Of course there’s more than just 10 “best movies” for me, but you have to draw the line somewhere. So, in no particular order….
1) Don’t Look Now — surreal mystery starring a hot Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie roaming the streets of Venice . Uncanny and haunting; you’ll never expect the ending.
2) The Lion in Winter — Peter O’Toole as Henry II and Kate Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine; Anthony Hopkins is Richard. Enduring love and lust among these sovereigns play out in clandestine meetings and wit so sharp, you feel the cut.
3) Rear Window — One room and a telescope is all you need to create a creepy world of voyeurism and murder. No contemporary film has ever come close to matching it, in my book.
4) Doctor Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb – I had to include at least one Kubrick film on here.
5) Careful, He Might Hear You– A little boy must survive his family’s dsyfunctionality, even as they each try to care for him in their own broken way. Movie was brilliant, the book even better.
6) Princess Mononoke– Don’t let the fact that it’s anime dissuade you from watching. Visually captivating, the tale hinges on the fate of the Night Walker, a majestic forest creature that can heal or destroy.
7) Santa Sangre– Few films are truly original. This is one of them. Take an armless mother who coerces her son to put on a vaudeville-like show; add in a dwarf, a deaf mute, and several clowns. Murder and uncanny mayhem ensue.
8) The Princess Bride — Because it’s just so damn delightful. And it’s not a chick flick, despite the dorky name. Hello, my name is Indigo Montoya, you killed my father…
9) Pride and Prejudice (the six hour BBC version) — okay, this is a chick flick, or, better yet, a Lit Flick. The trials of a young woman trying to survive in a society built upon appearance and money. Glad that doesn’t still happen today….
10) Bram Stoker’s Dracula–By the end of the movie, Gary Oldman’s Dracula is looking pretty Nosferatu-ish, and you still want him to win the girl.
Runners Up
Thoroughly Modern Millie –Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore star in a musical about white slavery, without a hint of irony. Now, that’s entertainment.
Aliens, The Terminator–they go hand in hand for me.
Auntie Mame–Rosalind Russel as a literary wit and free spirit who can overcome any obstacle. I want to be her someday.
That’s my wacked-out list. What’s yours?
