A few of my favorite things
by franscutchy | created - 25 Jun 2011 | updated - 25 Jun 2011 | PublicThese are my personal favorite films that I grew up on and just movies that continue to inspire me
PLEASE NOTE: I'm not claiming these are the best movies ever made. You have your favorites, these are mine. :) Thank you.
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1. E.T. (1982)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace
Votes: 437,783 | Gross: $435.11M
This is 1st on my list because it's my personal favorite. I saw it at age 5 and needless to say, this is the movie that made me want to make movies.
2. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Passed | 93 min | Horror
A mad, disfigured composer seeks love with a lovely young opera singer.
Directors: Rupert Julian, Lon Chaney, Ernst Laemmle, Edward Sedgwick | Stars: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry, Arthur Edmund Carewe
Votes: 20,118 | Gross: $3.75M
In my opinion, this is the best film version of The Phantom. It's one of the best silent films ever and just truly a landmark motion picture.
3. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,450,628 | Gross: $322.74M
On everyone's list? Well it is Star Wars, after all. While most fans agree that Empire is the best Star Wars film, A New Hope is the one that started it all. So for me it's A New Hope and...
4. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,380,723 | Gross: $290.48M
Star Wars doesn't really get much better than this.
5. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
PG | 102 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
Directors: Victor Fleming, King Vidor | Stars: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr
Votes: 428,876 | Gross: $2.08M
When I was a kid I was introduced to two masterpieces when we got our VCR - E.T. and The Wizard of Oz. This movie really requires no introduction. And after all, there's no place like home.
6. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Approved | 178 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.
Director: Sergio Leone | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè
Votes: 811,775 | Gross: $6.10M
My favorite Western. Again, I think this epic film speaks for itself.
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,037,322 | Gross: $248.16M
8. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure
In 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 811,317 | Gross: $197.17M
All I can say is, IF ONLY the Indy franchise had ended with this film!
9. Back to the Future (1985)
PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
Votes: 1,307,775 | Gross: $210.61M
I love the whole trilogy but the original is my favorite. This movie will never age, it is truly a masterpiece.
10. Casablanca (1942)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Votes: 606,340 | Gross: $1.02M
I forgot to list this earlier, I'm guilty as charged. Casablanca is pure timeless entertainment. Sacrifice, love, tragedy, intrigue, danger... it's all here in Rick's Cafe. It deserves every ounce of recognition that it gets.
11. The 'Burbs (1989)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
An overstressed suburbanite and his neighbors are convinced that the new family on the block is part of a murderous Satanic cult.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Corey Feldman
Votes: 83,576 | Gross: $36.60M
Talk about a cult following. Talk about a comedy! So what if it bombed in theaters? This movie NEVER fails to get a good belly laugh from me every time. My coworkers quote this movie every day at work. Everyone I know loves this movie. And my DVD is signed by Courtney (Hans Klopek) Gains.
12. Die Hard (1988)
R | 132 min | Action, Thriller
A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 946,110 | Gross: $83.01M
Many agree that this film and Raiders of the Lost Ark are considered to be two of THE BEST action movies ever made and/or they reinvigorated the action genre. However you want to put it, this film is great.
13. The Sound of Music (1965)
G | 172 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Votes: 261,245 | Gross: $163.21M
Another classic that I forgot to include earlier in the list. But now the title of my list makes sense :) To be honest I don't generally care for musicals, but this movie is so inspiring, so uplifting, so full of heart, you can't not love this movie. I like to watch this AFTER Gone With the Wind to cheer myself up :)
14. West Side Story (1961)
Approved | 153 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Directors: Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise | Stars: Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn
Votes: 121,258 | Gross: $43.66M
Again, I'm not much for musicals, but West Side Story is another exception. A 1950's street gang retelling of Romeo and Juliet, how could this movie NOT work? Winner of 10 Academy Awards if memory serves, another classic that deserves all its praise.
15. The Dark Knight (2008)
PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine
Votes: 2,872,773 | Gross: $534.86M
I love Batman Begins also, but The Dark Knight took all of that to a whole other level. The Joker is Batman's ultimate villain and to see it all portrayed so realistically - and properly - was mind blowing.
16. Inception (2010)
PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 2,552,770 | Gross: $292.58M
People are calling this movie a mind *beep* I guess that's one way to put it. Either way, my only regret with this movie is that I didn't go to the midnight showing. When that spinning hallway scene came up I felt myself sliding to the edge of my seat. It was then that I was reminded why I go to the movies.
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