Carla's Favorite Movies (in no particular order)

Some of these are comedies, others SF/F, horror, epic, or just plain stupid fun.  As for which I watch most often or of which I feel I need my very own copy, it varies with the season, time of day, or phase of the moon.  I freely acknowledge I've seen all of these movies more times than I can count.

Comedies

  1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail -- something in it to offend everyone, but wonderfully quoteable!  Enjoy it with a coconut or a Frenchman.
  2. Grumpy Old Men -- Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon are a delightfully irascible pair, and you can see that they were best friends in real life, too.  Burgess Meredith walks away with the show, though.
  3. Kind Hearts and Coronets -- great Alec Guinness chestnut, and good clean fun with mass murder.
  4. The Court Jester -- well, everyone loves Danny Kaye!
  5. The Gods Must be Crazy -- nice social commentary, with a funny and complex plot, too

Science Fiction/Fantasy

  1. 2001:  A Space Odyssey -- I like smart SF, and this is one of the first SF films I ever saw.  Took me years to figure it out to my own satisfaction.
  2. The Lord of the Rings -- the live-action one, of course.  For once, someone stayed true to the book.  Great sets, too.
  3. Contact -- probably the smartest SF since 2001.  Thank you, Dr. Sagan.
  4. Star Wars Episode IV -- The first is always the best.  Right, R2?
  5. Close Encounters of the Third Kind -- Another really creative and smart one, though you have to wait till the very end to see the aliens.

Horror

  1. The Exorcist -- often called the scariest movie of all time.  Can't really argue with that!  Neither does it insult your intelligence.  But you'll avoid pea soup for months afterwards.
  2. The Wicker Man -- a rather obscure, horrifying film about neopaganism in rural Britain.
  3. Dracula (Bela Lugosi and Gary Oldman versions) -- the 1930's version because it's in glorious B&W, with wonderful perfomances by Lugosi and Dwight Frye (Renfield).  The Oldman version because it's faithful to the book.
  4. Poltergeist -- probably the spookiest film of the 1980's, and still packs a wallop.  They're heeeeere!
  5. The Sixth Sense -- This one will lead even the most cynical moviegoer down the garden path.  Got lots of scenes to make you jump, too.

Epics

  1. The 10 Commandments -- Lovely FX for its time, and big budget all round.  I like to see so many famous faces in one film, too. A bit preachy.
  2. Hamlet (Gibson and Branagh versions) -- I had this play burned into my memory in high school and college.  Gibson's good if you have only a couple hours.  Branagh's is good if you have a whole day to blow. Both are big budget beauties.
  3. Jesus of Nazareth -- even non born-agains can enjoy this star-studded retelling of the Gospel.  Robert Powell's only claim to fame, but he was obviously the one to play Jesus.  Spend a few days on this one.

Plain Stupid Fun

  1. UHF -- "Weird Al" Yankovic's only movie.  Contrived and silly, but it has some hilarious moments!
  2. Young Frankenstein -- classic, uproarious spoof of B&W Universal horror flicks.  Would you like to have a roll in the hay?
  3. Babe -- Okay, not really stupid, but nice light fun for people who love pigs, dogs, and mice.  
Later, I might add a section of favorite thrillers/suspense movies.  Or not, if you've had enough. . .