It’s no mistake that I’ve always been a movie geek. Every Friday in high school we’d head down to the Pickwick Theatre for whatever was showing. When you could rent VHS movies, I became addicted, especially when I lived alone in downtown Chicago – it was my main form of escape. Now, Susan and I look forward to our Sunday matinee in front of our widescreen TV at home.
When done right, a movie is an experience like no other – it can affect you in so many ways, from the plotting to the acting to the writing to the beautiful images and incredible places it takes you.
As a cool little side note, my maternal grandfather started working at Kodak in Rochester, NY in 1910 when he was only 13 years old. He started out as a “sweeper boy” in the Kodak fire department. Everything he learned, he learned on the job and when he retired in the 1970s, he was designing and repairing the big commercial movie developing machines. So I guess movies are in my blood.
The list below reflects about thirty-plus years of serious movie watching, but all the movies aren’t serious – far from it. It doesn’t cover every movie I’ve loved, but rather the ones that have remained burned in my mind’s eye as something truly amazing to see.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
Apocalypse Now (1979) *
Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
Arrival (2016)
Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker
Baby Driver (2017)
Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm
The Big Sleep (1946)
Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall
Blade Runner (1982) *
Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young
The Blues Brothers (1980)
John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway
Bridesmaids (2011)
Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
Richard Bohringer, Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren
District 9 (2009)
Sharlto Copley, David James, Jason Cope
Django Unchained (2012)
Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden
Ex Machina (2014)
Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac
Fargo (1996)
William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi
Gladiator (2000)
Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall
Harold and Maude (1971)
Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles
The Iron Giant (1999)
Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Aniston
Iron Man (2008)
Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
A Knight’s Tale (2001)
Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Rufus Sewell
Léon: The Professional (1994)
Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden
Lost in Translation (2003) *
Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) *
Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Wallace Shawn, Andre Gregory
O Lucky Man! (1973) *
Malcolm McDowell, Ralph Richardson, Rachel Roberts
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López
The Princess Bride (1987)
Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright
Pulp Fiction (1994)
John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson
Rogue One (2016)
Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton
Snowpiercer (2013)
Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Talking Heads
Streets of Fire (1984)
Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis
The Thin Man (1934)
William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan
True Stories (1986)
David Byrne, John Goodman
Unforgiven (1992)
Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman
Whiplash (2014)
Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, Melissa Benoist
Wonder Woman (2017)
Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman
Zombieland (2009)
Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson
* – Movies about which I have said “Wow, this is the best movie I’ve ever seen!” at one time.
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