My Favorite Movies
I think it's funny looking at all the "favorite movie" lists. People with 500 or 1000 movies, sometimes more. Why not just call it "Movies I Don't Hate". I think 60 is a workable number. I'd have a difficult time cutting this down to a nice, neat 50, so why try? Here they are, in alphabetical order.
List activity
267 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
60 titles
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMartin SheenMarlon BrandoRobert DuvallA U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.A great movie to watch with a bottle of whiskey. Gets better with each viewing, and I always notice something new. "Redeux" has some good extra footage, but the scenes with the French family slow things down a bit. I prefer the original.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydLea ThompsonMarty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.Four - count 'em - four climaxes! A funny smart script, good performances, perfectly paced, and a fantastic soundtrack. A vastly under-rated film.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsMickey RourkeFaye DunawayAlice KrigeBased on the life of successful poet Charles Bukowski and his exploits in Hollywood during the 60s, 70s, and 80s.The best film ever made for people who love dive bars. Rourke and Dunaway are Oscar-worthy as a pair of drunkards who find love amongst the sleazy bars of Los Angeles.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJeff BridgesJohn GoodmanJulianne MooreJeff "The Dude" Lebowski, mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, seeks restitution for his ruined rug and enlists his bowling buddies to help get it.I didn't care much for this film at first, but its brilliance grows with every viewing. Is it just a profanity-laced comedy or a subtle commentary on American life? Eh *beep* it, let's go bowling.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsJohn BelushiDan AykroydCab CallowayJake Blues rejoins with his brother Elwood after being released from prison, but the duo has just days to reunite their old R&B band and save the Catholic home where the two were raised, outrunning the police as they tear through Chicago.The simple plot - raising money to save an orphanage - is just an excuse for Jake and Elwood to laugh, sing, and dance their way through one of the greatest musical comedies of all time.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsCelia JohnsonTrevor HowardStanley HollowayMeeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.Heart-wrenching doomed romance between two married people in post WW2 England. Gorgeous B&W cinematography, a sublime Rachmaninoff score, wonderful acting and the sure-handed direction of David Lean - as close to perfection as a movie can get.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.The beauty of this David classic is that everyone knows exactly how it will end, yet the final 15 minutes will still have you gripping your armrest.
- DirectorLawrence KasdanStarsWilliam HurtKathleen TurnerRichard CrennaDuring an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.The best "color" film noir, highlighted by a sultry John Barry score, a script that surpasses its cinematic inspiration (Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity"), and the palpable chemistry between Hurt and Turner. Kasdan makes heat and lust his main characters.
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsKatharine HepburnCary GrantCharles RugglesWhile trying to secure a $1 million donation for his museum, a befuddled paleontologist is pursued by a flighty and often irritating heiress and her pet leopard, Baby.An combination of genius comedic timing and sheer goofyness. Grant is especially good - a brilliant example of physical comedy combined with sharp character development and perfect line delivery.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.Geez, if you have to ask why "Casablanca" is a great movie then I'd guess you've either never seen it, or you simply don't know much about movies.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'It's this simple: Before "Citizen Kane" no one made movies in this way. After "Citizen Kane" everybody tried to make movies this way.
- DirectorPeter Ho-Sun ChanStarsMaggie CheungLeon LaiEric TsangTwo Chinese-mainlanders living in Hong Kong form a close friendship. Over the years this grows into love, but there are obstacles.Sort of a Chinese version of "The Way We Were", with a bittersweet romance that spans several years, and a wonderfully evocative soundtrack to tie it all together.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGene HackmanJohn CazaleAllen GarfieldA paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.A masterpiece of paranoia. No monster is as frightening as the moment when surveilence expert Harry Caul isolates a bit of audio and discovers what his client is up to. Forget Popeye Doyle, THIS is Hackman's finest performance.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsMartin LandauWoody AllenBill BernsteinAn ophthalmologist's mistress threatens to reveal their affair to his wife while a married documentary filmmaker is infatuated with another woman.Might be Woody Allen's best. Two stories, one a sad/funny tale of unreqited love, the other dealing with nothing less than the existence of God and justice, which neatly come together at film's end.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsChow Yun-FatMichelle YeohZiyi ZhangA young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.'Enter the Dragon' meets 'Brief Encounter'. The fight scenes will dazzle you, but in the end it is Michelle Yeoh's beautifully restrained performance that stays with you.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsSteve GuttenbergMickey RourkeKevin BaconA group of college-age buddies struggle with their imminent passage into adulthood in 1959 Baltimore.The ultimate movie about male bonding, Levinson's script and direction create some great moments, with guys just being guys and talking about stuff in a completely natural way.
- DirectorIrvin KershnerStarsMark HamillHarrison FordCarrie FisherAfter the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.The rare sequel which surpasses the original. ESB has great special effects, but it's the plot and character development and the sense of fate hanging over everything which make it a classic. Then there's the score and the cinematography and the perfectly paced script and Yoda . . .
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsWilliam H. MacyFrances McDormandSteve BuscemiMinnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.One of the few films that can fit into the genre "Quirky Murder Mystery", but that's the delicate balance the Cohen brothers achieved. You'll never look at a wood chipper the same way.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsJeff BridgesIsabella RosselliniRosie PerezA man's personality is dramatically changed after surviving a major airline crash.Jeff Bridges and Rosie Perez are brilliant as plane crash survivors who have radically different reactions to the tragedy.
- DirectorPhil Alden RobinsonStarsKevin CostnerJames Earl JonesRay LiottaIowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.The thinking man's baseball film.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMarlon BrandoAl PacinoJames CaanThe aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.What more needs to be said about the greatest crime film ever? "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroRobert DuvallThe early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.See above. "It'll be as though she never existed, and all that's left is our friendship."
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsDustin HoffmanAnne BancroftKatharine RossA disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.A story relevent to college-aged kids of every generation: How to avoid becoming like your parents.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsTony CurtisNatalie WoodJack LemmonIn the early 20th century, two rivals, the heroic Leslie and the despicable Professor Fate, engage in an epic automobile race from New York to Paris.A childhood favorite. Jack Lemmon deserved an Oscar for his duel performance, and Natalie Wood was never sexier.
- DirectorPaul MazurskyStarsArt CarneyEllen BurstynRené EnríquezWhen his apartment building is torn down, a retired lifelong New Yorker goes on a cross-country odyssey with his beloved cat Tonto.How did Al Pacino not win the Best Actor Oscar in 1974 for Godfather II? Watch this hilarious and touching senior citizen road trip, and you'll understand.