Movies

Movies have been around most of, but not all of, my life. I don’t remember movies from my first era, the New York Era, but I do remember them from all eras after that one! (I may just not remember seeing movies in my earliest days.)

I didn’t become an active consumer, let alone a gourmet, until well into the Los Angeles Era.

It really wasn’t until college when I studied film and television making that I really got into films. They’ve been a special source of interest ever since.

As a fan of movies and science fiction, naturally I love the combination. (Like, a lot!) I’ve started a list of Science Fiction Movies.

I also love baseball, so I also started a list of Baseball Movies.

I used to have a thing for movies about assassins. Others apparently do, too; it’s surprising how many there are. (I’ve also noticed my list getting a fair number of, pardon the expression, hits.) I made a list of Assassin Movies a while back (for my website). It’s gotten a bit out of date now.

My Rating System

For the record, here’s my current movie rating system:

Wow! — A must-see film. A film that gets it as right as possible. Few or no complaints.

Ah! — A pretty good film, definitely worth seeing. Has some aspects that are especially noteworthy.

Eh! — Still a thumbs-up, but didn’t have much that was particularly interesting or noteworthy.

Meh! — A film that doesn’t impress, but doesn’t completely stink. Has some aspects that might make it worth seeing.

Nah! — Not a good film, not really worth seeing unless there is some special reason that compels.

Ugh! — A terrible film. A waste of time and celluloid. Avoid!

Favorite Five

I’ve mentioned before that I had trouble picking out a top favorite of all time. There’s just too many good choices! But sometimes I can manage to narrow it down to five (or so). This list may change, but for the moment, here’s my favorite five. I’m not saying they’re the best films; they’re my favorite films, movies I can re-watch repeatedly:

LA Story; 1991; Steve Martin; Mick Jackson
Grand Canyon; 1991; Kevin Klein, Danny Glover; Lawrence Kasdan [post: Grand Canyon]
His Girl Friday; 1940; Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell; Howard Hawks
Galaxy Quest; 1999; Tim Allen, many others; Dean Parisot
Zardoz; 1974; Sean Connery; John Boorman

Heavy on the comedy, perhaps, but I value laughter above just about everything. The last two, especially the last, might seem odd, but (a) I’m a big science fiction fan, and (b) both of those movies speak to me in special ways.

Runners up are: