Based on the thread about “Contact,” I reviewed my film collection to look for other movies that I will just pop into the DVD/tape player, knowing that I’m giving myself a feel-good treat. I’ve seen all of these movies more times than I can count, and I’ve never come away disappointed. Some I’ve practically memorized.
I won’t begin to justify my tastes—some, I’m sure, are absolute crap, and I love watching them anyway. What they all have in common is that I don’t think they’re on anyone else’s list of top films, not any list I’ve ever seen, anyway. These are NOT my 10 favorite films of all time, not even close, but that list includes, probably consists of, films that ARE on others’ top ten lists (The Philadelphia Story, Citizen Kane, The Man Who would Be King, Chinatown and of course Contact come to mind.) Just thinking of these, though, puts a smile on my face.
If you want to compose your own list, you must eliminate any film that you think will appear on anyone else’s list. If you want to claim one or more of mine, then do so, but you are reducing my list by however many you choose, as you are for other subsequent listers if you choose one of theirs.
Adaptation
Black Robe
Broadway Danny Rose
Earth Girls are Easy
The Hidden
Lone Star
Point Break
Starman
Stakeout
To Live and Die in L.A.
None of these would be in my top ten(except maybe Serenity), but all are often overlooked movies compared to some. These movies aren’t necessarily great, but are better than their reputation. Most deserve a second look.
The Adventures of Mark Twain
Panic in Year Zero
Creator
Kronos
The Atomic Cafe
The Sword and the Dragon
Enemy from Space/Quatermass II
Five Million Years to Earth/Quatermass and the Pit
Gulliver’s Travels (Fleischer cartoon) It! The Terror from Beyond Space
I’ve seen Deathwatch, by the way. And The Hidden would’ve made my list, if it weren’t already given.
The Right Stuff L.A. Story Network Metropolis (Lang) Ocean’s Eleven (Soderbergh) My Man Godfrey (La Cava) The Big Sleep Dr. Strangelove The Sting The Incredibles
If I tried to do this again tomorrow, the list would probably be different. Maybe this isn’t my ‘top 10’, but it’s 10 that I like (or remember) a lot better than most people do.
I’ve had to remove many, but here’s what’s left after removing all the popular choices that I think would make it onto others lists:
Love Actually
Black Snake Moan
Stranger than Fiction
Clerks 2
(And I’d totally remove Army of Darkness, American Gangster and The Curse of the Golden Flower- those are on quite a few of my friends’ lists.)
Winter Passing
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Defending Your Life
Glengarry Glen Ross
Happiness
Welcome to the Dollhouse
The Last Picture Show
Run, Lola, Run
The Royal Tenenbaums
Better Off Dead
Fair enough. I had a hard time filling out my list past about number 5 because a lot of them were already mentioned in the thread, like Pirates of the Carribean 3, or because I was certain they would be on people’s lists.
I’m not going to come up with ten. It seems that some of you have some really good picks that I think lots of people so I’m not sure why they are on your list. Anyway, I’m just going to name one.
My Favorite Summer
I have no idea why I liked it. It was the first movie I’d ever seen Peter OToole in, and despite having never heard of him (I was young) I knew he was a major star. This movie has all but vanished from everywhere.
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Murder by Decree
Thunderheart
Forbidden Planet
The Changeling
Romeo and Juliet (Zeffirelli)
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
A Very Long Engagement
The Haunting (1966)
The Black Widow
Blast From The Past
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Galaxy Quest
Get Shorty
Groundhog Day
Hot Shots
Midnight Run
The Producers (original version)
Red Rock West
Ruggles Of Red Gap
10 most often re-watched, probably not on anyones top 10
Ronin
Grosse Pointe Blank
Apollo 13
The Hunt for Red October
POTC III - At Worlds End
Galaxy Quest
The Incredibles
The Wicker Man (not the Nicholas Cage version)
Hot Fuzz
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I see a couple of these on other Doper top 10, however.
Do you mean, “My Favorite Year”? If so, great movie!
My contribution for this thread: Roadie. Made in 1980 and starring Meat Loaf, it’s fun, funny, mindless movie that just feels like the last gasp of the 70’s to me.
I don’t know if I could come up with a consistent 10 that aren’t on other lists, but my top two favorites ever probably aren’t on anyone else’s top 10:
Faraway, So Close! Love Letter (1995, dir. Shunji Iwai)
I might put Real Genius on or near my top 10, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find that on someone else’s list.
The Mummy
The Mummy 2
Jaws
The Santa Clause 2
Young Frankenstein
The Grudge
The Ring
Halloween (original)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Mamma Mia (saw it six times in the theater with my girls, and we will watch it over and over when the DVD comes out)
Had to eliminate Galaxy Quest, but it’s a favorite.
It’s difficult for me to come up with movies that don’t make lists that are older than about 20 years or so. With that in mind:
Twenty Bucks
Josie and the Pussycats
I Know Who Killed Me
Blue Crush
Domino
The Loss of Sexual Innocence
Ocean’s Twelve
The Pillow Book
Irma Vep
Any Given Sunday
Hackers
While I wouldn’t characterize all of these as “feel-good treats”, they are all movies that I enjoy watching. I’ve seen them all multiple times and always enjoy watching them again.