Oldest Favorite Movie: The Wizard of Oz
Of course it is. For kids of my pre cable, pre DVD/VCR/DVR generation it was the yearly ritual of rituals, a movie we saw over and over until we knew it by heart. It is the only movie that I cannot remember the first time I saw it, but I do remember the first time I saw it in color. I was about 7, my grandma had a new color TV, and I was taken to her house to watch. The moment when Dorothy open the door and sepia Kansas turns into Oz is the moment I realized what movie magic was.
Favorite movie for a good cry: At one time in my life it was Terms of Endearment, but more recently its either Field of Dreams or Ghost. I can land on the last 10 minutes of either film and bawl my eyes out. (I am such a sucker for sentiment.) And speaking of tear jerkers:
First movie I knew was a great film: How Green Was My Valley
It was a stormy summer day and I sat out on our screened in front porch and watched one of the most beautifully photographed and acted films I had ever seen. I didn't know anything yet about John Ford or any of the great actors who appeared in the film, or that it was over 25 years old, let alone the still lingering controversy for many that this film beat out Citizen Kane for Best Film at the Oscars. At the age of 10 or so, I knew I was watching a great movie, and it is a favorite to this day. Citizen Kane has snappy dialogue and great camera angles, but I bawl my eyes out when I watch How Green was my Valley, because it has a heart. And it launched my lifelong love affair with Roddy McDowall, who was probably the best child actor to become and adult actor ever.
Favorite scary Movie: Psycho
This is a crowded field, because I love scary movie. (Easy on the blood and gore though folks) Psycho beat out Les Diaboliques, Legend of Hell House, & a lot of films starring Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee. But Psycho is the best. Every time I watch it I am amazed how Hitchcock misleads the audience anywhere he wants them to go. I am in awe of Anthony Perkins and especially the often overlooked Janet Leigh. She projects a certain good girl conflicted by carnal desires in a lot of films, but never better than hear. When her cold fish boyfriend (who can't marry her cause he still has an ex wife to pay for ) says they can live together in his hardware store and she can lick the stamps on the alimony checks and Janet says "I'll lick the stamps" its about the sexiest thing anyone ever said on film.
Favorite Bad Movie: Plan 9 from Outer Space.
I love Tim Burton's Ed Wood but the only problem is that Mr Burton is far too talented to make his version of Ed's films look as bad as the originals. It just can't be done. There is something surrealistically fascinating about all Ed Wood's films, but nothing like the one that made his name and fame in bad film polls everywhere. Whenever I find someone who likes bad horror/sci-fi films the way I do who hasn't seen Plan 9 I have them over for a viewing. It must be seen to be believed.
Favorite Movies to quote: Ghostbusters, Men in Black & Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Everyone in my house quotes Ghostbusters. My own favorite is "If a creature asks you if you you're a god, you say "Yes". The Girl had a button made for me that says this last summer. The kids also love all 3 MiB films, and dialogue from them turns up a lot too. The Girl really doesn't quite get Python yet, but the rest of us love them, especially Grail, Lines like, "We found a witch may we burn her?" "Bring out your dead" and of course "What is the Air Speed of a coconut laden swallow" have been heard. In fact when I am at work on the 911 lines trying to extract info from callers I often feel like Tim the Wizard, "What is your name?" "What is your quest?" "What is your favorite color?"
Gotta pick one favorite movie: To Kill a Mockingbird
OK push come to shove, this might be the most nearly perfect movie ever made. Probably the best adaptation of a Great American Novel, you can actually read the screenplay and feel like you are reading the book, Perfectly photographed, amazing score. Most of the actors with exception of Gregory Peck were simply veteran character actors, the kids were plucked from auditions, all of the casting is perfect, especially a very young Robert Duvall in his film debut. I can't say anything original about Gregory Peck in this role, but I will say it anyway. Its the perfect merging of actor and role, and he clearly knows it as he is playing it. You would take him for your dad or your lawyer. He is the embodiment of a heroic idealism that America has for the most part long since abandoned, which is maybe why the movie seems to have been rediscovered lately. In 1998 when the AFI did its countdown of the best films of all time, it finished 34th, In 2007 it was 25th. But in 2003 when they picked the best heroes and villains, Atticus Finch topped the list. He tops mine too. And I can watch this great movie again and again.
Want to know about other bloggers favorite films? Want to write about your own favorites. Then go check out Finish the Sentence Friday.
Ghostbusters will always hold a special place in my heart, because my husband and I had trouble sleeping the night before I was to be induced with our first child. We put on the TV and lo and behold Ghostbusters was just coming on. I saw the movie a million times as a kid, because my brother loved this one and I did by extension, but now it will always be the last movie I saw before becoming a mom. Great choices, by the way and thanks so much Meg for linking this post up with us!! :)
ReplyDeleteThere are 2 movies I almost always stop for whenever I'm surfing, especially when tge kidsare atound: Ghostbusters and Men in Black. They never seem to tire of those jokes. Thanks for the inspiration.
DeleteYou are so right - I loved Atticus too. Great movie! I can't remember when I first saw Wizard of Oz but whenever it came on seemingly once a year I was right there waiting for it.
ReplyDeleteThere's a meme floating around "What would Atticus do?" Which is a really good question
DeleteUnlike you and Kenya, I do remember the first time I saw The Wizard of Oz. I think it was a matter of sensory overload! I was 3 at the time, and it was a VERY stormy night - thunder and lightening. Here I am wigging out at the sounds of the storm, watching fairies, witches, and little people for the first time, and in walks my Dad with a guy he met at a restaurant who turned out to be a business associate - and Japanese. I had never seen a Japanese person before either. That was a lot for a 3 yr old to take in on one night LOL. And I'm totally with you on To Kill a Mockingbird - perfection! [#FTSF]
ReplyDeleteWhat great set of memories to go with your first visit to Oz. Sounds like the live show was even better than the movie.
DeleteTo Kill a Mockingbird - YES. What an amazing movie. Love that you also mentioned Men In Black and Monty Python! So good. And I do remember being terrified of the witch and the flying monkeys in Wizard of Oz. I must have seen that movie more than a dozen times over the years. No place like home.
ReplyDeleteI always thought the scariest moment was when Aunt Em is in the crystal ball and it turns into the wirch. Very disturbing. And yet I sat my kids in front of the movie when they were small too. My daughter went through a huge ruby slipper phase and her first memory of Washington DC is seeing the real thing at the Smithsonian.
DeleteMen In Black is a great one and of course I love Frank the pug! And you know how I feel about Python. Love!
ReplyDeleteI often think of you when I see Frank the pug. Python is totally cosmic. Nothing like them.
DeleteWonderful list and I'm glad it climaxed with To Kill a Mockingbird. So many layers, you can read and/or watch it again and again. You're right, though, so many ideals we don't see so much these days. Or quality of writing.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Melissa. And it always amazes me that a 50 year old movie about a time 30 years before that, can speak so well to our time. There is something miraculous about it.
Delete