Over one hundred of you wanted to share your favorite film. (You can count the exact number if you'd like. Always check my math.) Since some titles may be new to some people, I've provided a link. If the film was not available on DVD, the link takes you to IMDB where you can learn a little about the film (such as who directed it, who wrote it, who starred in it, etc.). If the film is available on DVD, if it was a BuzzFlash premium, the link takes you there. If it wasn't a BuzzFlash premium, the link takes you to amazon.com. Hopefully, the links help if you're unfamiliar with a film. Or if the film has been remade, it will help you know which version the community member was citing.
Ron of Why Are We Back in Iraq: Videodrome.
Cedric: Cornbread, Earl & Me. I've loved it since I was 7 and it's my only DVD that I will not loan out.
End Zone: Some Like It Hot. Perfection. It's a tight film that never has a slow spot, but keeps zipping along. Marilyn Monroe is at her finest and Jack Lemmon was never more likeable.
Kara: Okay, everyone's going to groan but let me note at the top that I am not a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow's and have never enjoyed her in any film until this. Ben Affleck gets on my nerves in everything. So I am not a Gwyn & Ben devotee. But Don Roos's Bounce is my favorite film. I forget it's Gwyn & Ben and get totally caught up in the movie. Gwyenth seems real and solid and Ben doesn't come off like a high school senior trying to prove how mature he is by being his usual smart ass. If you're like me and they both get on your nerves, give this DVD a chance and see if you don't forget it's them and end up completely caught up in the film.
Gore Vidal is God: My choice is Three Days of the Condor. I think it's held up very well in all but one respect: the ending. [Robert] Redford uses the threat of a New York Times' expose to gain his freedom. Today's that's laughable because the paper would never dare stray from the administration's line. At best, they'd let him write an op-ed. If he ended up married to Faye Dunaway, Robert Novak would then attack her in a syndicated column and the New York Times would show no interest at all unless somehow Judith Miller was drug into the mix. At which point, Miller would become the story in the New York Times and Redford and Dunaway would be forgotten.
Emilio: Desperado. My favorite film of the nineties.
Keesha: What's Love Got to Do With It.
George: The China Syndrome. If you're old enough to remember when it came out, you may remember that the nuclear industry went into overtime lobbying reviewers to trash the film as unrealistic and alarmist propaganda. A lot of them were happy to sell out their duties as film reviewers to turn into bag men for the nuclear industry. Then Three Mile Island happened and they shut up. The reviewers never apologized. They seemed to think that no one would remember. Some day, I'd like to make a list of all those bag men for the nuclear industry.
To assist George with his list, I'll quote from the late John L. Hess's blog:
But I can’t think of David Denby without remembering how he trashed that great movie The China Syndrome.
The nuclear industry had put out a packet of propaganda saying that a meltdown was impossible and the filmmakers were trying to scare us, out of pure greed. And that’s exactly what Denby wrote in New York Magazine, and George Will in his column -- during the week of Three Mile Island.
I don’t believe either of them ever apologized or changed his ways.
Denby became movie critic at the New Yorker and according to his book went hog wild -- drinking, sleeping around, and playing the market all day long, following the advice of such ugly characters as George Gilder. Then the bubble burst. You'd think Denby would have learned his lesson, calling himself a sucker and mentioning the scandals in the market -- but no, he’s still gambling with what’s left, on some other system he’s glad to share with us. He also spices up his book with stuff about his former wife that I’d rather not know.
Ever since his assault on The China Syndrome, Denby has been symbolic of the moral standards of the gang that’s been dragging the world toward armageddon.
Skye: Orwell Rolls Over in his Grave. Best documentary by far. Tells you everything that's wrong with the media today.
Shirley: Brief Encounter.
Kat of Kat's Korner: Monterey Pop. I know some would pick Woodstock as the ultimate rock concert film, but I prefer Monterey Pop because there's an innocence about it and because you can tell an artist [D.A. Pennebaker] is at work behind the camera.
Anthony: Touch of Evil.
Megan: Yentl.
Francisco: Frida.
Trevor: The Landlord. Pearl Bailey is great, Beau Bridges is great, Lee Grant is great but Diana Sands is especially great. Her death was a great loss because she connected with the camera better than most actors ever can hope to. One of the classic films of the seventies.
Maria: Fahrenheit 9/11. A film that woke many in the country up. Maybe not enough but we're getting there.
Bernado: The Dreamers.
Frank in Orlando: The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.
Eli: I saw The Postman Always Rings Twice on the screen when it first came out. Lana Turner was like no one I'd ever seen before. She was perfect as the petulant Cora. John Garfield was amazing.
Elaine: Super Size Me. Because we're gluttons.
Oregon: Gosford Park.
Trina: Kill Bill, Vol. 1.
Amanda: You took my pick for favorite movie: Coming Home. I guess we'll have to share. I love this movie. I've wanted the soundtrack for years and used to look for it all the time in the pre-web days. Only after we got online in the early nineties did I finally learn this was one of the few big films of the seventies that didn't put out a soundtrack. With Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel and so many others, this film really should have had a soundtrack album. Jane Fonda blows me away as she transforms from the agreeable, do what she's told wife, to an independent woman willing to question and explore. Jon Voight is truly incredible and they both deserved the Oscars they won for this film.
Sunny: Chinatown. Even with the bandage on his nose, Jack Nicholson is so sexy in this film. And it's a dark masterpiece. Give me a bowl of rocky road ice cream, this movie with all the lights in the house turned off and I'm satisfied for the evening.
Susan: I love music. I've always got the CD player playing (usually not the radio because the state of radio today is so sorry and misguided). I probably buy fifty CDs a year at least. So my choice would have to be a musical film and after thinking of all the great musicals from the golden days of Hollywood, I'm going to go with Grace of My Heart. To me, it's just a great movie. The only warning I'd offer is don't buy the soundtrack because the songs aren't sung by the same people singing them for the film.
Jamie: WMD is the best film. Everyone needs to see this documentary. It's about the stories the media refused to tell you during the lead up to the war and after.
Heath: What Lies Beneath. Michelle Pfeiffer. Harrison Ford. Best suspense film to come out of Hollywood in years. Did I mention Michelle Pfeiffer? She grows more beautiful each year.
Vincent: Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Saw it in high school and it was like watching a camera follow us around. It's so real and it's so funny. Best high school film ever.
???: Sumer Stock. I'm picking it because it's one of the great musicals of all time. Gene Kelly changed American dance. Phil Silvers is hilarious. And when Judy Garland wears the tuxedo jacket and sings "Get Happy" true movie magic is made.
Ken: Nora Ephron is a great writer but she's an excellent director: Sleepless in Seattle. So much to say that most of it can pass you by. Always something new to enjoy each time you watch.
Alabama: Cornbread, Earl & Me. There has never been a better film.
Portland: Rosemary's Baby.
Toby: Fahrenheit 9/11. Michael Moore's best film ever and the best film of 2004.
Dallas: Blow Up.
Rolanda: Cornbread, Earl & Me.
Brad: The Conversation. Alienation as only an early seventies film could capture it.
Kyle: Klute. The theme is alienation. The actors are Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland. This is a classic from the seventies. If there was one false note onscreen, the whole thing would fall apart but Fonda and Sutherland were never better.
Ben: The Player. Why? You've got Whoopi Goldberg being hilarious. You've got everyone in Hollywood putting in an appearence. You've got a strong, dark script. And the master of film, Robert Altman, is in top form. A classic.
Billy: Bull Durham.
Deborah: [John] Travolta's never been better than he was in Blow Out. The next time he's on screen with some woman in the throw away role of the wife who disappears for 2/3s of the film, they should cast Nancy Allen if only because no one woman has ever had better chemistry with him.
Krista: Chicago.
Lucas: Summertime.
Simon: The Godfather.
Liang: Hearts and Minds. This is a documentary I hope everyone would think about seeing. It's my favorite documentary and my favorite film.
Campbell: The Hours.
Lynda: Okay, confession from the top, I'm a huge Jeff Bridges fan. I think he basically invented sex because he's so damn fine. He's also such a great actor that I could and have watched him in anything and everything. I'm picking The Morning After. Here he plays an average Joe and with most actors, like Matthew Modine for example, that means boring, boring, boring. But Bridges can make any role interesting and make it come alive. And he's one of the few leading men that can play an average guy and really bring it to life, he doesn't need to play a neurotic character to make the character come alive. It probably doesn't hurt that he's got a strong leading lady [Jane Fonda]. The direction is superb [Sidney Lumet] and the acting is so strong. I envy Jane getting to do those love scenes with Jeff. All their scenes crackle and have sparks.
And at the end when he's trying to be brave and do the right thing and sends her away, that moment when she realizes he really wants her to stay and she walks back in the room, it always tears me apart.
Ned: Bringing Up Baby.
Marci: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Perfection.
Dominick: In the Name of the Father.
Sally: Y Tu Mama Tambien.
Libby: The Letter. Bette Davis directed by William Wyler, it's classic acting, classic directing and a classic film. Watch how she changes in her speech and her body movements as her lies slowly begin to unravel.
Jimmy: Catch Me If You Can.
Annie: Cable was the big thing when I was little and one of the first films I remember seeing over and over when I was a child was Nine to Five. I can now say all the lines along with the film from repeated viewings and it still manages to crack me up. Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton are the perfect trio.
Cory: Breathless. That's the original (Jean-Luc Godard), not the silly remake with Richard Gere. This film changed movie making. It still stands up.
Liz: Shampoo. I don't know how far back everyone's going but this film is a masterpiece by Hal Ashby. It's from the seventies and it's funny and dramatic and just really a great film. Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Carrie Fisher and Jack Warden are all great. You have to see this film to realize how great it is (and how awful so many films are today).
Rob: The ultimate B-movie from the sixties Wild in the Streets. The children of the love generation have taken over Congress and the country. By the time Shelly Winters is tripping on acid, you know the film's truly gone where none have gone before.
Cassie: Thelma & Louise.
Joel: Cool Hand Luke.
Gina: Passion Fish.
Sabrina: Fahrenheit 9/11.
Rod: Flirting With Disaster. Best comedy of the nineties. Can hold it's own with the screwball classics.
Tyrone: Diana Ross, Richard Prior and Billy Dee Williams make Lady Sings the Blues my favorite film of all time.
Carl: Short Cuts. Robert Altman classic.
Billie: Norma Rae.
Mario: Klute. Jane Fonda is so sexy as Bree Daniels.
Marcia: Heavenly Creatures.
Abhilasha: Bend It Like Beckham.
Tamara: Ed Wood. A Tim Burton masterpiece.
Denise: Okay, tell me another film that's quoted as much more than fifty years later: All About Eve. Bette Davis as Margo Channing is a kind of excellence most films never even approach.
Jack: Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? The perfect film.
Tori: The sixties film that broke the rules and was dumped by the studio but audiences and critics rescued - Bonnie and Clyde.
Erika: Agnes of God. You've got Anne Bancroft and Jane Fonda, two method actresses, in the lead challenging each other in every scene and just bringing each moment to life whether they're fighting one another or laughing over a smoke. Meg Tilly is amazing. And there's not this, "We all lived happily ever after" ending. I really like a film that's open ended and let's you think about it.
In Dallas: Reservoir Dogs.
Eric: Bulworth. So true, most people can't handle it.
Carlton: Yeah the sequels all sucked but The Matrix was brilliant and still stands out.
Vernon: Stand By Me.
Troy: Defending Your Life. Albert Brooks classic as he goes to heaven and has to prove why he should be allowed to stay instead of going to hell.
Lilly: I saw On Golden Pond with my grandfather. It was a big deal because he didn't go to the movies. My mother and my uncles were all shocked when we got back: "You took her to the movies? Dad, you never go to the movies anymore." He was a big fan of Henry Fonda's and I was probably twelve. I remember looking over at him during it and seeing how much he loved it and feeling really honored that he shared the film with me. It was a really great movie and we went out for lunch after and I just have really fond memories of that day so I'm choosing it partly because it always makes me think of him and also because I just really loved the movie.
Jessica: eXistenZ. Sometimes I feel like only about 200 people know about this movie. Jennifer Jason Leigh is great. Jude Law is brilliant. Jude is nude for the entire film. You see everything!
Okay, he's not, but did that make you want to see the movie? It's really great and I'm always pushing it off on my friends. It will make you think about perceptions and reality.
Kate: Finding Nemo.
Barry: Waiting for Guffman.
Jerry: Five Easy Pieces.
Domingo: Dogfight.
Natalie: Goodfellas. A masterpiece.
Lyle: sex, lies & videotape.
Jill: Moonstruck.
Alex: Run Lola Run.
Ted: Young Frankenstien.
Lindsey: To Die For.
Brenda: I want to highlight a French new wave director that's often forgotten, Roger Vadim. I love all his movies but my favorite is The Game Is Over. There's just so much care that goes into the visual of all his films. And when he starts making films in color, there just appears to be even more love and care going into the visual. In later decades, he'd often have a really bad script but even those films look great. Here he has a strong script and is able to make a film that captures you and captures your eyes. I don't think he ever gets the credit for all the work he's doing to make what comes on screen captivate you.
Margo: Fahrenheit 9/11.
Dave: The Grifters.
Demetreka: Dead Man Walking.
Jeff: The Late Show. Art Carney, Lily Tomlin and Robert Benton combine to make one of the best films ever.
Dinah: Boys Don't Cry.
Kelli: Heathers. The ugly truth about the teen years.
The Third Estate Sunday Review: The Royal Tenenbaums.
Vince: The Shawshank Redemption.
Jarrod: I love Janeane Garofalo and I don't think she's ever been better than she is in The Truth About Cats & Dogs. Uma Thurman co-stars but Janeane won my heart. She's funny, she's beautiful, she's sexy.
Roberta: I dare anyone to watch the ending of The Way We Were and not get choked up. Every now and then a rumor floats around about a sequel. They should never make a sequel to this because there's no way it could be better than this movie.
Doyle: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Helen: Swordfish.
Kimberly: Come on, I don't care what anyone names, there's one film we all remember and it's probably the first film we ever loved: The Wizard of Oz.
Cindy: Julia. Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave are so great and I love that it's about the friendship between two women. Not two women who are friends but then compete for the same man or any of the usual plot devices. There friendship just seems so real and I love how the film has an old Hollywood feel and look to it.
Brandon: I've seen my favorite movie seven times and it's Meet the Fockers. Ben Stiller's the funniest guy around and I didn't know that anyone could come into the sequel as his parents and do him justice but Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman may surpass him. This is a laugh out loud funny film.
Emily: Party Girl.
Lewis: Are you paying attention to our trade deficit? Do you realize what could happen if our loans were called in? Rollover may be the scariest movie of all time because that's what it's about. We're overextended and foreign countries start calling in the markers. I majored in economics and my favorite professor would show this film in class. It's scary in a very real sense.
Chuck: I've never forgotten E.T. and when I watch it, I still get carried away by the movie. It's Steven Spielberg's finest film.
Beau: Glengarry Glen Ross. This is the movie that Boiler Room ripped off and turned into the Dawson's Creek version. I'm always surprised that anyone likes Boiler Room but if you're someone who did, do yourself a favor and see this because it blows Boiler Room away. Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin and Al Pacino are at the top of their game here.
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude: What will everyone say? Probably a lot of films that won some film festival so let me drop down into the gutter and name the sort of cheesy film that I bet at least a few people would want to name: Valley of the Dolls. You've got Patty Duke playing singer and dancer Neely. And Patty Duke can't sing and she can't dance.
You've got her ripping off Susan Hayward's wig and flushing it down the toilet. The only one who seems remotely human is Lee Grant and she's got a look on her face that seems to say, "If it's the blacklist or acting in these kind of films, maybe I'll choose the blacklist." It's that bad. And when you're that bad, you end up being highly entertaining.
Enrico: The Clearing.
