Model Train Journal

What are some of your very favorite movies you ever saw?
Any idea why they are some of your top favorites?

A few that come to mind, right off the bat, for me, as all-time favorites, and in no particular order, are:

Alien (the original, the first one: a favorite because I could never have dreamed anything about that one up; it seemed totally new, esp. the first view of that ship (soooooooooo cool - was it animal, vegetable, mineral, mechanical, or a combination? Eh? Huh? Wha'? I said to myself.) It's a favorite of my wife's, too (!) Just about every scene was jaw-dropping, literally, for me.
No Country for Old Men. the acting; the characters; the story-line; remarks like, "You can't make this stuff up; I dare you to even try."
Now, Voyager. (No idea why.)
Passion of The Christ I felt it.
King Kong (the original) Kong himself; the dinosaurs; the relationship between Kong and the Fay Rey character.
The Thing (circa 1951) (based on the novel: Who Goes There? Saw it when I was seven; it blew my little mind.
Frankenstein (the original) Total ATMOSPHERE. I swear, as a kid seeing it for the first time, with my friends, I could smell the mouldering corpse of the Monster.

There are more.
Murph

Run Silent, Run Deep
Blues Brothers
Down Periscope

Also in no particular order:

The Train, with Burt Lancaster. No explanation necessary.
Casablanca. Also no explanation necessary.
The Godfather. Ditto
The Big Country. A western, unfamiliar to a surprising number of people, with an all-star cast, great story and great musical score.
Jeremiah Johnson. Possibly my all-time favorite. Saw it has a child when it first came out. Helped get me interested in history and motivated me to buy a Hawken Rifle replica, similar to the one Redford shot in the film, as soon as I was old enough. I've used it to bag every deer I've taken since then.

NJPiney, The Godfather (parts 1 &2) and Casablanca!!!!How could I have forgotten!? They're on my list, too. Of course!
Murph

Battle of Britain - Saltzman's best film without 007.
Magnificent Seven - The original with Brnyner, Wallach, McQueen, Bucholz, Bronson, Vaughan, etc.
Citizen Kane - Wells
Grand Prix - Frankenheimer
Star Wars (Episode IV)
Goldfinger - C'mon, Pussy Galore...
The Natural - Every baseball cliche wrapped in a single movie...
Monty Python's Life of Brian - Rules for a stoning...

I think Tom Cruise is crazy, but you can't beat The Last Samuri or Jack Reacher for entertainment value. I watch them whenever I get the chance.

My favorite old movie...Flight Of The Phoenix with Jimmy Stewart. Class acting and great story and supporting cast.

BobD

Oh my! All of the above and about a hundred more.
Lonesome Dove. Nell. Glory. People Will Talk. The African Queen.
Greystoke. Camelot. Excalibur. Fiddler on the Roof. Contact.
An American in Paris. The 3 original Mad Max. The Abyss.
Ladyhawke. The Mission. Caveman. Lawrence of Arabia
Giant. Zulu. Blazing Saddles. Silence of the Lambs.
Any Mel Brooks. Any W.C.Fields. Any Marx Brothers.
The Errol Flynn Robin Hood. Citizen Kane.

There are more.

Any of the six Thin Man movies, subtle humor and violence without gore and Myna Loy working off her best foil.
Captain Horatio Hornblower - sorta cheesy effects by modern standards, but I love it.

The Ghost Train, Directed by Walter Forde, Starring Lady Delfont (stage name: Carole Lynne)


https://youtu.be/RsWHGZwcndk

The Railrodder, Directed by Gerald Potterton, Starring Fairmont Speeder CN 135-58


https://youtu.be/xYmcN12M97o

The Usual Suspects, The Wild Bunch, The Terminator, Dirty Harry, Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, To Live And Die In L.A., Leon: The Professional, Groundhog Day, Primal Fear, Sleuth, Sorcerer, House of Games

Stir Crazy, The Missouri Breaks, Unforgiven, The French Connection

Previously mentioned: No Country For Old Men, The Silence of the Lambs, Run Silent Run Deep, Alien

Any Marx Brother movie
Any Buster Keaton movie
The Gold Rush (Chaplin)
Any of the Monty Python movies
All of the 3 Stooges short subjects

Blade Runner (It's a test, designed to provoke an emotional response.)

One of the greatest soliloquies ever put on film:

I've Seen things.
I've seen things no human could have dreamed of.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I saw C beams glitter, near Tannhauser gate.
Moments to see disappear, like tears in Rain.
Time has been lost, time to die.

Citizen Kane
Moby Dick
The Searchers
Gunga Din
Lawrence of Arabia
Groundhog Day (a movie about redemption...)
Wrath of Khan (remake of Moby Dick)
Frankenstein and Bride of (both James Whale movies - what truly great horror movies strive to be)
Airplane!
Young Frankenstein
The Producers
Blazing Saddles
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
The Long Riders
Outlaw Josie Wales
The Shining
The Quiet Man
The Shootist
The Cowboys
Casablanca

Murder by Death
Cheap Detective


There is a list of others that I felt that watching more than once would limit their impact and value to me......and when I see them to be broadcast, I just change channels....

I can steal a few from Rufus.

Not a favorite but one I saw recently on TV and it stuck with me was The Causalities of War. A vietnam movie, showed me the horrors I barely escaped.

You guys made me think further of favorites, films that placed images in my head that do not go away :
Dances with Wolves
Lawrence of Arabia
Terminator (never saw that guy before)
Doctor Zivago
Pulp Fiction

Wasn't Omar Shariff made an instant star by his appearance in Lawrence of Arabia ?

Perhaps an odd choice or 3, but more:

Little Big Man
Papillon