10 Current Favorite Movies Through The YearsMay 10 '05 (Updated May 13 '05) Write an essay on this topic.
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I watch so many movies that I don’t have the time or energy to review most of them, so with this list I will highlight ten of the ones I want to call your attention to and mention others of the same time frame, although sometimes of 4-star quality. My range of interest is a wide one and hopefully you will enjoy the variety of my list. I’m going to begin this list with the 1930s because lately I haven’t watched movies from the teens or 20s, but in the past I’ve greatly enjoyed Charlie Chaplin in his Essanay Comedies, Modern Times, Gold Rush and The Great Dictator (the 40s); also horror like Fritz Lang’s M and Metropolis. They are mostly silent black ‘n’ whites, but very well done. I should watch more of them. The 1930s I’ve enjoyed quite a lot of movies from this decade and fully reviewed one that I recall, She Done Him Wrong with Mae West and a very young Cary Grant (1933), but mentioned more in lists, such as I’m No Angel with West and Grant again, Grant in The Awful Truth and a few more. Of course, there’s Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) and The Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind. The gem I’ve discovered recently is 1939’s Mr. Moto’s Last Warning with Peter Lorre displaying his comic training with a little juggling and ventriloquism besides physical skill and strength with a kind of judo. It’s a delightful thriller set in Egypt that has a few dead bodies before Mr. Moto can stop the bad guys from trying to start war between France and England. The 1940s Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca and Notorious, Arsenic and Old Lace with Cary Grant and Peter Lorre, Disney’s Bambi, Casablanca and many more with Bogie, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington with James Stewart and Mildred Pierce with Joan Crawford are only some movies I’ve loved in this decade. Now, Voyager (1942) is one I’ve rewatched recently with Bette Davis as a mother-dominated woman learning to live for herself and Paul Henreid as an unhappily married man who falls in love with her as she does for him. She gets help from Claude Rains’ psychiatrist character for a romantic, bittersweet story. The 1950s Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot, Monkey Business, The Seven-Year Itch; Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday; On The Waterfront with Marlon Brando; Harvey with James Stewart, Tiger Bay with John and Hayley Mills (father and daughter), Beat The Devil with Bogie and Lorre; and Silk Stockings with Fred Astaire and Cyd Charrisse are a few of the many movies I love from the 50s. Even better than Silk Stockings is 1953’s The Band Wagon with Astaire and Charrisse. The dancing and songs are outstanding in both, but I like the original story in The Band Wagon more (Silk Stockings is a remake of the 30s’ Ninotchka). Astaire plays a fading song and dance man who gets another chance on stage if he can get along with becoming more modern. I can’t watch this enough! The 60s My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Robert Redford and Paul Newman; Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn; The Music Man with Shirley Jones; The Young Girls of Rochefort with Gene Kelly; A Shot in the Dark with Peter Sellers; If… with Malcolm McDowell; Fantastic Voyage with Raquel Welch are a few you should check out. 1962’s The Miracle Worker with Patty Duke as a teenaged Helen Keller and Anne Bancroft as Annie Sullivan as her new, equally obstinate teacher is a treat I’ve had recently. I haven’t watched the remake yet, but I thought the acting in the original electric and very honest. The 70s O Lucky Man! and A Clockwork Orange with Malcolm McDowell; Cabaret with Liza Minelli; What’s Up, Doc? with Barbara Streisand; Disney’s The Apple Dumpling Gang; Diamonds Are Forever with Sean Connery as 007; Rocky with Sylvester Stallone and Badlands with Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek are some I’ve enjoyed. 1979’s Time After Time with Malcolm McDowell as H.G. Wells going into the future in his time machine after Jack the Ripper has been a recent pleasure. Mary Steenburgen plays his new girlfriend who he must save from Jack and it was a lot of fun. It was McDowell’s first American picture and experience with our forthright women! The 80s I don’t seem to be watching much from this decade lately, none actually, but in the past have really enjoyed Good Morning, Vietnam and Dead Poet’s Society with Robin Williams; Rain Man with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise; The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles with Molly Ringwald; Brittania Hospital with McDowell; When Harry Met Sally with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan; Back to the Future with Michael J. Fox. The last one I savored might’ve been Fast Times At Ridgemont High(1982) with a very young, gnarly dude named Sean Penn. This is a feel-good high school flick with likable characters and witty dialogue in a fun story. The 90s Dead Man Walking with Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon; What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? with Johnny Depp and Leonardo Dicaprio; Election with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick; Malcolm X with Denzel Washington; Seven Years in Tibet with Brad Pitt; Above Suspicion with Christopher Reeve; Oklahoma! with Hugh Jackman; and Before Sunrise with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are some of the movies I liked. 1998’s animated Antz with the voices of Woody Allen, Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, Danny Glover and more is probably more funny and clever to me than it would be for a child. It really got me looking at things from an ant’s point of view and the love story was so cute. Some scenes may terrify a child and there’s improper language, but I loved it. The 21st Century Ray with Jamie Fox; 28 Days with Sandra Bullock and Viggo Mortenson; 2 Weeks’ Notice with Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock; The Notebook with James Garner; Finding Neverland with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet; The Pledge with Jack Nicholson; and Fahrenheit 9/11 are movies I’ve enjoyed pretty recently. 2003’s Bubba Ho-Tep is the most recent and definitely the weirdest. Bruce Campell playing Elvis calls it an Elvis/mummy/cancer on your penis kind of movie in the Special Features. He and sidekick Ossie Davis playing a psycho who thinks he is John F. Kennedy discover a soul-sucking mummy on the premises of their rest home and go to battle against him! Part horror/part comedy, it’s also a tribute to Elvis and to senior citizens who are often neglected. It’s R-rated for language so kids shouldn’t indulge. Conclusion Those movies are pretty much 5-star movies for me or close to it, and I’ve left out many that I love, but you could check out my profile for other movies or lists if you wish. I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip through the decades and it’s given you some ideas of movies you’d like to watch.  |
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