When There is Nowhere to Turn, Turn to a Favorite
What to watch...? What. To. Watch?
After watching The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian last night and coming home and realizing I had little to nothing to write about outside of a review for Narnia (it's better than the first and actually not that bad) or writing reviews of The Fall, The Edge of Heaven or Mongol (all good films) I decided I was going to watch a movie just for plain old entertainment.
Typically in this situation I would grab a DVD/Blu-ray I need to review, but my Lord do I have a ton of crap sitting in my "To Watch" pile. Let's see… "The Animation Show," "Matt Hoffman's Tribute to Evel Knievel," a preview of TBS's "Bill Engvall Show" season 2, something called Shelter, Strange Wilderness and Meet the Spartans. I mean, come on, what do I do with these? I can say I am planning a DVD live blog of Meet the Spartans for your enjoyment, but beyond that this may be the last time I mention any of those other titles.
I do have a couple of good ones to check out, but a half-asleep, late night viewing of Fritz Lang's M is not in the cards and I want to be awake and paying attention when I watch HBO's Recount so I can give you guys a good review. I also have the Blu-ray versions of Face/Off and Next, but I already reviewed the HD DVD of Face/Off and the Blu-ray can't be much different can it? As for Next, I haven't seen it yet but a Nic Cage film definitely requires some attention. Now that I think about it… both those movies star ol' Nic… damn, I have a Cage Double Feature on my hands.
Nope, none of those would do last night, but there is an even larger reason I am avoiding anything work related. You see, I recently moved into a new apartment and in the process I ditched all of my living room furniture. I made this move on April 13, which means I have not had a couch or a chair to sit in for a month. You see, I ordered new furniture prior to moving and there was a HUGE snag in the delivery. I don't want to say where I ordered my stuff from just yet because they are currently working on fixing things. However, when you are sitting on the floor for over a month staring at a new coffee table, new side table, new lighting and only an ottoman you begin to go a little insane. Sitting on your ass on the floor is not a comfort I would wish on anyone… at least not for a month.
Luckily, my couch arrives today! YAY! So, to celebrate I decided to watch a movie I love and, as it turns out, it ended up being work related anyway.
As I type this I am 1 hour and 22 minutes into V for Vendetta and just like every time I watch this film it just gets better. As I have been creating my own list of favorite movies I see Vendetta currently coming in at #3, just behind The Godfather Part II at #1 and Before Sunset at #2. Any of these would be great choices for a quick feature film getaway that is sure to entertain.
I could have gone with Unforgiven, Once, Seven, Collateral or Rounders and enjoyed myself. It's not that I need my favorite movie list to tell me what I like, I have found it to be a great reminder just in case I am not quite sure what I want to watch.
It made me wonder… How many of you have a favorite film you turn to when you just can't figure out what to watch?
In high school I turned to Major League. Recently I have turned to either The Mummy or The Mummy Returns. Ocean's Eleven has always been a film I find easy to plug in along with Alien or Spy Game. Every now and then I think about all the mediocre to bad movies I have to watch as the studios churn out film after film of questionable quality and it is nice to remember there are films I love and serve as proper cinematic entertainment.
After all, that's why I run this site… and I am sure it is also why you continue to visit. That hope for yet another film to add to that list of favorites.
Please share if you have some of your own.
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-Lord of the rings trilogy
-Braveheart
-Gladiator
-Legends of the Fall
-American History X
-Superbad
-Live Free or Die Hard
nice mix eh!?
You know, Gladiator was my second choice tonight only because the masks in Prince Caspian reminded me of it. Looking at your list I have no idea how you can watch American History X more than once. I am not saying it is a bad film, I actually think it is a great film, but that teeth-to-curb scene is probably one of the most gruesome scenes ever filmed and it gives me chills just thinking about it.
- Terminator Trilogy
- Blade Runner
- True Lies
- The Matrix
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail :-) [double feature with Life of Brian]
I've lost count of how many times I've seen Terminator 2 and Blade Runner … I seem to recall getting to 50 at some time in my life, but that was a while ago so I'd shudder to think what it would be now! :-)
Usually when I go thru the old collection I remember too much of the movie as soon as I take the box out to have a look. Stupid cause when I force myself and put it in the player anyway there's allways enough I forgot to enjoy it again.
I allso then remember why I bought the shiny disc in the first place.
When I'm in the mood for an old favorite I usually can't be arsed with a 3-4 hour epic never mind a trilogy or something too heavy on the brain. (allthough I love the mentioned lord of the rings, American History X etc.)
There's one in particular that usually pops into my head the first for some reason: Independence Day. It's not great but great entertainment. Big, flashy, exciting en funny. Just what I'm looking for then.
V For Vendetta is one of mine as well.
I usually turn to the original trilogy from Star Wars, Starship Troopers for fun, and Batman Begins. For comedies I usually just scan my massive pile of crud.
As for Strange Wilderness I do not want to ever watch it again. With such a strong group of comedians how did this turn out so shitty?
A favorite movie is like comfort food. No matter how down you are slipping it in and watching it can't help but make you feel better. It's just the way it is.
Mine tend to run the genre spectrum, but virtually all run to some sort of uplifting emotional conclusion helping me feel a bit better and look at the day with an added spark. What's funny is that this list wasn't even tough, the ten movies I watch as if almost on auto-pilot as follows (and in no particular order):
Obviously this list changes all the time, but as of right now this is my particular form of cinematic comfort food. Others, like The Incredibles, Batman Begins, Head Over Heels, Trading Places, Superman, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, For Your Eyes Only, Sleeping Beauty, Die Hard, Lady and the Tramp, Hard-Boiled, Bringing Up Baby, Aliens, The Living Daylights and Miracle on 34th Street get on there from time to time, too, but those ten, at least at the moment, are the ones I turn to most freqeuntly.
As for Prince Caspian, I think you're being far too generous. While it is better than the first one, the story is so simple there is no reason on the face of the gosh-darn planet it needed to take 140 minutes to get to its virtually forgone conclusion. Been there, done that, and I really don't feel the need to take this particular trip ever again.
fantastic question but the two i watch when i cant figure anything else out to watch is Batman Begins and Heat. I could watch those movies every day ill never get sick of them. now when i go through a break up i watch high fidelity and when im just stressed and upset i watch futurama because that is one of the best shows ever made. but i will add my other 3 so i have a top five……….the replacements (funny/comfort movie) Minority report (i may be spelling things wrong im real sick so sorry if i do) Collateral (i love mr manns films) but yeah this was a hard list so good question brad
Rattle hit one of my personal dilemmas on the head. I look at my collection and I see one of my favorites but I have seen it so many times I feel like it would be a complete waste… then you throw it in and enjoy every minute of it.
Dave, good call on True Lies, I actually don't own that movie but it was on TV just the other night and I hadn't seen it in so long it was almost brand new. Gotta love how James Cameron can turn a relatively simple premise and turn it into something great.
This truly is a fantastic question. My top five/ten list would probably be slightly different then what I'll list below, but sometimes your favourite movies aren't ones you can watch at any time.
So in no particular order (but probably in some sort of sub-conscious order):
1) Reservoir Dogs (My all time favourite and the movie that got me interested in movies as an art form)
2) Goodfellas
3) Batman Begins
4) Snatch
5) Donnie Brasco (I'm a sucker for mob movies)
Also, The Sopranos. It's not a movie, but I could watch the series on an almost non-stop loop and never get sick of it.
Honourable mentions would have to be Fight Club, Knocked Up and Bubba Ho-Tep.
Batman Begins, Gladiator, Live Free or Die Hard, El Dorado, Collateral, any season of 24 or Family Guy, Michael Clayton
Heat, oh yes, great, great movie.
I like doing a double-feature every now and then: Heat followed by Ronin. [LOVE the car chase in Ronin!]
Im a big fan of "top whatever" lists…
Serenity – I can throw this in at any moment, and enjoy just as much as the first time I saw it.
The Football Factory – great British movie, Danny Dyer is the shit
Killer Diller – Great music movie, not very deep, but a lot of fun
Open Range – Fantastic cinematography, simple yet engaging story
The Jerk – one of the funniest movies ever made, in my opinion, Steve Martin in top form
Indiana Jones movies – Speak for themselves, I think
Cinderella Man – All around great film, Paul Giamatti is amazing, and outshines Russel Crowe who is damn good in the movie as well
forgot one:
Garden State – Its all over the place, rather depressing, then completely hilarious 30 seconds later. Great performances by the entire cast, even the ridiculous supporting cast.
Garden State is one of those films I don't think I will enjoy again, but I just recently rewatched it and liked it almost as much as I did the first time. However, I have grown to dislike the cliche ending, which makes me sad.
V was horrible, all Lord of The Rings movies sucked, never saw Braveheart. Superbad was a comedy, so thats okay, but the storyline was horrible. All of your ideas SUCK! everyones, Gladiator? come on people seriously? Terminator TRILOGY? just no for that one. AMERICAN HISTORY X SEEMS GOOD BUT NEVER SAW IT.
SaraMichelle's post was decent.