Stealing good and interesting ideas from friends like Vicky is a hobby of mine. This is a list of some of the movie that I own. I’ve also decided to include execrable movies that I have lived to regret buying, so others may avoid these pitfalls. Finally, there is a list of recommendations among movies that I have seen or rented.
Movies that are bold-faced are among my favourites. Details on all of the movies are in IMDB.
Note that my collection only reflects a subset of my tastes. There are great movies that I watch so seldom that I just rent them; I think the very best movies should be watched once in a blue moon. I also tend to only collect the SF/Fantasy movies among the movies I love. I am also a great fan of good drama, historical pieces, and intelligent comedies.
Recent Movies: (usual 5 star ratings)
- The New World **** A subtle and wonderful experience, that tells the story of the Jamestown Colony from a unique viewpoint
- Oliver! ***** (6 Academy Awards, including a special award for Outstanding Choreography)
- Da Vinci Code ***
- X-men 3 ***
- An Inconvenient Truth ***** !
Not Bad to Good:
- A Bridge Too Far
- The Abyss (James Cameron)
- Amistad ( a good movie with a wonderful score)
- A Time To Kill (Grisham’s books tend to make good movies)
- The Birds (Hitchcock)
- A Few Good Men (Rob Reiner)
- Alien (Ridley Scott, and one of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen)
- Aliens (James Cameron, and one of the best action movies I have seen)
- Apollo 13 (exceptional)
- Atlantis
- Beetlejuice (not bad)
- Bladerunner (exceptional)
- The Bounty (Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson)
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula (the cinematography and art are worth it on their own)
- Braveheart (Plummer, Gibson, and lots of blue paint)
- Casablanca
- Celtic Woman (five Irish performers covering a wide range of old and modern celtic music. Some of them belong among the angels)
- Conan the Barbarian (for the music, Oliver Stone’s work on it, James Earl Jones, and the quality of some of the cinematography without any computer effects). I know it is considered the ultimate in hack and slash, but I also think many people haven’t given it an unbiased appraisal.)
- Contact (Carl Sagan’s only SF book, and a bit more intelligent than many SF movies)
- Dangerous Beauty: Medieval Venice and the role of women
- Dark City
- The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson and Brian Froud, pure muppet fantasy)
- The Fifth Element (Luc Besson and a definite European style to the movie)
- Fly Away Home (a wonderful children’s story with a flock of geese)
- Forrest Gump
- Finding Neverland
- The Fugitive
- Gladiator (interesting action, and fodder for those who like Crowe)
- Harry Potter I, II, and III
- Jaws (the sequels squeal)
- Jesus Christ Superstar
- The Jewel of the Nile (okay)
- Jurassic Park (better than either of the sequels, and with the best cast and feeling of wonder; puddles rippling still make me look around, but around here it is usually wind)
- Karate Kid I (very good)
- Karate Kid II (good)
- King Kong (Peter Jackson)
- Kiss the Girls
- Labyrinth (Jennifer Connelly’s breakout movie and some muppets)
- Lake Placid (Not a thriller, more an unsung comedy with a big reptile)
- The Last of the Mohicans (a wonderful feeling to the composition of the scenes; it brings back memories of the art in childrens books and of painting of that era)
- The Little Mermaid (it started the wonderful modern Disney musicals)
- Local Hero (quirky hunour and situations, harking back to the wonderful TV series Northern Exposure)
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (in order of personal appeal)
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Return of the King
- The Two Towers
- The Man in the Iron Mask
- M*A*S*H (the movie)
- March of the Penguins
- Mulan (great)
- The Ninth Gate (a real mind bender)
- Outbreak
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Planet of the Apes (the original, damn the rest to hell!)
- The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner)
- The Right Stuff (possibly better than Tom Wolfe’s book)
- Romancing the Stone
- Romeo and Juliet (Franco Zefferelli)
- Schindler’s List
- Shakespeare in Love
- Shrek
- The Silence of the Lambs
- Sleepy Hollow
- Star Trek (all movies except Nemesis)
- Star Wars (in order of preference)
- The Empire Strikes Back
- A New Hope
- Return of the Jedi/Revenge of the Sith
- The Phantom Menace
- Attack of the Clones (verging on bad)
- Terminator (James Cameron, the one who realised that Arnold makes a great scary robot, and the best acting of the terminatoer series)
- Titanic (James Cameron, a great historical romance that doesn’t stint the history at all)
- True Lies (James Cameron, the only man who can make really good movies starring Arnold. This may be my favourite action/comedy)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (still unique)
- The Untouchables (good but not great)
- X-men
Bad to wishing for the Apocalypse:
- Conan the Destroyer (mindless hack and slash, no real plot, and horrible script)
- Coyote Ugly (a “gift”)
- Karate Kid III (becoming formulaic)
- King Kong (1976)
- Logan’s Run (the original book was much better, this verges on being okay, partially due to the acting of Peter Ustinov)
- Star Trek: Nemesis
Recommendations: (I’ve seen these, but don’t own a copy)
- A Beautiful Mind (superb acting and storyline; Crowe and connelly excell in this movie)
- A Fish Called Wanda
- The African Queen
- Aladdin (Robin Williams should be a Djinn since he is such a tonic)
- Apocalypse Now (we were forced to watch this in first year university, since we were doing Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. They should have forced us to do things like this more often)
- Batman (Nicholson as the Joker)
- Boys Don’t Cry
- The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean)
- The Cider House Rules (Michael Cain and Tobey Maguire, which addresses birth control, personal growth and responsibility)
- Das Boot
- The Deer Hunter
- Deep Impact (Denzel Washington, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Maximillian Schell, Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Duvall, and good dialogue)
- Dr. Zhivago (David Lean and the Russian Revolution)
- Europa Europa
- E.T: The Extraterrestrial
- Fargo
- Full Metal Jacket (Kubrick’s take on Marine Corp basic training and the world of Vietnam; totally different from Platoon, but with similar messages)
- Girl with a Pearl Earring (really subtle acting)
- Godfather I and II
- The Graduate
- The Green Mile
- The Indiana Jones Movies, in order of preference
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- The Last Crusade
- The Temple of Doom
- The Incredibles (lots of fun)
- Kingdon of Heaven
- L.A. Confidential
- Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean)
- The Man in the Iron Mask (Depardieu, Jeremey Irons, Malkovich, and Gabriel Byrne make this great despite DiCaprio
- Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
- Million Dollar Baby
- The Mission
- North by Northwest (Hitchcock)
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (possibly Nicholson’s greatest performance)
- Out of Africa
- Patriot Games
- A Passage to India (David Lean regarding the interrelationship between the British Raj amd the local people on a personal level)
- The Passion of the Christ
- The Piano (Jane Campio, one of my favourite movies of all time)
- Platoon (Oliver Stone’s great treatment of Vietnam, and partially autobiographical)
- Pleasantville (Tobey Maguire in a wonderful role)
- The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen)
- Psycho (Hitchcock original)
- Rain Man (Dustin Hoffman was superb)
- Rear Window (Grace Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, Raymond Burr, and Hitchcock)
- Roots miniseries (possibly the best miniseries I have ever seen)
- The Scent of a Woman (Al Pacino)
- The Shining (combine Kubrick with Nicholson, mix well, then duck!)
- The Sixth Sense
- Tarzan (Disney version, mostly for Phil Collins and his drumming!)
- Thelma and Louise
- The Truman Show
- To Kill a Mockingbird (Gregory Peck and one of the greatest movies about race; see also A Passage to India)
- Unforgiven (disguised as a western, this talks about personal redemption, and the difference between character and reputation, and a damning indictment of small town hypocrisy)
- Usual Sustects
- Vertigo (Hitchcock)
- What Women Want (excellent, up until the end)
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