I've already
established that my favorite actor is Jimmy Stewart (see this section of the list), but then I got to wondering who my favorite director
is.
I'm not sure.
Peter Jackson appears on this list more times than any other director
(6 movies), but I really only like his Tolkien-based stuff (enough to
put on this list, anyway—some of his other movies are enjoyable but
this sentence is already going on too long). Next up is Frank Capra,
with 5 entries on this list (including the—spoiler alert—#1
absolute best movie of all time and my personal favorite), so I
wouldn't object to anyone thinking he was my favorite. But then
there's George Lucas, who has four movies on this list, all of which
I rank higher than the bottom four of Capra's.
So, even though
Hitchcock has three movies on this, as does Spielberg, I think I'm
going to declare a Capra-Lucas tie.
21. Star Trek II – The Wrath of
Kahn
The greatest of
the Trek movies—and maybe the best moment of the whole Trek
franchise—Wrath of Kahn was
the movie we were all hoping for when Star Trek: The Motion
Picture came out, renewing the
promise of the last frontier: Action, adventure, and a really great
bad guy, and the whole crew back on the ship, it was a magical
formula that still holds up after all these years.
“Khaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnn!!!!!!”
22. Pot O’ Gold
The only musical
on this list (though “Pink Floyd's Live at Pompeii” would have
made the cut if it had contained a plot), it's funny, it's inspiring,
and it's a gentle if forceful reminder why Jimmy Stewart didn't do
more musicals. And even though this movie only comes in at 22,
Paulette Goddard gets my vote for most beautiful woman on this
list—and she can sing and act, too.
I think what bugs
me about most musicals is not that someone will break out in song in
the middle of the street, but that everyone else will sing along with
them and dance in time.
23. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull
This is another
instance where I know I am a bit out of the main stream as it has
become quite fashionable to dislike this movie. People especially
like to complain about Indy saving himself by hiding in a
refrigerator but didn't complain when he jumped out of a plane with
only a life raft, or held onto the top of a submarine for several
hundred miles, or eluded all the Nazis in Berlin(!!),
but what I love is that—like me—Indy has gotten older. Yes, he's
still over-the-top, but he's more worn, a little more tired, and he's
realizing what really matters to him.
In
one of the “making of” shorts, they show Speilberg presenting an
Indiana Jones hat to John Williams. No one, maybe not even Harrison
Ford, deserves one more for it is Williams' score that made
Indiana Jones!
24. The Sacketts
There are three
made-for-TV movies on this list (see #s 18 & 27). An adaptation
of two Louis L'Amour novels (Sackett
and The Daybreakers),
I remember skipping a rare junior high party (rare in that I was
invited to it) because I would rather watch this movie on TV. Looking
back, and remembering other school parties I would attend, I'd have
to say I made the right choice. Two Tennessee brothers head west to
find a place they can settle their mother (and younger brothers who
are in the books but not the movie), they sign on with a cattle
drive, go wild horse hunting, then rise to prominence in Santa Fe
politics. Meanwhile, their older brother may have found the gold
strike of a lifetime.
This is great movie for couples because men love the horses, guns and
shootouts, while women seem to enjoy watching Sam Elliot and Tom
Selleck for some reason.
I wish someone would release the score for this movie, or even just
the opening theme music, because it's stunning and stays with me (in
a good way) for days after each viewing.
25. Brave
Like almost every
Pixar movie, the trailer was designed to make you go, “What the
heck's that
going to be about?” Then, “But it's Pixar. Guess I'll go see it.”
And then we were blown away. A far cry from talking toys and cars,
Brave
is a mythical Scottish tale that feels like it really could have come
to us right out of the middle ages. From Merida's incredible hair, to
her loveable father's wooden leg, to her mother's pride, this movie
is a masterpiece of storytelling and visuals. Pixar's made some good
movies since this one, but none since have been as grand as this one.
Does anyone else think the wood sprites look like Jack-Jack, though?
26. Cars 2
This movie may not be as good as the original (you'll see it later on
this list), but it's still a fantastic movie. For one thing, rather
than just remaking the first movie as sequels often do, it takes the
characters and expands on them. What would Mater be like in the
outside world? What is the outside world of Cars
like? And the backgrounds are mind-blowing!
“Pistacio Ice Cream!!”
27. The Christmas Gift
Another
made-for-TV movie, my wife and I watch this one every Christmas. Set
in lovely Georgetown, CO (where we used to dream of moving to back
when I still had dreams of being a writer), it's the story of a city
dude (John Denver) who is sent with his daughter to scope out a
mountain town for a future tourist destination by his greedy boss
(played by somebody). Of course John learns the real meaning of
Christmas and of course the bad guy gets a comeuppance that isn't
fully resolved, but the movie is well-acted and it's still a fantasy
for me just because I still stop by Georgetown whenever I get
anywhere near.
“It's a little
closer to home.”
28. The Chronicles of Narnia –
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
One of my all-time
favorite books was made into my 28th favorite movie. I
enjoyed the other two Narnia movies (they're on this list at #s 33 &
37), but they were not as faithful to the source material as this one
was. [They also did not do as well at the box office. I wonder if
that fact has ever registered on the “powers that be”?] Lush
scenery and a superb cast round out this triumphal movie. The
Christian message is somewhat disguised, compared to the book, but
it's still there.
For my birthday or
Christmas the year this came out my oldest son gave me a charm of
Peter's shield (that has the prophesy etched on the back in
microscopic lettering) which resides on the zipper of my camera case
to this day. Thanks Nolan!!
29. Groundhog Day
I can watch this
movie again and again (or just watch it once and see it again and
again). It's one of those movies that only works because of the main
star. Put anyone other than Bill Murray in this movie and while it
might have been funny, I doubt that we'd even remember it. Bill has
the perfect blend of smarm, pathos and humor to pull it off and it's
become another of those movies that I (and many others) watch every
year.
Other movies that,
IMHO, would have settled into obscurity if anyone else had been cast
as the lead are: It's a Wonderful Life
with Jimmy Stewart, Casablanca
with Humphrey Bogart and Support
Your Local Sheriff
with James Garner. On a similar note I doubt James Bond would still
be around if he hadn't been kicked-off with Sean Connery.
30. Harvey
Is Elwood P. Dowd
a delusional alcoholic, or the only sane person around? Watch this
movie and you'll be able to answer that question definitively both
ways throughout it's course … before giving up and saying the
question is unanswerable. Many people have played Elwood on the
stage, and I'm sure some of them did a fine job, but the role will
always belong to Jimmy.
In an interview
near the end of his life, Stewart said people still came up to him
and asked him if Harvey were with him or how Harvey was doing. If I
had ever met Jimmy Stewart in person I doubt I would have had the
presence of mind to even tell him my name.
To see the next section of the list, click here.
To see the whole list (so far), scroll through this destination.
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