# What is your absolute favorite movie of all time?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** movies
**Created:** [January 12, 2022, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627 "2022-01-12T05:25:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/121 "2022-02-24T18:21:03Z")
Shawshank Redemption
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### Author:  [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/122 "2022-02-24T18:32:35Z")
**Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon**
It opened up a world of film to me that I didn’t even know existed. And my life is so much richer for it. I saw this 11 times in the theater. I remember the first time, during the first fight scene, my chest hurt. It was because I had forgotten to breathe, I was so captivated by the action.
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### Author:  [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)
#### Post date: [February 25, 2022, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/123 "2022-02-25T08:42:40Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#):
>
> > [@Galactus](#):
> >
> > I just watched A League of Their Own. Fuck, is that a great movie. I cry every time.
>
> ISWYDT
Wait a second, I have it on good authority that there was no crying in baseball.
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### Author:  [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2022, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/124 "2022-02-26T06:37:32Z")
A Man For All Seasons
Roman Holiday
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/125 "2022-02-26T19:20:35Z")
> [@Galactus](#):
>
> I just watched A League of Their Own. Fuck, is that a great movie. I cry every time.
I’d never seen it (and would not have, based on its description). But I watched it on your recommendation. I cried too. Even though TINCIB.
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### Author:  [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/126 "2022-02-26T19:59:56Z")
You’re welcome. And please work on hitting the cut-off man for next season.
If there was a thread for most quotable movies, I would nominate A League of Their Own.
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### Author:  [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)
#### Post date: [February 26, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/127 "2022-02-26T20:26:52Z")
My list, in order:
1. _Raiders of the Lost Ark_
2. _Star trek II: The Wrath of Khan_
3. _Animal House_
4. _Strange Brew_
5. _Hunt for Red October_
from 6 to 10, films jockey for position depending on what I’m feeling, and how much the producers bribe me.
Tripler
Producers: feel free to keep those kickbacks coming–you might make the list!
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### Author:  [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2022, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/128 "2022-02-27T03:05:40Z")
_Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_.
Runners-up:
- _Jurassic Park_
- _Zootopia_
- _The Birdcage_
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### Author:  [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2022, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/129 "2022-02-27T03:10:59Z")
Apollo 13
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### Author:  [@sweepkick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweepkick)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2022, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/130 "2022-02-27T07:02:44Z")
For me, it’s Casino. Scorsese’s flawless masterpiece.
Honorable mentions for Life of Brian, Hot Fuzz, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
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### Author:  [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)
#### Post date: [February 27, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/131 "2022-02-27T18:52:54Z")
Topping the list would be “The Wizard of Oz,” immediately followed by “Casablanca” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” It may seem an odd combination, but these are three films I’ve seen countless times and can sit down and enjoy again at any time and find something new every time I watch them.
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### Author:  [@cieskokid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cieskokid)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/132 "2022-02-28T04:24:18Z")
Yes to ALMOST all of the above. Top3 for me;some nights it’s this =\>
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eogpIG53Cis)
Other nights, it’s this bad m’f’er →
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7EdQ4FqbhY)
And then, 4something completely different–\>
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2c-X8HiBng)
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2022, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/133 "2022-02-28T04:45:58Z")
I have maybe a top ten list of films but I can’t possibly name just one. There are a **lot** of movies though that if I run across them while channel surfing I stop and watch.
_The African Queen_ has the best line ever. _“I now pronounce you man and wife, proceed with the execution.”_
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2022, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/134 "2022-02-28T04:55:32Z")
_Casablanca_
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### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2022, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/135 "2022-02-28T06:06:44Z")
For me to love it, a movie has to have great writing, which means great dialog and at least good plotting. It also has to have at least one character whose actions and motivations I can admire, whether that character ends up winning or losing. And there has to be a point to it all (example of an otherwise great movie that fails in this last criterion: The Lion in Winter – full of wonderful stuff that seems important in the moment but that in the end doesn’t matter).
I come up with three nominees under the above criteria:
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950, Jose Ferrer in the title role)
A Man For All Seasons (1966, Paul Scofield in the title role)
Yojimbo (1961, Toshiro Mifune in the title role) (For this one, cinematic excellence at the absolute highest level gives it an edge)
And the winner is: Cyrano de Bergerac. It is not only great in every particular, it speaks to me on a personal level, and it makes me cry.
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### Author:  [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2022, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/136 "2022-02-28T17:03:47Z")
> [@Baker](#):
>
> _The African Queen_ has the best line ever. _“I now pronounce you man and wife, proceed with the execution.”_
I kinda like:
“Nature, Mr. Allnut, is what we are put in this world to rise above.”
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/137 "2022-02-28T17:09:29Z")
“You song-singin’ skinny old maid!” 😠
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### Author:  [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2022, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/138 "2022-02-28T17:32:27Z")
Upon reflection, I believe my favorite movie is:
“Treasure of the Sierra Madre”
A good story, well told, without gratuitous sex or violence.
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### Author:  [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/139 "2022-02-28T17:35:27Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> I can not choose in any decisive way, but my immediate answer would be:
>
> **Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade**
>
> It’s frame for frame absolutely perfect. There is not one moment in it I would change. Great script, great editing, great acting, great music, great everything.
My first thought is Raiders of the Lost Ark, for the exact same reasons.
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### Author:  [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2022, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-favorite-movie-of-all-time/957627/140 "2022-02-28T17:40:38Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#):
>
> Topping the list would be “The Wizard of Oz,” immediately followed by “Casablanca” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” It may seem an odd combination, but these are three films I’ve seen countless times and can sit down(…) and find something new every time I watch them.
I have a special fondness for **O Brother** , because it ran for a long time on (I think) CMT (Country Music Television), which made me appreciate its wide appeal. For me, the concert sequence is a beautiful exploration of the strengths of
- Actual Political Power (Pappy)
- Potential Political Power and Cultural Power (Homer Stokes)
- Cultural Power and a Great Tune (Soggy Bottom Boys)
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