Your Five Favourite Movies - And Why

[PeterRS]

A more lighthearted thread. Can you list the five movies that you consider your favourites? And with just one sentence for each to explain why? I know most such lists are for a minimum of 10 or 20, but it seems more fun just to make the limit five. But you can also add what I term a "sleeper" -  a movie that most may not have seen but which has a special meaning for you. My list:

Psycho

I saw this as a teenager and it was the first movie during which I jumped out of my seat at least three times and almost screamed.

Lawrence of Arabia

David Lean’s masterpiece epic in my view, better than Dr Zhivago and far better than Passage to India and Ryan’s Daughter.

The Go-Between

I loved this movie with its various intertwining themes of innocent and not so innocent love, the haves and the have nots, the searing heat of an unusual English summer and the hopes for a brilliant new century soon to be dashed and affect many of the participants.

Victor Victoria

Have loved this movie ever since I first saw it on a Garuda flight from Bali to Hong Kong, the unaccustomed versatility of Julie Andrews partnering a perfectly magical performance by Robert Preston and the whole gloriously funny souffle masterminded by Andrew's husband, Blake Edwards. 

Schindler’s List

In my view Spielberg’s masterpiece which I saw in a packed small cinema in Tokyo along with 100 or so young Japanese, every one of whom was in tears at the end. 

My Sleeper:

The Egoist

I choose this brilliant 2022 Japanese gay  movie I saw in Bangkok’s Sam Yan cinema complex last year. Friends had told me about it but I was not prepared for the excellence of its performances, its raw intimate scenes, its heartbreaking pain and the emotions it stirred. The full movie with English subtitles is available on the internet. This is a very brief trailer -

[BjornAgain]

In a shortlist:

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

The Father (2020)

Blade Runner (1982)

Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)

For pure entertainment, comedy and popcorn appeal, then:

Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of The Black Pearl (2003).

Movies primarily are for entertainment, enjoyment, relaxation, dramatic events ( horror), education and social interaction, by that I mean discussion. Leaving the Movie Theatre with friends our immediate action is to discuss, good, bad, crap, interesting, not as good as his/her's last one, best movie ever etc. Really great movies make you think. 

1) 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

Adapted from Arthur C. Clarkes's short story The Sentinel (1948), Kubrick's vision was to trace the story back to the dawn of man, the leap from primitive ape to weaponised ape and the exponential growth in intelligence, kick started by external interplanetary forces. An idea adopted by Ridley Scott with the Alien prequels and franchise. 

The middle part is the journey (think Greek Odysseys') to meet the intelligent entity, with some of the most amazing cinematic effects to this day, bearing in mind it was made 1968, so before we landed on the moon. The movie was shot in 70mm, so the quality and clarity of the in-picture action on a wide screen made the experience breathtaking.

The third part is where the magic really happens. Certainly as a 16 year old when I first watch it on TV, I hadn't a clue what was going in, with each subsequent viewing the picture's meaning becomes clearer.

Underlying the visuals is the music, both Johann and Richard Strauss, György Ligeti, Aram Khachaturyan and the suggestion at the time from the music consultant on the movie, namely Patrick Moore, the use of Richard Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra forever associated with space flight.

Despite Oscar nominations for Director, Sceen Writing and Art direction, it only recieved one for Special Effects. Kubrick joked at the time the movie should have got the award for costume, however this went to The Planet of The Apes, as most of the academy was under the impression the apes were real!

 

2) Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

The story is simple, but in my opinion the most likely incident to connect us to other lifeforms. Voyager 1 was launched 2 years before the movie was made, and is currently 15.4 billion miles from earth and still exploring further and further out into space. 

No OTT laser shoot-outs, for the younger generations to get excited about, yes there's plenty of dialogue, but intellectually one of the most thought provoking Sci-Fi films.

 

3) The Father.

A tour-de-force in acting by Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Coleman. Directected by Florian Zeller and adapted from his stage play of the same name. This film makes you think all through the movie. In a nut shell it's about old age. 

 

4) Blade Runner.

A perfect symmetry between visuals and Vangellis's music. The images have shaped countess Sci-Fi movies, TV series and printed media since it's release. It's the bible for making Sci-Fi.

 

5) Once Upon A Time In The West.

Breathtaking, slow, memorable, great acting, and Enio Morricone's immersive score.

Sergio Leone's direction, camera work and setup is what you see throughout  Quentin Tarantino's work, his greatest inspiration. Much as I love QT's work, best to watch and learn from the master.

Sergio is quoted as saying "I make silent films", hence the reason why the camera lingers on it's subject so you take in all the details, facial inflections, breathing etc. He forces you to study the scene. Hence in the initial shooting of the boy at the beginning of the film, you don't see the shooters face, he's dressed in black, so must be the villain. As the camera follows him over about 3 minutes it slow turns round to focus on the deep blue eyes of Henry Fonda, who despite his age of 63 at the time of making the movie, had never played the bad man.

Found out recently, both Morricone and Leone went to the same junior school, and it wasn't till after they first collaborated together that either of them knew.

 

Propose the same question in a years time, and the selection will be slightly different. Rewatching old movies I watched in my youth I'm finding completely different films and experiences. Great way to wile away retirement.

[Olddaddy]

My favourite was that one with Matt Damon where he played a new Detective and his Uncle was a Irish🇮🇪 gangster , I think it was set in Boston  what was the name of that movie please ?

I think the Uncle was Jack ... someone?

And another movie I love was NO PLACE for old men , I think that's the title 

[tm_nyc]

43 minutes ago, Olddaddy said:

My favourite was that one with Matt Damon where he played a new Detective and his Uncle was a Irish🇮🇪 gangster ,

The Departed w/Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio & Mark Wahlberg.  Directed by Martin Scorsese.  

[PeterRS]

2 hours ago, tm_nyc said:

The Departed w/Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio & Mark Wahlberg.  Directed by Martin Scorsese.  

This was basically an English language remake of the Hong Kong movie "Internal Affairs". It won a ton of awards at the Hong Kong Film Festival, just as "The Departed" won top awards at the Oscars.

[PeterRS]

Great to see comments. but please remember I asked for just one sentence to explain the reason for your preferring a particular movie. It concentrates the mind on why you really like it! 

[unixmad]

The Godfather- No explaination needed lol

The Shawshank Redemption- Timeless reminder that hope is the most powerful thing a man can hold onto.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles- It’s hilarious but also gets you with it's honesty about loneliness, frustration, and unexpected friendship

[floridarob]

49 minutes ago, unixmad said:

Planes, Trains and Automobiles- It’s hilarious but also gets you with it's honesty about loneliness, frustration, and unexpected friendship

Ever watch this?
 

 

[unixmad]

40 minutes ago, floridarob said:

Ever watch this?
 

 

No this is my first time seeing this.. thank you for posting it!

[PeterRS]

17 hours ago, BjornAgain said:

3) The Father.

A tour-de-force in acting by Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Coleman. Directected by Florian Zeller and adapted from his stage play of the same name. This film makes you think all through the movie. In a nut shell it's about old age. 

Wonderful film with as @BjornAgain points out amazing acting from Hopkins and Coleman. Hopkins was the oldest to win the Best Actor Oscar in the year everyone thought it would go to the late Chadwick Boseman. But also more than a little frightening. It reminded me of the Judi Dench movie "Iris" where she pays the novelist Iris Murdoch as she first realises she has dementia and follows her through that horrible journey. Jim Broadbent, so good in so many movies, plays her husband determined not to leave her in an institution, the role which won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Masterfully directed by Richard Eyre.

[tm_nyc]

12 hours ago, PeterRS said:

This was basically an English language remake of the Hong Kong movie "Internal Affairs".

I believe that the title of the HK movie is Infernal Affairs.  I liked the Scorsese version but I think that the original was better than the remake.

[Thomas_88]

23 hours ago, unixmad said:

...Planes, Trains and Automobiles- It’s hilarious but also gets you with it's honesty about loneliness, frustration, and unexpected friendship

 

One of my favourite scenes it the conversation with the car rental lady.

 

 

[reader]

Lawrence of Arabia

Casablanca

The Bridge Over the River Kwai

Patton

Almost anything featuring Anthony Hopkins

 

[PeterRS]

Totally agree that Hopkins is one of the great actors. Of all his movies, I would pick one of the Merchant-Ivory classics "Remains of the Day" where he plays an emotionally and sexually repressed bulter opposite Emma Thomson' housekeeper. He plays the role to perfection.

We should all be grateful that he moved to the USA. Before then he performed mostly on the British stage with such eminent companies as the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Sadly, at that time, he was known to be a drunk and made life difficult for everyone. SInce 1975 he has been sober.

[BjornAgain]

17 hours ago, reader said:

Almost anything featuring Anthony Hopkins

 

For pure enjoyment, then the spy franchise that never was. By that I mean Philip Calvert in Alistair MacLean's When Eight Bells Toll.

Came out in 1971 just as the Connery years were finishing. Similar character  backgrounds, i.e. Royal Navy officers, both action heroes with a comic witt, both successful with the ladies.

Talks existed in terms of a follow up movie, however Alistair MacLean wasn't interested. He had envisaged future novels with Calvert, but the film wasn't as big of a success as he and the producers had hoped, so MacLean continued writing other characters instead. Hopkins was considered and screen tested for the role of Bond post Connery, but missed out. Shame, as EON's next offering was Mr. Eyebrow himself, Roger Moore, which took the JB franchise in a somewhat different comic direction. 

 

[floridarob]

On 4/29/2025 at 9:30 AM, reader said:

Almost anything featuring Anthony Hopkins

Meet Joe Black, The Father, One Life.... What a career this guy has had.

[PeterRS]

On 4/29/2025 at 10:30 PM, reader said:

Almost anything featuring Anthony Hopkins

I count myself extremely fortunate to have seen him on stage. It was in the early years of the British National Theatre. Its director Sir Laurence Olivier had invited Franco Zeffirelli to direct Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". Leading the cast were Maggie Smith and her then husband, the magnificent actor Robert Stevens, along with Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Anthony Hopkins, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Joan Plowright and Frank Finlay. Truly a pantheon of British acting talent. (I have left out all the Sirs and Dames which titles had not arrived by then! I think only two did not reach those heights: Albert Finney who in 2000 declined the offered knighthood, and Frank Finlay).

[Pete1111]

Thank you everyone.  I've already screened and enjoyed one mentioned above, more to come.

I made a list of 15 movies and whittled that down to 5.  The last 2 left out were Gosford Park and Mulholland Drive.

 

So, here are my 5.

Purple Rose of Cairo

Somewhat of a sleeper.  Mia Farrow is a treasure in this.  The implausible story is the basis for so much hijinks.  Gene Siskel Chicago Tribune called it "a classic film about our love affair with fantasy."  Vincent Canby New York Times said, "at 84 minutes, it's short but nearly every one of those minutes is blissful."     

The Godfather

Al Pacino is everything.    And there's Marlon Brando. 💗

 

Casablanca

While watching the Ken Burns WWII documentary "Defying the Nazis",  what people went through to get out before being captured, I thought about Casablanca, how well Hollywood had their finger on the pulse of what was really happening in Europe.     As well as amazingly true-to-life, Casablanca was a gripping, romantic, wonderful screenplay.  And so many great lines.  Play La Marseillaise! Play it.  Kiss me as if it were the last time. etc.  etc.

A Room With a View

How many people realize that's Daniel Day Lewis playing the character Cecil Vyse.  Who else could portray Cecil's snobbery so exquisitely?  We ultimately feel sorry for him.  Only Daniel Day Lewis could get us there, I think.   Judy Dench, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, and on and on.  What a cast!

Happy Together

After Leslie Cheung died, a film tribute, including Happy Together, screened at a theater on La Brea in Los Angeles, 20+ years ago.  I still have my poster from the tribute, framed and hung in my guest bedroom.  He was so talented and died so young.  I still get a bit verklempt when watching his music videos.    I recently bought Criterion's box set of films by the great director Wong Kar-Wai, which includes Happy Together.  As far as gay movies go, this one is in a class by itself.  The three leads are tremendous.  The handsome Tony Leung received the most awards, and rightly so.  Wong Kar-Wai won best director at Cannes.  Perhaps western audiences here in the States are less accepting, that a simple, poignant lesson is too maudlin for their taste, how Lai was brought to tears the night before his friend leaves Buenos Aires.   That scene always gets me.  It's the best.

 

Tony Leung

 

Leslie Cheung 

[PeterRS]

Loved "Gosford Park" which was the forerunner for "Downton Abbey" both written by Julian Fellowes. "Happy Together" is another superb movie for which Leslie Cheung was nominated for Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. It's tough, gritty gay movie-making but nonetheless a great movie. So dreadfully sad that Leslie suffered from clinical depression and committed suicide at the age of only 46.