Saturday, August 2, 2008

My favorite movies ever

Let me begin by warning you that this may get lengthy. That being said, I will now proceed to share with you my favorite movies of all time. If you don't care, please feel free to navigate away from my page. For the rest of you, I have narrowed my list to a top 10 - a process which was surprisingly difficult and some pretty entertaining films didn't make the cut. The movies that make this illustrious list meet the following criteria: I've seen the movie at least 10 times, I can quote at least three lines from the movie (in most cases I can quote way more than three), I can name the main actors in the movie, I know the year (or approximate year) of the movie's theatrical release. I will dispense this list now.

10. Funny Face (1957) Romantic Comedy/Musical
Actors of note: Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire
Plot: Fashion photographer (Astaire) finds his new muse (Hepburn) in a book store. She hates everything superficial and agrees to go with Astaire to Paris for a photo shoot only so that she can meet a philosopher she's intrigued with. Not surprisingly, Hepburn and Astaire fall in love.
Why it's good: Singing, dancing, Audrey Hepburn, and AMAZING Givenchy couture dresses
Best Line: "Think Pink!"

9. Bring It On (2000) Comedy
Actors of note: Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku, Gabrielle Union
Plot: Cheerleaders who have to come up with new material before the national championships.
Why it's good: The tryout scene is a favorite of mine as well as the scenes with the crazy choreographer - total craziness and pretty good cheerleading moves as well.
Best line: "When you skip a meal your body feeds off it's fat stores - if you skip enough, maybe your body will eat your ass"

8. The Italian Job (2003) Action
Actors of note: Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green, Mos Def
Plot: A group of thieves recruit one of their fallen comrade's daughters (Theron) to help them steal back their fortune from a traitor.
Why it's good: A great remake of an old classic movie. Sabotage at its finest. The mini Coopers are killer too.
Best line: "I got the holy spirit - you should get on it - it's a good train"

7. Dodgeball (2004) Comedy
Actors of note: Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor
Plot: A group of losers enters a dodgeball tournament in hopes of winning the money to save their favorite gym from being closed.
Why it's good: It's just freaking hilarious! Ben Stiller's character cracks me up! And there are a couple of ESPN commentators on "ESPN 8 - The Ocho" that are so funny.
Best line: "Is it necessary for me to drink my own urine? No, but it's sterile and I like the taste"

6. The Princess Bride (1987) Romantic Comedy/Adventure
Actors of note: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn, Billy Crystal, Fred Savage
Plot: A poor villager (Penn) is chosen to be the bride of the prince of the land. He then plans to kill her to start a war with a neighboring country. Meanwhile, her true love (Elwes) is trying to save her and picks up a few helpers along the way.
Why it's good: It's a great love story! It's has funny parts and parts that make you anxious.
Best line: "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die." Or "Mawage. Mawage is what bwings us togeva today. Mawage, the bwessed awangement. That dweam, wivin a dweam."

5. The Patriot (2000) Period Drama
Actors of note: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson
Plot: A father (Gibson) joins his eldest son (Ledger) in the colonist movement of the Revolutionary war following another son's murder.
Why it's good: Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger - need I say more?
Best line: "I have long feared that my sins would return to visit me - and the cost is more than I can bear."

4. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Romantic Comedy
Actors of note: Heath Ledger, Julia Styles, Allison Janney
Plot: Younger sister's potential suitor tries to get older sister "Styles" to get a date with the school misfit (Ledger). They end up falling for each other and it turns out they're both pretty normal after all.
Why it's good: Again, Heath Ledger doesn't hurt any. But I love the modern twist on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. The play was a classic and this move absolutely does it high school justice.
Best line: "I know you can be overwhelmed and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?" "I think you can in Europe"

3. So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) Romantic Comedy
Actors of note: Mike Meyers, Nancy Travis, Phil Hartman
Plot: Charlie (Meyers) starts dating Harriet (Travis) only to discover she's "Mrs. X" who's husbands die on their honeymoons.
Why it's good: Mike Meyers is hilarious in this one. It was released before he was super-famous and he does an awesome job.
Best line: (in reference to Colonel Sanders of KFC) "He puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes you crave it fortnightly, smart ass."

2. Bourne Trilogy (Identity 2002, Supremacy 2004, Ultimatum 2007) Action
Actors of note: Matt Damon, Julia Styles, Chris Cooper, Joan Allen
Plot: A former government assassin (Damon) forgets everything when he is shot on a mission. He then tries to find out who he worked for and who he is.
Why it's good: Well, Matt Damon doesn't hurt any. It's a great conspiracy theory movie and has awesome fight and car chase scenes.
Best line: "Because if you were in your office we'd be having this conversation in person"

1. My Fair Lady (1964) Romance/Musical
Actors of note: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison
Plot: Professor Higgins (Harrison) takes in a flower girl (Hepburn) to teach her proper language techniques to prove hie theories on speech and the class system. they inevitably fall in love and can't part ways when the experiment is over.
Why it's good: Um, Audrey Hepburn! It's also a fabulous love/hate kind of love story. It's also an interesting commentary on Britain's class system. Big hats and great music also help this converted stage production (Pygmalion) be a winner.
Best line: "I've grown accustomed to her face. She almost makes the day begin. I've grown accustomed to the tune she whistles night and noon. Her smiles, her frowns, her ups, her downs are second nature to me now. Like breathing out and breathing in."

6 comments:

joanna said...

I read every word of your lengthy post! Loved it! Did you come up with your own summaries of the movies, or did you look them up on IMDB? Anyway, I agree with some of your movies, except I still don't understand your obsession with Audrey Hepburn hence you name your child after her. Do you need professional help? Just joking! Hug. Why am I questioning this? This is from the person who almost spelled her first child's name Ticen or Ptysinne with a psilent p.

Grant and Candice said...

Oh my gosh, this is hilarious. You should write movie summaries for a living, they sound really good. I too love all of these moveies, great choices!

Sara said...

Love youand Toby's results in the 1930's test!! Anyways love princess bride, and most of these though not all!
P.s. does your father know you watch rated "R" movies? Huh? Huh?!!!

Rob & Autum said...

I was impressed you remembered those long quotes from all those movies!

Rob

Bennifer said...

Good movie choices! So where the crap do you live? I need your number. Here is our home phone: 480-664-9338. Call me and we can play sometime!

Markalie said...

Wow those are some good ones. We have some of the same favorites. Bournes, Itailian Job, and 10 things I hate about you. Now you need to do your 10 favorite TV shows.