As a proud and obsessive fan of pop culture, I like to immerse myself in the stuff I love. That immersion occasionally prompts me to slap together lists of my All-Time Fave Rave sumpin-sumpins, usually lists of Hot 100 (or more) Top Pop Songs. Because songs are immediate, short, and infinite, it's easier for me to wrap my brain around the giddy pleasures of specific 45s and LP tracks than to consider my top choices among longer-form works, like favorite books, or favorite television series, or favorite comic book series. And it's certainly true that I would have a hard time thinking through a list of my all-time favorite movies.
So I'm not going to do that. Instead, I want to just list some movies that I've liked a lot, or even loved, at some point over the span of my five and a half decades of movie-watchin'. Some of these I haven't seen in a long time, and are listed here by virtue of fond memories, memories which might or might not evaporate if given a fresh visit today. Some are more recent favorites, still cast in the cozy glow of an evening at the cinema. In contrast, some films I used to love (like Forrest Gump, Gone With The Wind, and Good Morning Viet Nam) have fallen out of my consciousness. There are a few I don't remember well enough to consider, including Humphrey Bogart (possibly my favorite actor) in The Big Sleep and To Have And Have Not. Time for another screening!
At this writing, the last movie I saw was the wonderful Christopher Robin at the likewise-wonderful Hollywood Theatre in Mattydale, NY; as much as I enjoyed that movie, I decided not to list it here, for reasons that boil down to no real reason, just because. Might be the same reason I didn't list any James Bond movies, even though I generally like 007, or why I don't list all of the Marvel Comics movies, a movie universe that I enjoy without apology. No real reason.
This list arbitrarily excludes documentaries and concert films (the swell Won't You Be My Neighbor was my most recently-seen documentary, The TAMI Show my all-time favorite concert film). Whenever I talk about movies, I have to admit that I've never seen a Hitchcock film, nor have I seen The Godfather, 2001: A Space Odyssey, or any recent Best Picture nominee. The only Fellini film I ever saw was La Strada, and it was not my cuppa. I'm not a film buff, and I don't say that to seem iconoclastic, or edgy, or to celebrate my status as a Philistine. I know nothing, I know that I know nothing, and I know enough to know there's no virtue in ignorance. This list is not a statement. It's what its title says it is: These are a few of my favorite films.
(I do have an all-time # 1 favorite film; it's Tom Hanks' rockin' pop comedy That Thing You Do! I feel no shame in embracing the sheer joy of that terrific movie as my toppermost of the poppermost, narrowly edging out The Beatles in A Hard Day's Night and Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life. The rest? Read on.)
48 Hours
The Adventures Of Captain Marvel
Airplane!
American Hot Wax
And Now For Something Completely Different
Animal House
Annie Hall
Avengers: Infinity War
Back To The Future
Batman (1966)
Batman (1989)
Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm
Batman Begins
Beverly Hills Cop
Big
Billy Jack
Black Panther
Blazing Saddles
Brain Donors
Bye Bye Birdie
The Breakfast Club
The Buddy Holly Story
Captain America: The First Avenger
Casablanca
Casino Royale (1967)
Cat Ballou
The Cider House Rules
Citizen Kane
City Lights
Coco
The Dark Knight
A Day At The Races
The Dead Poets Society
Die Hard
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Eight Men Out
The Empire Strikes Back
The Express
Fail Safe
Field Of Dreams
Finding Dory
Finding Nemo
A Fish Called Wanda
The Front
Get On Up
The Girl Can't Help It
Glory Road
The Gold Rush
Good Night And Good Luck
The Grapes Of Wrath
The Great Dictator
The Groove Tube
Groundhog Day
A Hard Day's Night
Having A Wild Weekend
Head
Help!
High Noon
The Hotel New Hampshire
HouseSitter
I Want To Hold Your Hand
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
Iron Man
It's A Wonderful Life
The Jerk
Kentucky Fried Movie
A King In New York
A League Of Our Own
Limelight
Love And Death
Love And Mercy
Major League
The Maltese Falcon
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Mark Of Zorro (1940)
Marvel's The Avengers
Mary Poppins
The Mask Of Zorro
Miracle On 34th Street (1947)
The Missiles Of October [TV movie]
Modern Times
Monkey Business
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
My Favorite Year
Network
A Night At The Opera
On The Waterfront
Our Town [1977 TV movie]
The Producers (1967)
Pulp Fiction
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Road To Perdition
Rock 'n' Roll High School
Rocky
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Romeo And Juliet (1968)
Singin' In The Rain
Silent Movie
Slaughterhouse Five
Sleeper
Some Like It Hot
The Sound Of Music
Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Wars
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Sting
Superman
Superman II
Superman And The Mole Men
Stand By Me
Tarzan's New York Adventure
That Thing You Do!
This Is Spinal Tap
To Be Or Not To Be (1942; Mel Brooks' 1983 remake was good, too)
Toy Story
Toy Story 3
Veronica Mars
West Side Story
Wonder Woman
The World According To Garp
Young Frankenstein
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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here. A digital download version (minus The Smithereens' track) is also available from Futureman Records.
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