There have been many, many movies that I've enjoyed, and I enjoy all kinds.
I like movies that take me places I've never been. I hate to admit it, but I like movies that make me cry, but I don't like people seeing me cry, so I prefer to watch those alone. Which movies have made me cry? "Julie and Julia". (I think that's the way the title goes.) What made me cry? When Julia Childs receives the manuscript of her first book. I could feel the joy she felt. I loved it. Another one: "Letters to Juliette". Yes, I'm a bit of a romantic. I love damsels who fall in love, think they've been jilted, then discover they haven't been (or something like that).
But I'm more serious than that at heart. My two favorite movies of all time are "Papillon" and the "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter". Choosing the absolute best one, I think I have to go with "Papillon" because of the locale. When he is put on Devil's Island, it was like a mystery, an oasis; he was like a monk on a Greek island. And the escape was brilliant.
So, which is your favorite movie, and why?
11 comments:
Richard, My favorite movie is usually the one I most recently saw, and you won't believe it but I watched Julie & Julia again this afternoon! I absolutely love that movie, and found myself in tears a number of times, at the point you mentioned, and also the anniversary party, I think (or valentine's?). Both couples are so supportive and loving, it's just a great movie.
Believe it or not, my fav movie is How to Train Your Dragon. Why? Because the hero is weak in everyone's eye except mine, the humour is punchy, and he changes society beliefs-- they don't change him. That's magic.
I've never seen "How to Train Your Dragon" but I've seen "Pete's Dragon."
No favorites - but high on my list are Big Fish, Garden State....
I don't know. The list is WAY too long.
Thanks, Richard, for the wonderful comment you just posted about my writing a second memoir. You're right about it being a healing kind of thing. I think this one won't be as difficult emotionally to write. I just have to carve out the time and get moving on it.
Right now I'm feeling so sad about the demise of Borders where a grandson-in-law and many of his and my granddaughter's friends work. And then there's that loss of community that such a bookstore provides.
Movies. I feel kind of a loss here, too. A loss of movies in theaters. Now everyone hunkers down in their own homes.
I LOVE movies. I grew up on the movies, in the Fifties, the Golden Age of Hollywood. I dragged my sister along to the theaters (that sense of community again) and she grew up loving the movies, too. I'm trying to think. I saw The Heart is a Lonely Hunter many years ago. It was awesome. I LOVE To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the few movies that I think is "almost" as good as the book. I also love Chinatown. What an emotionally complex movie, and one of the best scripts, I think, ever written. The ending was a chiller. Now you've got me wanting to see "Papillon." I'll see if it's on Netflix Instant Play. I hope it is.
I cried a lot at the movies when I was a teenager, in the big dark room sitting beside my younger sister who never cried. Now, having lived through my own tragedies, I don't cry as easily; but occasionally there's a movie that brings on some tears--in the confines of my own home!
A fun post, Richard. I think you've got a good thing going here with What is Your Favorite....
Ann Best, Author of In the Memoir, A Memoir of Shattered Secrets
Choosing a favorite movie is a little like choosing a favorite book - it depends what day of what year you ask. That said, African Queen always makes the top ten. I love Bogie and Hepburn, and the whole grand adventure of it.
I have too many favorites to list just one. An all time favorite was Dr. Zhivago, and my husband and I used to watch that about once every year or so, since we bought the video. I liked Julie and Julia, too. I thought Meryl Streep was such a remarkable Julia. Two movies that I especially was moved by were The Tongue of the Butterfly (a Spanish movie, and in Spanish, it's Mariposa). It takes place in the part of Spain we go to, but you can get the DVD here. We also loved Pan's Labyrinth. A movie that made me cry recently was The King's Speech. When his voice took on that timbre as people listened in hope of some real leadership at such a trying time, I just couldn't help crying.
On a lighter note, a really funny movie that I used to show to my classes was Monkey Trouble, with Harvey Keitel as an owner that teaches his monkey to steal, and a young girl that teaches the monkey not too. It's just too humorous. I don't know if it made the transition from video to DVD, but it's worth checking out.
I forgot about To Kill A Mockingbird and Dr. Zhivago (I was quite enthralled with Dr. Z being a poet, writing the poem "To Laura" [I think] in the ice cold house. That made me want to be a poet.)
Chinatown went right over my head. I should try watching it again. It was ages ago, at a drive-in theatre when I saw it. I haven't been to a drive-in theatre in 30 years. Do they still exist?
African Queen was good.
The Tongue of a Butterfly, Pan's Labyrinth, and Monkey Trouble I've never heard of. You are obviously was more cultured than me.
The King's Speech has eluded me thus far.
hmmm...favourite movies, eh? I like so many. The English Patient for sure, The Big Chill (for capturing the Zeitgeist of the times), anything by Chaplin, and anything by Robert Altman. whew. And my all time favourite might be Five Easy Pieces. Gawwd, I loved that movie.
The Lake House is definitely one of my favourites, Mrs Doubtfire because it's so funny, The Shawshank Redemption, a film I've watched many times, The Inn of the Seventh Happiness, oh, there are so many!
Oh, how could I have forgotten To Kill A Mockingbird! Reading all of these reminds me there are so many good movies!
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