All-time favorite movie?

[240brickman]

OK, since we're on the topic of movies...what's your favorite movie of all time, and why (the key question here is "WHY?").

I'll start

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968; starring Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes)

This was the very first movie that I can clearly remember seeing in the theater (I was about 4 or 5 years old at the time). When my Mom, Dad and I left the theater, I'd memorized every song in the film.

Nowadays, I still watch the film from time to time, and I have the soundtrack CD in my car.

Have a look at my car...notice the bumper sticker on the right


http://photos.yahoo.com/jvsconsulting


...this movie has shaped my whole life!


--J

 

[pdswife]

If I have to pick one....
I'd have to say SOUND OF MUSIC
for the very same reason brickman. We just watched it
again a few nights ago. I'll never get tired of it.

 

[240brickman]

...this might work better (sorry, I'm new at this)


http://www.badongo.com/pic.php?file=1968__2005-12-27_stickers2.jpg

 

[texasgirl]

I have to pick ONE?

Okay, let me think........
Edit: Serious movie, {yes, I'm a big kid} I like two serious ones and they both star my favorite actor. Shawshank Redemption and Lean on me.

Snow dogs I love Nana!!
My second would have to be Titanic, isn't that dumb? I know that the story of Rose and Jack isn't true,but, the rest is going by the words of the survivors and it just get's me everytime I see it. All the mistakes that were made. The bravery of some of them.

 

[shannon in KS]

hmmm, I can only think of one that has deeply affected me in the last few years, and it is 'Til Human Voices Wake Us. Needless to say, that could change or be replaced as fate plays out in this journey called life....

Edit: And a close second would be What Dreams May Come.

 

[cartwheelmac]

Monster's Inc!!!!!!!!!!

Why? Boo is ssssssssoooooooooo cute!!!

Cameron

 

[shannon in KS]

Monster's Inc!!!!!!!!!!

Why? Boo is ssssssssoooooooooo cute!!!

Cameron

"KITTY!!!!" Love Boo!!!!

 

[licia]

An affair to remember -

 

[middie]

too many.
Wizzard of Oz
Short Circuit
Back to The Future
Monster's Inc.
Beauty and The Beast (Disney version)
The Lion King
Fox and The Hound
The Lost Boys
The Breakfast Club


just to name a few

 

[Sandyj]

Old Movies:
My Fair Lady - Audrey Hepburn - heavenly! The music, the costumes, the scene at Ascot...."Move your bloomin' arse!"
Sound of Music - the first or second movie I ever saw at the cinema - for all the good memories and the music
Gone With the Wind - okay, this was the first movie I remember seeing at the cinema. We sat in balcony seats. It was just grand.
Oliver - third movie I ever saw at the cinema on (9th birthday). I had a crush on Mark Lestor for years.
To Kill a Mockingbird - just a beautiful story and wonderfully acted. Saw this by "accident" one night when I was 11 and my parents had gone out leaving me and my cousin on our own for the first time. I was nervous and couldn't sleep. We were warned to be in bed by 10, but I snuck downstairs with my blanket and pillow and flipped channels on the tiny black and white set we had. This was on a "late movies" show and I was just drawn right in and completely captivated.
Barefoot in the Park - mainly just for Robert Redford.
The Wizard of Oz - I used to get so excited when they'd show it on TV once a year. It was a little scary, though.
Giant - For the stars, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean. Corny - a guilty pleasure.
All those Cecil B. de Mille movies about the Old Testament. For the colour and the drama. I was riveted. Really, most of my religious education was thanks to those movies.

Older:
Steel Magnolias. I used to put this on if I felt I needed to cry. My girls would sit on an opposite couch and pass me tissues and elbow each other at the parts where they new I'd start crying.
Willow - I love fantasy, and this was pretty good for a genre that doesn't always work so well.
Blade Runner - love sci fi, and this was everything I expect of that genre.......
The Deer Hunter - I saw it in '78 or '79 with my boyfriend Ed Gardiner at the drive-in in Romeo, Michigan. It was the first "serious" film I'd ever seen, and the violence in it it left me numb for a week.
"The Shining" - same boyfriend, at the drive-in in Troy, Michigan, in about '79. Scared me so much that whenever I heard the theme music on the radio that summer, I'd get goosebumps.
The whole "Anne of Green Gables" series, because I'm a dork.



More recently:
The Imposters - Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt, silly and hilarous and genius!
Almost Famous - the music, the vibe - it takes me back to high school - makes me remember how much I love music, how "cool" we felt.
Love Actually - because it's about love in all of it's quirky forms - and Colin Firth. My mom thinks he's lovely, I think he's lovely and my daugthers think he's lovely - talk about multi generational appeal.
The Harry Potter movies because they are so well made you can suspend belief and sink into the story.
Fools Rush In - because it's about love and fate (those "signs"). I believe in signs, too.
Pirates of the Carribean because it was just plain fun.
Office Space - funny funny movie - I can quote the dialogue....

And a zillion more that I can think of (Mel Brooks' movies, John Cleese....) too many to list....

 

[pdswife]

ok.. I can't do it. I can't just list one.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC
THE WIZARD OF OZ, Both because of childhood memories and because the music is so good!

A FEW GOOD MEN. I'm not sure why.... I just know I could sit and watch it over and over again.

SUMMERSBY Richard Gere. Need I say more?

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S
WESTSIDE STORY (movies that mom forced me to watch and now that I'm old and grumpy too I can admit that they are GREAT)

GROUND HOG DAY ( because it's Paul's favorite and I like watching him smile as he watches it.

 

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

Anne of Green Gables 1 & 2
Insomnia
Airplane!
Finding Nemo
Pure Country
Gladiator
Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back
Star Trek 2
Saving Private Ryan
Forrest Gump
Unforgiven
Stand By Me
Monsters Inc.
GroundHog Day
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Goodfellas
The Sound of Music
Tommy Boy
Dumb and Dumber
Dances with Wolves
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

 

[240brickman]

hee-hee-hee, I knew I'd get people talking with this one!

Lots of people mentioned The Wizard of Oz


I DO love Wizard of Oz, and (like everyone else) I can recite the script and sing all of the songs. Oddly, I don't own the movie on DVD, but I have never, ever passed up an opportunity to watch it when it's on TV. I have literally "paused" dinner parties so we could watch the movie.

Oh, great...now you've got me started

because because because because becaaaaause...because of the wonderful things he does (dootily-dootily-doot)...

--J

 

[shannon in KS]

hee-hee-hee, I knew I'd get people talking with this one!

Lots of people mentioned The Wizard of Oz


I DO love Wizard of Oz, and (like everyone else) I can recite the script and sing all of the songs. Oddly, I don't own the movie on DVD, but I have never, ever passed up an opportunity to watch it when it's on TV. I have literally "paused" dinner parties so we could watch the movie.

Oh, great...now you've got me started

because because because because becaaaaause...because of the wonderful things he does (dootily-dootily-doot)...

--J

You need to visit us in Wamego, KS!!! We have the ONLY Oz Museum, containing many artifacts from the movie! And we had our first annual Ozfest this fall! The Coroner was at the bank I work at, and the other living cast members visited and made a cameo appearance in the Wizard of Oz play! They are soooooo sweet! There is no place like home! Check out the pic of our limited edition card.... www.ozcreditcard.com

 

[urmaniac13]

There have been lots of films that touched my heart deeply. However if I MUST pick one, I would say Stand By Me (1986, directed by Rob Reiner).

As a person who always had enormous difficulty connecting with other people throughout life, the friendship of Chris (River Phoenix) and Gordie (Wil Wheaton) was something I always yearned for. Also I could truly relate to the Chris character, a tough cookie who everyone thought as a good for nothing, only Gordie saw and understood the tender, caring boy he kept deep inside. River's interpretation was, at least for me, one of the most memorable performance on the screen I have ever seen, he seemed to have been breathing that role. (It is such a pity he had to pass away so young before he and his extraordinary talent truly blossomed.) Dialogues that teemed with subtle sensitivity and the poetic cinematography were also spot on. I have seen it so many times over the years, every time it fills me with a sweet sensation that makes me both smile and cry. It is a kind of film I just keep in a special corner of my heart always.

Some of other honorary mentions are: (I am sure there are more that escape my mind just now...)

Dead Poet's Society
The Sea Inside (Mar Adentro)
Billy Elliott
Finding Neverland
Princess Bride
A Touch of Spice (Politiki Kouzina)
Million Dollar Baby
Finding Nemo
Lost In Translation
A Fish Called Wanda
City of Angels

-Edited to add---yes there WERE a significant few that escaped my mind earlier...

Immortal Beloved
Biloxi Blues
Night Shift
Fantasia (Original)
Scent of a Woman

 

[shannon in KS]

ooooooooohh urmaniac, you just booted my #2 pick TO #3.... city of angels is AWESOME! I have to turn it off after the "pear scene" rooowwwwoooorrr! I prefer happy endings!

 

[luvs]

i think 'A Christmas Story.' i adore that movie. i only watch it at Christmas.

 

[licia]

Meet me in St Louis is certainly a favorite along with Holiday Inn. Most old seasonal movies I really like, but for other types, I'm really not a movie person. I don't like to sit still long enough to watch an entire movie.

 

[cartwheelmac]

I do not have a favorite movie, BUT I have a list!

The Princess Bride
Shrek
Shrek 2
Monsters Inc
The Emperers new groove
Finding Nemo (I cried the first few times I watched it.)
and Madagascar.

Grace

 

[buckytom]

You need to visit us in Wamego, KS!!! We have the ONLY Oz Museum, containing many artifacts from the movie!

some of the artifacts landed right next to the museum!


i could not even begin to list all of my favorite movies, but a few that come to mind right away are "the razors egde", "the world according to garp", "the godfather, pts. 1 and 2", "let it ride", "full metal jacket", "band of brothers", "saving private ryan", "il postino", "made in heaven", "predator", "solid gold cadillac", "jeremiah johnson", "dances with wolves", "miracle", "slapshot", "blade runner", "the blues brothers", "bells of st mary", "the quiet man", geez, i could go on all day, so i'll stop there. work calls...