My Favorite Movies

I cannot say that 'City Lights' is Chaplin's funniest film. His movies are ALL consistently and delightfully hilarious: 'The Kid'', 'the Circus, 'the Gold Rush', and 'Modern Times'. It's hard to measure the laughs of any Chaplin movies against each other, because all of his silent feature films are ingeniously and genuinely funny. They all are a great viewing experience and deserve a look.

City Lights, however, may be his finest film overall. I had seen enough Chaplin movies to finally read up on a couple of books about the artist: it was in these books that I found out that Chaplin had shot the ending for 'City Lights' many times over in order to get it right.

Mr. Chaplin knew what he wanted and he managed somehow to truly deliver the goods: 'City Lights' had totally taken my breath away upon first viewing, and even as I watch the film again and again it still leaves me speechless.

*****

I've never seen 'The Lake House', but the movie it's based on is this Korean film titled 'IL Mare' ("the Sea').

I happen to rent this movie on a whim and found an unexpectedly wonderful, remarkable, and quietly tragic romance/drama film. It has a unique story with some surprising twists.

The film's lovely cinematic imagery has a delicate taste and is like sipping fine wine. One also senses the film has a genuine heart and a fine touch for the two lead characters, and how they deal with loneliness and their desires separated by time. I highly recommend this movie if you come across it in a rental shop, a video store, or anywhere online.

I'm a sucker for a good romance film so this one gets five full stars from me.

*****

This incredibly deep and moving film is about people doing their best to discover, survive, and experience life in a meaningful way. The film focuses on Christopher McCandless and his personal journey to discover the truth about his life and his travels 'Into the Wild'.

This a remarkable movie from director Sean Penn, and is on my list as one of the best movies I've seen.

*****

The Incredibles is what the Fantasitic Four movies wanted to be. It is also one of those great superhero films right up there with other greats like the first two X-men movies, Superman 2, and Iron man, among others.

This movie also set a kind of trend with some recent 3D animated films, examining the dark psychological backgrounds of the story or its characters (Disney's Meet the Robinson's and Wall-E are two other followup examples).

Finding Nemo, the Incredibles, and Wall-E are my top three favorite Pixar films in that order.

******

I love this movie. Remembering my first viewing of this picture is like remembering a very pleasant and joyous dream. I've always held this film near the very top of my best ten list. Highly recommended.

Hallelujah! There's a director's cut of 'Kingdom of Heaven'? Hey, I loved the movie when I first saw it in its original release in the movie house years ago. Now I hear the DVD release is the directors cut and better than the earlier release! I'll be more than happy to watch it again now in its new complete version.

I will be able to see more scenes of character development in the director's cut? Excellent! Bring it on! More scenes with Saladin too? Awesome!

And yes, it's still surprising anyway how Ridley Scott's exquisite and engrossing film was overlooked in its original movie house debut.

***

This was my very first James Bond movie, so of course I still enjoy it and must give it four stars. Actually, I liked Thunderball a little more than Goldfinger. I really had more fun with this 4th early Bond movie because of its great action scenes and memorable Bond lines.

Thunderball feels like the first three bond films somehow rolled perfectly, cohesively, and successfully into one new original and spectacular film. The movie overall seems more spectacular, but it is also well balance with its drama, action, story, and other elements.

The intricate and well-developed plot, involving the heist of the two atomic bombs, seems very believable. The cinematography is highly exceptional - there was nothing like the great underwater battle sequences ever done before. The incredible set designs by Ken Adams were marvelously ultra-modern and still looks new. And of course, Peter Hunt by this time had perfected the 'jump-cut' editing on this 4th of the great early James Bond films.

Also, a tip-of-the-hat to director Terence Young, who was actually responsible for the final touches of savvy and sophistication added to the James Bond character.

My first three favorite James Bond movies are From Russia With Love, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and Thunderball.

*****