MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE MOVIES

BY STEVE DUN

Lately my blog has taken on a distinctly serious side as I have let the cultural and political climate America dominate much of my thinking.  I decided it was time to choose a far less serious topic that may engender comments but I suspect less earth-shattering or vitriolic.  I have passed beyond my 66th birthday and during that time I have seen lots of movies. This past weekend I racked my brain a bit to try and remember all of their titles--which eludes me; but the purpose was to try and ascertain my top 25 favorite movies of all-time. I will warn you that I am a sucker for history, sports movies, science fiction and creative comedy. So for what it's worth--which may not be much--here they are:

1. A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (1966)  This is my favorite movie of all time which you may never heard of.  Paul Scofield and this film garnered six Academy Awards in this story of Sir Thomas More's refusal to accede to Henry VIII's serial divorces and break with the Catholic Church.

2. THE LORD OF THE RINGS (TRILOGY) (2001  2002  2003)  I loved JRR Tolkien's classics as a teen and was spell-bound by Peter Jackson's on screen version. It's hard for me to separate the three since their part of an entire story but Two Towers was probably my favorite of the trio.

3. THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963) Steve McQueen and James Garner starred in this exciting tale from World War 2.

4. SISTER ACT 1 AND 2 (1992 and  Sister Act 2-Back in the Habit 1993)  Whoopi Goldberg and her singing nuns made the church relevant and religion fun for tons of people.

5. JESUS OF NAZARETH (1977) Franco Zeferelli's miniseries was never theatrically released but it remains the best version ever of the life of Jesus.

6. STAR WARS-A NEW HOPE (1977)  I've loved almost of all of the Star Wars sagas, but the original has always remained my favorite.

7. TWISTER (1996) This movie's mix of excitement, drama and comedy and its fascinating tornados was a delight the first time I saw it on the wide screen and continues to be my most watched movie on the small screen.  I loved the flying cows.

8. THE LONGEST DAY (1962) Another classic WWII movie with an all-star cast and the second most watched movie by me over the years.

9. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003)  Sheer fun with Johnny Depp

10. IT HAPPENS EVERY SPRING (1949) Ray Milland starred in this baseball movie most of you never have seen.

 11. MISSISSIPPI BURNING (1964) Gene Hackman and the FBI take down the Ku Klux Klan in a movie every generation should watch.

 12. AMAZING GRACE (2006) Iaon Gruffod as William Wilberforce who brought down the slave trade in the British Empire.

 13. THE FIRM (1993) Tom Cruise as a young lawyer who breaks the power of a corrupt law firm. One of John Grisham's best books.

 

14. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) The first in the Indiana Jones series.  I could not leave the theater even to go to the bathroom.

15. HIDDEN FIGURES (2016) NASA, the space of the 60s and breaking the power of segregation with a powerful look at three of the smartest women in history.  The best new movie in the last year.

16. THE LION, WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (2005) CS Lewis' classic tale brought to life on the wide screen and true to the books I loved.

 17. THE PATRIOT  (2000)  Mel Gibson a Revolutionary War hero reminiscent of Francis Marion, The Swamp Fox

 18. EXODUS (1960) Paul Newman and others in Leon Uris' classic on the birth of Israel.

19. FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1971) This is the only musical on my list.  Topol starred in this story of a Jewish family in changing Russia.  I loved the bottle dancers.  This was also the movie Dianne and I saw on our honeymoon, so it's got to be on the list.

 20. PATTON  (1970) George C. Scott in this classic bio of WWII's most brilliant and controversial general.

21. MONEY BALL (2011) I could have put a ton of baseball movies on the list but Brad Pitt's portrayal of Billy Bean who changed the face of modern baseball was a winner.

22. ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944) Cary Grant in this mystery/comedy made before I was born is still one of the funniest I have ever seen--especially with Teddy Roosevelt and the Panama Canal in his basement.

23. VON RYANS EXPRESS (1965)  A classic "escape" movie from WWII with Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard.

 24. HUNT FOR THE RED OCTOBER (1990) One of Tom Clancy's best--a submarine adventure with Sean Connery and Alex Baldwin.  Connery made many movies magnificent.

25. LINCOLN (2012) Daniel Day Lewis was masterful in his portrayal of Lincoln and the emancipation of the slaves at the end of the Civil War.

 26. A FEW GOOD MEN (1992) A classic courtroom drama pitting Tom Cruise and Demi Moore against Jack Nicholson.  One of my most frequently watched movies.

What are some of your top movies?

.