An unusual choice but I like it!
I considered this too and wondered if it might appear.
It is cruel to make us choose just five.
I’m sure if I were going to be cute I’d come up with a scholarly list if well made and “critics favorites”, but these are the movies that I tend to watch over and over and that I keep coming back to, and that I see something new in everytime I watch them:
1: 2001: A Space Odyssey
2: Brazil
3: Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World
4: Koyaanisqatsi
5: The Grey Fox
ETA: Don’t know why I didn’t see that someone else had chosen The Grey Fox as well. It truly is a wonderful movie!
I’m with you. Twenty, no problem. Ten, I can narrow it down if I must. Five? That’s hard.
But here’s my first-comes-to-mind list:
Wings of Desire
The Third Man
Brazil
Dead Man
Spirited Away
Damn, I couldn’t think of my favorite Coen brothers movie so I left them off entirely. I think Hudsucker Proxy is it.
Pulp Fiction
Mary and Max
The Battle of Algiers
Back to the Future
Groundhog Day
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Man Who Would Be King
Cool Hand Luke
The Illusionist
Triplets of Belleville
Porco Rosso
I used to rank these sorts of things compulsively, but I’ve moved away from that. In no particular order:
The Searchers
The Seventh Seal
Apocalypse Now
The Usual Suspects
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Being John Malcovich
Raise the Red Lantern
Pulp Fiction
Annie Hall
12 monkeys
I cna pick five, but then in half an hour I’d remember others. Okay, here goes.
A Man For All Seasons
Chariots of Fire
Schindler’s List
The African Queen*
Broken Blossoms( a silent film)
*contains perhaps my favorite single line in all film, well, the funniest at least
I now pronounce you man and wife. Proceed with the execution.
Ok, so it’s a comatose thread if not an outright zombie, but I thought I would throw in a vote for my favorite Spielberg film and a contender for best WWII film: Empire of the Sun
In the sprit of your post. Here is my favorite “addiction/compulsion” films.
House Of Games
The Gambler (James Caan’s best performance, after The Godfather)
I’ll Cry Tomorrow
Drugstore Cowboy
Days Of Wine And Roses
The Shining
Airplane!
The Sound of Music
Back to the Future
Terminator 2
Surprised to see all the love for Raiders of the Lost Ark, when to me Last Crusade’s the most enjoyable film in the set. But then I suspect that’s at least part because I was born in '78 so Raiders was never “fresh” for me.
Casablanca
Princess Bride
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Serenity
Hmmm… I’m really tempted to put Demolition Man in that last slot. (I am “John Spartan” after all!). It is such a nice little adventure in libertarianism…
I also want to put in Empire Strikes Back, but ESB’s flaw is it’s not a standalone film — you have to come in with an understanding of & emotional attachment to the characters, and you don’t really get a sense of fulfillment at the end.
No one’s mentioned Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, but I can’t see one I’d remove from the above for it.
I see some like Philadelphia Story already got votes above, so I’m gonna say #5: **The Poseidon Adventure. **
Because it’s half the length of Titanic, has 5x as many “main characters”, is willing to legitimately kill them off, showed you can do special effects compellingly without CGI…
I agree those are two of Caan’s greatest performances. But you should also check out Thief.
***Casablanca
American Graffiti
The Best Years of Our Lives
Wait until Dark
A Man for All Seasons
The Sound of Music
The Green Mile
The Shawshank Redemption
The Godfather
Gone With the Wind
I really need to watch Casablanca some day to find out what all the hoorah’s are about.
Just my top five, eh? That’s tough. I’ll say:
Breaker Morant
Casablanca
The Incredibles
Aliens
Limitless
Runners-up (some of which, depending on the day, might rise to the top five):
Star Wars
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Trading Places
Alien
2001: A Space Odyssey
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring
Dark City
The Hidden
Gladiator
Glory
Memento
The Big Lebowski
Blazing Saddles
Fargo
The Avengers
Iron Man
Superman
Air Force One
Airplane!
Back to the Future
The Usual Suspects
All the President’s Men
The Matrix
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Saving Private Ryan
Groundhog Day
Catch Me If You Can
Apollo 13
Excalibur
The Third Man
Blade Runner
Pride & Prejudice
Top five of what?
Here’s one top five:
Citizen Kane
The Godfather
Star Wars
Pulp Fiction
Toy Story
Fight Club
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
The Godfather
Rocky
The Castle
Damn only 5