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 science fiction fan, I especially love science fiction movies. I’ve started a list of them here.

I seem to have a thing for movies about assassins. Others must, too; it’s surprising how many there are. I’m maintaining a list of them here.

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:

Airplane!; 1980; large cast; Abrams & Zucker, Zucker
Groundhog Day; 1993; Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell; Harold Ramis
Get Shorty; 1995; John Travolta, Gene Hackman; Barry Sonnenfeld
The Sixth Sense; 1999; Bruce Willis; M. Night Shyamalan
The Man Who Knew Too Little; 1997; Bill Murray; Jon Amiel

And breathing down their neck:

Maltese Falcon; 1941; Humphrey Bogart; John Huston
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid; 1982; Steve Martin; Carl Reiner
Wild Things; 1998; Bacon, Dillon, Campbell, Richards; John McNaughton
Gosford Park; 2001; large British cast; Robert Altman
The Usual Suspects; 1995; large cast; Bryan Singer
Hamlet; 1996; Kenneth Branagh

Movie Posts

I don’t consider myself a movie reviewer, but I do sometimes write posts about movies I’ve really liked (or really hated). Or about movies in general, either their making or their effects on us.

Here’s a list of my movie-related posts: