Top 10 Movies of All Time Review

Eight years ago, I posted this list of favorite comedies on Epinions. Every one of these is a five-star experience, and I don't expect my love of these moves to ever change. By no means is this a list in order of preference. I hope you will enjoy these recommendations:

1. Annie Hall - This is a great film about life, love, and turning forty. The story is told in a stream of consciousness style, as if Woody Allen's character, Alvy Singer, were personally invited to someone's home to tell his life story. Alvy manages to find the humor in every situation. Just remember - we need the eggs!

2. A Christmas Story - A great story of the Yuletide that can be enjoyed any time of year. Based on the writings of Jean Shepherd, viewers share the story of Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) and his efforts to get a Red Ryder BB gun from Santa. The film may be set in the 1930s, but the quest for a great toy is just as timely today. Kids and parents everywhere can identify with Ralphie.

3. Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb - It's the end of the world as we know it, and we're not fine. A crazed general named Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) has ordered aircraft under his command to start World War III by nuking the Soviet Union, unconcerned with the consquences. Peter Sellers shines in three roles as the doctor, the President Of The United States, and a British colonel, racing to find a survival solution. Comedy doesn't get much darker than this.

4. Duck Soup - The Marx Brothers, in their final film as a quartet, features Groucho as Rufus T. Firefly, the newly appointed leader of Freedonia, a nation on the edge of war and financial catastrophe. Harpo and Chico are opportunistic spies for the neighboring country of Sylvania. Zeppo is Firefly's ever-patient advisor. It's the film where Groucho and Harpo do their famous mirror scene. It's a classic in comic anarchy.

5. The General - This is my favorite comedy of the silent era. Buster Keaton stars as an engineer who longs to serve his country and retrieve his train during the Civil War. It's the perfect marriage of Keaton's physical comedy and famed stone face.

6. National Lampoon's Animal House - This is the comedy of fraternity wars at Faber College. The dean and the elitist Omega House want the zoo fraternity known as Delta House off their campus. Delta House fights back at the college's homecoming parade. This film made a big screen name of John Belushi.

7. A Night At The Opera - The Marxes are the only ones who are recognized twice on this list. The Brothers were never better in their first film as a trio as Groucho, Harpo, and Chico try to sell Groucho's opera bosses on a tenor client (Allan Jones) Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho) has discovered. The cabin scene, like the mirror scene, is among the most famous in the history of film comedy. A lot of people would say that opera should really be like this.

8. The Producers - Mel Brooks is best known for his spoofs, but this, his first film, is an original story, and his best work (Brooks won the Oscar for original screenplay for this film). Zero Mostel is unforgettable as Max Bialystock, and Gene Wilder is his partner in crime, robbing old ladies with a fountain pen. Their sceme is to bankroll a sure-fire flop musical, then pocket the "losses." The "Springtime For Hitler" sequence has to be seen to be believed. 

9. SIngin' In The Rain - This is the best musical comedy of all. Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, and Jean Hagen star in a period piece about the end of the silent film era. Stardom hangs in the balance for Reynolds, the talented newcomer, and Hagen, the silent star. The results are hilarious, and the dance sequence are classics.

10. Some Like It Hot - Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon star as musicians who witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, then run for their lives, disguising themselves as members of an all-female band. Curtis finds himself attracted to band member Marilyn Monroe, and tries to woo her without blowing his cover. Lemmon, in drag, finds himself on the receiving end of Joe E. Brown's affections. Brown delivers one of comedy's most famous closing lines.

I hope these synopses pique your interest. Watch and enjoy!