Below are some of my favorite films (In no particular order) with a brief description of why I like them.
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I have a thing for movies - mostly old movies. I like new films as well, but
none as much as these. there just something about a classic (and
the ability to tell a story without having to resort of graphic
sex or violence) that works for me. Therefore, as an educational effort on this website, I've decided to include a page on My Favorite Flicks.
Below are some of my favorite films (In no particular order) with a brief description of why I like them. |
Breakfast at
Tiffany's:
Truman Capote called this movie "A mawkish Valentine to Audrey
Hepburn", but knowing him, that was probably a compliment.
Mickey Rooney's portrayal of the Asian photographer SUCKS, but
other than that, it's pure delight. I especially love the cocktail
party scene.
American Beauty:
I thought this movie was amazing. Growing up in the suburbs, as I did, I knew people like this.
The Big Sleep:
The Best
Noir of them all, the saga of Philip Marlowe and the Beautiful
Sternwood sisters is timeless. The movie is good, but the book
is even better.
Casablanca:
Rick
and Ilsa. Here's looking at them, kid. This story of romance and
self-sacrifice in French Morrocco is poignant and fresh, even
after fifty years. Play it as many times as you want, Sam.
Who's Afraid
of Virginia Wolf?:
George
and Martha: Sad, Sad, Sad - but also Good, Good, Good. Watch Liz
and Dick tear each other apart while Sandy Dennis and George Segal
watch. Fabulous!
Dr. Strangelove
or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb:
A very
black comedy on the cold war. Everytime I watch it, I see something
new.
Guess Who's
Coming to Dinner:
This
movie is really silly and earnest, and way too full of White Liberal
prostlezing, but dammit, I like it anyway - especially the go-go
dancing delivery boy.
Faster, Pussycat
- Kill! Kill!:
Speaking
of GoGo dancers, Three of them go looking for trouble (and find
it) in the Southern California desert in this Russ Meyer classic.
The opening sequence is probably the most amazing ever filmed.
Cat on a Hot
Tin Roof:
This
1950's adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play about repressed
homosexuality is fabulous, primarilly because of the efforts of
Burl Ives, Paul Newman, Judith Anderson and, of course, the Fabulous
Miss Taylor.
The Manchurian
Candidate:
Long
before "Murder, She Wrote", Angela Landsbury was the
queen of the evil mothers. This is an excellent political/psychological
thriller that should not be missed.
Valley of the
Dolls:
Patty,
Patty, Patty - you're along way from Brooklyn Heights and your
refined identical cousin Kathy. This adaptation of the trashy
Jaqueline Suzanne novel was made on a shoestring (and shows) but
still works. A definite guilty pleasure
Rebecca:
A Hitchcock
classic about a young bride haunted by the memory of her husband's
late wife. Judith Anderson is magnificent as the evil housekeeper.
The Marriage Go Round:
A fun and silly movie with Susan Hayward, James Mason and Julie Newmar. The plot is unimportant. The real star is Hayward and Mason's fabulous MCM house.
A Star is Born:
We're talking the 1954 version here - one of Judy's last great films. You gotta love her. The last ten minutes or so are some of her best acting ever.
Bachelor in Paradise:
A silly Bob Hope vehicle, which features some great view of life in Southern California in the 50's.
His Girl Friday:
Rosiland
Russel and Carey Grant in a wonderful romantic comedy about love
and competition between a man and woman. Timeless.
Desk Set:
Katherine
Hepburn and Spencer Tracy butt heads in the research office of
a 1950's television network. He's a systems developer from IBM,
there to install a mainframe - she's the starchy librarian type
who doesn't like technology. Check out their wonderfully drunk
office Christmas Party.
The Best of
Everything:
Three
girls come to 1950's New York to find love and fulfillment in
a publishing office, and instead find sexual harrassment, obsessive
compulsion, and Joan Crawford as a bitter single career woman.
Polyester:
The trials
and tribulations of Francine Fishpaw, the put-upon Baltimore housewife.
The Divine Divine stars in this fabulous comedy.
Hairspray:
Another
John Waters classic, staring Divine (In her last role) as the
wonderful Edna Turnblad in this comedy about teenage love and
race relations in 1960's Baltimore. Deborah Harry turns in a fabulous
performance as Mrs. Van Tussel, with the greatest hairdo ever
recorded on film.
The Women:
A classic
All-Woman comedy about a group of upper class society women in
1930's New York, and the men who don't necessarily love them.
The one-liners fly fast and furious - these kittens have claws!
Meet Me in
St. Louis:
A Vincent
Minnelli musical about a family in 1905 St. Louis. Probably the
best Judy Garland movie - it caputures her before she was destroyed
by the Hollywood fame machine and her own personal demons.
The Graduate:
Another great Southern California Lifestyle film, this one filmed in the '60's. Ann Bancroft is great as the coniving Mrs. Robinson.
All About Eve:
A wonderful
comedy-drama about ambition in the theatre. Bette Davis is magnificent
as the aging star being courted by an evil upstart.
To Have and
Have Not:
A great
tale of adventure set in the Caribean directly before World War
II. This move introduces the beautiful Lauren Bacall playing opposite
Humphrey Bogart (Whom she later married) Her sultry sensuality
is enough to make us want to call in sick and hole up with her. She knows how to whistle: She just puts her lips together and......blows.
The Hudsucker
Proxy:
A wonderful,
underated comedy about the intrigues of a large corporation in
the 1950's. Jennifer Jason Leigh is fabulous as the girl reporter
who falls for the new CEO.
The Stepford Wives:
Something's fishy in the town of Stepford, and Katharine Ross and Paula Prentiss have to figure out what.
