2001: A Space Odyssey—I saw this science fiction classic in a theater when I was seven years old and it absolutely blew my mind. That the most sympathetic character in it is a computer tells you everything you need to know about Stanley Kubrick's jaundiced view of the human race.
"My mind is going. I can feel it."
Holiday—Far and away my favorite Katharine Hepburn movie. If you want to know what Katie-Bar-The-Door and the Monkey are like when they're at home, this is it. Except we don't live in a Park Avenue mansion, I was never engaged to Katie's sister and the pillars of American finance don't tremble when we pick up a phone. Come to think of it, we're much more like Edward Everett Horton and Jean Dixon. Nevertheless, my favorite Katharine Hepburn-Cary Grant pairing.
"Someone stop me—oh, someone please, just try and stop me!"
That's it, I'm done. I've already queued up a review of Mary Pickford's Daddy-Long-Legs for Friday morning, and I'm well on the way to finishing a review of Broken Blossoms. Then I'll be working on non-blog pursuits for a while. But never you fear, I'll no doubt be posting some sort of cra—er, brilliant, witty thoughts from time to time.
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So what wound up on this impromptu Top 25 list, which is a mix of consensus picks and personal favorites:
The Gold Rush (1925)
The General (1926)
Duck Soup (1933)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Holiday (1938)
Gone With The Wind (1939)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Casablanca (1942)
It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Out of the Past (1947)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Rear Window (1954)
Seven Samurai (1954)
The Searchers (1956)
North by Northwest (1959)
Rio Bravo (1959)
The Apartment (1960)
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Chinatown (1974)
Manhattan (1979)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Schindler's List (1993)
Maybe not the twenty-five "best" films ever, but twenty-five I'd show you if we were locked in a room together for three days. Not only are they examples of supremely good filmmaking, they are also very entertaining. Have at it.
What a great list. Some day I will be brave and watch Schindler's List, but all the others I have seen. Now I want to go watch The Searchers. : )
Thanks, Thingy! So glad you're back.
I will say this about Schindler's List -- while it is at times unbelievably painful, this is not one of those movies that you watch like you're taking your medicine. When I say it's mesmerizing, I mean that literally. I remember Katie-Bar-The-Door and I saw it in the theater, then it came on television a couple of years later, and we were both like "I can't go through that again," but as soon as our eyes caught a glimpse of it, we couldn't turn it off. We watched rapt for three-plus hours.
I include it on the list not because I feel like I have to or should but because it's just one of those unforgettable movie experiences.
I'm with thingy. Outside of Ms. Who & thingy & me, i don't know anyone else who hasn't seen Schindler's List & been in awe of it. All 3 of my kids have seen it and separately lobbied for me to see it at different times.
And some day I will see it, I swear -- and I swear i have tried.
But I've rented Schindler's List many a time while watching it nary once. I start out with good intentions.
I say, "Ms. Who! What a brutal week this has been! What say we pop some corn, pop some brews, kick back & fire up a great Holocaust movie?" But then i say, nah.
Some day though. This might be a Saturday afternoon movie or something like that, so that afterward I can go out for drinks or a run with the dog or something.
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