The Favorites
The ones that matter. The ones that hit my spiritual frequency like a tuning fork from miles away that makes me stir in my seat or shake me to my very core. The ones that tell me who I am and what I like about me.
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- DirectorSteven LisbergerStarsJeff BridgesBruce BoxleitnerDavid WarnerA computer hacker is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.For a kid who just experienced Pac Man in a bowling alley and had never seen a movie on the big screen, this was the one that started it all. Beyond the visuals, Jeff Bridges Bruce Boxlietner and the wonderful David Warner carried this story from its start to finish with all the wonder and imagination a kid could hope for. My first of three all time favorite films.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.For a teenager who never appreciated drama in any of its wonderful forms, this movie is the one that altered my movie appreciation forever. It was a gift to those of us who scored highly in a particular quarter in high school, to skip class and watch this film in the auditorium. For the other kids around me, they moaned and groaned and hated the idea. For me, I was curious. Then I was enraptured. Then I was forever changed. My second favorite movie of all time, chronologically speaking.
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossFreedom fighters Neo, Trinity and Morpheus continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army, unleashing their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation.Technically I view the Matrix as an experience all wrapped together, from the first movie through Revolutions and even including the Animatrix video and Enter the Matrix video game. This was the first time I'd experienced something that was more than the sum of its parts, something I looked at in the scale of the grandeur of the idea instead of which film was better or whether or not Revolutions was any good. For me, Reloaded is the one I throw in when I want the best of the experience because it had it all. Philosophy, religion, action, the computer world which, like Tron, was suggested as a strange mirror of our own. To say nothing of a single line in this movie that altered my life perception forever: "You didn't come here to make a choice, you've already made it. You're here to understand WHY you made it."
- DirectorTom TykwerLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsTom HanksHalle BerryHugh GrantAn exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.Six strands of thread slowly coming to a focal point and twisting together to form a rope of purest art and storytelling that, for the briefest of moments, made me believe that time is an illusion, and separation is mere perception. The movie is certainly not perfect, but powerful, moving, and forever changing the way you look at life.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeTrevor Jack BrooksLorelei LinklaterA man shuffles through a dream meeting various people and discussing the meanings and purposes of the universe.How do you take something that appeals to only a specific section of the population (philosophy) and make it interesting enough to pull people in and keep them watching, all the while allowing some of the most interesting, intelligent human beings give insight to life and the life of our dreams? Waking Life.
- 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.There are movies that, once the title is seen on the Guide as you scroll down the ever-lengthening list of channels to watch, have you pushing Enter before you even realize you are doing it. All other plans get thrown aside, and suddenly you are in the world of cinema at its finest, sucked in like a star into a black hole. I give you Casablanca.
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillStarsPaul NewmanRobert RedfordRobert ShawTwo grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.There are three character types I always have a soft spot for: knights, assassins, and gamblers. The knight does the hard work by doing whats right regardless of the risk, the assassin kills painlessly and elegantly all the while battling their own soul, and the gambler... Well the gambler just likes to play with the numbers of life. Chance is as close to the eyes of god as any person can get, daring to see where the next choice will lead, unafraid of the outcome. I love this movie.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.The third silent film I had ever seen and one of the best movies I've ever seen light years ahead of its time. Science fiction is at its best when filmmakers try to do the impossible with limited resources, and this movie did just that... almost 90 years ago.
- StarsRobert DuvallTommy Lee JonesDanny GloverTwo former Texas Rangers renew their spirit of adventure as they and several other residents of a small Texas town join a cattle drive to the Montana Territory.This is the best western I have ever seen. Granted, its a mini series, but nothing I have ever watched in this genre has ever come close to the magnificence of this story. Some of the most legendary actors ever to grace the screen backed by music that still brings emotion to this day, Lonesome Dove is something everyone should see before their time is up.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroJodie FosterCybill ShepherdA mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.Some movies are accompanied by the steady vibrations of a thunderstorm that starts as just your average everyday storm and slowly turns into a severe weather event, where a tornado might suddenly drop out of the sky at any moment and rip civilization apart. I give you Taxi Driver.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsChristian BaleHeath LedgerAaron EckhartWhen the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice."Jack Nicholson is the ONLY man who did the Joker right." Well not anymore. Don't get me wrong - I saw Tim Burton's BATMAN in the theater and still regard it as one of the finest experiences I've had watching movies but nothing compares to this. Beyond a Batman film, it's just an excellent excellent movie about the merits of civilization, the limits we have--and the limits we dare to exceed.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowGunnar BjörnstrandBengt EkerotA knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.I don't have words for this. The experience of this film haunts me to this day. The minute it was over I wanted to both see it again and never see it again. One of the rarest instances in film is when you have a film that is surrounded by hype, but the hype is nothing but a whisper compared to the volume of this film.
- DirectorRobert RossenStarsPaul NewmanJackie GleasonPiper LaurieAn up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.For those that play the games that go beyond the sports channels, those sports that have the shady backgrounds, the gritty characters, the drive to compete combined with the art of the confidence game, there's no film that captures the player's internal struggle better than The Hustler.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartGrace KellyWendell CoreyA wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.My favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie has it all - humor, suspense, beauty, atmosphere. Jimmy Stewart leads a cast of stunning characters into the world of the voyeur, that place we all enjoy going to but are rarely willing to admit it out loud.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.It's one thing to watch a movie and imagine the life behind the story. It's another thing to live the life and feel the film lacks the spirit of the reality, the backbone of the matter at hand. This movie is quite another thing altogether. All of the echoes of this film came to me during the trial I sat in as juror, and all of the different angles came out: the prejudice, the bias, the selfishness, the stubbornness, and most importantly the honesty of the human condition. This film captures the struggle of the jury like no film ever has.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsStephen ReaJaye DavidsonForest WhitakerA British soldier kidnapped by the IRA soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier's world.Love that is without definition or boundaries is love in its purest form, and this film reveals what that would be like if the world had such wonderful people in it.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsAl PacinoRobert De NiroVal KilmerA group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a verbal clue at their latest heist.The scene that defines this movie for me is the one in the diner, where the cop is talking straight to the criminal, where they both know who each other is right down to their core. There's no judgment. There's no false speeches of justice or righteousness. As I sit here, I am what I am and you are what you are, and though my job is to stop you and your job is to evade me, I don't blame you, hate you... or judge you.
- DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsMel GibsonGlenn CloseAlan BatesHamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.Many would argue that this version of the bard's tale is lacking in areas that other versions deliver - areas such as detail to the bard's dialogue, the part of the women cut down to mere fragments of what they would be in the original play... And all of these things may be true, but for once, Hamlet is played with backbone, with true inner turmoil, and at best even a bit of madness by Mel Gibson, and until I saw this film, I had never seen Hamlet done the way I thought he should have been.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRoy ScheiderRobert ShawRichard DreyfussWhen a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.So far I have not seen a movie balance so many genres all in one motion... From the horror to the humor, with little sequences in between that capture the heart and challenge the senses... A scene that forever sticks in my mind is the simple one of Roy S where he's learning about the sharks, letting the pages flip by as he absorbs the volume of what he's reading, the reflection of the dancing pages against the lenses of his glasses as he does so.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.Before this movie, although serial killers had seemed charming in their ways before their brutal natures were revealed, none were genuinely liked in the way that Hannibal Lector is. Anthony Hopkins managed to make Hannibal into an almost misunderstood gentleman, who we even cared for even after watching the results of his savagery on the guards who were assigned to hold him. Jonathan Demme manages to capture the overall feeling of discomfort portrayed by Jodie Foster in reflection to the suggestions made by Hannibal, resulting in a psychological thriller that stands as a masterpiece of film.
- DirectorMel StuartStarsGene WilderJack AlbertsonPeter OstrumA poor but hopeful boy seeks one of the five coveted golden tickets that will send him on a tour of Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory.There are those films we love because of what they did to us when we first saw them, a signature that forever sticks to them that forever brings us back to the moment in time that we first experienced their wonder. For me, this one will always be attached to a long walk home on a day near winter that was too cold for the coat I was wearing, and the though that I was going home to watch this film on VHS made me walk a little faster, and the reward that I got when I got home would stick with me forever.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsFaye DunawayWilliam HoldenPeter FinchA television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit, but finds that his message may be difficult to control.I don't know how many times I've seen Network. The hardest part for me is trying to imagine it as a comedy. At some point, according to the labels, that's what it was supposed to be. A comedy. I don't remember a single moment in the film when I laughed. I remember loving every single one of them, though.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsNoah HathawayBarret OliverTami StronachA troubled boy dives into a wondrous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.If I ever wanted to treat my imagination, thinking that it had gone stale or gotten too old or too set in its ways, I'd watch this movie again. I love movies that open up possibilities in the mind, and for me, this movie did all that and more. The day I bought it on DVD and watched it widescreen was one of the happiest of my life.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJeff BridgesRobin WilliamsAdam BryantA former radio DJ, suicidally despondent because of a terrible mistake he made, finds redemption in helping a deranged homeless man who was an unwitting victim of that mistake.My favorite Terry Gilliam film, and one of the only instances where I laughed as much as I cried thanks to Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, this is an absolute must-see-before-death film. Everything about it was wonderful, even the parts that were hard to watch.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsSean ConneryAlec BaldwinScott GlennIn November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?I must have seen this film a hundred times. Its the best movie done from a Tom Clancy book in my humble opinion, not just because of the plot or the awesome characters portrayed by brilliant actors all pulling their weight, but also because I think it truly summarized the struggles of the Cold War in a way no other movie has. "Forty years I've been at sea. A war at sea. A war with no battles, no monuments... only casualties."
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKaren AllenPaul FreemanIn 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.In the creation of this list I made a draft first, and in the draft I listed every movie I considered a favorite. Then I made a second draft trying to rank them, the question for each being, if I had a choice between the movie I haven't added yet or the one I'm looking at on the list, which would I rather watch? Raiders doesn't need an introduction, and I couldn't in good conscience rate it any other way than I have here.
- DirectorIvan ReitmanStarsBill MurrayDan AykroydSigourney WeaverThree parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers.The Godfather of comedy. I think every kid saw this before they were supposedly old enough to do so. I can safely bet I might have seen this movie more times than any other movie I have ever seen. You know every word. You know every joke. Every line. Every catchphrase. And no matter how many times you see it, you never ever get tired of it. And Ray Parker Jr. owes his limited career to the people who made this film and all of us, who fell in love with it.
- DirectorBrandon ViettiStarsBruce GreenwoodJensen AcklesJohn DiMaggioThere's a mystery afoot in Gotham City, and Batman must go toe-to-toe with a mysterious vigilante, who goes by the name of Red Hood. Subsequently, old wounds reopen and old, once buried memories come into the light.Many people might be surprised to see this on my list, especially as highly rated as it is, but for me, this is the finest animated Batman story I've seen so far. It shows elements of his universe that hadn't been shown before, such as Black Mask, but it also taps into the Joker's (possible) origin story, and shows that Batman can still do battle with anything, even if the new kids on the block are suped up with modern technologies. A must see for any Batman fan, and just a really excellent film beyond that.
- DirectorKatsuhiro ÔtomoStarsMitsuo IwataNozomu SasakiMami KoyamaA secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.There isn't an anime fan that doesn't have respect for the ever amazing Akira. If you wanted a starter film for somebody who's never seen anime, I'd probably start here, because after they watched it they'd either never want to see anime again or couldn't wait to see more. My first dive into anime was Cowboy Bebop, but because of Bebop, Akira come up very soon after, and there's nothing like it anywhere.
- 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.If you ever wanted to tie two movies together, you should tie Eight Men Out to the front of Field of Dreams. It's the perfect setup film for this one, even if the two aren't even in the same league when it comes to quality, and before I saw Eight Men Out, this movie was very good to me but not legendary. Once I saw Eight Men Out, and learned who the Black Sox were, I had to see this again, and when I did, it was as if I had never seen it before. What an experience.
- DirectorMike FiggisStarsNicolas CageElisabeth ShueJulian SandsBen Sanderson, a Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his alcoholism, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.I've never seen Nicolas Cage at this level, nor Elisabeth Shue either. What they do to make this film is stunning. The fact that they manage to make Nic's character into a loving goofball even if he's trying to drink himself to death doesn't make us love him any less. This movie is incredible.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsMatthew McConaugheySandra BullockSamuel L. JacksonIn Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.Many of the truly great films have a buildup like a whirlwind or a gathering storm, and then deliver in a final show of explosions and fireworks. Then there are those that deliver in a single shot, like a bullet from a gun, a snapshot that takes the world you knew and forever shatters it like a rock through glass. The closing argument in A Time To Kill is a moment that takes your breath away. And when you get it back, you will never breathe the same again.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsMalcolm McDowellPatrick MageeMichael BatesIn the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.It might be wrong to love something so wrong so terribly wrong but this is simultaneously one of the funniest and most disturbing films I've ever seen. Once it starts I can't stop watching it, and once I've fallen into it I can't turn away. The universe of Stanley Kubrick was a fascinating one, though I can't think of any reason why any sane person would want to live there.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsElliott GouldNina van PallandtSterling HaydenPrivate investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder.Have you ever read the tagline on a poster, watched the movie, and thought to yourself, "wow that really did sum that movie up perfectly"? Nothing says goodbye like a bullet. And I do mean nothing.
- DirectorJames AlgarSamuel ArmstrongFord Beebe Jr.StarsLeopold StokowskiDeems TaylorThe Philadelphia OrchestraA series of eight famous pieces of classical music, conducted by Leopold Stokowski and interpreted in animation by Walt Disney's team of artists.First you take the vision of Walt Disney. Then you mix it with the mastery of the classical musicians. What you get is Fantasia, an experience so moving to the soul that once you are done with it you will feel like you fell into a dream while you were still awake.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsNigel TerryHelen MirrenNicholas ClayMerlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart."It is the doom of men that they forget". The words rang in my head long after I first watched this amazing film. Beyond that you have to give credit to any assembly of actors that were willing to act in full body armor to pull this off. And Helen Mirren was quite enticing back in her days of youth.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJamie FoxxChristoph WaltzLeonardo DiCaprioWith the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.I can't stop watching this film. It just came on the movie channels here about a month ago and I must have seen it five times already. Christophe Waltz is absolutely one of the most amazing actors I've seen in a really long time, and Jamie Foxx has always delivered excellent work. Combine them with Leonardo DiCaprio and back it all from the mind of Quentin Tarantino, and you get masterpiece. Quentin don't make bad movies.
- DirectorRoger SpottiswoodeStarsMatthew ModineAlan AldaPatrick BauchauThe story of the discovery of the AIDS epidemic, and the political infighting of the scientific community hampering the early fight with it.I was just told recently by the company I work for that if I don't surrender to the screening my insurance company wants I will pay a ridiculous amount of money per paycheck to keep my benefits. There are so many lines in this film that haunt me to this day, but the one that came to me recently is this: When doctors act like businessmen, who are the people supposed to turn to for doctors?
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsJames CaanJohn HousemanMaud AdamsIn a corporate-controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball represents the world, and one of its powerful athletes is out to defy those who want him out of the game.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsSumi ShimamotoMahito TsujimuraHisako KyôdaWarrior and pacifist Princess Nausicaä desperately struggles to prevent two warring nations from destroying themselves and their dying planet.
- DirectorJustin LinStarsVin DieselPaul WalkerDwayne JohnsonDominic Toretto and his crew of street racers plan a massive heist to buy their freedom while in the sights of a powerful Brazilian drug lord and a dangerous federal agent.
- DirectorSam Taylor-JohnsonStarsDakota JohnsonJamie DornanJennifer EhleLiterature student Anastasia Steele's life changes forever when she meets handsome, yet tormented, billionaire Christian Grey.
- DirectorJerome RobbinsRobert WiseStarsNatalie WoodGeorge ChakirisRichard BeymerTwo youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsHarrison FordRutger HauerSean YoungA blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsJoBeth WilliamsHeather O'RourkeCraig T. NelsonA family's home is haunted by a host of demonic ghosts.
- DirectorMel BrooksStarsGene WilderMadeline KahnMarty FeldmanAn American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that his grandfather was not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartJohn DallFarley GrangerTwo men try to convince themselves they've committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party after strangling a former classmate to death.
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsWalter MatthauRobert ShawMartin BalsamFour armed men hijack a New York City subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers. The city's police are faced with a conundrum: Even if it's paid, how could they get away?
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJohn TurturroJohn GoodmanJudy DavisA renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
- DirectorNelson ShinStarsOrson WellesRobert StackLeonard NimoyThe Autobots must stop a colossal planet consuming robot who goes after the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. At the same time, they must defend themselves against an all-out attack from the Decepticons.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsChristopher ReeveMargot KidderGene HackmanAn alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsSam NeillLaura DernJeff GoldblumA pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.