# What Is Your Absolute Single Favorite Movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2019, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092 "2019-08-23T07:24:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/121 "2019-08-26T13:01:30Z")
_Apu_ trilogy (can’t break up the set) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/122 "2019-08-26T13:04:59Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_. There are a few that come close (_Jurassic Park_ and _The Birdcage_ come to mind) but my heart will always belong to Wonka. I considered this one also. When Wonka opens the Chocolate Room and begins to sing “Pure Imagination”, that is to me the most beautiful and joyful movie moment of all time. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/123 "2019-08-26T14:10:01Z")
_The Goonies_ ---
**Author:** ![Vic\_Parrish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Vic\_Parrish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vic_Parrish)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/124 "2019-08-26T14:28:09Z")
BRAZIL The real version, not the one with the happy sanitized ending. The baby-masked torturer working in “Information Retrieval”, De Niro the renegade HVAC repairman, the deterioration of technology rather than its advancement, the end… I’ve heard it called “a flawed masterpiece”. Nope. Just a masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/125 "2019-08-26T14:43:04Z")
Can’t do a single film, but I can narrow it down to a few. Drama: **The Last Detail** , with Nicholson, a very young Randy Quaid, and small roles for both Gilda Radner and Carol Kane, both then in their 20s. Ties with Paul Newman’s **Nobody’s Fool** for me. Comedy: **Young Frankenstein** , and all props to Gene Wilder for telling Mel Brooks that he would only star in the film if Brooks stayed the hell out of it. Brilliant cast. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/126 "2019-08-26T14:55:09Z")
That’s a tough choice. Contenders are Groundhog Day, Terminator 2, Star Wars, and The Empire Strikes Back. I will say The Empire Strikes Back. It had drama, humor, action, and not a happy ending. ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/127 "2019-08-26T16:18:11Z")
Choose just one favorite? Doesn’t exist. Just can’t do it. I’m on board with almost all the movies mentioned in this thread. But, I can name three for which I have a particular fondness: - 2001: A Space Odyssey - Topsy-Turvy (Mike Leigh’s view of a few years of the lives of Gilbert & Sullivan) - Mulholland Dr (David Lynch’s best work??) Other movies I love and can watch over and over again… - Blade Runner (I like the director’s cut) - Young Frankenstein - Lost in Translation (recreates the feeling of being “lost” in Japan so well, I suppose you had to have experienced it) - Ran (Kurosawa’s take on King Lear) - Seven Samurai (of course) - Kagemusha (you should see it) - Tonari no Totoro (ditto) - Departures (Japanese guy returns home to the countryside and learns to be a “body preparer” for the funeral industry…surprisingly touching movie) ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/128 "2019-08-26T16:23:58Z")
I go back and forth between Jaws and Casablanca. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken_1)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/129 "2019-08-26T16:33:44Z")
“Fuck that shit!” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/130 "2019-08-26T16:37:17Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I go back and forth between Jaws and Casablanca. So you’re gonna need a bigger vote, then? ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken_1)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/131 "2019-08-26T16:37:53Z")
…a reply to post #43. It’s my reaction whenever I see someone drinking a Heineken. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken_1)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/132 "2019-08-26T16:43:30Z")
…if you’re a lover of of dialogue that stays true to the original works, it’s a wonderful thing to watch…and listen…to ‘Jackie Brown’ (Elmore Leonard’s ‘Rum Punch’) and Tarantino’s version of Cormac McCarthy’s ‘No Country for Old Men’. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/133 "2019-08-26T16:44:09Z")
_Gone With The Wind_. The only movie I’ve seen 12 times on the big screen, and countless times on tv. Sadly, I’ve watched it so many times that I can recite the dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken_1)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/134 "2019-08-26T16:44:54Z")
Tarantino did Jackie. Coen brothers did No Country. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/135 "2019-08-26T17:40:56Z")
Lawrence of Arabia ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/136 "2019-08-26T17:57:33Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > Lawrence of Arabia That’s my pick, and it has to be on the big screen! Followed by The Man Who Would be King. What can I say? I have something for mid-century epic films about British imperialism. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/137 "2019-08-26T18:12:59Z")
_Casablanca_. Bogie, Bergman, endlessly quotable dialogue, intrigue, laughs, romance, an exotic setting, hissable Nazis, a patriotic sing-along, etc. I can easily overlook some of the more far-fetched aspects of the script. ---
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/138 "2019-08-26T18:29:05Z")
Never Let Me Go For the aching sadness when the movie ends. And brilliant performances ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/139 "2019-08-26T18:38:47Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > _ **Badlands** _ - Terrence Malik’s first movie with Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. It was the support to something else at a midnight session, and TimeOut only gave it a mediocre review. I had seen Sheen only a few days before on TV in _ **The Execution Of Private Slovik** _ and that was incentive enough. It is just about the least well known American masterpiece of movie making that I have introduced to people. Sounds like me! In addition _Days of Heaven_ is probably my favorite Malik. It gives me chills just thinking of it. Interestingly, most of the movies mentioned here are probably not in my top 200 or 300…if I’ve seen them. I couldn’t come up with an absolute favorite because I love so many nearly equally, but two movies I can **never** pass up if I come across them channel surfing are _Joy Luck Club_ and _Gosford Park_. I’ve seen the latter at least 6 or 7 times, and I _still_ find things I didn’t notice in previous viewings. Comedy, tragic, great social commentary and snappy dialog…what is there not to love? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092/140 "2019-08-26T18:44:11Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > Never Let Me Go > > For the aching sadness when the movie ends. And brilliant performances Oh, I don’t know if I could watch that one again. Yes, achingly sad. I loved the book, but the performances were so letter perfect, I have to actually give a slight nod to the movie. I forgot that \*Miller’s Crossing \* is close to my favorite movie. So many ways it’s perfect…you could probably watch it with the sound off it’s so beautifully photographed. Cinematagraphed??? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-absolute-single-favorite-movie/839092.md?page=8)