25 thoughts on “Reader Friday: Best Movie Ever?

  1. I know this is a site for the fans and writers of thrilling fiction. But I love a good, mushy girl story that let’s me escape in a pleasant haze of possible romance for an hour or two. Unless the movie involves a few choice male stars, then I could care less about the plot.

  2. Julie, nothing wrong with a good mush. I can recommend to you a classic of that genre you may not know of:

    Waterloo Bridge, 1940, Vivian Leigh and Robert Taylor.

  3. Blues Brothers, with Belushi and Akroyd, is the first one that come to mind. Sucker for good music. And humour. When Aretha starts singing, ‘Think’, and the boys get up and dance…cracks me up every time.

  4. The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan. Great cast, excellent story, mind blowing twists. Bonus: David Bowie playing Nikola Tesla.

    Honorable mention: Thank You for Smoking, Equilibrium, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Fallen, and Inception. What can I say, I love stories. ๐Ÿ˜€

  5. Oh! I love an easy question on a tired Friday morning.

    Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This movie had it all. Terrific pacing, characters you adore (even the bad guy–Ricardo Montalban was fantastic!), high drama.

    Only problem is I’m very annoying to watch it with because I can’t stop quoting line after line from the movie.

    BK Jackson
    (who was too lazy to sign in)

  6. OMG, BK – I love The Wrath of Khan.

    But, my all-time FAVE BEST MOVIE EVER:

    Independence Day – it’s got it all, and Bill Pullman’s Presidential speech makes me cheer every time I see it.

    Paula

  7. As I go down my checklist that includes script, acting, casting, music, direction, special effects and cinematography, I have to give my vote to MAN ON FIRE staring Danzel Washington and directed by the late Tony Scott. I have lost count as to how many times I’ve watched it. With all great movies, there are scenes or parts that I would skip over. Not with MAN ON FIRE. Despite the subject matter and violence, I consider it the perfect movie.

    Number 2 on my list and one I consider equally perfect is GLADIATOR directed by Tony’s brother Ridley Scott. The story has every element needed to hold you spellbound from beginning to end.

    Number 3 is a tie between ALIEN, and BLADE RUNNER, both directed by Ridley Scott. (As you can see, I’m a RS fan.) Both of these movies changed the standards of movie making forever. They are the two by which all others in this genre are compared.

  8. One?! One movie only?? That’s worse than choosing a favorite color.

    Good mood or bad, watching Casablanca always makes me feel good.

    I could never be so depressed that Singing in the Rain doesn’t bring smiles to my face.

    And the depth of despair of Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo… I couldn’t live without that.

    The smashing of the snowpeople in Meet Me in St. Louis makes me nearly tear up every time.

    Lawrence of Arabia. Nothing is written.

    While the empty chair speech may be a permanent joke, Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby are truly special.

    “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”

    Choose only one? Live without the others? No way.

    I can speak along with pretty much all of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, too.

  9. Too many to choose just one! My personal favorite is Now Voyager with Bette Davis. Also Casablanca, The Godfather 1& 2, Patton, Bladerunner, Broadcast News, and The Philadelphia Story.

  10. Joe: I almost picked MAN ON FIRE! I love Denzel Washington and I must have seen that movie a hundred times. That speech Walken gives about how a man can be an artist, and Creasey’s art is death…shivers, every time.

  11. There are too many I like for different moods but I’d say one that I have watched more than others would be Terry Gilliam’s “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”

    no….wait…”Das Boot” director’s cut, in German.

    no, scratch that…”Red Cliff”, Chinese historical movie.

    oh, dang, that’s not really it either cuz there’s “117 – le Caire, Nid d’Espions” (117-Cairo, Nest of Spies”)…made me laugh in French every time I watched it.

    or perhaps it is that 70’s Christopher Reeve & Jane Seymour time travel movie “Somewhere in Time” or Zhang Ziyi’s “The Road Home” or “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”.

    Of course there’s “Saving Private Ryan” or the Korean War movie “Tae Guk Ki”.

    I don’t know really, I guess I don’t have a favourite.

    Braveheart maybe?

  12. I can’t say favorite of of *all* time, but with all these serious movies I have to say I really enjoy Undercover Blues.

    I love watching a married couple that can be silly together, and dialogue that makes jokes seem like they fit the conversation.

  13. Casablanca–pretty much a no- brainer for me. It has it all: great stars, tension from the first second, emotionally powerful music, wonderful characters. I watch it every New Year’s Eve to end the year on a positive note.

    The Shawshank Redemption is a contender, too, but in a different way, since it’s a small movie, compared to Casablanca’s WW II setting.

    West Side Story is hands down my fave musical. Bernstein’s magnum opus. And you can’t miss with a Shakespearian plot.

    Best movie that almost no one has seen is Baghdad Cafe (not about what you think). A quirky, touching, poignant movie with probably the most haunting theme song ever sung in a movie.

Comments are closed.