This is the first movie I saw in a non-drive in movie theater.
I’ll stick to my first choice even in the light of current events:Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky. With runner up Blade runner and of course the Princess Bride and Pulp Fiction.
So pretty please with sugar on top…
The Godfather - the story, the characters, the cinematography, the music are all just perfect.
It is a gem. Tootie character is a hoot, something wrong with that child. Lol
Yes, the first time I ever saw “Meet Me in St. Louis” I couldn’t stand Tootie. But each time I’ve seen it I like her more. Now, she’s one of my favorite movie characters.
Godzilla 1954, a movie blending science and horror to create a wondrous, magical experience.
Or Rocketship X-M, a low-budget rocketship movie with loads of fascinating subtext.
I wish you could come to our annual Godzilla and Friends film festival. It’s coming up the first weekend in May.
When you listed the G-1954 film, you did mean the uncut Japanese version, without Perry Mason, didn’t you?
I love Stalag 17. For one thing, this is how you introduce comedic touches in a prisoner of war camp movie. Peter Graves is not a great actor, but completely convincing here.
I’d never heard of Nuts in May, but I’ve loved all the Mike Leigh movies I’ve ever seen. I’d have to rank Secrets and Lies as my fav, but, even though I know a lot of professionals quibble about the quality of the singing, I also love Topsy Turvey.
The Muppet Movie
I always preferred Gorgo (1961) to the Big G. In fact, Gorgo was my childhood hero. I had my little friends convinced that I could summon him at will to eat them if they got out of line.
And Gorgo had more attractive ears than Godzilla.
Meet Me In St. Louis is a fine movie. Judy Garland always packed a lot of talent into her 4’11” frame!
Gorgo was one of three 1950s Monsters on the Loose movies directed by Eugene Lourie, the other two being The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and The Giant Behemoth. It’s interesting because The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms was the *UR-*1950s monster flick – the first of its kind, which created all the cliches associated with the form. It was the direct influence on the creation of Godzilla, as director Inoshiro Honda has admitted (he wanted to make a high-quality animated monster, too, but lacked the budget and time).
Gorgo, of all three, resembles Godzilla most, because it didn’t use stop-motion effects by a master of the craft (Beast was animated by Ray Harryhausen – his first big-budget solo feature; Behemoth was animated by his mentor, Willis O’Brien, who had animated King Kong), but a Man in a Suit, just like Godzilla.
(Gorgo technically came out in 1961, so chronologically it’s not a “1950s monster film”, but cultural phenomena rarely fit within the procrustean bed of chronological endpoints. For all intents and purposes, Gorgo is a 1950s monster film)
I have to agree that Gorgo has the most protuberant ears of any of the monsters I’ve just mentioned.
I loved Gorgo too. Wish I could see it on a big screen.
And Gorgo was not a monster as such, going around and destroying things for no reason. She was a pissed off mother whose baby had been kidnapped. As soon as the baby was freed they left to go back home, with no more rampaging.
This film was the first time that I’m aware of that this trope was used. It’s an intriguing notion, because it gives you an opportunity to make a big deal of Gorgo, Jr’s big size and his rampage. And then, when he goes on exhibition, you bring in his mother, who’s even BIGGER, with an even bigger rampage.
The notion was used in Jaws 3-D and in Jurassic Park: The Lost World.
The flaw in all this is that sharks don’t have those maternal feelings. It’s not known if T rex did (The Walking with Dinosaurs series suggested they did, but I have my doubts. Who knows if a whatever-the-hell-a-Gorgo-is-supposed-to-be did. (There was a dinosaur called “Gorgosaurus”, but it was a very different theropod, much lie a T. Rex. In the Charlton comics, some drawn by comic legend Steve Ditko, Mommy Gorgo was shown as a loving and caring mother, swimming around with baby). Again, I’d kinda doubt it. It would be like a mommy alligator caring about her young after the nestling stage.
I suppose it depends on whether Gorgo’s species was more birdlike. If so, I would expect mama Gorgo to have maternal instincts and care for little Gorgo until he left the nest. And unlike most reptiles, crocodilians do care for their young to a certain extent, while they are very young. The question is, was Gorgo still a chick?
Gorgo was the first monster movie I saw (when I was 7). Damn near ran out of the theater.
As for my choice(s):
*Movie I will watch anytime it is on, no matter where they are in the plot, just because I love it so much: The Martian
*Movie that I enjoyed the most in the theater: Avengers: Infinity Wars
*Movie that I don’t have to see again, but will always be a bright spot in my heart: Chocolat
Yep. The Raymond Burr version, although respectfully done IMHO, is missing the atmosphere of the Japanese version.
If you asked me this question twenty times, you’d probably get twenty different answers.
But I did enjoy Local Hero, which showed up on TV a few days ago. That is as close to a perfect movie as I could imagine. Small scale, great character development, kind of sneaks up on you.
The Blues Brothers
Not only was the movie really funny, but everybody who performed was a solid musician. Super cool watching Donald “Duck” Dunn playing his bass lines.
My house was seen for a second or two in that movie. 