My Favorite Movies
| willerror1's Rating | My Rating | |
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| 1 |
Taxi Driver 1976, R)
The raw underbelly of the American psyche, and, sadly, the most prescient movie ever. Scorsese and DeNiro's apex in a long career of milestones. |
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| 2 |
Jaws 1975, PG)
The first then-current movie I was ever obsessed with. Still am. Popular American movie-making in its finest hour. |
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| 3 |
The Godfather, Part II 1974, R)
The American family tries to go legit. And fails. Miserably. |
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| 4 |
Annie Hall 1977, PG)
One of the cinema's greatest love stories. We need the eggs, you know. |
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| 5 |
Rosemary's Baby 1968, R)
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| 6 |
Klute 1971, R)
Jane Fonda gives one of the finest performances by anyone ever. Ever. |
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| 7 |
The Big Sleep 1946, PG)
My favorite Bogart. Who shot the chauffeur? Nobody knows. |
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| 8 |
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974, R)
Could be the very greatest horror movie ever: no gore, just relentless, single-minded, pursuit of terror. |
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| 9 |
Blade Runner 1982, R)
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| 10 |
GoodFellas 1990, R)
About as good as it gets. Funny, when this came out in 1990, nobody was much interested--which is the case for many movies which later come to be considered classics. I went to see it twice--wow! I had nothing to compare it to, as it was nothing like THE GODFATHER movies. Everything about it is damn near perfect. Watch all the DVD extras, fascinating! |
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| 11 |
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back 1980, PG)
The only "Star Wars" film that reaches the heights of greatness. |
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| 12 |
From Here to Eternity 1953, Unrated)
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| 13 |
Psycho 1960, R)
The essential. One of the first modern horror films. |
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| 14 |
Citizen Kane 1941, PG)
Yes. It's awesome. Still. |
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| 15 |
The Fly 1986, R)
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| 16 |
The Manchurian Candidate 1962, PG-13)
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| 17 |
Raging Bull 1980, R)
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| 18 |
Manhattan 1979, R)
God, just the most romantic movie ever. |
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| 19 |
Dead Ringers 1988, R)
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| 20 |
The Birds 1963, PG-13)
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| 21 |
Sunset Boulevard 1950, Unrated)
Best of the 1950s? Might be. |
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| 22 |
The Descent 2005, R)
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| 23 |
Superman 1978, PG)
Still, still, still the best superhero movie. |
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| 24 |
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 1986, NC-17)
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| 25 |
L'année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad) 1961, Unrated)
My favorite pretentious Euro-art film. Oblique and enigmatic. |
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| 26 |
Night Moves 1975, R)
Forgotten neo-noir from 1975 directed by BONNIE & CLYDE director Arthur Penn. Hackman is great in the lead as down-on-his-luck PI Harry Moseby. Convoluted crime story makes for compelling viewing, as does a naked teenage Melanie Griffith. Early James Woods role. One hell of a climax. |
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| 27 |
The Long Goodbye 1973, R)
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| 28 |
California Split 1974, R)
Classic Altman. George Segal and Elliott Gould--god the '70s!!!!--are both terrific here as two guys who meet and bond over gambling. Loose and rambling but quite charming. Gould is especially outstanding. You really wanna hang out with these guys, and the two "ladies of the night" Gould lives with. A terrific surprise. |
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| 29 |
The Bad and the Beautiful 1953, Unrated)
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| 30 |
Martin 1978, R)
Romero's overlooked vampire movie. Sad, gritty, affecting. |
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| 31 |
Sorcerer 1977, PG)
Grueling, gripping remake of French WAGES OF FEAR. Overlooked in '77, definitely one of Scheider's best roles. |
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| 32 |
Deep Red (Profondo rosso) 1975, R)
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| 33 |
Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal (Don't Deliver Us From Evil) 1970, Unrated)
Catholic schoolgirls gone bad. Real bad--they're reading Baudelaire in bed! Mmm. |
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| 34 |
The Bride of Frankenstein 1935, Unrated)
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| 35 |
Bob le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler) 1955, PG)
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| 36 |
The Player 1992, R)
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| 37 |
Downfall (Der Untergang) 2004, R)
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| 38 |
The 400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups) 1959, Unrated)
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| 39 |
The Incredibles 2004, PG)
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| 40 |
Plein soleil (Purple Noon) (Blazing Sun) (Full Sun) (Lust for Evil) 1960, PG-13)
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| 41 |
La Maschera del demonio (Black Sunday) (House of Fright) (Mask of the Demon) 1960, R)
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| 42 |
Saturday Night And Sunday Morning 1961, Unrated)
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| 43 |
Eyes Wide Shut 1999, R)
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| 44 |
Witness 1985, R)
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| 45 |
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang 2005, R)
One of the smartest, sharpest, darkest, funniest crime movies of recent years. |
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| 46 |
Reds 1981, PG)
Newly on DVD. One of the best films of the '80s. A powerhouse. |
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| 47 |
The Last Detail 1973, R)
Another signature role for Jack and another score for director Hal Ashby. |
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| 48 |
L.A. Confidential 1997, R)
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| 49 |
Boogie Nights 1997, R)
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| 50 |
Cidade de Deus (City of God) 2002, R)
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| 51 |
Auto Focus 2002, PG-13)
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| 52 |
Let's Scare Jessica to Death (What Killed Sam Dorker?) 1971, PG)
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| 53 |
National Lampoon's Animal House 1978, R)
My favorite comedy still, I think. Besides the smarty-pants Woody Allen ones. |
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| 54 |
Gentleman's Agreement 1947, PG)
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| 55 |
Bad Lieutenant 1992, NC-17)
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| 56 |
Ed Wood 1994, R)
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| 57 |
Crash 1996, NC-17)
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| 58 |
To Kill A Mockingbird 1962, Unrated)
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| 59 |
Before Sunset 2004, R)
Wow, what an incredibly believable story, so true and real and honest. |
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| 60 |
Children of Men 2006, R)
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| 61 |
The Thing 1982, R)
A consummate horror film that has aged terrifically. I like to watch it every few years and It's even better today than it was in 1982 (yes, I saw it back then!). We can remove it from the context of ALIEN, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978), and the original 1951 THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD and view it on its own merits. Its special effects are some of the greatest ever seen on-screen (fuck CGI forever). The crew members are distinct personalities?although Wilford Brimley is probably the best thing going here; listen closely to his dialogue as he explains exactly what the "thing" is. Ennio Morricone?s masterful score perfectly complements the isolation of Antarctica and the dawning horror of discovering a spaceship and its inhabitant trapped in ice since before the dawn of man. What?s terrific about this movie is its slow creeping descent into an inescapable position, and its insistence that everything be played straight and without winks at the audience. I don?t think this played well in the early 1980s. Carpenter even states on the excellent audio commentary that once E.T. came out, everybody wanted "nice" aliens (although Cameron would turn this around with ALIENS a few years later). But this film stands as one of the greatest horror movies ever made, giving lie to the idea that remakes are never a good idea, and cementing Kurt Russell's place as one of the baddest of all bad-ass leading men. |
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| 62 |
Eastern Promises 2007, R)
Another example of Cronenberg's mastery of economic story-telling. As always in his films, it is centered in the physical body, here an innocent infant and a violent tattooed gangster. Mortensen for the win! |
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| 63 |
A Simple Plan 1998, R)
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| 64 |
Out of Sight 1998, R)
Vastly underrated crime caper comedy that seems to be marred by the presence of J. Lo. Don't get me wrong, she's quite good, but when I tell people she's in it--forget it. They don't wanna know. One of the best of the entire decade. |
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| 65 |
Sideways 2004, R)
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| 66 |
A Clockwork Orange 1971, R)
Pure raging id set to Beethoven's Ninth. |
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| 67 |
The Long Good Friday 1982, R)
An amazing and intense British crime thriller that must be seen to be believed. Don't let the unfocused, dialogue-less opening throw you off; it will be explained later. Hoskins is FANTASTIC, so is Mirren. Startling and satisfying in every way. |
