I’ll start the ball rolling by listing some of my favorite movies of all time. There are many genres of movies out there, but I tend to gravitate toward the following:
- Action/ Thrillers
- Comedy
- Drama (some)
- Science fiction (some)
- War
- Crime
If I had to pick my favorite movie of all time, I’d have to say “Crimson Tide.” Two of my favorite actors (Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington), suspense from beginning to end, based partly on real life events, and a movie with a message that makes you think. Technically it’s a thriller/ drama, and could be classified as a war movie.
If I had to pick a second favorite movie, I’d pick “Clear and Present Danger”, another thriller/ drama. It stars another favorite actor of mine (Harrison Ford), and has a lot of intrigue and twists and turns, with a healthy dose of action also.
Beyond that, if asked to list a number of my favorite films of all time, it would be a mixture of different genres. My list would look something like this:
- Action/ Thrillers: “The Bourne Identity” (and probably the next two), “Taken”
- Comedy: “Analyze This”
- Action/ Drama: “The Shawshank Redemption”, “The Fugitive”
- Science Fiction: “Aliens” (the second one), “The Matrix”
- Film adaptation/ drama: “Apollo 13”, “Sully”
- Crime: “The Godfather” (I and II)
- War Drama: “Saving Private Ryan”
- Drama: “Scent of a Woman”
- Old Classics: “Gone with the Wind”, “On the Waterfront”
The list is by no means complete, nor do I think I’ve covered all the genres. But it’s a start. Genres I do not care too much for are Westerns, Horror, and Musicals. I’m anxious to hear what everyone else’s favorite movies are.
Tis’ the season to talk about movies with The Academy Awards ceremony just around the corner. Great list! This is a favorite subject of mine and I’ve seen and enjoyed most of the films you mention.
My favorite genres include:
Drama (particularly historical dramas and biopics)
Classic
Horror
Action
Comedy
Science Fiction (the kind that leans more towards horror)
Foreign
Musicals
I have plenty of favorites so it is pretty hard to choose just one. My top 10 list shifts constantly, but as it stands now it would be (in no particular order):
Casablanca
Jaws
Gilda
The Piano
Singin’ in the Rain
My Fair Lady
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Psycho
Now Voyager
The Last of the Mohicans
and an honorable mention to Heaven Knows Mr. Alison.
These are not exactly the best films of all time just films that continue to, as Marie Kondo would say, “spark joy” after multiple viewings.
I’m especially fond of classic films starring Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, and Robert Mitchum among many others. I’m also a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s work.
Modern day actors whose work I follow are Gary Oldman, Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, and Michael Fassbender to name only a few.
Within the foreign film genre I gravitate towards those from France, Spain, and Argentina.
I will be the first to admit that there are a lot of less than stellar films in the horror genre. Some of what I personally consider to be the best examples of horror are George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, The Exorcist, Psycho, Halloween, The Birds, Nosferatu, The Shining, and, my particular favorite, Jaws. Classic horror of the 1930’s is also great.
Comedy is a tricky genre for me. I do like Woody Allen’s and Mel Brooks’ work as well as classic comedies like Some like it Hot, His Girl Friday, and Arsenic And Old Lace. Most modern American comedies, in contrast, I find witless and gross. I stress modern American because their British counterparts tend to be actually funny and clever.
And, to quote Forrest Gump: “that’s all I have to say about that”….for now.
Wow Angela, that’s quite a list. It’s fascinating to get to know people’s tastes when it comes to movies. I forgot to mention foreign films, and there’s quite a few great ones in that genre. I would agree that Spain has some terrific films I would certainly watch over again. In your list of modern day actors the names Gary Oldman, Kate Winslet and Rachel Weisz stood out the most to me. In my opinion, nobody does a better bad guy than Oldman. I loved him in “The Professional”, truly a scary character with a police badge to boot. Other notable bad guy roles were “The Book of Eli” and “Air Force One.” When you get to hate a guy, you know he’s playing a good bad guy. Kate of course I liked a lot in “Titanic” (who didn’t)… and Rachel I first saw in “The Mummy.” Love them both. Thanks so much for your input. This is always a good topic.