Eight movies to have on a desert island? So many movies … but if I had to make the choice, here they are!
The Lion in Winter (1968 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Awesome performances by everyone, from Hepburn and O’Toole, to Anthony Hopkins in his first screen role. Wonderful script and matchless screen chemistry. It’s not accurate history … but the interaction of the members of the family is surprisingly close if you want to examine only the emotional content. In the end, it’s all about the performances. From top to bottom, every performance is extraordinary. Hepburn got an Oscar, one of three wins for the film. Many more nominations plus three Golden Globes. All well-deserved.
Paddy Chayevsky‘s script is among the best movie scripts of all time. Add superb performances by James Garner and Julie Andrews in her first dramatic role. The whole movie would be worth it just for Garner’s monologue on war. But there’s so much more. It’s funny, sharp, downright brilliant.
The cast knew they’d never have a better job. All of them list this movie as the favorite or as one of the top one or two of their professional lives. Roles like this don’t come along often in any actor’s career. The actors showed their appreciation by working their hearts out. Everyone is at the top of his or her game.
This is one of those movies that I like better each time I watch it … and I watch it often. We can recite dialogue with it. It’s got everything you want a western to have: passion, revenge, violence, humor and brilliant cinematography. It’s Val Kilmer‘s best performance and arguably Kurt Russell‘s shining moment.
This is my go to movie if I need a revenge and violence fix. It manages to have a satisfying body count without the gore. I like that in a movie.
Maybe it isn’t one of the all time greatest films, but reminds me of some of the best of times in my life as well as music I dearly love. It’s funny, often laugh-out-loud hilarious, a loving parody. It’s a warm-hearted and nostalgic look at a time many of us look back on with great affection. The music manages to be humorous and good — a difficult act to pull off.
Not the most original choice, but it’s so good and it has worn well despite the years. We saw it on the big screen not long ago. Wonderful. It’s pure mythology, but it’s the way we wish it had been. I need heroes.
Three Oscar wins — Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay plus nominations for just about every member of the cast. Seeing it on the big screen was like seeing it for the first time and gave me an even better appreciation of the brilliant script.
It’s hard to pick just one Mel Brooks movie, but if I have to choose, this has to be the one. It was a tough choice. “Young Frankenstein,” “High Anxiety,” and “History of the World, Part I” are right up there too. “Blazing Saddles” wins because it’s got some of the all-time great movie lines. That’s HEDLEY Lamar!
Science fiction movies usually disappoint me because they aren’t science fiction, but westerns in space using spacecraft for horses, featuring millions of dollars of special effects, but no script. This is all acting. A fine script, wonderful performances, romantic, touching and believable. A great performance — underrated — by Jeff Bridges. And I almost forgot to mention the haunting score. Rarely mentioned, it’s the best kind of science fiction … concept and character based. And unforgettable.
The Three and Four Musketeers (1973 – 1974)
I know they were issued as two movies, but they were filmed as one. The stars of the film(s) sued the studios since they had only been paid for one movie, and they won. Nonetheless, both movies play like a single film in two parts. You can’t watch one without the other. They keep remaking it, but none of the others come near this version. It’s fast, funny, and surprisingly true to the books. Dumas would have been pleased. I love the sword fights. I used to fence in college, and this has some of the best choreographed fencing I’ve ever seen. It’s not the elegant fencing you usually see, but brawling — the way men really fought — not to get points for good form, but to win without getting sliced up.
– – –
And that’s my eight. If I could pick a hundred more, I wouldn’t run out of choices. Oh, and I might change my mind tomorrow!
Related articles
- Print the Legend! Garry Armstrong’s Desert Island Movies (teepee12.com)
- The Garner Files: A Memoir (teepee12.com)
- Mel Brooks Receives AFI Life Achievement Award (947thewave.cbslocal.com)
- Blazing Saddles (myoldaddiction2.wordpress.com)
- Desert Island Films: My Filmviews (headinavice.com)
- History Of The World, Part I (myoldaddiction2.wordpress.com)
- Mel Brooks to get American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award from Martin Scorsese (timesunion.com)
- Springtime for Hitler (leaningforwardblog.wordpress.com)
I’m not sure I could cut it to 8. Great post.
LikeLike
You can’t cut it to 8, not really. I have another 50 I could have as easily listed. But these ARE favorites among many favorites. And thank!
On Tue, Jun 18, 2013 at 12:22 AM, SERENDIPITY
LikeLike
Some of the movies I recognize while others I do not. But, it seems like a perfect list in its diversity of drama, passion and humor. My favorite of all is Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour (http://www.somewhereintime.tv/). Of course, I have always been intrigued with time travel. I want to visit the Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, Michigan where the movie was filmed. Maybe one day. . .
BTW Why eight?
LikeLike
The first movie Garry brought over to watch with me when we were courting was “Somewhere in Time” and it is still one of our favorites. We too are always willing to watch or read anything about time travel. It makes my mind bend. I like that in a book — or a movie 🙂
LikeLike
Great choices without argument. I’ll have to think a bit and compile my list, give or take a lie or two.
LikeLike
There are so many more that I want to add … 8 isn’t even close to enough. I could just as easily have picked eight different ones and still have a couple of hundred other candidates.
LikeLike