viewer must also recognize the performances of the other actors in this movie. Bale, Freeman, Caine and the rest of the cast also gave strong performances that keep the tension of the movie at it's peak. The action peak and relaxes and then peaks even higher. The tension keeps growing through out the film and each time the view thinks it can't get any crazier, it does.

10) Cool Hand Luke: Paul Newman at his best as the anti hero that everyone loves. Put in the chain gang for cutting off the heads of parking meters Luke frustrates the guards and warden with his refusal to conform. With a supporting cast of George Kennedy, J.D. Cannon and Strothers Martin I love to watch Luke play with their minds as he fights authority the only way he knows how. 

11) X-Men III, The Last Stand: Each time an X-man movie has been released I hope for more special effects showing their powers. That is what the characters are really all about. Each movie has started to show the powers but this third movie got closer than all of the other movies except for the latest Wolverine movie. But there were fewer super hero's in this film so I like the action in X-men III better. This title will drop off and be replaced when newer and more visually complex movies come out. But for now the fight scenes in this super hero movie are some of the best so far.

12) Star Wars: I would love to put down the full series but that would be cheating. So if I must pick one, I have to pick the first. Everything about this movie was so different and visually amazing that I still marvel at what Lucas created so many years ago. Though later films had fancier light saber fights and more effects using the force this is the one where it all started.

13) Midnight Run: De Niro at his best as a chain smoking, fowl mouthed bounty hunter who is sent to find the continuously obnoxious Charles Grodin and bring him back to New York. The cross country trip goes from funny to hilarious as more and more characters try to take Grodin away from De Niro. De Niro and Grodin are wonderful together as they squable and try to out do one another on their trip west.

14) The Quiet Man: Even I think this is a strange choice for my favorite John Wayne film but I can't help it. I love this film. The humor verses the tender human emotions that this story relates makes me love this film. The commical fight the movie has lead up to is also one of the best John Wayne fights. One does not expect a fight like this in such a tender love story.

15) Tranformers 2, Revenge of the Fallen: The critics looked at this movie and tried to make it into something it wasn't. So they hated it. I saw this movie for what it was. A movie based on a TOY. So I watched it based on this idea and found this movie has a lot to offer. It is not an actors piece that will stretch the chops of the most gifted actors. I is an action film with huge robots and actors that are either good eye candy or great with one liners or both. I loved this movie and hope it is as good in subsequent viewings.